whole way over I did my best to push the uneasiness away, but it still licked at my belly, whispering that something wasn’t right.
But was that “something” the ranch, my boss, or maybe the vet I was meeting for drinks?
CHAPTER 5
Cole
I caught her scent before I even turned around on my barstool. Madison. I could tell by the faint smell of livestock that she’d come straight from the farm. No human would’ve noticed, but I wasn’t human.
When I looked at her, she smiled and came over to me. “Sorry I’m late.”
“Long day at the ranch?”
“How did you know?” Her eyes narrowed slightly, as if she was sizing me up.
I shrugged. Even if she’d known I was a werewolf, I was smart enough not to tell her she smelled like manure. Not my first rodeo. “Just guessing since you were a few minutes late.” I paused, taking in her wary expression. “Are you all right?”
She huffed out a breath and took the stool beside me. “I think I’ve been binge-watching too much 20/20 or something.” She looked up at Ryker, our bartender and probably the largest werewolf in our pack, and said, “Can I get a Screaming Orgasm?” She paused and added, “In a big glass?”
“Sure.” Ryker nodded and started mixing.
Her drink order turned my head. Our pack owned the Wolf Pack Bar, and I’d tended it a few times. Enough to know she’d ordered a cocktail with vodka, Baileys, and Kahlúa, but hearing her say the word orgasm had parts of me imagining things I had no business thinking about. I studied her profile, reminding myself again that this woman with full lips, bright-blue eyes, and sun kisses across her pert nose was also Chandler’s sister. She was off-limits. But there was no harm in appreciating a beautiful woman. I could look.
I cleared my throat, wrapping my fingers around the cold glass in front of me. “Rough day?”
“Not really.” She shook her head and searched my eyes. “How well do you know Deidra Harlow?”
I blinked, my hackles rising. “How do you know her?”
She tipped her head like I was jerking her chain. “She owns Serenity Farms.”
Fuck. The checks to my clinic were only signed by the ranch manager. I hadn’t known who actually owned the place, and I hadn’t cared. Until now. Chandler’s sister was working for the head of Evolution Defense, the same company that had tried to kidnap my Alpha’s toddler and had secretly used Wendy’s DNA for super soldier research.
This couldn’t be a coincidence. No way.
I finished off my beer and pushed the glass forward. “Can I get another Blue Moon, Ryker?”
“Sure thing,” he called over his shoulder.
I looked at Madison. “Deidra Harlow is a biochemist in Phoenix. I wasn’t aware she owned a ranch in Sedona.”
Madison rested her elbow on the bar. “So you weren’t the one who told her my brother lives in Arizona?”
I felt like I couldn’t catch up with her thought process. Did she think I had talked to her boss?
I shook my head. “I’ve never spoken to her. Why?”
Ryker delivered her drink, and she sucked that thing down like a pro. Damn.
She set the glass down and turned my way. “You’ve never spoken to her?”
The woman who was trying to get werewolf DNA from my Alpha’s toddlers? No fucking way had I ever talked to her. But I couldn’t tell Chandler’s sister that.
“Nope. I didn’t even know she owned the ranch until just now,” I said as Ryker brought me a fresh beer. “Are you sure you didn’t say something to her? You seemed pretty excited about the babies yesterday.”
“Babies? As in plural?” She chuckled and shook her head. “God, I hope it’s not twins. Poor Chandler won’t know what hit him.”
Dammit. Chandler hadn’t told me Madison didn’t know Wendy was having twins. Shifters were always born in sets of twin boys. The shifter gene was carried on the Y chromosome and was only passed down through males. Our mates had to be bitten before they could conceive.
But none of that was information I could share with the woman beside me.
“Either way, you were eager to be an aunt. Maybe you told her about it earlier?”
“It’s so weird.” She sobered. “I must have, but I’ve barely spoken with Deidra, and I don’t remember saying anything personal.” She met my eyes. “What she said about why I moved to Arizona was almost word for word what I told you yesterday.” She shrugged, staring at her empty glass. “It unsettled me enough that I