Haunted Wolves: Green Pines, Book 2 by Moira Rogers Read Free Book Online Page B

every mile tightened that knot of tension. If his wolf had his say, Colin would be burning the tires off Fletcher’s cherished Corvette just to get Lorelei as far from Memphis as possible.
    Soon, he promised silently as he tightened his grip on the wheel and cleared his throat. “Where to first?”
    Her hair hid her face as she stared out the window. “I don’t know yet. We could go to Christian’s place, but it might not hurt to lay low for a day or so. I don’t know who’s in charge now—or how they operate.”
    Nobody seemed to. At least, nobody Colin knew—or who was willing to speak to him. The best he’d been able to get was an assurance that one of the enforcer safe houses in Memphis was secure. “I have a place we can go. Keep us safe, at least, until you can reach out to the people you know.”
    Lorelei turned to him and squinted against the bright sunlight. “I meant what I said. It’s not as simple as making a call. We might need to take to the streets for a few nights.”
    “Then that’s what we’ll do.” Even if her fear and unease had shredded his nerves by the end of it. “The place I’m thinking about is downtown. Was that Christian’s territory?”
    She shook her head. “His stomping grounds were south—near Whitehaven. Downtown belongs to a family pack. They keep to themselves. They don’t fight, but they don’t take anyone in, either.”
    The name tickled at the edge of his mind but slipped away before he could catch it. They were the wolves Fletcher had told him about, undoubtedly. He seemed to know every powerful wolf bloodline in the country, though he hardly could have learned about them in some off-the-grid fishing town halfway up Canada’s ass. Probably part of his prince-in-exile schtick, knowing all about other important families.
    It didn’t matter now. For Colin’s purposes, an insular family that wouldn’t necessarily beat him down for trespassing in their territory was as close to perfect as things got. And it was probably the reason some past enforcer had picked that neighborhood to build a safe little den for anyone who needed to go to ground for a few days.
    He forced a smile. “Then we’ll be okay in this condo. Might need to swing out and get some groceries, though. Last time I stopped in one of these places, there was nothing but flat soda, beef jerky tough enough to chip a tooth and a dozen bags of stale chips.”
    “Downtown is good,” she murmured. “Close to midtown, close to Christian’s old place. Downtown is good.”
    The eerie repetition chilled him. “Lorelei, honey? Are you all right?”
    Her gaze snapped to his face. “I’m fine.”
    There were too many cars on the road to allow him a lingering look at her, but she seemed spooked. Wide-eyed, too pale—afraid, but fighting so hard to keep it bottled up. He needed to get her inside four walls. Get her back against something solid, curl up around her, something . Until he could, he just had to keep her with him.
    No choice, then. She’d have to talk. “Tell me about these people we’re looking for.”
    Lorelei’s knuckles had gone white, and she relaxed her hands and stretched her fingers out on her legs. “I need to talk to Boz first. Even if she doesn’t have what we need, she’ll know where we should start.”
    He nodded. “Tell me about Boz. She’s one of the ones who stays off the radar?”
    “She’s an older wolf. Homeless.” Lorelei hesitated. “She took care of me for a while.”
    Someone as protective of her privacy as Lorelei wouldn’t want to share that much of her past with him. Colin understood her reticence now, at least, but it stung. “And that’s why it’s hard to track her down?”
    “No, it’s hard because she’s homeless. And unless I run into someone who’s been around long enough to recognize me and tell me where she is, we’ll have to get lucky.”
    Colin chomped down on his tongue to keep from saying anything stupid. His clumsy attempt to sidestep