Feral (Wolf Ranch #3) - Renee Rose Page 0,60

talking.”

“You don’t want to kill me,” I said, my voice sounding more stable than I expected, even though my heart was beating double time and sweat dripped down my back. “You definitely don’t want to add a murder charge to trafficking of narcotics.”

“Oh, I’m not going to kill you. You’re right. I don’t need that kind of rap. I’m going to give you to Murrieta for his flesh trade. He has a special affinity for white women. Especially those he feels have crossed him. Torture is his specialty.” Markle gazed down at me with cruelty in his expression. Issuing threats had calmed him, though. The gun was steady now in his hand. He’d regained his footing.

That meant I was in big trouble.

27

ROB

I knew immediately Natalie—Willow—wasn’t in the house. I would’ve heard her breathing. Hell, even her pulse. Now that I’d made the choice that she was to be mine… officially, my wolf was attuned to her. Or the lack of her.

Her scent was in the air around the exterior of the house but not strong. There was a distinct path of the scent. She rarely used the front door. My wolf picked her up going in and out of the back door more. I followed across the back porch and back down the steps, across the grass and toward—

“Fuck,” I said, cutting through the night. She was at Markle’s.

I knew it. My wolf knew it. It was after eleven. Unless she was at his place to fuck, she was there for work. I didn’t even give the first any thought. I’d satisfied her. She didn’t need Markle for that. Besides, now that I could see past my anger at her secrets, I knew she would never cheat. She’d been just as invested in us as I’d been.

No. She was over at Markle’s because of her fucking job. Which meant she was all alone. The DEA didn’t send someone undercover unless they had just cause. That meant they had something on Markle. Something big enough that warranted constant surveillance. Even having someone pose as a friendly next-door neighbor and offer wine in order to get intel.

It was easy to follow her path. A human could have followed the knocked down grass in the moonlight, but my wolf followed her scent. Strong and leading me right to her. Right to Markle’s fancy new barn.

My wolf hearing picked up the voices even before I could see inside. The air was still, and I couldn’t miss their words.

“You don’t want to kill me,” Willow said. “You definitely don’t want to add a murder charge to trafficking of narcotics.”

Oh shit. Markle had found her. Or knew she wasn’t just a hot neighbor.

“Oh, I’m not going to kill you,” Markle countered. “You’re right. I don’t need that kind of rap. I’m going to give you to Murrieta for his flesh trade. He has a special affinity for white women. Especially those he feels have crossed him. Torture is his specialty.”

My wolf snarled. I saw red. It took all my will to keep from shifting right there. My mate was being threatened. Not just threatened, worse. But I needed to keep my head because Markle had a gun, and my mate wouldn’t survive a bullet.

I had no fucking idea who Murrieta was, but the words flesh trade and torture stood out. I’d thought Markle was an asshole neighbor for putting his cattle on the Shefield land.

I’d been blind to how evil he really was. Willow wanted to bring him down. Hell, the federal government did.

Now I did, too. There was no fucking way he was going to be breathing much longer.

I went to the barn door, staying in the shadows to peer inside. Willow was on her knees, Markle standing above her with a gun to her head. My wolf shoved to the surface again, trying to take control. He needed to save her, but I shoved him back down. The gun held me back from tearing out his throat with my fangs. If I startled him, he could shoot her in a second.

I had to redirect him away from her. I was a wolf. He could shoot me full of holes like Swiss cheese, and I’d heal. I looked around on the ground, found a small rock. I tossed it into the barn but lobbed it hard so that it hit well past them.

The thunk was loud when it hit the floor, both Markle and Willow whipping their heads toward the sound, their gazes away from