Hounded (Shifter Town Enforcement) by Sadie Hart Read Free Book Online

bred to hunt lions, like wolfhounds had been to hunt wolves. The shifter versions weren’t that different. And here she was, cavorting with the enemy. Shit, shit, shit.
    Lennox spun on her heels, knowing damn well whoever was at the door could hear her hasty retreat, and made her way back to the bed. “Get up. Get up now.”
    Tegan peeked up at her, his eyes still hooded with sleep.
    “Ridgeback at the door. Get up.” Panic swelled in her voice. There was no time for a shower. Anything they did could be considered cover up.
    The Hound knocked again. “I know you’re in there.”
    Lennox swallowed back a groan and stalked back towards the door, flipping the locks before yanking the door open. “What?”
    The word came out a snarl, but she knew damn well it wasn’t the tone of her growl that left the ridgeback on the front stoop stunned. His nostrils flared, catching the distinct whiff of dog, under layers and layers of lions and a pretty hefty dose of lust.
    She couldn’t imagine finding another Hound in her predicament. It just didn’t happen. Ever. The ridgeback swallowed and dug out his badge, flipping it open to flash ID at her. “Walker Hennessy. Shifter Town Enforcement,” he broke off and stared at her for a moment. He inhaled a sharp breath, scenting.
    Lennox squeezed her eyes shut for a second, gathering strength and pride, though there was more dignity on a bathroom floor than the scrap she had left. She yanked out her badge and flashed it at him.
    “Lennox Donnelly. What do you want?”
    Walker froze, his eyes locked on her badge and she watched as the astonishment sank in. Her reputation preceded her. Her track record was impressive. The sheer stunned silence on his end told her more than she wanted to know.
    Like the fact that up until now—with her stinking of lions, lust, and her hair fresh rumpled from bed—he’d been thinking she was the Hound to look up to. The Hound to want to be. And all his dreams were fizzling down the drain alongside what was left of her ego.
    His gaze flicked up to hers and she forced herself to hold a thin smile, barely keeping it from a grimace. A Hound did not cower, and Lennox would be damned if she tucked her tail now. One eyebrow arched, she cleared her throat.
    “Uh...” Walker swallowed. The floor board creaked behind her and Lennox titled her head just in time to see Kanon, shirtless and barefoot in his blue jeans, striding up to the door. Tegan tugged his shirt on in the background.
    This so was not happening.
    “Problem?” Kanon said, leaning against the doorframe beside her. He swallowed the extra space with sheer bulk, and the moment Tegan stepped up behind her she was surrounded. None of this was doing one iota of good for her credibility.
    Walker tensed, but he shifted his gaze to hers and held it, professional decorum coloring his words. Polite, respectful, but she could read the stunned shock in his gaze. She couldn’t think of a single ridgeback who’d ever slept with a lion-shifter.
    Looked like she was going to be the first, and protesting whether or not sex had actually happened, wouldn’t save her any face so she didn’t bother.
    “Tristan Hale was murdered last night while leaving his club. He was ripped up pretty bad. Looked like a lion.”
    The Hound glanced between the pair standing behind her, eyes narrowing, but as rough with sleep as they looked, Lennox knew they didn’t look—or smell—like men who’d showered last night...and they definitely didn’t look like they had blood dried on their hands.
    “Witnesses placed the pair of them at the bar last night, the only lions there.”
    “Hold out your hands,” she snapped at both of them.
    Kanon flinched and held his out in front of him, while Tegan stretched his out over her shoulders. They had a fine layer of dirt under the nails but that was it. Her gaze struck the Hound’s and held. He gave a slight nod. His nose would tell him the rest.
    Walker nodded. “Just following