A Bit of Bite by Cynthia Eden Page B

sharp edge of his canines. “Later, when you look back, this is the moment you’ll regret.”
     
    Maybe.
     
    But… “Right now, looking back,” she shouldn’t say this, she
shouldn’t
, but the words and anger couldn’t be held back, “the moment I regret was hooking up with you at that godforsaken bar.”
     
    The faint lines around his eyes tightened.
     
    “And if I find out that you’re behind these killings…” She shook her head. “Then what happened between us won’t matter at all. I’ll still lock you up.” She had a job to do. People who counted on her. A hard case of lust and need for a dangerous werewolf couldn’t distract her.
     
    Not when human lives were on the line.
     
    ***
     
    She’d put him in the backseat, behind the cage barrier that was supposed to keep suspects held captive. Julian narrowed his eyes as he stared at the back of Ava’s blond head. She was driving the small patrol car, looking straight ahead, and ignoring him as he curled his fingers along the metal frame.
     
    He barely felt the sting of silver on his wrists. Julian was too aware of the fire of fury in his gut.
     
    She was actually taking him in? Ava thought he’d been the one to slaughter that ass of a human? Tempting, but no.
     
    “I know he was out there to interview you.” Her voice came, slow and sweet, gently rolling on the waves of the South that he’d learned to like. “That dead guy was Kyle Powell, the newest hire at the
Jackson
Sentinel.”
     
    Yeah, Kyle had been a prick who was looking to make a name for himself by trashing the wolves. “I didn’t talk to him.”
     
    Her shoulders stiffened. “So you admit seeing him?”
     
    “I saw him. The guy came to my place.” When the wind was right, wolves could smell humans from miles away. “I also kicked his ass out because I didn’t want another story on how
savage
and animalistic my pack is.”
     
    There was a beat of silence in the car. A beat that lasted too long. “Well,” she said finally, “you
can
turn into animals.”
     
    Claws burst from his fingertips. Unlike other wolves, he could control the shift. Let just a bit of the beast out when he wanted to play. “And here I thought you liked my wild side.”
     
    He heard the sharp inhalation of her breath. Wolf senses were damn enhanced. So enhanced that it was ridiculously easy for him to catch her muttered, “Jerk.”
     
    If he hadn’t been so pissed, he would have smiled. “My pack is being set-up.”
     
    “Three dead bodies.” Ava’s fingers tapped on the wheel as her gaze darted to the rear-view mirror. “Three bodies, and all the vics had their throats ripped open. All were found on your land.”
     
    “It’s a set-up.”
     
    Her fingers stopped tapping. “I know claw marks when I see them,” she said once again.
     
    He thought of the raised scars that he’d kissed on her stomach. Yeah, Ava knew all about the marks that wolves could leave behind. “Then we’ve got a new wolf in town. Some asshole who’s trying to cause trouble for me and my pack. We didn’t do this.”
     
    “You’d smell a new wolf the instant he stepped foot in Crossroads.”
     
    Yeah, he would.
     
    “The humans are panicking. It’s all I can do to keep them from launching after you.”
     
    Like humans could hurt him.
     
    The patrol car slid into a curve, nice and easy. Ava was taking her time. And her scent—sweet vanilla—was driving him crazy.
     
    “I didn’t kill the guy,” he said again as he sucked in a deep breath and tasted her. He’d prove his innocence, one way or another, and then…
I’ll have her again.
“Now it’s my turn for questions.”
     
    Her gaze darted to the rear-view mirror once more. Just for an instant of time. They cleared the curve. She accelerated, driving down the long, lonely stretch of road that led back to the human-occupied portion of Crossroads.
     
    “What questions do you have?” Suspicion underscored her words.
     
    He let his