I froze.
“Please leave, please leave,” I whispered. The last thing I needed was for my wolf to get spooked and jump out.
The music abruptly shut off with the engine. When a door clicked open, my pulse skyrocketed.
“Stay where you are!” I shouted.
The man chuckled, his deep voice a rich timbre. “And why’s that?”
As his heavy footsteps drew closer, every hair on my body stood on end. This situation had just escalated from bad to worse because the mysterious stranger on the other side of the car was undoubtedly an alpha. His power rippled through the air like an electrical storm.
By the time he rounded the front of my car, it was too late to argue. He glimpsed me and immediately turned on his heel, rocking with laughter. The long braid down his back made me wonder if he belonged to a pack or a tribe.
Though crouched low with my long hair concealing some of my profile, I knew he’d gotten more than an eyeful of my backside. “Stand down, alpha. An exposed female is present.”
He bent over in stitches, and his sonorous laugh made me want to find the nearest stick and poke his eyes out. Instead, I tossed a small rock at the back of his head.
“Ow!” His shoulders hunched, and he rubbed at his scalp. “I’ve never met such a bashful Shifter. I can’t help it. So, uh… car trouble?” He erupted in another fit of laughter.
I sprang to my feet and snatched the sunshade from inside my car, using it to shield myself. I had no qualms about nudity during a shift, but I didn’t make a habit of parading around naked in front of strangers while having a conversation. Especially not alphas. “You can turn around now.”
When he peered over his right shoulder, I glimpsed his face. He had a strong jaw and masculine features—very much Native American. I’d never seen a man with such broad shoulders and a heavy brow. He was a beast of a man, like a barbarian in modern clothing.
When his eyes traveled down to the sunshade, he choked with laughter and bent over again. “I’m going to piss myself.”
I glanced down at the Daffy Duck sunshade and didn’t see the humor. “You might be an alpha, but you must not hold a Packmaster’s rank.”
The laughter died in his throat, and he straightened. “I thought someone needed my help. I must have thought wrong.” He slid on his dark shades and headed to his truck without looking back.
I jogged after him, but he’d already reached the road. “Wait! Please… I do need your help. My clothes are gone.”
The alpha stopped short but didn’t turn around. His sleeveless black shirt revealed beefy arms that were perfectly sculpted but not grotesquely muscular. Though his cargo pants hung a little loose, I could easily see how built he was beneath them, and he carried himself like a man who feared nothing. I guessed him to be around six and a half feet or more, excluding the extra lift his boots provided. His deep, commanding voice had a luscious undercurrent that changed the texture in an indefinable way.
“Where are your clothes?” he asked.
“If I knew that, I wouldn’t be standing naked on the side of the road.”
A car flew by and honked.
“Did your car break down?”
“No, my car is fine. I just…”Out with it, Hope. Fess up.“I was joyrunning on private property. I don’t have a pack, so before you question me about why I didn’t shift on my own land—”
“I don’t really care what you do out here,” he said matter-of-factly. “It’s not my business. Do you live close by?”
“No. I’m from the heart of Austin.”
His lips thinned. “This isn’t Austin?”
“This is Greater Austin.”
A gust of wind cooled my bare back, reminding me of my dire situation.
He opened the passenger door of his truck and reached inside, whistling the whole time. A few moments later, the man turned, and I took three steps back.
I’d never seen anyone with permanent ink on his face. A tribal design covered the entire left side, and though his eyes remained hidden behind black shades, I could feel them all over me.
He tilted his head to the side. “My name’s Tak, and I’m visiting from Oklahoma. I won’t eat your face off.”
