Hunting Ground [Claiming Series, #3]

- 11 -

Before he left Soren's for the morgue, Tessa got in touch with her mother.

"We're in human form right now," Danica said, "but the others seem to be circling the morgue. Your friend Julie is gone, right?"

"Soren's taking her and his wife up north right now."

"Why didn't you go?"

"Mom, can you honestly promise me that the pack wouldn't turn on Asher and Kane?"

A few beats passed, then, "No. I can't. I can try, but if we get into a fight the blood lust will rise. They might not distinguish."

"They will if I'm there to stand between them."

"Ah, Tessa! They might hurt you, too."

"I stand a good chance. I'm part of the pack."

"And you smell like vampire!"

"I'm still their sister and cousin. And you're the alpha. But it might take both of us to protect two vampires."

Danica sighed. "You were always too brave."

"It's part of being lycan, Mom."

Finally, her mother laughed unhappily. "Stay close. Remember the pack works together."

"I remember."

When she put the phone deep into her jacket pocket, Kane reached for her hand. "Tonight we fly across the rooftops, little wolf. And I think your mother isn't happy."

"She isn't. No one's happy right now. Where do we meet Asher?"

"Not too far from the morgue. He's found a place from which he can keep watch. The danger lies in getting there without being spotted. They can see me no matter how fast I move and if they found the one I killed they surely have my scent. We must try to make look like I am taking you to feed on you."

"How do we do that?"

"You're going to have a very uncomfortable ride any time I smell a threat. Your family?"

"They're in human form right now, keeping an eye out."

"They can't protect themselves in human form."

"They can shift swiftly and will. They can smell a vampire as far away as you can. Maybe farther."

"I would believe farther," he admitted. "There is surely a purpose to a nose so long."

A laughed escaped her, and she thought he was probably right.

He put her on his back again, with her arms around his neck and her ankles locked around his hips. They stepped out onto Soren's terrace and then the amazing began.

With a single leap that left Tessa blind because of the cold, cutting wind caused by his speed, they landed on the next rooftop. He paused a moment to sniff the air and let her get her bearings, and then they were off again.

She barely had time to register when they landed before they once again leaped. On the occasion when he gave her a change to see where they were, she marveled at the distance they had covered.

At one point he settled her into a corner on a roof, surrounded by a chest-high parapet, and vaulted himself up onto the top of the barrier to taste the air. She could hear him drawing deep breaths through his nose and exhaling them through his mouth.

Then he was crouched beside her again. "We're getting close. I can smell another of my kind and I don't recognize the scent. Oddly, it's not one I tasted on the air the night I met you."