I awoke, unable to move. A crescent moon shone through the window on the left, casting a buttery glow in the dark bedroom. A heavy arm wrapped securely around my waist, and the solid press of a man’s body warmed my back.
I tried to get up and the arm tightened, restricting me from moving away.
“Don’t move,” Austin mumbled against my left shoulder. “Just go back to sleep.”
I struggled. “What did you find out?”
He finally let go and I sat up to face him. Austin wearily rubbed his face, still in his jeans and one of those wife-beater shirts. It made his tattoos soften in the moonlight, like ancient shadows carved on his arms.
“I lost the scent by the street. I’m not so sure your sister ran away. Her scent is in the yard—front and back—but it didn’t go any farther. I tracked an unfamiliar scent outside the house and if I smell that sonofabitch again in wolf form, I’ll know it.”
“You can’t smell him like you are now?”
“No,” he said. “No more than you can.”
“So you found nothing?” My voice broke. I must have looked like a mess with puffy eyes and tangled hair. Not that I cared, but the thought crossed my mind. A woman could be stranded on a deserted island with no sign of life for thousands of miles, and as soon as a rescue ship comes her way, she’ll be combing her hair with sticks and squashing berries to rub on her cheeks.
“I’ve got two of my brothers searching the house and making sure nothing was missed. We’ve put out an alert to all the packs and offered up a reward. That’ll motivate the ones we don’t usually deal with.”
“Oh.”
“I have a question, Lexi.”
“Yeah?”
He sat up and drew his brows together. I got nervous and felt my cheeks flush from the intensity of his luminous eyes.
“Why is Lorenzo Church calling on you?”
Ah, he must have listened to the messages on my machine. “Lorenzo was one of the people interested in my car and then he asked me out. Or, he’s trying to ask me out. I don’t know; he seems nice. I might,” I said with a weary voice. “Do you know him or something?”
Austin’s voice dropped an octave. “You do know he’s a Shifter, right?”
I hesitated. “So?”
“I got bad blood with him, and I don’t want Church sniffing around my pack.”
“Austin, I don’t think I’m mentally capable of arguing right now, but let me put this to bed for you. Whatever I do in my life is my choice, and I’m not making those decisions based on whatever personal issues you have with someone. He seemed like a nice guy, and…”
The thought fell away, because I remembered my mom and little sister were missing.
“We’ll talk about it later,” Austin said, getting up off the bed. I watched him walk to the door and run his fingers through his messy hair. “You hungry?”
I shook my head.
“Feed your wolf, Lexi, or—”
We both widened our eyes at the sound of the doorbell.
“Austin!” a voice boomed.
He flew out of the room and I followed closely behind him. We hurried toward the front door where Denver stood beside a guy who was wearing a red tank top and long shorts.
We walked past them and when I looked at the man in the doorway, I frantically reached out.
“Maizy!”
Wrapped in the arms of a tall man with a defined jawline was my little sister. He glanced down at me with one sapphire eye and one brown, his dark hair pulled back tightly into a ponytail. Maizy slept soundly in his arms, dressed in her favorite pink skirt, white leggings, and princess shirt.
I scooped her up and smelled her hair, overwhelmed and sobbing like a baby. She stirred a bit and looked up. “Hi, Lexi,” she said sleepily.
“Hi, Maze. How’s my girl?”
She peered up at the man and back at me, whispering. Little did she know how loud her whispers were. “He’s my prince.” Then, after a few heavy blinks, she fell asleep.
“Thank you,” I said in a broken voice.
Austin stepped forward and introduced himself, quickly explaining he was the leader of a newly formed pack in the territory. The man watched him cautiously and I realized it was because he was a Shifter. Probably a well-known one in the area by the way Austin was speaking respectfully to him. Even I could sense his power.
“I’ll take her,” Denver said over my shoulder. My hands tightened. “Let me put her to bed so you three can talk,” he insisted. “I’ll guard her window and make sure she isn’t disturbed.”
Maizy needed sleep and I had to find out what was happening, so I capitulated, kissing her cheek.
“Wait,” the man at the door said. He reached around and pulled something from his back pocket, handing it to me with an uncomfortable expression. It was her princess wand. Just a small thing Maizy liked to carry around the house because she thought she could tap it on things and make magic happen.
“She kept hitting me over the head with it,” he said with a lazy grin. Sure enough, there were red marks across his forehead.
Denver took Maizy and the wand to bed.
“Come in,” Austin said. “My home is open to you.”
Maizy’s savior glanced down at the mountain of shoes by the door.