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  He nodded once.

  She snatched up her handbag and took a step back. “If you’ve come to take me to Simon, I’m not going. I told him to give me until tonight. I still have several hours left.”

  “I don’t work for Simon,” Garrett said, his gaze falling on the empty safe on the floor beside her. “You’ve just about emptied the whole damn safe out, haven’t you?”

  “The safe is mine. I can do whatever the hell I want with it.” She swept her gaze swept over him and then her focus dropped to his bare arms. “You’re not a Cross City wolf. You wear the mark of a different wolf pack. Who are you?”

  Not many humans understood wolf pack dynamics, so for her to look for and identify his pack’s insignia both surprised and alarmed him.

  “Garrett.”

  “Garrett who?”

  “Garrett, the wolf who caught you red-handed,” he replied.

  She swallowed visibly. “You don’t work here either. I can just as well have you arrested for breaking and entering.”

  Garrett turned slightly and pointed to the door. “Sign says management. I came to see the manager.”

  “Well, you won’t find him here.”

  “Him?”

  “Look, I don’t know what you want but I really don’t have time to make small talk with you,” she said, slipping the straps of the handbag onto her shoulder.

  “Not even ten minutes?” he asked.

  “I don’t even have ten minutes,” she said, maneuvering around a desk in an attempt to circumvent him.

  “Who are you running from?” he asked.

  The question got her attention and she stopped mid-stride. She didn’t answer.

  “I saw you with the Cross City Beta the other night,” he continued.

  She flinched. “You did…?”

  Garrett thought back to that night when she had been cornered by the jerk. He had a feeling that when he caught up to Simon again, he’d have a hard time convincing himself not to lay hands on him. And not in a good way. But his job was to hand the man over to be dealt with by someone else—not kill him.

  “When did you see me with him?” she asked.

  “Just the other night. You were about to leave, and then he had you cornered.”

  He hated that he was making her uncomfortable, but for some reason he didn’t want to let her out of his sight. His instincts—both human and wolf—told him that she needed help and that she was scared. He wanted to help her. Not because she obviously had connections to the man he was hunting down, but because he felt propelled to do so.

  She walked briskly toward him, but the room was so small she had no choice but to come near him.

  “Answer me. Are you running from him?”

  “I don’t know you, so I can’t trust you,” she said. “My cab is on the way. I have to go.”

  “I can help you,” he offered.

  “Why would a guy like you want to help me?” she asked. Her tone came across as bitter, but she had every right to question him. He was a stranger, after all.

  “Because no woman should feel afraid…the way you feel.”

  “How do you know I’m afraid?”

  “I’m a wolf. I don’t see anyone else in the room giving off such a strong emotion.”

  She shook her head. “You can’t help me. You don’t even know me. And…Simon's dangerous.”

  “So am I.”

  “I don’t have anything to offer you.”

  “You might be surprised what you can offer me in return,” he replied.

  “I don’t have money,” she mumbled.

  “I don’t want your money.”

  “Then what do you want?”

  “Information…”

  “Information?”

  “About Simon—the Cross City Beta.”

  “You’re insane.”

  She rushed passed him.

  He caught her gently about the arm.

  “Wait—”

  “Didn’t you hear what I just said? Simon is a very dangerous man. Here’s some free information: Stay far away from him and far away from Cross City. Go back to your Pack or wherever you came from.”

  She yanked the door open and fled out of it.

  Garrett frowned, biting at the inside of his lip as he processed the information. Her warning was clear and he already had concrete evidence that the woman had every right to run. Before he risked being caught in a place where he wasn’t allowed, he exited the small office and headed back down the hallway. By the time he got back to the bar, the woman had already exited the building.

  Joshua was still seated at the same table with a bowl of French fries and a beer in front of him.

  Garrett’s phone alerted him that he had a text message from Joshua: Got anything?

  He dialed Joshua’s phone instead of texting. “The woman that just left…did you see her?” He tried to keep his voice down.

  “What woman?”

  “The pretty brunette.”

  “The one that walked in here about fifteen minutes ago? No. I’ve been watching the door since you walked to the back. No women have come and gone since then.”

  Garrett glanced around. “Well, she’s not here, but said she was leaving.”

  “Does she have information?”

  “Maybe…”

  “Hold on…I think something’s happening outside…”

  Garrett directed his gaze in Joshua’s direction just as the man parted the window blinds and peered outside. He then rose from the table with a wide-eyed stare in Garrett’s direction.

  “What’s the issue?” Garrett spoke anxiously into the phone.

  “I think we’ve got a strong lead to Simon outside. A few of his men from the other night just showed up.”

  Both men got up and headed toward the door.

  Sure enough, a yellow cab was surrounded by two pickup trucks in the parking lot. Three men that had already been identified as having an affiliation to Simon yanked the driver’s side door to the cab opened and jerked the driver out of it. He landed on the hard, dusty pavement and held up his hands in instant surrender. The woman inside—the same one who’d emptied the safe—put up more of a fight. It took Garrett only a split second to realize that the men were trying to kidnap her.

  “Let’s get ready,” Joshua said. “You said the woman had connections to Simon? They’ll led us to him.”

  “No,” Garrett said. “We’re not using her as bait. They’re not taking her anywhere.”

  “Fuck…” Joshua mumbled under his breath. “You don’t mean to save her…? Ah Fuck.”

  Before Joshua could utter another word, Garrett propelled himself toward the men struggling to apprehend the woman. She kicked and screamed and caused so much commotion that other customers started flowing out of the bar. No one intervened. They just looked on at the altercation like they were viewing the aftermaths of a train wreck, just like the night before. What was wrong with these people? Didn’t they help their fellow neighbors?

  “Move. Step aside,” one of the men said once Garrett blocked their path. He uttered something else in his thick, Russian accent and spat on the ground.

  “Let her go,” Garrett said.

  “Are you dense in the head?” he continued. “I said step aside…wolf.”

  “And I said let the woman go. Or there will be problems.”

  The Russian wolf laughed. “Don’t you see you’re outnumbered?”

  The woman screamed again as the two men nudged her closer to their trucks.

  “Depends on how you look at it,” Garrett replied. “Only weak wolves prey on human women.”

  The Russian produced a short blade and stood his ground. “I’m only doing my job and the only thing standing in the way of me collecting my check is you.”

  “Then you and I have something in common. You can hand her over willingly or we can demonstration for the people here just how weak you are.”

  A second knife dropped from the Russian’s sleeve into his palm. “We’
ll see.”

  “Garrett…” Joshua warned behind him.

  “Leave,” Garrett said between clenched teeth. “I’ve got this. Inform the others. Meet me back at the hotel.”

  “Garr—”

  Garrett growled. “Now! Go! That’s an order.”

  Right after Joshua took off on his bike, the Russian charged him with the knife. All hell broke loose from there as Garrett and the Russian squared off. Some of the guests in the tavern came outside to view the fight, forming a small circle around them on the lot. It wasn’t uncommon for two wolf shifters to square off. People were less likely to intervene or call for help when it came to wolves. They fought all the time. It was part of their rituals. It was unlikely that anybody would be calling the human authorities to an establishment like this.

  As he wrestled with the Russian on the ground, dirt and debris flew up his nose and got into his mouth. The knife had slashed him a few times already, but the Russian never had a chance to go deep enough to cut through to the flesh. Garrett kicked the Russian across the face while he was doubled over, spitting blood on the ground. The force sent him about three feet across the lot.

  The woman never stopped screaming. She called for help even louder, now that she was being forced away from the fight, away from the crowd, and toward the trucks. At this point, the onlookers found the fight more of a priority than helping the woman.

  All it took was a one second hesitation on Garrett’s part. The Russian slashed the blade of the knife across Garrett’s gut. This time the blade went through the flesh. He stumbled forward holding the fresh wound as blood seeped through his shirt.

  The Russian laughed. “I let no one get in the way of me when it comes to my money.”

  “Neither do I, jerk!”

  Garrett picked up a large broken off piece of concrete from the ground and hurled it toward the Russian. The concrete block connected with the left side of his face, sending him flying back into the crowd. No one caught his fall. He lifted the half conscious man up by the collar and knocked him out cold with his bare hands. Garrett picked up the knives the dropped the ground and burst through the crowd.

  He threw one of the knives, embedding it into the back of one the woman’s kidnappers. The second kidnapper was already behind the wheel, but before he could get the engine started, Garrett thrust the other knife into his shoulder blade.

  By the time Garrett got the truck open, the woman was screaming something into a phone. He yanked the door open and offered her a hand.

  “Come with me,” he said.

  For a second, she looked bewildered and confused, but then she put her hand in his and got out of the truck.

  “Thank you,” she whispered, clutching the phone and her handbag to her heaving chest.

  The second kidnapper hurled himself from the truck and jerked the knife from his shoulder. After spewing a series of curse words at Garrett, the man shifted in front of the crowd and took off running. He disappeared in the woods behind the tavern.

  Garrett never let go of her hand and led her over to his bike.

  He handed her a helmet. “Your cab is gone. Get on.”

  “I…I…” she said, trying desperately to catch her breath.

  “Your choice,” he said. “Stay here…or get on.”

  The fear had never left her eyes and Garrett wondered how long she had been living like this. On the run. And on the verge of being kidnapped and taken by someone as dangerous and morally corrupt as their Beta. He already knew what her intentions were. She wanted to escape with whatever was in that bag and from whoever those men were working for.

  Reluctantly, she put on the helmet and joined him on the motorcycle. He wasted no time as he rode off with intentions of getting her as far away from the tavern as he could.

  Chapter Six

  “What’s your name?” the stranger asked her, once they were settled in the motel room and he’d bolted the locks.

  “Autumn,” she said. Maybe she shouldn’t have given her name so freely, but the man had saved her ass. But why?

  “Autumn. Like the season?”

  “Yes, I was born in September on the first day of Autumn.”

  He stole a glance at her and she thought she saw a hint of a smile. His dark brown hair was tousled and wet from the rain, which they’d ridden in for about five minutes before reaching the bed and breakfast on the outer edger of the city. He had to be in his early to mid thirties. She couldn’t really tell. Except for the bruising, scarring, and tattoos that she could see, he had the most beautiful skin she’d ever seen on a man. To achieve his sun-kissed complexion, it looked as if he road in the sun for hours on end on his motorcycle. He had wide shoulders, a strong neck and jaw. His arms and hands were big. He was exceptionally tall, almost overbearing to the point of intimidation. Maybe about six feet, four inches. His eyes were hooded by a set of dark, thick lashes and his lips were full. He wore old worn jeans, heavy-duty working boots, and a leather jacket that was pulled tautly across his chest.

  “If you don’t mind me asking, who do you work for?” she asked.

  “I don’t mind,” he replied. “My brother is Alpha of the Aspen Valley Wolf Pack. You could say I work for him.”

  “Aspen Valley? That’s not that far away from here. I might have been there once or twice when I was little.”

  “It’s a small town and not as big as Cross City, but we have a big Pack. No hustle and bustle. Quiet. Everyone knows everyone else’s business.”

  She smiled. “That’s the way it is here too, but maybe I just like to stay inside of my little bubble.”

  “At the tavern?”

  “Yeah.”

  “How long have you worked there?”

  “Hmmm,” she said. “My dad put me on the payroll officially when I was fourteen, but I had different side jobs to earn allowance when I was just a little girl, like changing out the menus and wrapping the silverware.”

  “Family business?”

  “Yeah. Besides your brother, have you got any other family or close friends?” she asked.

  He didn’t seem like the type to stay put and judging from the lack of a wedding ring on his finger, she figured he wasn’t married. But that didn’t really mean anything for a shifter. Most of them mated and never married.

  “I have three brothers. There’s Dane, Raoulf, and Brock. Dane’s the youngest, and our dad was the Alpha before he stepped up into the position.”

  “So does that mean the Alpha position stays in the family like with the Cross City wolves,” she asked.

  “Sort of, but not necessarily. Most Packs I know keep it in the family, but almost any other wolf can challenge for the position…if they dare.”

  “What’s your position within it?”

  “That’s pretty complicated. My duties come without rank and I prefer it that way. Before my brother became the Alpha and even when my father held the position, my brothers and I were considered wolf outlaws and we still are really. That means we roam freely and work in conjunction with the Alpha.”

  “Kind of like a lone wolf?”

  “Sort of, but I still know where my loyalties lie.”

  Thunder rumbled in the distance and lightning cracked just outside the door and she jumped to the side. Feeling a little foolish for acting so paranoid, she wrapped her arms around herself and rubbed her elbows. Her shirt was still wet from the rain, but she figured it could have been worse. Rain beat hard at the roof of the little bed and breakfast where they sought shelter.

  “Oh…” She glanced down at her wristwatch. “And my bus just left.”

  “Sorry.”

  “That’s not your fault. All I was thinking about was getting away really,” she said.

  “Where were you headed?”

  He handed her some towels that he retrieved from the bathroom and she used it to dab at her wet face and shirt.

  “Further out west,” she replied, intentionally leaving out the state.

  He pulled off his leather jacket
and tossed it aside. Her eyes dropped to his blood stained shirt.

  “You’re bleeding,” she gasped.

  “It’s fine. The cut ain’t that deep. Are you gonna tell me your story?” he asked.

  “Depends. Are you gonna tell me yours?”

  He peeled off his wet shirt and tossed it in the wastebasket by the door. Her focus waned back and forth from the two-inch slash across his tight abs to the rest of the hardcore muscles and tattoos on his chest. These marks were more intricately designed than the Pack symbols on his arms and wrists. One mark stood out noticeably from the rest. Maybe because it looked natural. Not ink, but almost like a branding or birthmark, but she couldn’t be sure. The impression was shaped like a clover, with four leaves. He had so many tattoos, and she almost wondered if the marks themselves represented his own story. Among the markings were dozens of scars and old wounds. This wasn’t surprising to her. Wolves fought all the time and she’d been around enough of them to know that they fought hella dirty. Just like Garrett had fought off Simon's men to help her escape.

  “There’s not much to tell.” He shrugged. “I’m looking for a Beta. You have information about where I can find this Beta.”

  “Why didn’t you just let his men take me and follow along?”

  “When I caught you stealing from that safe, I was serious about what I said.”

  She placed her hands on her hips. “Let’s get this straight. I wasn’t stealing anything. What’s in that bag is mine. And before you get any ideas, there wasn’t any money in the safe.”

  “Were you expecting money to be in the safe?” he asked.

  She bit her lip, trying to process once again who else could have gotten into the safe beside her and her sister. They were the only ones with the key. The ledger and some of her dad’s documents were still there, but the bundle of cash was gone.

  “You were, weren’t you?” he asked, when she didn’t answer.

  “It’s none of your business,” she said. “I appreciate what you’ve done for me, but if you think that I’m going to lead you to Simon, you’re wrong. I don’t ever want to see that bastard again.”

  “Fair enough.”

  He tossed his head toward her handbag lying on the bed. An unmade bed. A bed that, apparently, he’d been sleeping in. She could tell. The whole room smelled of him—almond and a strong underlying manly scent. Two pairs of work boots and one duffle bag lay on the floor beside the bed. Was he living out of a motel? Why did he bring her here?