Harvest Hunting Read Online Free PDF Page A

climbing into any of my clothes till I find something that will prevent the skunk smell from spreading to them.”
    Wandering out into the foyer, I nodded at the tall, lanky werewolf who slouched against one wall. Luke could be mistaken for a cowboy except for the scar that laced its way down his cheek. A faint smile flickered across his lips. The ponytail that hung down his back was tidy but gave me the impression that his hair was fly-away and tousled by nature.
    He touched the hat he wore. “Miss Delilah, how you doing? Ran into a skunk, did you?”
    “That obvious?”
    “Between your . . . perfume, and the new dye job up top, yeah. I bet Iris used tomato juice to no effect?” A lazy smile took the place of the worried look as he flashed a wink at Iris. She blushed.
    I nodded. “Yeah, something like that. And then some quasi-crazy peroxide mix. You don’t happen to have a cure, do you?”
    “Maybe,” he said. “At least for the scent. I’ll have to go back to my apartment to get it. Learned to make it years ago when I was still running with the Pack. We found out firsthand that tomato juice did a number on light-colored fur. But first, I need your services, if you’re willing.”
    “My services?” I started to bristle, suddenly all too aware of my semi-naked state.
    “You’re a PI, aren’t you?” He was doing his best to keep his eyes on my face, though I saw them drop a couple times, then swiftly scan back up to look me in the eye. Kind of cute, actually. He was blushing. And, mingling with the skunk, the tomato juice, and the chemical scent of the peroxide, I could smell his musk, though not so thick as to indicate arousal. But he liked women, that was for sure.
    “Oh. Um . . . yeah.” I edged into the living room and nodded for him to follow me. “Have a seat. What do you need?”
    Luke edged onto the sofa while I curled up in the rocking chair, making sure nothing was showing that shouldn’t. Before I could sit down, Iris slipped in and spread a grungy sheet beneath me. Great. I was beginning to feel like Typhoid Mary.
    “My sister’s missing.”
    “I didn’t know you had a sister,” I said.
    He nodded. “Amber was moving up here. She said that she’d had a vision, that she needed to live in Seattle for some reason. A few weeks back, she left the Pack, which is a big no-no unless you’re excommunicated like I was.”
    “Did she say why?” I was beginning to wonder about lycanthropes—the Were system wasn’t the same in all species, and I’d heard rumors that among the wolves, rules were very patriarchal. Not conducive to free-thinking females.
    “Yeah . . . I’ll tell you why in a moment. Anyway, she called when she hit town this afternoon. She was going to check in, then rest a bit and meet me at the bar around eight. But she never showed. I called the cops, but they won’t put out missing person reports on Supes for forty-eight hours, which is bullshit. My sister came all the way from Arizona, and I’m worried. I checked with the hotel. They said she checked in at two P.M., but they haven’t heard from her since.”
    “Any chance she got caught up visiting someone else?” Interested now, I pulled a notebook off the end table next to me and began to jot down notes.
    Luke shook his head. “Nope. She doesn’t know anybody else here, but she was adamant about being summoned to this area. That’s the word she used—summoned. I’m especially worried because she’s pregnant. A werewolf who is seven months pregnant just doesn’t disappear. She should be nesting, creating the lair for the pups . . . or children, so to speak.” His voice belied his calm exterior, and I could hear the panic welling just below the surface.
    “What’s her last name, and do you have a picture of her?”
    He handed over a faded picture from his wallet. As I took it from his hands, I noticed the calluses that had long embedded themselves into his fingers and palms. This man had seen hard work, harder