But these?These souls are displaced.Out of place.Out of time.
And beneath it all, there’s something else.
Something buried under the foundation.
Something old.Powerful.And pissed.
My knees wobble.
I barely register the world returning to normal—whatever that means in this town—before I feel a pair of big, callused hands grip my shoulders.
Firm.Warm.Safe.
“Easy does it,” Owen murmurs, his voice low and gruff and way too sexy for someone who just watched me go fullPoltergeist.
And yeah, okay, that should be the last thing on my mind right now.But I’ve got two eyes and a pulse.And this Wolf man is seriously hot.
Like, hot enough to make a girl want to get into trouble with him.
That beard?Dark, thick, totally illegal levels of scruffy.
Those eyes?Glowing gold with his Wolf peeking through.
Gorgeous.Dangerous.100% wreck-my-life material.
And when he looks at me like that?Like I’m more than a problem to solve or an agent to brief?
Yeah.I feel it.Right down to my chipped pink toenail polish.
“You feeling okay?”he asks, voice low, gaze sharp with concern that sends a little flutter through my stomach.
Not ideal when I wasjustfantasizing about this man pinning me to a wall with that big, delicious body of his and showing me exactly what a Wolf like him could do—but hey, I’ll take the concern.It’s sweet.Endearing, even.Totally incompatible with the images dancing through my brain, but here we are.
I nod, too fast maybe, but what else can I do?I mean, the man ishuge, hovering over me like some kind of supernatural bodyguard fantasy come to life, all warm presence and broad shoulders and protective energy.
And I feel… small next to him.Not in a bad way.Not in ahide-your-curveskind of way.
No, in athis man could eat me alive and I might ask for secondskind of way.
His lips look soft.Kissable.His body?The opposite of soft.Carved, firm, commanding.I want to know what he thinks of me—ofallof me.Of my thick thighs and generous hips and the kind of cleavage that deserves its own zip code.Does he like curves?
The way his golden eyes keep dipping toward my chest like it’s got the answers to the universe makes me think… yes.He likes.
My whole body shivers at the thought of revealing myself to that gaze—inch by inch, button by button.
And then?—
“Alright, come on,” he says, breaking the moment like it’s nothing.
I blink, startled out of my ogling.“What?Wait.Where are we going?”
He doesn’t answer right away—just reaches out those big, capable hands and helps me up.His fingers slide over my shoulders with a gentleness that surprises me, and he watches me for one more beat before nodding and turning away.
Back in control.Sheriff mode.
“We’re heading to headquarters.Whatever this is?”He gestures vaguely back toward the Crypt Mansion, still crawling with spectral funk and ghoul slime.“We’re not prepared for it.I’ll have my deputies rope off the property and call in Preacher and Esmerelda to ward the place.”
“Preacher?”I echo, raising an eyebrow as I follow him.
