Timber Valley Pack: Lynx On The Loose( A Paranormal Romance With Shifters) by Georgette St. Clair Page A
Authors: Georgette St. Clair
Ads: Link
right?”
“As long as there’s soap and shampoo and towels involved,” Isadora said. “Quit giving me grief.” Then she said to Dash in a low voice “I almost finished that with the phrase ‘young man’. Shoot me now!”
“Don’t tempt me,” Dash said.
Then he lowered his voice, leaning in close to her. “How long have you been able to get out of those handcuffs?”
“From the minute you put them on me.”
“So why didn’t you just escape earlier?”
She flashed him a wicked grin. “Maybe I just liked being cuffed to you,” she murmured.
Chapter Ten
Pyotr’s face grew paler and paler as they approached the outskirts of Lonesome Pines.
“I don’t know if I can do it,” he said as Dash entered the city limits. “Too many people. I get panic attacks.” At Isadora’s worried glance, he let out a bitter laugh. “You just see a crazy man here, no? Once I was not like this. I was a carpenter, a very good one. I had a wife. I had children. They were killed trying to run from the soldiers.”
“What about your pack? Don’t you want to rejoin them?” Isadora asked.
“No!” he shook his head frantically. “I can’t see them any more. They remind me of everything that I lost. That is why I came to this country. I need to be far, far away from everything Korslovian.”
“When we get to the place we’re going, you can just stay in your room. You don’t have to come out, you don’t have to talk to anyone. You’ll be much safer here than you would be hiding out in the woods,” Isadora said.
They were driving through the little downtown area now. Lonesome Pine was a tiny town, with one main street that ran through the center. It had been a mining town during the gold rush in the 1800s, but now mostly survived on logging and farming.
Colonel Bradwell had run his secret lab in an old abandoned mine near the town for about two years, experimenting on shifters who’d been kidnapped from all over the country.
“I know Shamans who could help you with your panic attacks,” Dash said to Pyotr.
“My panic attacks are what keeps me safe,” Pyotr said. “If I think I’m safe, I’m dead. Being afraid is what keeps you alive. Never sleep, never trust, never turn your back on anyone. That’s how you stay safe.”
There was no point in trying to argue with him. Dash fell silent. Thomas and Sally had fallen asleep in the back seat, with Isadora sitting between them. Pyotr, next to him in the front seat, kept glancing anxiously out the window.
Steele lived in a blue and white Colonial style A-frame house, at the end of a small street. As they approached Dash saw there were a dozen people sitting on the front porch, some in police uniform, waiting for them. Dash had called to let Steele know he was coming, and that they’d very nearly been ambushed by human mercenaries.
A look of alarm crossed Pyotr’s face as he saw all the people there.
“Stop!” Pyotr yelled. Sally and Thomas jerked awake.
Dash stepped on the brakes, stopping the truck with a jerk, and Pyotr flung open his door and scrambled out. “Too many people!” he shouted, and then he shifted into wolf form, and shot off down the street as if a pack of lions were on his heels.
“Damn it,” Isadora said, watching him run off. “He’s our only chance of identifying Zador! Maybe you should go after him. Or I could.”
“I think he’ll come back,” Dash said. “He came to the Hobo camp looking for you; I don’t think he really wants to be alone. I’m afraid if I grab him right now, I’ll send him into full blown hysteria and he’ll be useless to us. He’s suffering from post-traumatic stress. He might see me as the enemy, freak out and try to attack me, I’d have to subdue him – not the best way to get him to
“As long as there’s soap and shampoo and towels involved,” Isadora said. “Quit giving me grief.” Then she said to Dash in a low voice “I almost finished that with the phrase ‘young man’. Shoot me now!”
“Don’t tempt me,” Dash said.
Then he lowered his voice, leaning in close to her. “How long have you been able to get out of those handcuffs?”
“From the minute you put them on me.”
“So why didn’t you just escape earlier?”
She flashed him a wicked grin. “Maybe I just liked being cuffed to you,” she murmured.
Chapter Ten
Pyotr’s face grew paler and paler as they approached the outskirts of Lonesome Pines.
“I don’t know if I can do it,” he said as Dash entered the city limits. “Too many people. I get panic attacks.” At Isadora’s worried glance, he let out a bitter laugh. “You just see a crazy man here, no? Once I was not like this. I was a carpenter, a very good one. I had a wife. I had children. They were killed trying to run from the soldiers.”
“What about your pack? Don’t you want to rejoin them?” Isadora asked.
“No!” he shook his head frantically. “I can’t see them any more. They remind me of everything that I lost. That is why I came to this country. I need to be far, far away from everything Korslovian.”
“When we get to the place we’re going, you can just stay in your room. You don’t have to come out, you don’t have to talk to anyone. You’ll be much safer here than you would be hiding out in the woods,” Isadora said.
They were driving through the little downtown area now. Lonesome Pine was a tiny town, with one main street that ran through the center. It had been a mining town during the gold rush in the 1800s, but now mostly survived on logging and farming.
Colonel Bradwell had run his secret lab in an old abandoned mine near the town for about two years, experimenting on shifters who’d been kidnapped from all over the country.
“I know Shamans who could help you with your panic attacks,” Dash said to Pyotr.
“My panic attacks are what keeps me safe,” Pyotr said. “If I think I’m safe, I’m dead. Being afraid is what keeps you alive. Never sleep, never trust, never turn your back on anyone. That’s how you stay safe.”
There was no point in trying to argue with him. Dash fell silent. Thomas and Sally had fallen asleep in the back seat, with Isadora sitting between them. Pyotr, next to him in the front seat, kept glancing anxiously out the window.
Steele lived in a blue and white Colonial style A-frame house, at the end of a small street. As they approached Dash saw there were a dozen people sitting on the front porch, some in police uniform, waiting for them. Dash had called to let Steele know he was coming, and that they’d very nearly been ambushed by human mercenaries.
A look of alarm crossed Pyotr’s face as he saw all the people there.
“Stop!” Pyotr yelled. Sally and Thomas jerked awake.
Dash stepped on the brakes, stopping the truck with a jerk, and Pyotr flung open his door and scrambled out. “Too many people!” he shouted, and then he shifted into wolf form, and shot off down the street as if a pack of lions were on his heels.
“Damn it,” Isadora said, watching him run off. “He’s our only chance of identifying Zador! Maybe you should go after him. Or I could.”
“I think he’ll come back,” Dash said. “He came to the Hobo camp looking for you; I don’t think he really wants to be alone. I’m afraid if I grab him right now, I’ll send him into full blown hysteria and he’ll be useless to us. He’s suffering from post-traumatic stress. He might see me as the enemy, freak out and try to attack me, I’d have to subdue him – not the best way to get him to
Similar Books
