But before he could sign off, the sheriff said, "Wait, got another message coming in." He seemed to pause forever before he spoke again to Leidolf, and the suspense was killing him. "They lost her. She shook loose of Ben's grip and headed south again, but they're in pursuit of her."
"Wearing nighttime goggles?" Had to be if they could see like wolves in the gloom of night.
"Yeah. You want them to keep after her?"
"Sure. I'll give you an update in a while." Leidolf didn't want to make it sound as though he needed to keep the whole thing secret from the sheriff's office. Not at this point. He figured Cassie wouldn't allow the brothers to catch her again anyway. "We're headed in that direction." Leidolf signed off with the sheriff. He wanted Cassie under his protection and didn't like the idea the men would be manhandling her.
"She's headed this way," Elgin said, a little way away. "A turnout is just ahead."
"She's probably parked there," Leidolf responded. "Hell, if she gets into her vehicle, that's the last we'll see of her." He started running. He wasn't letting her go until he knew her story. Well, that wasn't exactly true. He didn't intend to let her go ever, although convincing her he had her best interests at heart was going to be some task.
Elgin and the others began to run in their spread-out configuration. Hunting the female made the wolfish side of him want her all the more.
Then they broke into the clearing for the turnout. They saw two pickups, both dark, no one in either, one blocking the other in at the trailhead.
"The green one's hers. The black one is Alex's." He turned to Pierce. "Pick the lock, and wait for her in the cab in the event she returns. Quincy, you take the truck behind it. If she returns with Alex, she might try to leave with him. We need to make sure that neither takes off before I can question them further."
"Yes, sir," both of his men said.
Elgin motioned toward the Willamette River. "She's headed this way, Leidolf."
A good half hour later, he heard the rush of the river and saw her in her red wolf form near the edge of the water, limping as she paced, sniffing and searching in the area... for what? And what the hell was she doing in her wolf form, risking getting shot again? Trying to locate Alex? Although a sense of relief washed over Leidolf to see her there, unharmed except for the old injury.
When Cassie heard them approach, she stopped and narrowed her eyes. Their fluorescent color shimmered in the still dark, early-morning hour, but she seemed tired, her body, tail, and head sagging. Her shoulder had to be giving her fits.
"Are you looking for Alex Wellington?" Leidolf asked, motioning for his men to surround her but keeping her attention. He wasn't letting her go, not the way she was injured. She wouldn't make it anywhere safe when the sun shone in a few hours.
His expression told her she'd better not even think of crossing the river. He didn't believe she'd mind him if she wasn't hurting so much. "We'll find him, but you need to return to the ranch for your own safety." He hadn't meant to sound so irritated, but the notion of her risking her life and exposing their kind to be with Alex annoyed the hell out of him.
Suddenly, Elgin and Fergus came out of the brush from behind a Douglas fir, both gripping a man's arms. The man's blue eyes were bloodshot, but he couldn't see in the dark like they could.
Alex Wellington.
"What the hell are you doing out here? And who are these guys?" Alex tugged to free himself, but Leidolf's men would hold him tight until Leidolf said otherwise.
Had Alex been Cassie's human lover? If so, Leidolf planned to quickly remedy the situation. He frowned. "Did the men you overheard say they'd murdered a woman also shoot the red wolf?"
Alex didn't say anything, but he turned a little pale.
Leidolf didn't like having to repeat himself, and he figured that if Alex could have seen the look he was being given for his disobedience, he would have taken more heed. Leidolf tried again. This time, he growled: "Did one of them?"
Elgin sounded equally ferocious as he shook Alex's arm, "Answer the question."
"All right, all right. It's none of your concern. Hell, all you are is a damned rancher."
In response, Elgin smirked. Carver shook his head. Satros studied the wolf biologist but didn't say a word, his expression hard. He didn't have much to do with humans, as old as he was. And he didn't tolerate them well when he had to deal with them. Fergus cleared his throat as if he was going to speak but then didn't.
"Was that your truck across the creek on the turnout south of here?" Leidolf asked, even though he knew it was.
"Yeah. What's it to you?" Alex finally shook loose of Elgin and Fergus as Leidolf gave them the go-ahead to release him.
Leidolf growled, "What are you doing out here still?"
"If it's any of your business, I was looking for Cassie and an injured wolf. Instead of my locating the wolf, she found me again. But I haven't discovered any signs of Cassie."
None of which explained what Cassie was doing at the river's edge. Why didn't she lead Alex back to his truck? No, she was restless, pacing near the water like she was searching for something else. "We have a vet at the ranch. We'll take her with us and get her medical attention," Leidolf explained, trying to curb his irritation with both her and this friend of hers."If you're a rancher, why the hell would you want to take care of a wolf?"
"She's not a problem. We're having trouble with a cougar, though. Killed a couple of our calves. Even so, we're turning the cat over to the zoo once we tranquilize it."
Alex's eyes rounded. "You didn't shoot those zoo men with tranquilizers, did you?"
Leidolf smiled, knowing the man couldn't see his expression in the dark. "We're only out to get the wolf medical attention and put the cougar in the zoo."
Alex's expression indicated that he thought Leidolf had shot the men and taken off with the wolf to protect her. Alex's face brightened, but then he frowned. "You tranquilized the men and took her home with you, didn't you? She must have run away again and come looking for me." He rubbed his stubbly chin and stared at the ground.
"Or she came back because of something else. I don't understand, though. She seems anxious, like she was looking for something but was afraid to leave me alone. She's wounded still, too. Limping pretty badly. Why didn't you keep her safely at home? I mean, I'm grateful she found me and then you did, but you should have locked her up for her own safety."
"Just what I intend to do." Leidolf gave Cassie a look that meant he was going to back up his words.
"Let me go with you," Alex said.
"We can't. Fergus can escort you back to your truck. Sheriff wants to talk to you about what you saw as far as the men are concerned."
"You think he could protect me? She knocked the one down but didn't bite him even. She was protecting me. She's got to have been your pet. Was she?"
"Yeah, she's mine. She got loose. We'll take it from here." Hell, Cassie. How could she have gotten so involved with a human. Leidolf gave her an annoyed look.
"Have you guys got night-vision goggles? I can't see a blamed thing out here with just this flashlight of mine," Alex said, waving the small light around, highlighting a few needles of the Douglas fir straight ahead of him with a pinprick of light. "I figured I'd have to wait it out until morning to locate Cassie, when here comes the wolf. What's her name, by the way?"
"Red," Leidolf said.
Fergus turned on a penlight. "We're from around here and know the woods forward and backward... blindfolded. Come on. I'll take you to your truck."
"But Cassie is somewhere out here also."
Leidolf stalked toward him, ready to learn the truth about her relationship with him. "Who is she to you?"
The guy's eyes widened. Hell, Leidolf meant to ask more about her, not sound like a jealous damn lover.
His men smirked at him. Cassie growled softly in her wolf form, now lying on her stomach, nose on her paws, her eyes focused on Leidolf. He continued to scowl, and Alex frowned. "The woman I'm going to marry. We'll make a damned good team."
The guy couldn't have surprised Leidolf any more with the news. His men looked just as stunned, their mouths gaping.
"Marriage?" He swore she gave him a what-of-it look, although she appeared worn out from her ordeal.
"Yeah, we'll make a terrific husband-and-wife team. Really go places once we make a pact. It's not safe for her to be running around in the wilderness alone."
"She's engaged to you?" Leidolf asked, not bothering to hide the skepticism in his tone of voice.
Alex shoved his hands in his jacket pockets. "As soon as I can propose properly to her. I figured once I'd made the wolf find," he said, motioning to Cassie, "and hooked up with Cassie, I'd share the good news with her and that would be what did it. Hell, if the wolf is just a pet, that won't interest her."
"If you ask her to marry you, she won't say yes." Leidolf couldn't tell what Cassie was thinking, but she was staring at Alex, waiting for a response. Leidolf could sure as hell tell her what he was thinking. No unmated red female was changing some human to be her mate.
"Sure, she'll say yes. As soon as she realizes how perfect we'll be for each other."
"Are you lovers?"
Everyone was rabidly watching Alex for his response. Leidolf thought he heard Cassie emit a very low growl, directed at him, not at Alex.
"None of your damn business."
Leidolf smiled. Just the answer he wanted. No, they weren't lovers.
Leidolf folded his arms across his chest and stood taller. "I can tell you right now that she won't marry you. We're engaged to be married. Couple of weeks, and the knot will be tied."