Jack waited impatiently for Gabby to show up with Sparrow. He saw Gabby’s truck coming up the drive and waved her down. They climb out of the truck and walk up the drive. He stared at Sparrow, watching the sway of her hips, thinking about how he wanted to caress her curves. He shook his head. He really needed to get his brain out of his dick.
“Glad you could join us ladies. Last night there was an incident and Charise was kidnapped by her stalker, Ares. She was retrieved unharmed, mostly, and Freya would like our help canvassing the area. Sparrow, since you’re a PUA agent I figured you would be able to help her investigate the cabin.”
“I hate to break it to you but anything I find would be just circumstantial evidence due to the fact that I am an EX agent.”
“At this point I don’t think anyone cares.” He looked at Gabby. “You’ll be searching the surrounding area with me and the rest of the clans. The Ursus Clan and Shanbeel Pride are also helping with the search. Look for anything out of the ordinary.”
Gabby nodded and took off into the forest. Sparrow thought about all the protocols that were being broken but when push comes to shove she guessed it didn’t matter. She looked at Jack and found him staring at her, his eyes filled with a searing heat.
“You going to show me where this cabin is or are you going to drag me off to some secluded meadow to have your wicked way with me?”
He stared at her in shock. He wasn’t sure if she was serious or joking but his cock was in agreement with her suggestion. He grabbed her and pulled her close, smirking at her wide eyed look. “Don’t tempt me. I might just take you up on it.” He could faintly smell the sweet aroma of her arousal wafting in the air. “Let’s go help Freya before I really do drag you off and do all the wicked things my cat has been clamoring for me to do.” He turned on his heel and walked away.
Sparrow stared at him in confusion. Where was the asshat that she met when she came to town? Maybe he had a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde complex. Wait. Didn’t they call that bipolarism? Maybe. Was that a word?
She shook her head. He had flustered her and now she was becoming scatterbrained. She jogged to catch up to him. “So…” She tried to think of what she was going to say but lost all train of thought as he turned to look at her. “Dammit stop looking at me.”
He burst out laughing. “Why?”
“You’re making me scatterbrained.”
He continued laughing. She really was something else. She was kind of like a firecracker. Slow to fizzle with a sudden bang when she got angry or thrown off balance. The cabin came into sight and he quickened his pace chuckling as she ran to keep up.
“You’re an ass,” she said when they reached the front steps.
“Have to keep you from thinking I’m a gentleman.”
She watched him speculatively. “I think you are a gentleman. You just don’t want anyone knowing. Might ruin your rap as a badass alpha male.”
She was definitely smarter than she looked. He would have to watch what he said and did around her. He didn’t need her thinking he could be tamed. He knocked on the cabin door and waited for Freya to answer.
The door swung open revealing Freya’s somewhat frazzled appearance. She motioned them in as she stepped back. “Watch where you step.”
She turned and handed Sparrow a set of latex gloves. “Thanks for coming. The sheriff has decided that since this was a shifter crime this is a shifter matter. He is leaving us to it. But the only person that can help me is Sparrow. I am making you a temporary Council agent.”
Sparrow nodded in understanding and pulled the gloves on.
“I will leave you ladies to it. If you need me I will be helping search the surrounding area.” Jack turned and left leaving them alone.
“The unsub held Charise in there until she was rescued by her mates. I have found several hairs of varying colors and length. We won’t know if they are all from one person or multiples until I get them to a forensics lab. If you want to start in the bedroom, I’ll finish here in the living room.” Freya handed Sparrow a small forensics kit and headed to the far end of the main room of the cabin.
Sparrow walked into the bedroom and began looking for evidence. She found several hairs along with a few pieces of jewelry that were not characteristically worn by men. Unless they were cross-dressers. She picked up a ring and her breath caught in her throat. “Is the cabin privately owned or a rental?”
“According to my intel it is a privately owned cabin on 20 acres of property that has been in the Ursus family for the last five generations.”
“What about his mother? Alive or dead? Any sisters?”
Freya came into the room, stopping just inside the door. “Mother’s dead. No sisters. Why? Did you find something?’
“The loving touches around this room. Doilies on the nightstands, a vase of flowers, accent rugs. Men don’t usually think about things like that. He wasn’t a drag queen was he?”
Freya shook her head. “From what everyone has told me he was completely heterosexual but maybe he hadn’t come out about his sexuality.”
“Then we might be looking at multiple victims. I found these around the room.” She held up varying pieces of jewelry.
Freya picked up a bracelet. “This belongs to Camia Johnson. It was in the picture her mother gave me.”
“And this belongs to my sister.” She held up the ring. “Dad gave this to her when she graduated high school.”
“Your sister’s name is Robyn right?” At Sparrow’s nod she continued. “Gabriella told me about why you moved to town. I’m sorry that you had to move here just to find out what happened to her.”
“Didn’t you do the same thing?” Sparrow arched her brow knowingly. She had worked many cases that ended up going cold or that were deemed not important.
Freya chuckled. “Yeah I did. I guess I was also looking for a home for my pack and now the thought of leaving Millersburg just doesn’t sit right.”
They placed their evidence in bags and finished looking around the cabin. They found more hairs and jewelry but it was the blood stain they found under the living room couch that really unsettled them. Jack returned to the cabin as they were finishing up.
“There’s a warehouse just to the south of here. We can smell blood emanating from it. My men investigated it further and found what looks like a makeshift fight ring.”
Freya nodded. “Have your men stakeout the place and see if anyone comes back. If someone does do not apprehend them. We need to see if they can lead us to the missing women.”
“Women?” He only knew of Charise being taken. How many others had the sick bastard taken?
“Two confirmed with possibly more. I won’t know until I get my evidence to forensics. One of the confirmed is Sparrow’s sister Robyn.” Freya put the evidence and kits in her truck and pulled out a roll of crime scene tape and padlock. She was oblivious to the tenseness growing around her.
Jack looked at Sparrow. She hadn’t told him about a missing sister. But then he hadn’t really given her a chance to talk to him without him being an ass. Hell. Looked like he might be apologizing for being a horse’s ass. “Sister?”
Sparrow sighed and stepped off the porch. She walked down the drive towards Gabby’s truck but was deterred by Jack when he led her over to his. “My sister disappeared six months ago from this area. No one believes that she wouldn’t just take off like this.”
He helped her into the truck and got in. He revved the engine and pulled out of the drive. “I’m sorry that your sister was taken.”
She nodded. If only she had come with her sister maybe they would both be at home right now. But as her mother used to say, everything happens for a reason. “At least now I know she didn’t run away. I just wish I had gone with her like I was supposed to.”
“Why didn’t you?” He may be an ass but he was curious about the woman that drew him. He wanted to know everything he could about her. Well almost everything because women had to have secrets just like men. Hopefully his didn’t scare her too much.
“On my last assignment I was shot while looking into a rape case. I caught a silver bullet in the hip, shattering my pelvic bone. The doctor’s pinned my hip back together but couldn’t get all the silver out. I ended up a desk jockey because of the pain when I shift.” She absently rubbed at her hip, still feeling the lingering pain. “What should have only taken a couple of months to heal ended up taking eight. Robyn and I were supposed to come down here for some sister time but since I was injured I couldn’t come. She wanted to just stay at home and look after me. We had already paid for our cabin and on such short notice they wouldn’t refund our money. I told her to come down and have fun. Meet new people. Party.” She looked up at him with pain filled eyes. “I never thought about the danger she could have been in. I am a federal agent and I know about the dangers out there but I guess I always thought that nothing would ever happen to my family.”
“You didn’t know this would have happened.” He grabbed her hand, smoothing his thumb over her soft skin. “We will find her.”
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.” She smiled sadly at him. He really was trying to not be an asshat. He pulled into the parking lot of Wolf Haven, turning towards her after cutting the engine. If only things were different. But if they were she most likely would’ve never have met him.
She looked so cute when she was deep in thought. He leaned across the space separating them and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. It felt like silk. Would her tiger’s fur feel the same way? He had never felt like this with anyone else before. Could she be…
He inhaled her scent, the harsh acrid smell of her suppressant was gone and in its place was the smell of fresh meadows and strawberries. She was a tiger shifter. His tiger growled as the need to claim her washed over him.
He clenched his teeth as he felt his incisors lengthen. Thank God she wasn’t looking at him at the moment or he would have looked weird as hell fighting with his inner beast. Turning into an oversized prehistoric tiger inside his truck would not have been a good thing. He would have squished her and possibly broken his truck. Fat ass cat.
His tiger snarled at him.
Sparrow turned to thank him for bringing her home. She saw his eyes flash in the darkness and felt her tiger purr. He was still an ass even though he had been nice to her. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of adding a notch to his bed post tonight.
“Thank you for bringing me home.” She opened the truck door. “I’ll see you tomorrow at work.”
He grabbed her hand before she could climb out. “I’ll pick you up in the morning. We have a lot to talk about.” Like finding a secluded spot along the road or going back to his lair and claiming her. But why didn’t she feel the connection? She was a shifter so why didn’t she acknowledge that he was her mate?
She narrowed her eyes and watched him curiously. “Ok in the morning then.” She climbed from the truck. “Goodnight Jack.” She closed the door and walked into Wolf Haven.
He watched her ass jiggle with each step. This woman called to both the man and beast. “Goodnight kitten.” He would be claiming her soon. But would she accept him as her mate?
Taming An Alpha is available for sale on Amazon.
Alice Frost 