“Well, now that Mom’s back in town, perhaps you should share the news about your human boyfriend with her and see howshereacts.”
Valene looked skyward at the stars twinkling down. “No, thanks.”
Axel thought he saw her eyes get shiny. “It’s not because I don’t like him. It’s because I would really miss you if you were forced to move back to Alpha-Prime. Plus, Wyatt’s the sheriff, someone used to working hard and being respected for what he does. What would life be like for him on Alpha-Prime?”
“And there’s another really stupid rule,” Valene said under her breath.
“Oh, trust me, there are lots of stupid rules to go around,” Axel said. She put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed, giving him a sympathetic look.
Inside the sheriff’s car, Wyatt coughed. The three of them froze. Valene silently shooed him and Lucy back to his truck as she scrambled around to the passenger’s side of Wyatt’s police car and got in.
Axel and Lucy hopped in his truck, drove away from the clearing, around a bend and out of sight.
The last thing he saw as he passed the sheriff’s cruiser was Valene leaning over the center console, kissing Wyatt on the mouth. He quelled the urge to race back and pull them apart, but only barely.
Axel parked well out of sight of the cruiser. He glanced at Lucy and wished he could kiss her.
Lucy didn’t say a word. Had she seen his sister kissing the sheriff? If she had, she also didn’t mention it.
Axel waited for what seemed like an hour, but was likely only a couple of minutes, until he heard the sheriff’s patrol car start up and pull away, exiting the bauxite pit’s lovers’ lane.
They drove back to the spot where the sand-claw beast slept at the far edge of the clearing. He’d have to be creative when he called Cam or Diesel. It wasn’t like he could not call them. He didn’t have a shackle sticker and four different shots of even a standard tranquilizer dart were only going to last so long. He didn’t relish chasing another Alpha-Prime animal through Alienn or any other nearby town.
“Now what?” Lucy asked, squinting through the window at the shadow of the huge beast.
“Now I have to call either Cam or Diesel or both and carefully tell a story that includes what Wyatt did, what I did and why I called them, but I also have to exclude Valene and also explain why we are here together.”
“Tell the truth,” she suggested. “Wyatt came to the café and led you out here, he told you what he did and you had the wherewithal to shoot him with the Defender, then put him in his car.”
“What about Valene?”
Lucy shrugged. “What about her? Why would they assume she was here if you don’t mention it?”
Axel nodded. “That’s true. Okay. Good. That’s good.”
“Did the animal over there just move?” Lucy asked, staring out her window.
He squinted at the large shadow. “Look in the glove box again. Maybe I do have a shackle sticker in there.”
“Shackle sticker? I know what it is, but I don’t know what it looks like.” Lucy opened the release and Axel heard the beast make a noise. Crap, the sand-claw beast was waking up.
“Never mind.” Axel grabbed his phone and punched in Cam’s number. “Where are you?” he asked when his brother answered, sounding half-asleep. It was pretty early to be in bed, but his brother was a newly married man.
Cam cleared his throat, but his voice was raspy when he spoke. “Well, Iwasasleep until you called. What do you want?”
“Wake up. I need you at the bauxite pit’s lovers’ lane with a shackle sticker. Pronto.”
“Shackle sticker? Why?”
“What do you mean why? Why do you think? Remember the last time we needed a shackle sticker? Why aren’t you here, yet?”
“I’m moving as fast as I can.” Cam sounded a little more awake. “What’s going on?”
“It’s a long story, Cam. Wyatt shot a beast with a tranquilizer gun and found me by accident on his way to find you or Diesel.”
“Space potatoes,” Cam said. Over the line, Axel heard a car door slam and a vehicle engine start.
“Where is Wyatt now?”
