Unconditional Read Free Page A

he wore his emotions on his face so clearly. Not so much now, but she knew, given the way he was talking, that he figured he could take over and send her away and that was not going to happen. He was obviously used to being obeyed. Ha. He’d better buckle up because she wasn’t the blind-obedience type.
    “So stop dicking me around and tell me what is going on.”
    “This is bad, Michelle.”
    “Give me details. Help me. Help me find her, damn it.”
    He blew out a breath.
    Josh had been a big guy in school. Broad shouldered. His honey blond hair had been very short then. But not now. It reached his shoulders and matched the neat goatee he wore. He was sun-kissed. Which only highlighted the pale green eyes. He was still big, but now he was a man.
    Ha. A man. He was a freaking werewolf . God.
    He smelled good. Wore some seriously well-fitting and expensive clothes. Given the size of his office and the view it came with, Josh was someone within Pacific. That and the respect she’d seen him given.
    Gone was the genial, laid-back football player she’d loved so hard when she was young. He was bossy now. Way bossier than he had been then. She was around bossy men all day, most cops tended to be alpha personalities. She dealt with it, knew how to handle them, how to push back when it was necessary. She was an alpha too after all.
    But Josh? He emanated that energy that only his kind of alpha male had. Charismatic. Powerful. He commanded attention simply with his presence.
    Josh the man made her tingly in ways she couldn’t have even begun to dream about when she was sixteen. Still, she wasn’t going to be managed or handled, even by a man as searingly sexy as the one next to her was.
    “I can scent it, you know.” His voice had gone low, stroking over her senses like a caress.
    “Huh?” She knew she blushed.
    “Arousal.” He leaned in very close, and she told herself—quite sternly—to get up and move out of his reach. And sat right where she was, fascinated by the way his nostrils flared a little and his eyes had gone an otherworldly shade of green. “I can scent the rush of blood to your skin in your blush. The way you just got all wet.” He paused, breathing deep again, and she nearly moaned. She should be horrified, but that was not what was happening at all.
    She swallowed the moan back. “I’m in charge of my parts. Tell me about what’s going on.” Her voice was breathy, so not authoritative.
    He smiled. A slight tip upward at the corner of his mouth where his dimple showed. She wanted to lick it. The moment stretched between them in a way she couldn’t find the energy to disentangle herself from.
    Allie.
    She sat back, getting some distance, and his hand shot out, far quicker than she’d anticipated, latching on to her knee. She gulped, her heart thundering as she licked her lips.
    “ Allie ,” she said out loud, and he nodded, but kept his hand on her knee.
    “The mages have been working with turned witches. In an increasingly organized fashion. All across the country—hell, Canada too—witches have gone missing, only to be found a few days later.” He shut up and she shook her head.
    “I need to know the details. I’m a cop, Josh. I can’t find her…I can’t protect my people if I don’t know what’s going on.”
    “They’re found dead. Totally drained. The numbers have been increasing and they’ve recently begun kidnapping Weres too.”
    She knew she’d paled, could feel the blood rush away from her face as shock smacked her. “Good God.”
    “Yes. Since you’ve spoken with Gage, you know we’ve got some contacts with them and Clan Gennessee to the south. The witches are aware and working on a unified defense. Back east where this all first started, we’ve created a coordinated effort with the de La Vega Jamboree. Jaguar shifters,” he added when she looked confused. “And of course with National. That’s the sort of united governing pack for all wolves in the United