neck looking for some girl Johnny has a hankering for.”
“Just a bit longer.” He didn’t know why this particular waitress had caught his eye. Maybe it was because she’d seemed to be alone. No one knew who she was or where she’d come from. No one would worry about her if she disappeared either.
He still wasn’t quite sure what he’d planned to do when he caught her. He only knew he wanted to fuck her. If he closed his eyes, he could remember what she’d looked like naked.
She was too skinny, but her ass and tits were firm and full. Her skin had glowed in the moonlight last night. Then her body had begun to change. Local lore was full of stories and legends of strange creatures, but he’d never expected to see one for himself.
He wanted Rina more than ever.
He lifted the flashlight and panned the trail ahead. Then he set out again with his brothers grumbling behind him. He knew they’d follow him. At least for now. They might head home tomorrow, but he wasn’t giving up. One way or another, he’d find her.
Chapter Three
Sage was worried about Rina. She was dragging behind him, which told him just how exhausted she was. A werewolf could run for hours without tiring. The fact she was practically asleep on her feet meant she’d been running hard and fast for a long time.
She might not appreciate it, but he couldn’t keep going any longer. “You okay?” He stopped and waited for her to catch up.
“I’m fine.” She glared at him, but there was no real bite to her words.
“No, you’re not.” Sage looked back at the path behind them. “We need to stop so you can rest for a bit. We still have a couple hours hard walking before we get to the trail, and another half hour after that to get to where I left my truck.”
Fortunately for her, he’d hiked these hills for years and knew exactly where they were. “There’s a small cave just up ahead. You can catch a few hours rest and we can be back on the trail and at my truck before those hunters break camp in the morning.”
He glanced up at the sky. The stars were like diamonds scattered across the sky, and the moon was only a day past full. It was a beautiful sight, but not nearly as lovely as the bedraggled woman beside him. He knew it was well after midnight. They’d been walking for a little over two hours. It was taking them much longer than he’d anticipated because Rina was starting to drag.
He wrapped one arm around her shoulders. “Come on. It’s not far.”
“I don’t need to stop,” she snapped. She pulled away from his hold and started walking in the direction they’d been headed.
Sage growled and went after her. He went in low, scooped her over his shoulder and turned toward the cave. Rina was deadweight on his shoulder for all of two seconds, then she exploded. She kicked her strong legs, trying to emasculate him. He wrapped his arm around her knees, effectively hobbling her. She reared up and tried to throw herself off his shoulder. He pressed her back.
“Settle down before you hurt yourself, or me,” he added. “We’re just going to rest for a bit.” It was a struggle to keep his footing on the steep path with her wiggling like a fish on a hook. He staggered to the top of the small hill and lowered her to the ground. She growled and backed away from him.
He took heart from the fact she hadn’t used her claws on him, because she could have done some real damage. Sage motioned to the entrance of the cave. “It’s not very deep or big, but there’s enough room for both of us. I don’t know about you, but I could use something to eat and some shuteye.”
He could walk all night, but if she needed an excuse to stop, he was more than willing to give it to her. If that meant he had to appear weak in front of her, so be it.
She muttered something about half-breeds under her breath and then ducked into the cave. Thankfully, there hadn’t been any animals using the cave recently and it was fairly clean.
“Hang on a