shook my head.
“Personal curiosity,” I explained. I knew some werecats used cliffs, ravines, and bodies of water to help mark their territory. Hasan’s island territory came to mind. He ‘owned’ it, beach to beach, on all sides, even though it definitely wasn’t a circle.
“Okay.” The human shrugged and backed away again. “Well, we can get moving when you want.”
I nodded to Heath, who just jerked his head. I followed him back to the car, and we loaded up. Once Haley’s truck started moving, we followed behind.
“They wanted to have nothing to do with this,” I announced blandly. “They’ll help us as much as they can, but they don’t trust us.”
“No, they don’t. I think they want answers as well. Not a bad thing since it puts us on the same side.”
The same side. I thought about it. Everyone seemed to be hoping they stayed on the same side now—the wolves, the werecats, and the humans. If any of this turned out that someone was at fault, the lines would start being drawn, and it was possible a war could break out. Sobering to think about, which was why I tried my damnedest not to think about it.
We followed behind the rangers for a long time until they stopped at a closed road. John jumped out, opened it up, and began to wave us through. We followed Haley, stopping for the man to jump back in the truck behind us with Gina after he closed the road again.
It was a gravel, potholed mess that ran switchbacks up the side of a mountain. I wasn’t sure how high we were going, but I popped my ears once, at least.
The road seemed to never end, but Haley stopped at a clear opening, and we pulled up next to her, rolling my window down as she did.
“We have a small service building up here. There’s no electricity, but we keep the four wheelers there, along with spare gas. I just wanted to check in on you.”
“We’re fine,” I called back. Haley nodded and continued the drive.
It was another thirty minutes of potholes and tight turns before we reached the secretive little service building. Three ATVs were parked there, and one dirt bike that made me excited. I jumped out before Heath had the chance to turn off the car and walked quickly toward it. It was an older model, but the same brand as mine. I would be able to drive it.
“So, we can haul you—”
“I’ll take this,” I told Haley, pointing at the bike. “I own one of my own.”
“You have no protective gear,” she pointed out. “Just ride with one of us like the werewolf has to.”
“I know how to use an ATV,” he said lightly, walking over. “Why don’t a couple of you get together, that way if we need to stay out longer, you aren’t stuck with us.”
Haley narrowed her eyes on him, then me. “When we come back, you are too. You aren’t taking our gear out there completely unaccounted for. You could get us fired.”
“Then we’ll check it out today and come back if we have to on foot,” I said, looking at Heath. “Let’s not lose their jobs for them.”
He shrugged. “I still want to drive my own. I don’t ride bitch. Haven’t in decades.”
“But you did have a pack member act as your driver,” I reminded him.
“I needed to concentrate on something else at the time.” He looked me over. “Like the werecat who had come to my city.”
I nearly blushed from the way his eyes trailed over me, looking away, hoping he wouldn’t notice. Once again, visions of a half-naked Heath danced in front of my mind’s eye. I shook my head jerkily, trying to dispel the thoughts.
“Fine, you two can do whatever you want.” Haley stomped into the building and brought out keys. She tossed me one and Heath another. I swung a leg over the bike and turned it on, giving it a minute. It was an old thing, but it would work. Heath revved the ATV he had jumped on. Haley grabbed another with John helping Gina onto the back of his.
“You’ll notice there’s no cellphone service out here, so be careful,” Gina called out from the back.
“We’ll be fine unless we go over a cliff,” Heath called back. Haley went first, and I took off to follow her. Heath, followed by John and Gina, was behind me. When we hit a bump, I lifted off my seat to better handle the