Past My Defenses (Taming the Pack series) (Entangled Ignite) by Wendy Sparrow Page A

change. She gripped the doorframe and willed it back.
    Christa had been preoccupied with her handful of pure evil and hadn’t noticed that her brother’s houseguest twitched and had a feral moment. “Aww. He wants to come play.”
    Yeah, he did. He wanted to play with her mind or dance on her soul in the pits of hell. One of the two.
    Christa looked up. “You’re really allergic?”
    “Deathly.”
    She nodded. “I figured. Dane sounded desperate for me to come get Lucifer suddenly.”
    “He did?”
    Christa grinned and waved. “Did you want to wave good-bye too?” she asked the cat.
    Lucifer’s eyes slitted. Until next time, wolf.
    She glared right back. Until next time, beast of hell.
    “Well, okay then,” Christa said brightly, not catching the nuances. “I guess I’ll see you around…with Dane…probably.”
    “Yeah.”
    “Okay. Bye.”
    Vanessa waved.
    The door shut.
    She sighed. That could have gone better. And she was pretty sure that feinted move from Lucifer meant he’d gotten in the last word. She went back for the key. She was dressed for a run—well, mostly…the lack of bra wasn’t ideal, but this way the biker shorts came home with her.
    The run should have cleared her head, but instead there was this niggling sensation between her shoulder blades. If her allergy meds weren’t on their way out, she might’ve been more convinced she was being stupidly paranoid because of Cheri’s disappearance. She picked up her pace, and she’d never been more grateful to cross the threshold to her house. Resisting the urge to look over her shoulder, she did slam the door behind her rather forcefully.
    Her phone was ringing, and she answered it as she went to grab a handful of allergy meds.
    “Yes?” Lycans didn’t care about niceties with each other. Even if it was the Alpha calling.
    “Your human is following the trail of a pack of wolves near where Cheri’s car was found. Ross just called.”
    Vanessa swallowed. “Why?”
    “The sheriff’s department called in help from Forestry. Travis said he didn’t think he could put your human off much longer. I neglected to mention that you were effectively distracting him.”
    “He’s following our pack’s trail?”
    “Yes. They’re concerned the pack accounts for her disappearance.”
    “He said that?” Dane thought they’d killed someone? Her face felt hot with the rush of panic and sadness and disappointment.
    “Ross only spoke with the female with him—another ranger, Sammy.” He paused for a moment. “How much does he know?”
    “Nothing.”
    Jordan sighed.
    “No, I swear. We’ve never even talked about Cheri. I had no idea he’d found the car until you told me. He knows I’m a Lycan, but that’s all he knows, and I haven’t even admitted to that. He found me as a wolf, put me in a cage, and I slipped out of form, and he had a naked woman in a cage. He put two and two together, but I’ve been trying to convince him he’s crazy.”
    Silence. Finally, amusement laced his voice as he said, “This is a very strange relationship you have.”
    She was less amused. Dane might think she’d killed Cheri. “What do you want me to do?”
    “Well, he’s tracking us—go see how well he’s doing and, who knows, maybe he’ll turn up something we didn’t last night. Oh, and if you get done before four p.m. come in to the office because I need you to track down some permits for me. I can’t figure out your filing system here.”
    She rolled her eyes. He was Alpha of one of the larger packs in North America, but he couldn’t seem to understand alphabetized files. “So, you’re not worried that Dane will tell the other ranger about us?”
    “That he thinks he caught a wolf, and it turned out to be a naked woman? No, strangely enough, I think he might keep that to himself. But you might have some explaining to do if you plan on keeping him.”
    “We’re scent-matched.”
    “Unless I kill him…yes.”
    “You won’t.”
    “Give