Flint woke up to the urgent sound of his cell phone trilling from the nightstand. It was a special ring tone that had been programmed to alert him in case of emergency.
Coral lay on her side with her back to him; he’d been spooning her, arms wrapped around her deliciously soft, warm body, when the phone rang.
Yearning to sink into her warmth again, instead, he scrabbled for the phone, pulling it out of his pocket and answering it quickly. “Flint?” Melinda said. “You need to come meet me right away. I’m at our northwest post.”
“What do you need?”
“I’ve been attacked.”
Alarm shot through him. Melinda didn’t sound as if she’d been badly injured – she wasn’t even out of breath – but if she’d been attacked, that was bad news. The operation might have been compromised.
He swung his legs across the bed, and sat up. “I’m on my way,” he said. “Have you called Rory yet?”
“Just hurry!”
He pulled on his pants quickly.
Coral was looking at him, her sheet drawn up to cover her. “That was Melinda,” she said, her tone cool.
“Yes, it was. You heard that?”
“I’m a wolf shifter. We have freakishly good hearing. Did I hear her say she’s been attacked?”
“No, no,” he lied, inwardly cursing. “Just some problems at the work site.”
Coral just stared at him stony-faced. She’d heard what she’d heard. He knew it. She knew it.
Melinda shouldn’t have called him, and she was well aware of it. She had just risked exposing them all. She should have called Rory, their lieutenant and commanding officer. Flint’s reason for being in town was to provide cover for their entire crew. The construction project was the perfect cover, allowing them to move dozens of men into town undetected and unquestioned.
He quickly dressed, wincing at the look on Coral’s face. This wasn’t the morning after he’d been hoping for.
“I’ll be back in time to take you out to lunch,” he promised.
She shook her head, frowning. “I’ll be busy throughout the day,” she said. “I’m following up on some leads.”
“What kind of leads?”
“Stories I’m working on.” She shrugged, not meeting his gaze. She had the covers pulled up, hiding her lush body, and he felt a vast chasm yawning between them now. Last night they’d practically melted into one person, and now she was cold and distant. “Let’s just say we’re both not sharing everything with each other. You should go see who attacked your friend.” She put particular emphasis on the word friend.
He winced. “Coral, I will admit that Melinda has a crush on me, but there’s nothing romantic between us, and there never has been, and never will be.” Her expression didn’t change.
“You believe me, don’t you?” he asked her.
“I don’t know what to believe, Flint. There’s more going on than what you’re telling me, which tends to make me not trust you.”
Yes, there was, but he couldn’t tell her why. It was too important. The fate of shifters, and humanity, versus the fate of his sex life? The choice was clear – unfortunately.
It was more than just his sex life, though, wasn’t it? He was starting to develop real feelings for this lush, sexy wolf shifter. He was starting to wish he didn’t have to leave town so soon…and that she didn’t have to go either.
“I’ll call you later. I’m sorry about this,” he said, and rushed off. Coral didn’t say a word to him as he left.
He headed out to the northwest post, which was on a large area of property that he’d recently purchased for Sweet Stuff. There were numerous wild blueberry and raspberry bushes on the property, which is why they’d purchased it – or at least, that was the story they’d given out. The property was also very conveniently located, next to the area that the Enforcers needed to access in the near future… and that was the real reason he’d bought it.
As he drove, he called Rory Fontaine, the contractor who was remodeling his parent’s historic house. Rory was also a tiger shifter, and a lieutenant in the Enforcers. He was supervising the operation in Blue Moon Junction.
“How did Melinda get attacked?” Rory asked him, puzzled. “She didn’t call any of us for help, and she’s supposed to be at the canning factory today, overseeing construction. ”
“I don’t know,” Flint said. “But I aim to find out. Just meet me there.”
When they arrived, they found Melinda in her human form, with a bruise on her head, a split lip, and scrapes on her arm.
She flung herself into Flint’s arms. “I’m so glad that you’re here!” she said, hugging him.
He stepped back, disentangling himself from her arms with some difficulty; she tightened her grip, and he had to firmly push her away.
“What the hell happened?” he demanded.