Animal Instincts (4 page)

“W-who was that?” Ann Marie asked, her eyes widening again, her skin pale. She clutched her coffee mug as if for support.

“One of my partners.” Drew snorted in disgust. “You and his wife are about the same size, so she’ll bring something for you to change into.”

“That’s very nice of her. And you.”

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Desiree Holt

22

He gave her his slow smile again and reached across the table, letting his hand rest on one of her wrists. “I want you to feel comfortable, okay?”

She nodded, giving him a shy answering smile.

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Desiree Holt

23

The Sentinels arrived at Hawk’s Run Ranch about two o’clock. Two black SUVs pulled into the gravel area and nine people piled out and trooped to the front porch of the ranch house. Alerted by the electronic sensors on the driveway, Drew stood waiting for them in the open doorway.

“You know Mack and Kelsey are still tied up on a case in Maine,” Brian Spencer reminded him.

Drew nodded. Kelsey Bryant had met Mack Renfield while taking some time off at Luke and Sierra’s cabin in the Maine woods. Mack, too, was a shifter, as were three of his friends who lived in the area. Their story was similar to that of the other Sentinels. They lived in Mack’s hundred year old house and ran what was loosely called the northern office, assisted frequently by Luke and Sierra.

“I remember,” Drew told him.

Sierra was the first one up the steps. She was grinning, and her eyes sparkled with mischief. “Okay. Where is she?”

“In good time,” Drew said, trying to keep his usually impassive expression on his face.

“Come on. You can’t hide her forever.” Luke was right behind his wife.

“Besides,” Sierra added, “I’m the one with the clothes.” She held up a small duffel bag.

Ann Marie had begged Drew to let her stay in his room until she was properly dressed, and he’d agreed she’d feel more comfortable that way. Now he deftly grabbed the duffel and headed out of the room.

“There’s coffee ready,” he called over his shoulder. “See you in a few.”

Ann Marie was sitting in the middle of his bed cross-legged, nibbling her lower lip.

Drew felt his cock harden at the sight of her.
He
wanted to nibble on his lower lip, but unfortunately that would have to wait. He put the small duffel on the bed, leant down and touched his mouth to hers, a reassuring kiss rather than a passionate one.

“Everything will be fine,” he told her. “Sierra brought you something to wear besides my underwear. You’re about the same size so you should be fine.”

Ann Marie unzipped the canvas bag. “My god, she even brought me lingerie.”

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24

Drew grinned. “She’s very thorough.”

It took less than five minutes for Ann Marie to dress in the jeans and long-sleeved t-shirt Sierra had provided. She borrowed Drew’s comb to tame her hair into some kind of manageable style and turned so he could see her.

“Okay?” she asked nervously.

“Better than fine. Come on. Let’s get out there and get down to business.”

When he led her into the dining room where the others were all seated around the table, he draped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close in an obviously possessive gesture.

“Meet Ann Marie Knight. She has a very interesting story to tell.”

As the others greeted her, Drew pulled out a chair for her at the table, filled two mugs with coffee and handed one to her as he sat down beside her.

“Brian Spencer.” Brian leaned across the table, hand extended. “Good to meet you.”

“Same here.” She shook his hand.

Brian introduced the others, then shifted his gaze back to her. “Can I ask how you ended up here? Not just in this area, but at this ranch.”

Drew reached over and squeezed her hand as she took a fortifying swallow of coffee.

Then she launched into her history, the journey she and her brother had made to get to Texas and what was happening now.

“I came to the ranch because I need help, and I knew the illegal preserve wasn’t on this land,” she explained. “I’ve covered enough territory to at least know that. I figured I’d start here.”

“How did you plan to explain the fact that they captured your brother as a wolf?” Luke wanted to know.

She shrugged. “I hadn’t gotten that far yet. And at that particular moment I was running from hunters on horseback who were intent on wounding me. I was shocked that they chased me onto Drew’s property.”

“Wounding you?” Cale Martin, sitting at one end of the table, leant forward. “I thought they’d want to kill you.”

She shook her head. “Part of their so-called fun is wounding or maiming their prey, letting them heal just enough, then setting them loose to be hunted.”

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Luke Spencer slammed his hand on the table. “That’s what I’d heard, but I hate to think people would actually do that.”

His brother’s eyes darkened. “Humans can be more vicious than animals,” he pointed out. “We all know that first hand.”

“Someone was guiding you,” Sierra smiled. “Whatever force it was led you to the only shifter in the area. And us.”

Ann Marie turned to Drew, the look in her eyes doing funny things to his gut. “And especially Drew,” she said in her soft voice.

“I just think it’s damn strange,” Luke pointed out, “that whoever it was on those horses had the balls to come onto your property, Drew.”

“I had the same thought,” he agreed. “We’re all usually pretty careful about crossing each other’s boundaries without an invitation.”

“All right,” Brain said. “We may have our answer to that when we find what we’re looking for. So let’s get down to business. Ann Marie, any knowledge you can contribute will be greatly appreciated.”

“And you’ll help me find and free my brother?”

Drew felt the tension radiating from her body and pulled one of her hands into his.

“I can promise you we’ll do everything we can.” It was the first time Regan had spoken.

She looked at Brian, her husband, who nodded agreement. “We just have to pray that he’s still alive, but if he is, we’ll find a way to get him out.”

Brian reached into the briefcase he’d set next to his chair and pulled out a sheaf of papers. “Okay, folks, here are the aerial maps of the area I pulled off Google Earth. I circled the sections with the largest spreads that could possibly hide something like an illegal preserve.”

As he spread them out on the table, they heard the crunch of tires in the gravel parking area.

“You expecting someone else, Drew?” Cale asked.

“Absolutely not.” He pushed away from the table. “Let me check this out.

Who the hell would show up here unannounced?

It was a well-known fact in the county as well as the cattlemen’s association that he was an antisocial loner. He’d cultivated that reputation both because he didn’t have any use for ANIMAL INSTINCTS

Desiree Holt

26

most people and to ensure his privacy as a shifter. When he opened the door he saw Grant Mason and Axel Grisham climbing out of Mason’s double cab black pickup.

Closing the door behind him, he stepped off the porch to meet them.

“Something I can do for you gentlemen?” he asked, keeping his voice flat and uninflected.

Grisham pasted his politician’s smile on his face. “Now Drew, aren’t you going to ask us in for a cup of coffee?”

“I would, except I’m a little busy right now.” He studied both men. “I don’t remember the last time either of you stopped by to pay a social call here. What’s up?”

“No need to get huffy, Noland.” Mason looked at the two SUVs in the parking area.

“Got company, do you? Isn’t that a little unusual, too?”

“Not that it’s any of your business but some of my associates are here for a meeting.”

Drew planted himself directly in the path to the porch steps.

“Oh?” Mason stared at him. “What kind of associates would that be? I didn’t know you had any other business than Hawk’s Run Ranch.”

“Let’s just cut to the chase.” Drew curbed his impatience. “Exactly what is it you’re doing here?”

The two men looked at each other, then Mason took one step forward.

“We’re trying to get more information on that illegal game preserve people were talking about at the meeting,” he said. “You know, I saw you there the other night.”

Drew raised an eyebrow. “And you think
I
know something about it?”

“Oh, no.” Grisham, always in political mode, rushed to placate him. “But we’re making personal calls at most of the ranches to see if anyone has any idea where it could be. We’re also getting some small groups together to go out tonight and see what we can find. We hoped you’d join us.”

Yeah, right.

“Sorry. I don’t have any suggestions. You might consider contacting the game warden, though. Doesn’t he have jurisdiction over things like this?”

Mason spat on the gravel. “That jackass. We’re better off without him.” He looked at Drew. “So how about it?”

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“As I said, I’m busy. My guests will be here for a day or so and that pretty much takes up my time.” He looked from one man to the other. “Aren’t you afraid whoever this is might get a little violent and take a shot at you?”

Mason shook his head. “We’ll be armed and smart. Sure you can’t spare a couple of hours?”

“No. Not today.”

The rancher studied his face with a hard look in his eyes. “You know, Noland, you ought to think about being a little more sociable now and then.”

“I’ll think about it.” Drew shoved his hands in his pockets. Something was off here, but he wasn’t sure exactly what. He needed to run this past the others. “Sorry to rush you, but I have business to get back to.”

“Maybe you’ll change your mind,” Grisham said, climbing into the passenger seat of the truck cab. “Call us if you do. We’ll be gathering at Grant’s place.”

Drew watched them drive back towards the road with narrowed eyes. Those two had a bug up their asses about something. He sure as hell wished he knew what. When they had finally reached the two-lane road, he turned and went back into the house.

Someone had started a new pot of coffee, and everyone at the table was poring over the aerial shots Brian had laid out.

“I marked the places in each area that would be the best places to conceal the kind of preserve we’re looking for,” he told Drew, then pointed to the large white paper unfolded beneath the photos. “Underneath them is an enlarged surveyor’s map.”

Ann Marie looked up at him. “I told Brian he can eliminate three of the target areas,”

she said. “I’ve been out running every night since John and I got here. Since he…disappeared, I’ve searched there very thoroughly.”

“Good.” Brian took the three photos and stuck them back in his briefcase.

As Drew went to refill his mug before taking his seat again, his phone rang.

“Damn,” he muttered. “Now what?” He picked up the receiver. “Hawk’s Run Ranch.”

“Noland? Bo Sheridan here.”

Shit. These people are driving me crazy, today.

He gritted his teeth. “What can I do for you, Bo? I’m a little busy right now.”

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“Grant Mason tells me he stopped by to get you to join our hunt, and you turned him down. What’s going on with you?” Sheridan demanded. “You can’t be that much of a loner.

This affects you, too, you know.”

“I think you’ll have enough people without me,” Drew answered, trying to tamp down his irritation. “I have something else going on right now.”

Silence hummed across the connection.

“Maybe you’re staying home to protect something you don’t want us to see.”

Sheridan’s voice had a sly tone to it.

Drew gripped the phone until his knuckles whitened. “Are you accusing me of something? Because if you are, just let it out.”

“Now don’t get all huffy,” Sheridan protested. “I’m just saying if you got nothing to hide you need to join up with us.”

“I think y’all can manage without me. Besides, I have a business meeting going on that will probably last for a couple of days. Now if you don’t mind, I have things to take care of.”

He slammed the receiver back in the cradle, took his coffee and dropped into his seat next to Ann Marie. “I swear those bastards are up to something, but damned if I can figure out what.”

“You think any or all of them might be our illegal hunter?” Regan asked.

Drew shrugged. “I’d say no, although I could be wrong. But these guys are just too high profile to risk something like that.”

“I don’t know.” Regan shook her head. “I’ve seen too many people like that who think they can get away with anything.”

Brian’s wife was a prosecutor in Bexar County.

“Yeah,” Cale agreed. “And how often do these guys call you or come around? You tell us all the time that you don’t interact with people around here. For obvious reasons.”

Drew nodded. “That’s why I think something’s up. But I have a hard time accepting the fact that anyone of them is running something this despicable.” He took a swallow of coffee.

“Meanwhile, we need to get on with business here.”

“I agree.” Brian moved the photos so the map underneath was visible. “Drew, give us some more information on these three areas. Then we’ll assign teams and decide what time to head out. We need a strategy so we’re not caught while we’re snooping.”

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“Then let’s get to it, Drew said.

They finished hashing out the plans over dinner. Ann Marie was relieved at the way Drew’s friends had accepted her so willingly and made her feel comfortable. She was glad she’d been able to contribute something. It made asking for favours a lot easier.

“Thank you for the clothes,” she told Sierra. “I really appreciate it.”

“My pleasure.” Sierra smiled at her. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Drew this protective of a woman before.”