The Wolf Marshal's Pack (U.S. Marshal Shifters 3)

“Six months. We usually only stay somewhere a month, max.”

That had to mean something. It was a huge break in the pattern, if nothing else.

He did some quick counting-back in his head and realized that if they’d arrived in Sterling six months ago, it must have been right after the murder of Amanda Briar. So that was when the pattern had been broken, really. Somehow, that was what all this turned on.

“Thank you,” Colby said.

He made sure to meet Luke’s eyes. He wanted the kid to know that he meant it; he wanted Luke to know he had worth.

“Are you going to arrest me?” Luke said.

“Of course not!” Aria said hotly, and then she cast a guilty look at Colby. “You’re not, are you? He’s not a bad kid, he just has some bad cousins.”

“I’m not going to arrest him,” Colby said. “I was a punk kid once too.”

“In Beverly Hills?”

“Dude,” Luke said, “you’re from Beverly Hills?”

“I could arrest you,” Colby offered. “If you’re going to be a jerk. But I’d rather see you turn your life around. Getting free of Eli and Weston could be the best thing to ever happen to you.”

Luke shook his head. “I don’t know how to make it on my own. Eli always looked out for me.”

Too bad he didn’t do a better job of it.

It was the perfect in for what he wanted to do, at least. Colby dug around in his wallet and came up with Jillian’s business card; he always liked to keep some of those around in case they ran into exactly this kind of situation. He borrowed a pen from Aria and wrote his cell phone number on the back.

“Here,” he said, passing the card over to Luke. “My number’s on the back.” He hesitated and then added, “My dad died a few years ago. I know what it’s like to suddenly not have your family around. Call me if you need anything.”

“You mean if I want to roll over on Eli.”

“I mean if you need anything,” Colby repeated. “And the address on the front is a community center where a friend of mine works. They’re good with weird situations. And Jillian—my friend—is easy to talk to. She can help you sort out what to do next.” He smiled. “She even knows something about dogs.”

Or at least something about giant, fire-breathing lizards. Close enough.

“And clear out of the woods,” he added. “This place is going to be crawling with cops by nightfall.”

*

It was late afternoon by the time they got back to the parking lot. Their walk back to the car had been much, much quieter than their walk to Eli’s Happy Hiding Spot.

His wolf, of course, hadn’t known how to read the room. Far from being quiet, it had been about as loud as it ever got.

Talk to her. Talk to her. Talk to her. Tell her the truth.

It was starting to give him a headache. And it wasn’t like he could complain to that many people about a wolf nagging up a storm in his head.

He had replied, about eight hundred times, I’m trying to figure out how to protect her, you idiot.

The mutt appeared unmoved by this information.

The truth could protect her, it suggested.

Colby rubbed his forehead hard—and pointedly, like the mutt would finally take a hint—and said, “I think we should get you out of town for a few days.”

That was the truth, even if it wasn’t the one his wolf wanted him to cough up.

Aria must have been lost in thought, because she blinked at him like she’d just woken up.