Talan's Treasure Read Free Page A

scent of death overpowered Talan’s animal senses. He wrapped an arm around his mate and gently pulled him back away from the door, turned him around and walked him back down the steps.
    “Please tell me you signed up for some sort of mystery cabin event,” Talan whispered, looking over his shoulder at the cabin’s entrance.
    “Nope. That was my cousin, Darren.” Adrian’s soft voice barely pushed the air out of his lungs.
    If Talan didn’t have superior hearing, he would’ve missed the response. Holding Adrian close, Talan looked carefully across the white landscape, but the new snow, while www.total-e-bound.com
    TALAN’S TREASURE
    Amber Kell
    14
    pretty, erased any tracks that might have been there before. All he saw were the ones made by him and Adrian.
    He cuddled Adrian close. “Are you okay?” He didn’t know the dead man so saved all his concern for his mate.
    Adrian nodded but his gaze had an unfocused look. “We should call somebody.” Talan squeezed Adrian in a quick embrace. “How about you call your brother and I call the police?”
    “Be careful, Sheriff Bob doesn’t like shifters.” Talan snorted. “Sheriff Bob? Seriously?”
    Adrian nodded, his face as pale as the snow. “Laugh all you want but he tried to arrest Kade once for disturbing the peace when all he did was walk through town with a few of the pack. The man hates us.”
    “I’ll be careful.” The phone was picked up on the other end and Talan conveyed the situation to the dispatcher, all the while listening in on his mate’s conversation.
    “No, I’m not rushing home,” Adrian growled. “I’m here with Talan and we’ll be fine.
    I’m not giving up the first vacation in forever because of some psycho-killer asshole.” Adrian argued with his brother some more before hanging up without saying goodbye.
    Talan frowned at him. “Can he order you back home because he’s your wolf Alpha?” It never occurred to him before that Adrian had split loyalties even though, other than running under the moon with the pack and visiting his brother, Adrian didn’t meet with the wolves very often.
    Adrian shook his head. “Kade lost control over me once I mated outside the pack.” He let out a long sigh. “But he can still strongly suggest as my brother and head of the family that I return. It’s not above him to use my future niece or nephew either.” Talan waved his phone. “The police are on their way.” Adrian shivered. Talan didn’t think the cold caused his shivers as much as the dead body, but he pretended otherwise. “Come on love, let’s wait in the Hummer. I can turn it on and jack up the heat. I don’t want you freezing your ass off, and we shouldn’t mess up the murder scene.”
    Not giving Adrian a chance to comment about unnecessarily polluting the environment, Talan dragged the other man off.
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    TALAN’S TREASURE
    Amber Kell
    15
    As soon as they were tucked inside the vehicle, Talan blasted the heater up until Adrian looked less in shock and more his usual colour, if not a little on the hot and sweaty side.
    They sat in silence for a while, each man buried in his own thoughts.
    “Who do you think killed him?” Adrian asked, breaking the silence.
    Talan shrugged. “I have no idea. It could be anyone. He didn’t look like he’d been dead long.”
    Adrian shook his head. “No, I talked to him only a few hours ago and told him when we’d be here. We might have just missed the killer.” A chill went through Talan that had nothing to do with the cold. The idea of a killer coming into contact with his mate made his lion growl protectively and his human half clutch the steering wheel in relief that they hadn’t arrived earlier in the day.
    “Maybe the cops can tell us something. Dispatch said they’d send someone right over. I guess they don’t get a lot of murders here.”
    “It’s a tourist town. Most people come to have fun,” Adrian said. His voice lacked its usual vivacity and