Wild Instinct by Sarah McCarty Read Free Book Online Page A

to have faith in your friend’s training.”
    “What makes you think she has training?”
    “What makes you think she doesn’t?”
    Her arms ached from holding Meg. Her heart ached with worry for Teri, Josiah and Rachel. And now he added the niggle of concern that maybe she didn’t know Rachel as well as she should?
    “I don’t.”
    His hands came out of his pockets. “How well do you know her?”
    Truth was, she didn’t know anything about Rachel’s past. They’d been outcasts together, clinging to each other through the common bond of their heritage, but she did know that Rachel was one of the most trustworthy people she’d ever met. “Well enough.”
    He clearly didn’t believe her. “Why did she leave her pack?”
    It didn’t matter. One of the things she’d learned after leaving the pack was how to think for herself without the prejudice that saw outsiders as people not to be trusted.
    “I don’t know, but what I do know is that my son is safer with her than he is with you.”
    His chin came up and his eyes narrowed. “You have trouble with the fact that I’m mixed blood?”
    It would be easier if she did. She dismissed his statement with a wave of her hand. “I have trouble with your arrogance.”
    “I’m not arrogant.”
    “Arrogant enough that you blithely dismiss my instincts.”
    He didn’t exhibit any of the anger she expected, just asked in an almost conversational tone, “Do you trust your instincts?”
    There was a time when she’d never questioned them.
    “Sometimes.”
    But the times they’d failed her had left scars too big to ignore.
    He tipped her face up. “That’s a shame.”
    Yes, it was. Especially now when she needed them to tell her that her son was fine, and they weren’t telling her anything at all.
    “You need to find my son.”
    Cur’s broad-shouldered frame filled the mouth of the cave, looking bigger silhouetted by the light behind him. “I was planning on doing that very thing.”
    Garrett nodded to Cur. “Sarah Anne will tell you where they’re meeting.”
    “I will?”
    Garrett reached for Meg. “Yes, you will.”
    She took a step back, feeling an unreasonable bite of hurt when Meg reached for him. “You have a habit of thinking you know a lot more than you actually do.”
    “I know you’re going to tell me.”
    “The same way you think I’m mated to you?”
    “Yes.”
    “Then you’re wrong.” She shifted Meg’s position to ease the ache in her back. “I’m not joining Haven. It was a mistake to think I could.”
    “Haven won’t have a problem with your children’s bloodlines,” Cur said, setting his pack down before squatting beside it.
    “That’s what everyone says . . . now.”
    Garrett smiled at Meg. It was a little stiff and a touch awkward, but from the way Meg beamed back, it didn’t matter.
    “Do you know something I don’t?”
    “I know it’s never a good idea to take anything at face value.”
    “So you’ve decided you’re going to go it alone.”
    “I’ve decided you don’t own me.” When he didn’t contest her claim or look concerned, her stomach knotted.
    “I guess there’s plenty of time for you to learn that I don’t often say what I don’t mean.”
    She turned to Cur. “What do you do?”
    He smiled and leaned against a boulder. With a flick of his fingers he motioned to Garrett. “Pretty much whatever he tells me to.”
    The brief moment of freedom she’d felt when she’d stepped out of the cave disappeared. “I hate you.”
    “I get that a lot.”
    An emotion as powerful as hate should have an impact. She turned and started walking down the hill, Meg nearly deadweight in her arms.
    Garrett fell into step beside her. “You’re a stubborn woman.”
    “You’re an irritating man.”
    He was everything she’d run away from. An arrogant wolf who was convinced that he knew best, expecting her submission and obedience simply because he was male. He reached for Megan again. Sarah Anne gave him her