Page 20 of My Shifty Bodyguard

“You are on Moonstone Pack land.”

“I swear I didn’t mean to trespass! I was hiking. I got lost. I thought this was, like, national forest or something.”

I fold my arms. “This is clearly not national forest. There are no signs for national forests saying ‘trespassers will be eaten.’”

“There are no signs like that here either!” Rory protests.

I shrug. “We assume it is implied.”

I step closer, giving Rory my best “I will eat you and spit out your bones” stare. Usually it produces immediate confessions, along with spontaneous urination.

Rory just trembles harder.

“Which pack are you from?” I growl.

“I’m not affiliated,” he says quickly. “I’m a lone wolf. I’m a free spirit. I like to commune with nature, go where the wind leads me. But I’m harmless. Seriously. I’ve never even been in a fight. I’d like to leave now?” His voice raises, high and shaky.

I narrow my eyes at him. “Where are you from originally?”

“Northern Wisconsin. I grew up with the Green Hills pack, but I left when I was a teenager. Wanted to travel. Find myself. Be my own wolf. See the world. Make my own - ” No, I can not listen to any more of this.

“Who sent you?” I interrupt.

“Nobody! I’m not lying. Really!” His voice rises high in panic.

I study him. My instincts are good. He does not feel like an assassin.

To want to kill the people who are closest to Jasper Carmichael rather than target him directly, and to do it from a distance – poison, an arrow - the assassin must be someone who is filled with hate and malice and cowardice. This small, weak specimen only seems to possess one out of three of those qualities.

I glance at Nero. He subtly shakes his head. And I suspect he’s right.

Still. We cannot assume. Perhaps he is a very, very good actor, although I’m not sure how an actor could pretend to have that scent of fear reeking from him.

“Rory Delaney,” I say, “you will answer our questions at headquarters.”

“Yes, absolutely, sir,” he says, nodding vigorously. “I love answering questions. Big fan of honesty. Huge fan.”

Nero rolls his eyes. Not our guy, he mouths. I nod in agreement.

But we escort him anyway.

Back at headquarters, we put Rory in our interrogation room. He sits naked in a hard chair. I’m wearing jeans and a t-shirt now.

I glare at him, because that is what an Alpha does in these situations.

But in my head…This makes no sense.

He’s got no confidence. No stealth. He looks like he’d cry if he got a thorn in his paw.

Then again, whoever tried to assassinate Violet and her stepmother was clearly, incredibly inept. So…maybe? Right now, we’re running his information through the shifter database system, where all registered shifters’ information is stored. We’ll talk to the Green Hills pack, find out if he has had any known interactions with Violet’s pack.

He swallows. “So—uh—what happens now?”

Before I can answer, Gavin bursts through the door.

“Dax. Outside. Now.”

My stomach tightens.