Savage Smoke Read Free

complete stranger?” Chance asked.
    Damen grinned, an expression Olivia related to a naughty boy. “Meet the highly esteemed and respected Dr. Clark Bristol, top research scientist of the Lycan lore.”
    “Nice… I’ll have to remember that one. I’m always impressed by your chameleon-like adaptions, a great asset for the agency.”
    Damen coughed a little, as if uncomfortable at receiving Chance’s compliment, then continued, “I believe the testing has been completed on it. As far as I know he didn’t share it with Smoke, so I’m fairly certain Smoke isn’t aware of its existence.” Damen rose from his chair and pulled a folded paper from a stack on the table in front of him. He opened it and pointed. “Here, Rutskins, Wyoming. This is where robin-red-breast sends Smoke the packages of drugs, postmarked Smoke Chanceleur, General Delivery.”
    “That bastard!”
    Olivia jerked, startled, as Chance ripped his hand away from her back. He pounded his fist on the table with a deafening crash. It made her and everyone else jump. The wooden table top cracked and dented.
    “Chance, you have a location. We can find them now.” Olivia touched his flexed arm, fist still buried in the table surface. His body shook and his eyes glowed, unseeing. A blast of anguish, thick and dark, throbbed through her chest as she read Chance’s emotions. All of her senses went on alert, knowing his moments standing there dwindled. She knew he wanted outdoors, running as wolf. “What is upsetting you?”
    He stood defiant and continued to stare through her, his body quaking as if out of his control.
    “Chance, you’re taking this a bit hard.” Damen spoke in a deep soothing tone. “Calm yourself or you’ll shift.” Damen shuffled around Olivia, and she scooted back, even though her inner urge wanted to shift and run as Chance did. Trevor stood and pulled her farther away, slipping her behind Jase, who now also stood, both men forming a wall in front of her.
    “What’s going on?” Olivia whispered to Trevor. “Let me through.”
    Between their shoulders, she saw Chance shove Damen back. His body shook so hard it appeared Chance convulsed. He growled in a heart rending pitch. It thrummed loud and heavy through the air, and then he ran from the room. Olivia slammed between Jase and Trevor, but they remained a barrier.
    “Something’s very wrong…I need to. Be. With. Him.” She fought to get through them.
    “Not on your life. Not when our Alpha is in this mood. No way, he’d never forgive us.” Trevor gave Olivia a stern look.
    Jasmine slid around the table and took Olivia’s hand, although first instinct told Olivia to snatch it away and run.
    “Come this way,” Jasmine said in a gentle tone. She pulled Olivia toward the backside of the table. “Let him go for a bit. He’ll be fine once he unleashes some of that pent-up anger with a good long run as wolf.”
    “I don’t understand. Chance has been waiting for Smoke’s location. Why would that anger him?” Olivia watched the group, all eyes avoiding hers. “Stop it, dammit. Don’t make me reach into your minds to find my answer. Just tell me what’s going on.”
    “Chanceleur was Chance’s father’s name. It’s just another rock Smoke hurled and it looks like it hit Chance square in the heart,” Jasmine said.
    Olivia looked at Damen, and then she gazed around the room at all of them.
    “So, who is Smoke to Chance?” Again, no one made eye contact with her, which pissed her off. “Don’t think I didn’t catch that telepathic conversation going on between Smoke and Chance. You know what I’m talking about. I was running all out on a mission to find Smoke. You all tripped me up in the middle of a forest hundreds of miles from here. Ring any bells?”
    Still no one looked at her.
    “Okay, I’ll spell it out. Chance called Smoke a son-of-a-bitch. And, Smoke came back saying you’re the son of the same bitch. Are they brothers?” Her breath came faster.