Betraying the Pack Read Online Free

instinct, toward a veritable stranger, deter him
from his mission. The bar he’d just left appeared clean, not a scent of wolf
anywhere to be found. And, with his kiss, he’d left his mark on her, warning
others off—hopefully.
    If Gavin intended to smear his
scent more thoroughly on her—while enjoying himself immensely—then he’d have to
do his duty first. So off he went with Wyatt, barhopping in the hopes of
finding a rogue trail. His other pack brothers, Jaxon and Parker, were doing
the same. Just another dull day of searching, where they’d later meet back at
the cabins they’d rented and compare notes.
    A few hours later, longer than
Gavin expected, they ended up back at the country bar. “What a waste of time,”
Gavin complained. “I swear it’s like the bastards know we’re coming and
scatter. That last place, I thought I had one. I still don’t understand how
they’re hiding their tracks so well.”
    “I’ll agree it’s frustrating,” Wyatt
replied in a low tone. “But we’ve got to keep looking. If we haven’t found
anything concrete by the end of the week, we’ll try in the next town over.”
    Wyatt’s suggestion didn’t
entirely please Gavin. Leaving town meant leaving the dark-haired cutie he’d
just met, the one he hoped to see again—tonight.
    Gavin pretended nonchalance as
he entered the still-rocking place, but Wyatt thumped him on the back and
laughed.
    “Careful or you’re going to
scare her away with that hungry look of yours.”
    Chagrined that his control had slipped
enough to make his desires evident on his face, Gavin schooled his features as
he scanned the place. He couldn’t locate his little darling’s scent, that sweet
blend of honey shampoo and baby powder deodorant. Too many odors crowded his
senses, making sifting them difficult. He moved toward the bar itself, halting
at the stool where she’d perched before. Too many bodies had since occupied it
for him to scent her. Turning to regard the crowd, his excitement slumped.
She’d left.
    It made no sense for him to
feel so disappointed. He’d just met her, a simple human girl. Yet, despite the
brevity of their meeting, and her human status, he couldn’t stop himself from
wondering how he could find her again.
    A sharp poke in his side
snapped him from his thoughts, and he turned to see a somber-looking Wyatt
gesturing at him to follow.
    “What’s up?”
    Wyatt didn’t bother answering
as Gavin followed him to the corridor that led to the bathrooms. “Need me to
watch your back while you pee?” Gavin joked.
    “Smell.”
    Gavin inhaled. He sifted the
myriad scents, the perfumes, and sweat, and . . . found a faint trace of his
mystery woman. And wolf. Make that unknown wolves. A ball of dread made his
stomach tighten as he followed the scent trail—wolf, wolf, and honey shampoo.
    Stuck to his heels, Wyatt kept
up with him as Gavin went down the hall to the emergency exit and out into the
back of the place. Once outside, Gavin turned left, and then right, breathing
deep each time, before taking off at a jog toward the edge of the woods, where
he finally lost the trail.
    “We missed them,” Wyatt
announced grimly. “They must have arrived after we left.”
    “No shit, Sherlock. But the
better question is, why did they take my mystery lady with them?”
    Wyatt’s face scrunched into a
grimace. “Shit, I thought the scent seemed familiar. Fuck, you don’t think
they’re going to—”
    “Kill her like they did the
others?” Cold fingers of fear squeezed his heart. “Not if we find her first.
According to reports, the other women were kept alive anywhere from a week to a
month. We’ll need to move fast.”
    “Gee, like we’ve been sitting
on our hands this entire time. We still don’t have any more clues than before.”
    Gavin knelt at the edge of the
brush bordering the parking lot and pulled from the weeds a small black wallet
with a wrist strap. Opening it, he ignored the cash and pulled out