Page 5 of Squirrel Hunt

“You have to eat, Dahy. And we have to get you some clothes. You can’t walk around like that.” She looked at him in the rearview mirror again. “Send me a text with your sizes, and I’ll swing by the thrift store tomorrow after work.”

“You don’t have to—” She’d already done way more than he’d ever expected her to.

“I know you’re hiding and staying in the cabin for a few days is probably a good idea to make sure no one followed you here or spotted us when we were in town, but you have to have clothes. What if you need to run again? You can’t run in too-big Crocs.”

He was amazed how she accepted he was on the run but didn’t ask from whom or if it put her in danger. Damn, he hoped he didn’t put her in danger. “I wouldn’t run in Crocs if I had to run.” He’d shift if it was a life-or-death situation, but he preferred it if he could get away before then.

“Right. I always forget you can shift.” She shook her head and indicated a turn into a gravel road. “But you can’t shift in the middle of town, so if they caught up with you there, you’d have to run in ugly yellow Crocs.”

“What’s wrong with yellow?” He looked at his feet. They were ugly and his feet were clumps of ice.

She snorted. “I expect that text right away, mister.”

He grabbed his phone and sent her a text. He didn’t know how he’d ever repay her if she got him things, but shoes would be nice.

“We’re here.” She stopped the car outside a picturesque little red cabin.

“Cute.”

“Yeah…I was shocked when Roan brought me here. It’s cute and nice inside, and Farris is…I’d have believed him to be an escaped convict had I seen him on the street.”

“Nice.” He wondered what she thought he was.

She chuckled. “I’m sure he’s nice but looks can be deceiving.” She undid her seatbelt. “Come on now.” She hopped out of the car, buzzing with energy while exhaustion clung to Dahy.

Chapter 3

Konrad poured himself a glass of red wine while he stared at the meat sizzling in the pan. His skin was tight and a sense of unease curled in his gut. There was no reason for it. Nothing indicated there were any threats to the pack, business was running as usual, and no one had reported anything out of the ordinary.

He checked on the roasted potatoes in the oven and stirred the Béarnaise sauce he’d made from scratch. Good food was one of life’s true pleasures. He wished he’d have someone to share the meal with, but things got complicated when he invited people. He hadn’t met his mate, taking a lover brought on more problems than he was willing to deal with, and inviting someone over for dinner as a friend often resulted in them believing they’d get a say in how to run the pack.

Maybe he should take a page out of Roan’s book and date a human, but his life wasn’t normal. Wolves dropped by at any hour of the day, in both forms. It would be hard to explain to a human why wolves came trotting up to his cabin.

Nah, he’d enjoy his meal as best he could. The wine was amazing, and the scent of the meat had his stomach growling. He took the potatoes out of the oven and put them on a plate, placed the meat next to them, and poured the sauce over. Right as he was about to sit by the table, his phone rang.

Fuck. He gave his plate a longing look and picked up. “Konrad speaking.”

“Hi, eh…it’s Amir.”

“Yes?”

“I’m heading into the bar—” Amir worked at The Howling Moon, a wolf-owned bar in town. “—and I passed Farris’ cabin on the way.”

Konrad swallowed a groan. “Yes?”

“He told me he’d be out of town for some time, but there’s a light on.”

“Yes, there’s a human woman staying there for a few days. Don’t approach, she’s a little spooked.”

“Oh…What happened?”

Konrad didn’t have a clue. “It’s a friend of Myka’s, Roan’s mate. She needed a place to stay for a few days, some trouble at home. I agreed to let her stay in Farris’ cabin since he won’t be back for a couple of weeks.” Or months, depending on how the infiltration went.

“Okay, I figured I’d let you know.”

Konrad nodded; his gaze glued to the meat on his plate. “Yeah, thank you.”

“No problem. Have a good night.” Amir ended the call, and Konrad put away the phone and grabbed the cutlery. He put the fork in the meat and angled the knife to cut when the phone buzzed in his pocket again.