Once they were briefed and equipped, Malcolm and Larissa pored over a map of Sunburst, their heads bent close together.Malcolm caught a whiff of Larissa’s scent, making his wolf whine with longing.
“Let’s split up and track them down.I’ll take the north and east sections,” Larissa said, her finger tracing the streets on the map.“You take south and west.Unless we find them, we can meet back here at noon to compare notes.”
Malcolm nodded, trying to ignore the way his skin tingled where her hand had brushed his on the map.“Sounds like a plan.Be careful out there, Larissa.”
She glanced up at him then, surprise flickering in her eyes at the concern in his voice, and Malcolm thought something softened in her expression.But then it was gone, replaced by her usual determined expression.
“You too,” she said softly before turning away.
As they made their way down the stairs to the sidewalk that ran along Main Street, Malcolm’s senses were on high alert.Every sound, every scent, every movement caught his attention.But nothing compared to his awareness of Larissa walking with him, her presence both comforting and electrifying.
They had just reached the street level when Malcolm caught a scent on the breeze—one he recognized.His muscles tensed instinctively.
“Hannah,” he muttered, nodding toward the Desert Sunrise Diner across the street.
Larissa spotted the blonde woman entering the restaurant.“Let’s go,” she said, her voice tight with controlled anger.
They activated their body-worn devices and entered the building separately, Malcolm taking a seat at the counter while Larissa slid into a booth near Hannah.The diner was busy with the breakfast crowd, the clatter of plates and the hum of conversation providing perfect cover.
Malcolm ordered a coffee, easily picking up Hannah’s voice over the din.She was talking to Owen, her tone sickly sweet.
“I’m just worried about the direction the pack is taking,” Hannah was saying, her voice dripping with false concern.“Nick’s okay, I guess, but he’s so new to being an alpha.And Malcolm and Larissa?They’re too busy fighting each other to notice what’s really going on.”Her tone turned malicious.“Or whatever it is they’re doing together.”
Malcolm’s hands clenched into fists, his coffee cup creaking dangerously in his grip.He wanted nothing more than to march over there and tell Hannah exactly what he thought of her manipulations.But before he could move, Larissa touched his arm.
She had slid onto the stool next to him, her gaze warning him to stay calm.Her hand on his arm sent a wave of calm through him, his wolf settling under her touch.
“Easy,” she murmured, her voice so low only he heard it.“We need evidence, remember?Let her talk.”
Malcolm took a deep breath, forcing his muscles to relax.Larissa was right, of course.They needed to play this smart.
Malcolm watched Larissa over the rim of his coffee cup as she pulled a book out of her purse, managing to look completely engrossed in it while keeping perfect track of Hannah’s movements across the diner.
With a snort, he realized the book was one of the ones on leadership he’d seen her buy.That encounter outside the bookstore seemed like ages ago—hard to believe it was less than a month, really.
“This reminds me of when we spied on the older kids’ training sessions,” he murmured, just loud enough for her to pick it up with her lupine hearing.
“Until you sneezed and gave us away.”She turned a page with deliberate casualness.“Your stealth hasn’t improved much.”
“I was allergic to your perfume!”
“It was soap, you idiot.”But her lips curved slightly.“That sounds a lot like when you claimed you were allergic to the history books to get out of study group.”
“That was different.You were torturing us with flash cards.”
“Which you memorized anyway,” she pointed out.“I found your secret stash behind the loose brick in the pack house.”
Malcolm leaned closer, ostensibly to point at something in her book.“Going through my things even then?I’m flattered.”
“Tactical reconnaissance,” she corrected, but a faint blush colored her cheeks.“Like when you ‘accidentally’ found my training journal.”
“The one where you analyzed everyone’s fighting styles?Including my, what did you call it, ‘predictably aggressive approach with occasional flashes of strategic insight’?”
“Your coffee’s getting cold,” she deflected.
“Some of us can multitask,” he echoed her earlier words to him.“Though you never could when Jeremy Matthews tried to sit with us at lunch.”
“I did not get flustered by Jeremy Matthews.”
