Tempted by the Jaguar #2: Revelation (Riverford Shifters) Read Online Free Page B

of
my territory once a day. I’ll up it to at least three times that for the next
month or so.”
    “You know,” Maxim said hesitantly, “it
might be better if someone other than you patrols the other two times, or
better yet, get your neighboring jaguars to follow the same routine. It would
look less suspicious.”
    “That might be a little tricky. Most in
my clan are still convinced that I’m grasping at straws, seeing shadows, out of
grief. Some of them might humor me for a day or two and then it would be back
to business as usual. No one’s really going to bust their ass without hard
proof.”
    “True, but a couple of days is better
than nothing. Although—maybe just adding the occasional companion on your runs
might work just as well. You do, after all, have the perfect excuse for it
now.”
    “You’re talking about Kylie, aren’t
you?” Hunter questioned flatly.
    “She won’t be in heat forever,” Maxim said
pointedly. “By then everyone in the city will know that she’s a Returner. No
one will look sideways at you helping her adjust to her newly awakened jaguar
nature, especially when it was Donald Gaither, himself, who asked you to help
her integrate into the clan.”
    “I did offer to take her on a run
through the forest,” he admitted, “but…”
    “For now, just think about it. Spread
the word about the extra patrols and see how much mileage you can get out of
that. After all, a lot can happen in a week and a half. That piece of cloth
could become another dead end before you two can speak without wanting to rip
each other’s clothes off.”
    “Thank you very much for that mental
image,” Hunter groused. “You do realize that I still have a shit-ton of Kylie’s
scent coating my nose? Hell, I can still taste her! I’m starting to
wonder if it’ll ever go away.”
    “Maybe I should have one of my men bring
in a bucket of the vinegar solution they’re using for cleanup to dunk your head
in,” Maxim offered with a laugh.
    Hunter merely glared and resisted the
urge to flip him the bird. It would just make the teasing worse.
    “All joking aside, it really might
help,” Maxim insisted.
    “I’ll pass,” Hunter replied dryly. “At
this point, it’s not worth the headache I’d be sure to get. I’ll just go stay
at my old place, and hopefully my head and nose will be clear in the morning. I
should probably get an early start on those extra patrols.”
    Suddenly all the humor left Maxim’s
eyes. “Speaking of patrols, I never did get to finish telling you about the probable
Sniffers a couple of my young clan brothers saw walking into Riverford Regional
around lunchtime today. Both were cougars, early twenties, and utter strangers.
I sent over one of my wolves from my security detail to get a whiff of them as
usual, and she confirmed that neither scent belonged to any of Riverford’s
cougars. Lana managed to get a fairly good picture of them as they left the
hospital, and I had Sasha show it to some of her cougar friends. Nobody
recognized them. Her friends are trying to find out whether or not anyone from
the cougar clan is currently hosting visitors.”
    Hunter stiffened. “Do you think they
were scoping out the hospitals, looking for the bastard that attacked Kylie
maybe?”
    “Either that or they were sent there to
speak with the hospital brass, both of which a potential disaster in the
making. Right now I have a few wolves and young tigers tailing them. We should
know within a few days whether or not our suspicions are confirmed.”
    “Maybe then the Elders will take our
warnings more seriously. I can also ask the bobcat twins to keep an eye out for
them. Do you have a copy of that picture I can give to—”
    Hunter’s cell phone abruptly rang,
causing him to break off mid-sentence as he fished it out of his pocket. His heart
sank when he saw Jennifer’s name on the screen.
    “Hunter, I need you to come back to
Kylie’s apartment,” Jennifer said before he could even