Page 4 of Primal

Rob frowned. So did I.

“What does that mean?” I asked.

“She was into me,” Tyler said, glancing between us. “I’m not a player or anything, but I know when agirl’s interested. She was. She put out all the signs. Then we kissed.”

“So you went for her even though you knew she was not your mate? You let your dick do the thinking?” Rob asked.

I understood what it was like to have my dick do my thinking for me. Usually, if I wanted sex, I went for a she-wolf. Could I go for a human? I could, and had, especially with the easy pickings owning a bar. Every woman thought a bartender was hot when she’d had a few drinks. I didn’t take advantage of a woman who’d been drinking, but hookups were inevitable. I couldn’t be too hard on Tyler, considering.

“You’ll know,” Rob said with authority, not only as an alpha but as a shifter who’d found his mate.

I couldn’t agree because I didn’t know.

“So you were looking for a little fun and would’ve found it if a mountain lion hadn’t messed things up?” I asked.

Tyler ran a hand over the back of his neck, and a twig fell to the carpet. His gaze dropped. “Well, no. Because it was bad. The kiss, I mean.”

“You mean she’s a bad kisser?” A slow grin spread across Rob’s face.

Tyler shook his head, then frowned. “No. It wasn’tright. I felt nothing. Maybe even a little weirded out. Like kissing a sister, if I had one.”

Rob’s grin dropped to a scowl. “What did she think?”

“Oh, she was weirded out by the kiss, too, but not for long because…” He circled his finger in the air. “Mountain lion. Then me shifting into a wolf. She wasdefinitelyweirded out by that.”

“Where is she now?” Rob asked.

“She ran.”

“Ran?”

“Yeah. After I healed enough to move, I hiked the trail all the way to the head, but there was no sign of her. It was probably a good thing, too, because I was pretty much naked. Even I know no female–human or shifter–wants to be stalked by a naked guy.”

“Where is she now?” Rob repeated.

Tyler shrugged then winced. “I know what you’re asking. I wouldn’t have left her.” He flicked his gaze to me. “Dad would kick my ass worse than the mountain lion if I ditched her.”

I nodded because I would kick his ass if he didn’t treat a female right. Whether a kiss was good or not, he needed to make sure she was home safebefore moving on.

“Butsheleftme,” Tyler continued.“Her car was gone from the parking lot where we met. Like I said, it wasn’t like I could chase after her with my balls hanging out.”

“He called me, and I met him at my house for him to get clothes, then we came right here,” I told Rob.

“We have an unmatedhumanwho knows you’re a shifter.” Rob laid it out there with one sentence. “Out in Cooper Valley. Freaked and definitely not your mate.”

“Yes.”

“Pack law says we kill her,” Rob said evenly.

What the?—

Tyler popped to his feet, wobbled a little, but held his ground. “What? No way! I was protecting her. It’s not like I could have kept my wolf from doing everything it could to keep her safe. She doesn’t deserve todiebecause of that!”

“Don’t shout at your alpha,” I warned him, even though I agreed.

Rob held up a hand. “No. He’s good,” he said to me. Then his gaze shifted to my son, and the corners of his lips ticked up. “I’m proud of you, Tyler. You did the right thing. She’s safe and unharmed, and that’s all that matters. But now your father’s right. We do have aproblem. Especially if she’s already told her dad what happened.”

“You’re not going to kill her?” Tyler practically squeaked.