Tempted by the Jaguar #4: Infiltration (Riverford Shifters) Read Online Free

a scent, but— something was definitely strongly present among the scents she had come to associate with
Hunter that she had never smelled before. Neither metallic nor earthy or even
acrid, it was a scent that was more a sensation than having any sort of
distinguishable fragrance.
    She glanced at the door, wondering if Maxim had given off a similar
scent. She had been too distracted by the revelation about Anna to pay
attention to the scents swirling around in the air. How much more information
was she missing because she was still too new to the animal side of her shifter
nature?
    A light tug on her hair had Kylie looking up at Hunter’s face. “What is
it?” he asked.
    “I had no idea that your reason was that close to snapping, and that
really bothers me,” she admitted.
    “Even filled with rage, I would never hurt you if that’s what you’re
worried about.”
    Kylie shook her head. “That’s not what I mean. I just realized that I
might as well have been blind because I’m still not used to living as a
shifter. If I would have bothered to pay attention to the scents coming off
you, I would’ve known something was up with both you and Maxim even if I hadn’t
known exactly what that new scent meant. I guess what I’m trying to say is I’ve
suddenly realized exactly how vulnerable I’ve been since the shifter part of me
awakened, and now I’m worried about what else I might have missed that my
jaguar senses had been screaming at me. What if that lioness had been watching
from the forest when Paul picked me up from your apartment complex this
morning? It didn’t even occur to me to pay attention to the scents around me!
What if that was the reason she was able to find us at Karen’s? She saw Paul’s
license plate, used it to find out his name and from there, my name. What if
I’m wrong and the lioness did report me as a Rogue to someone in her
clan before she went after me, to one of their Polyshifter allies? Then when
Maxim’s people took her prisoner, the Polyshifter decided to go with Plan B and
kidnap Molly in order to get to me—”
    “That’s a lot of ‘what ifs,’” Hunter cut her off firmly before Kylie
could work herself up even more. “We still don’t know for sure if the lions are
involved with her disappearance, and even if they are, if that alligator
shifter the cops smelled in your friend’s apartment really is a
Polyshifter. At this point, it’s all pure speculation, and God knows I tormented myself on all the ‘what ifs’ and ‘maybes’ after Ryder went missing.”
He ran his free hand affectionately through her hair. “I would save you from that
agony if I can.”
    Kylie flashed him a guilty look. “You’re right. This isn’t the time to
be freaking out about stuff like that, especially when I’m keeping you from
calling Jack.”
    “And keeping yourself from resting,” he scolded teasingly.
    “I’ll close my eyes, but that’s all I can promise.”
    Hunter wasn’t on the phone longer than five minutes before a slight
tensing of his body had Kylie opening her eyes and looking up at him
questionably. She hadn’t heard anything on his end that would have warranted
his sudden tension.
    “I’ll be there in twenty.”
    The wary look in his eyes had her instantly on red alert. Kylie pulled
away and rose to her knees beside him before he could speak to her.
    “Don’t even think about it,” she warned.
    “Kylie…”
    “You’re not leaving me behind here,” she said mulishly, “especially if
you’re going to see Jack.”
    “I am, but where I need to go is clear across town,” he said. “It’s not
safe for you to be seen. You know that. Maybe not even for a few days.”
    Kylie blinked in surprise. “Across town? I thought you said his family
was taking him back to Parker Grove.”
    Hunter studied her face for a long, tense moment before he sighed in
something like resignation and replied, “I thought so, too, but it seems his
family felt he would be safer