Roaring Up the Wrong Tree Read Online Free PDF Page A

Station.
    The shrill ring of a cell phone broke into their battle, dragging his attention from her enough for her to shove the door closed. Damn it, she wished she could throw the lock, but that’d piss Jerry off when he couldn’t get in. Hell, it might anger him enough to fire her.
    Though, dead or fired, which was worse?
    She wasn’t sure.
    Keen’s muffled voice reached her. “Lauren? What’s up?”
    Trista winced. Crap. He knew Lauren, which meant he’d soon know about her. Maybe he wouldn’t connect the dots. She snorted. Right. The bears were assholes, but they weren’t stupid.
    “The laws of visitation?”
    Yeah, she was so caught.
    Trista ran into a bear cub who figured out what she was and then told Lauren and then Lauren told Keen while Keen had already scented her and… Bum, bum, buuummm… My life is over.
    Not waiting for the bear to figure things out, she snatched her purse and strode to the back entrance. Apartment. Shower. Change. Left Bank.
    Just because she was about to be run out of town—or worse—by the bears, didn’t mean she didn’t have to work.
    A girl’s gotta eat.
    * * *
    Keen was tempted to shift and confirm what his nose told him. A hyena? In Redby? Nah, he couldn’t imagine Reid, the werewolf Alpha, allowing a hyena in wolf territory. And yet… He’d stood not five feet from the woman as she’d rung up his purchases. He’d had to fight past the stink of the gas station owner, but beneath the stench he’d found the sweet scent of the woman.
    Then the battle began. The bear’s desire for her warred with the man’s objection to her species. The man eventually overruled the bear. For now.
    His human half was ready to run her out of town. At least, until Lauren called, fussing at him for bolting before they could talk, and distracted him.
    When Lauren went back to her old apartment to check on the new owner, she’d run into her friend Trista. Trista who’d almost been eaten by Parker when he’d sniffed her. Parker who assured his Aunt Lauren the woman smelled like the bad man who’d kidnapped him over six months ago.
    Was that who he’d met? It seemed too coincidental. Did they really have a hyena living in Grayslake and working in Redby?
    Actually, she worked in Boyne Falls at the Left Bank bar, too. That information cost him a hundred bucks and had him suffering through a conversation with Jerry.
    Keen scented the air, drawing in the flavors of the parking lot and hunting up the identity of those inside the bar. The aromas of bears and wolves reached him, the flavors sinking into his lungs. None of the patrons were particularly strong, mostly regular members of the Grayslake clan and Redby pack. After purging Boyne Falls of all hyenas, wolves and bears took up residence. The fact that their clan and pack managed to mingle without bloodshed said a lot about Ty and Reid.
    He also found Trista’s scent lurking beneath the surface of the others. A hyena in Boyne Falls. He breathed deeper, drawing in more; was she just a hyena though? Half maybe? But there was something else in there… Keen shook his head, unable to believe the balls on the woman.
    He pushed away from his SUV and headed toward the front door. He and the woman had a bit of a reckoning coming. She needed to get gone. His brothers wouldn’t stand for her presence and he didn’t even want to think about how Reid would react.
    Except his bear didn’t want her lush, curvaceous ass going anywhere other than his bed. Unlike nearly every other woman he’d come across, his animal wanted her writhing beneath him and screaming his name in pleasure. It had a singular focus: her. It roared and snarled, demanding he hunt her, find her, and claim her. No one else would ever place a hand on her skin.
    Fucking crazy-assed bear.
    He tugged on the door and strode through the portal. He stepped to the side, allowing others to come and go as he adjusted to the bar’s atmosphere. Loud music assaulted his ears while the heavy