She held up her finger. “I’ll hold you to that. I make good food, the best you’ve ever had. You come by next time, and I’ll make tempura, miso soup and… Do you like Japanese food? I can cook anything. You’ve never had my barbecue!”
I chuckled and tucked my long hair behind my ears. “Call me after your family meeting, and we can get together. If I don’t hear from you by, say Tuesday, I’ll call and fill you in on how it’s going with sales.”
Asia clapped her hands together. “Okay! Sounds like a plan. I have to finish watering my plants,” she said, heading toward a watering can. “Nobody around here cares. If it were up to them, they would just let them wither and die.” Asia turned her gaze to the upper balcony and shouted, “Unless they burned the house down with their cigarettes!”
I waved goodbye and headed back to my car. My gosh, that girl was a riot! She and Mel would get along famously. I only hoped she could convince the others in the house. Otherwise, our new line would be nothing more than a limited edition. Not a big deal since my gemstones brought in a lot of business, but I hungered for more than just money. The dreamer in me wanted to test my creative boundaries.
After I started the car, I rolled down the window and circled the fountain on my way back to the main road. The wind cooled my skin, and I leaned my head out to savor the feel of it combing through my hair. Teased by the beautiful weather, my wolf paced beneath my skin, itching to go for a run.
The downside of living in an apartment in a congested city was not having enough space for our wolves to stretch their legs. They couldn’t smell pine and earth or feel cold water splashing beneath their paws as they crossed a stream. Wolves weren’t meant to be confined, and I wondered how much longer I could survive in an apartment. The human side of me loved the convenience, but my animal paid the price. She only got to enjoy the outdoors on scheduled trips to my father’s house, where he lived on the outskirts of Austin. And how long did I really want to keep that up?
I steered left, remembering a nice patch of land on the way back owned by the Shifter Council. They’d bought up a lot of land in the early days to keep it in reserve. No one ever went out there. My wolf was smart enough not to cross any boundaries that would lead to occupied territory, and it wouldn’t be the first time I had run wild on land the Council owned.
When I reached the stretch of land, I pulled my car off the road and parked near a short barbed wire fence with sunflowers clustered around it. To keep thieves and nosy people away, I lifted the hood and left it open using the rod. Then I locked my purse in the trunk and hid the keys inside a cooler in the back seat. A giant oak tree shaded half my car, and after a quick glance around, I stripped out of my clothes and folded them neatly in the passenger seat. A mockingbird sang from a branch overhead before diving at a squirrel that scurried into the high grass. My wolf wanted to chase it too, so I gripped the fencepost and hopped over, careful not to catch myself on the barbed wire.
A jackrabbit sprang out of his hiding spot near my feet, his strong legs jarring loose the white florets from dandelions as he trampled them. A blue jay squawked overhead, alerting all to my presence. Wild animals could sense a Shifter. We weren’t like them, so predators ignored us, and prey fled for their lives. I waited patiently as my spirit wolf prepared to come out. Overhead, miles of blue sky washed over me like an ocean.
I closed my eyes, arms spread wide, as my wolf emerged in pursuit of the rabbit.
Chapter 3
By the sun’s high position in the sky, I guessed it to be around noon. I stood up and brushed the dirt off my naked body, relieved that I had plenty of time to shower before going to work. My leg muscles ached, a typical side effect whenever my wolf had a good run.
With my car still parked in the same spot, I stole a quick glance at the empty road before springing over the barbed fence, which was designed to mark territory rather than keep people out. Nothing would startle a human more than seeing a naked woman walking around in the woods.
When I opened the passenger door, I gaped at the empty seat.
“Where are my clothes?”
Had I remembered it wrong? Maybe I hadn’t put them in plain sight this time. I felt beneath the seat and searched in the back.
Nothing.
They’re gone! This can’t be happening.
My heart raced as I looked underneath the car and even inside the engine. The rational side of my brain knew that I would have never placed them by the fence, but I checked anyhow before returning to the car.
What an absolute nightmare!
After grabbing my keys from the cooler, I searched the trunk only to find my purse and a spare tire. Flustered, I tossed my purse in the back seat and looked around once more.
“What am I going to do?” I cupped my cheeks in my trembling hands, the gravity of the situation sinking in as my shoulders and chest burned from the blazing sun. Sweat trickled down my nape, and I wiped away the beads of sweat forming on my upper lip.
Had we lived in a rural area outside city limits, it wouldn’t have been a big deal. I could have shifted and let my wolf guide me home. But driving into the city naked? Not an option.
When I heard the sound of an engine picking up speed, I ducked behind my car until it sped by.
Crouching in the dirt, I stared at my blurry reflection on the door. “You are in so much trouble.”
There was no possible way I could drive naked into the city without a cop pulling me over or someone taking a picture on their phone. And riding up the elevator into our apartment? Forget it! Mel was at work, and I would rather live in the woods as a wild woman than call Lakota. He’d deliver a lecture for the ages about trespassing on private land, even though I’d seen him do it once or twice. Calling my family was out of the question. It would disappoint them that I couldn’t live independently without asking for their help. Aside from that, my father would shoot me if he knew I was standing naked on the side of a public road, and Lorenzo Church was a force to be reckoned with. Nothing would embarrass a Packmaster more than word getting out that his daughter went for a joyrun on private land.
The thought crossed my mind to call Asia, but that wasn’t exactly the best way to secure a contract. I needed to keep things professional with her, not give her any reason to doubt my abilities.
My eyebrows pinched together when I heard another vehicle slowing down. The motor thrummed, and the windows must have been down because some rock band was screaming the phrase “head like a hole.”
I waited for the music to fade as the car passed, but the volume never changed. Curious, I peered through the window at a big white truck with red mud caked on the bottom. The incline placed his truck higher, preventing me from seeing the driver.
“Is someone out there?” a voice boomed.
