Moon Shifter 02 - Primal Possession

Her red hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail and December couldn’t be sure, but she thought the petite she-wolf had some kind of weapons underneath her thick down jacket. She hadn’t taken her coat off all morning and December knew that shifters weren’t as affected by the cold as humans.
    She lifted an eyebrow at the she-wolf. “What does it look like?”
    Erin’s eyes narrowed. “You’re supposed to keep your shop open.”
    She began turning off the front lights. “Yeah, well, things change. I can’t stay here working while my brother is in the hospital and my best friend is missing. This is insane.” She’d already gotten more than a few comments from locals who’d stopped by to see why she had her shop open. And they were right. She shouldn’t be here. Her brother was recovering from a gunshot wound and everyone now knew that Kat had been taken. Of course no oneknew by whom or why except Liam’s pack. The cops were doing all they could, but they had no leads either.
    “Liam’s going to be pissed.” Erin’s voice was wary.
    “I don’t really care. He’s not here.” And he’d seen fit to keep her in the dark about a lot of stuff.
    Erin shrugged, then sighed. “What do you need to do to close up?”
    She nodded to the line of lights on the far wall. “Turn those off and I’m going to run my daily report.”
    The shifter who had been watching the store all morning from outside knocked on the front door, so Erin let him in. December glanced up from the cash register but ignored the curious look he gave her and Erin. Let the she-wolf explain it.
    As December finished running her report, she vaguely heard Erin telling the other shifter what was going on. When she finished, she set the alarm and locked up. The moment she slid into the passenger seat of Erin’s truck, she called Liam.
    “What’s wrong?” His deep voice was concerned.
    “Nothing, but we’re coming back to the ranch.”
    “Why?”
    “Because being here is stupid. Whoever took Kat got what they want. They’re not going to be hanging around town. I want to help. And if I can’t, I’m going back to the hospital. I’ll just wait around until Parker decides to pull his head out of his ass.” The words spilled from her like a waterfall.
    Liam cursed but quickly acquiesced. Probably because he knew he had no choice. “Fine, but I won’t be here when you get back.”
    “Where are you going?”
    He hesitated, then said, “I can’t tell you.”
    “Why not?” This whole secrecy stuff would never fly with her. Not with important stuff.
    “It’s better that you don’t know. We might have a lead on where they took Kat.”
    “I can help
search
at least.” She might not have his capabilities, but she wasn’t helpless. And more than once she’d helped in county searches for missing kids who’d simply gotten lost in the woods or mountains.
    “This isn’t up for discussion. As soon as we leave, we’re going dark. No communication. Nothing. I don’t know how long we’ll be gone.” He sounded so matter-of-fact it was maddening.
    “Liam—”
    “I’m sorry, December, but I’ve got to go.” Then he disconnected.
    She seethed as she stared at her silent cell phone. For a moment she thought about calling him back but knew it was pointless.
    “He’s just trying to protect you.” Erin’s soft voice cut through the quiet interior of the vehicle.
    December waited a moment to see if the male shifter sitting in the back would finally speak, but he was wisely silent. “Yeah, well, he has a dumb way of showing it.”
    She snorted softly. “Don’t they all.”
    Liam hated the way he’d ended the phone conversation with December, but he didn’t have time to explain anything. Ryan had finally cracked part of the flash drive and they had to take immediate action. So far they had two pages of names and addresses of active APL members. Including active safe houses.
    He wasn’t sure why the Taylor guy living in the trailer park had this information, but if he had to guess, he’d probably planned to use it as blackmail. He was likelydead now, though. Liam hoped he was. It would save him the trouble later. Since that bastard had tried to attack December after their date, he’d fallen off the radar. No credit card activity whatsoever. He might have another alias, but so far Ryan hadn’t been able to find one.
    Connor zipped up his coat as he stepped out onto the front porch, where Liam and Jayce waited. “Are your