That hair though. The breeze lifted it from her shoulders. Wave after wave of color flew around her face. Just the tiniest hint of crimson showed through at the roots.
A natural redhead. The urge to taste her blasted through me once more. She would taste like fire and cinnamon. I took a step back, feeling no better than Hurley.
“My name is Cassia,” she said.
Cassia. The moment she said it, it was as if I already knew. She was familiar. I felt a magnetic pull to her that could only be dangerous.
“Cassia,” I repeated. “You’ve taken a hell of a chance coming out here. Whatever you’re looking for, it’s not worth it.”
“I can take care of myself,” she said, raising her chin just a little.
“Really?” I said, raising a brow. “Where you from, Cassia? Ann Arbor? Is it spring break?”
Her nostrils flared. “I said I can take care of myself. Anything else is none of your business.”
“Fine,” I said, turning my back on her. I adjusted the holster at my side and started to walk out of the alley. I only carried a knife. My best weapons were my fangs and claws. It wasn’t worth the risk of getting caught with a gun anymore.
“Wait!” she said, breathless. I watched her shadow grow on the wall as she closed the distance between us.
Her fingers curled around my bicep. Sizzle. Crack. Heat. The air in my lungs turned to fire for an instant.
I whirled around. My vision went white and I knew she could see my golden wolf eyes flash bright.
“I’m sorry,” she said, taking a step back and letting me go.
A thin sheen of sweat formed on her upper lip. Whatever the hell that was when she touched me, I knew she felt it too.
Magic.
She had a little of that witch vibe, but not the scent. She probably dabbled in the stuff. One of those New Age types who think they can save the world and cure cancer with avocados.
Then it hit me. Magic was what she was after. Of course it was. I grabbed her arm and turned it. No track marks. No healed burns. If she was using, it wasn’t the hard stuff. Not yet anyway.
She met my gaze. Oh, there was fire in her for sure. Magic, definitely. If she wasn’t a witch, then she was borrowing it. I’d seen girls like her burn out hard. It made her sicker than Hurley. She’d also be dead in a year if she didn’t find a way out.
“Right,” I said. “You’re doing a bang-up job taking care of yourself.”
Her skin grew hotter beneath my touch. It burned me.
I let her go and curled my fist. Tiny red welts popped up on my fingers.
“I’m looking for someone,” she said.
“A new dealer?” I asked. “Sorry. Not interested.”
“What? Wait. No. I’m not using. That isn’t…”
She reached into her back pocket and pulled out a creased photograph.
“I’m looking for them,” she said, handing me the photograph.
Handsome couple. Definitely rich. The man was tall with thick dark hair combed back. He had his arm around the woman. She was stunning with wavy red hair she wore long.
I looked back at Cassia. Those fiery roots at her crown matched the woman’s hair in the photo.
“My parents,” she said, swallowing hard. “Xander and Shae Brandhart. They went missing from this area almost a year ago.”
I handed the picture back to her.
“Sorry for your loss,” I said.
“No,” she said. “They’re not dead. At least...I don’t think they are. I’d know. I mean, I think I would. I’m looking for information. I was told the person to talk to was Colm. Nobody would give me a last name. But...that’s you. Right?”
I ran a hand across my jaw. “How much you pay Hurley to bring you here?”
“Two hundred U.S.” she said.
“He suckered you.”
“I think you’re the one he suckered. Am I right?”
Cassia stood her ground. She crossed her arms in front of her and glared at me. My wolf rose to the surface. I couldn’t quite hold back my growl.
She stuck her hand out for mine in a formal shake. It took me by surprise. Nobody did that anymore. I couldn’t help it. She got a laugh out of me.
“I mean, you are,” she said. “Colm. Hurley earned his paycheck today. I can’t say I much like his method, but he gets results.”
“Hurley’s a monster,” I said. “Or at least, he will be. You spend enough time here, you might learn the difference.”
“Can you help me?” she asked.
“I’ve never seen them,” I answered. “Your parents. Sorry.”
“But you know who to ask,” she said.
“If someone had information to sell about them, you’d have heard. Kidnapping is big business. You look like you could afford the ransom. What’d you say it’s been? A year? I don’t know you. If you’re looking for pretty answers, you won’t find them here.”
“They’re alive,” she said. “I’m sure of it. But if they haven’t reached out, it means they can’t. It means they’re not safe.”
“You think your parents would want you traipsing through the NZ alone stirring up trouble and the likes of Hurley on their account. Trust me, they wouldn’t.”
“My parents have long since stopped trying to control my life. Look, they’re not...I know what you think.”
I raised a brow.
“I get it,” she continued. She lifted a lock of her hair and waved it. “I know what I look like to you. Clueless rich girl. You think I’m slumming it in the Neutral Zone for adventure or rebellion? That’s not it. I haven’t...we’re not… Look, my parents are on your side.”
“My side?”
“You. Shifters,” she said. “If you’re as connected as they say, you can confirm my story. Xander Brandhart has...well...let’s just say my parents are smugglers of a kind. They’ve helped dozens, probably hundreds of shifters get over the border into the Oasis Territories.”
I put my hands up. “I’ve heard enough. I’m starting to think we would have both been better off if I’d just let Hurley finish what he started.”
Cassia narrowed her eyes. “I can pay you. I know how this works.”
“I’m pretty sure you don’t.”
She took a wad of cash out of her jacket. It was a worn, black leather bomber type with a frayed fur collar. She slapped the bundle into my hand. I didn’t stop to count, but it was easily an inch thick and all hundreds.
“You have any idea how dangerous it is for you to have this?”
“And I’ve told you twice before, I can take care of myself.”
I stuffed the cash back into her hand. “Not interested,” I said. “I don’t do missing persons.”
I started to walk away from her. Cassia lunged forward and blocked my path.
“I know what you are,” she said. “You’re a different kind of smuggler. I told you, I can pay.”
“What? With wads of cash? That’s not the currency I deal in, baby.”
She got close enough to me I could feel her breath on my skin. Heat skittered up my spine. There was no denying it.
I wanted her.
Badly.
Lust blasted through me along with the fire. Her lips. Her breasts. Her curves. I wanted to run my hands down her and kiss her until she saw stars. Her eyes crackled and I swore I could feel the need pooling inside of her too. Hurley wasn’t the only one suffering from mating sickness. It would grip me soon enough too.
“I’ll give you whatever you want,” she said, her voice breathless. It was dangerous for her to be so close to me.
“You can’t afford it,” I said.
“I’m certain I can,” she answered, her voice dropping low.
She reached into her jacket again. She kept a tight fist to her chest, protecting whatever she’d pul
led out. Her breasts heaved as she met my eyes.
Oh, my wolf wanted to come out and play.
A growl hummed through me, a low vibration. I bared my teeth and knew she saw fangs.
“Colm,” she said. “I’m not wrong. That’s who you are.”
“Yeah,” I said, snarling.
She took my hand and put something hard and round in it. It burned my skin just as much as her flesh had.
I opened my fist. It was a ring. A gold band and a smooth, flat stone that at first glance changed color like an opal. I held it into the light and fire danced across it.
This was no opal. My wolf roared inside of me. Power coursed through me.
This was Dragonstone. Honest to God, Dragonstone. The most powerful substance on earth. Made into a bullet or a blade, it could kill any shifter in an instant.
What the hell was she doing with it?
A thing like this could net me enough to currency to set me up for life and a hundred years beyond. Holy hell. If Hurley had known she had it. If anyone…
“I can get you ten more like that,” she said. “Will you help me? Will you help me find my parents?”
My hand trembled. The Dragonstone glowed in my palm. I gave it back to her. Color rose high in Cassia’s cheeks.
I wanted the Dragonstone. With just the one stone I could make any life I wanted for myself. I could have anything.
As I lowered my eyes to meet Cassia’s, a different, more powerful desire burned through me. I knew in my soul she was the biggest prize of all. Worth even more than the Dragonstone to the right people.
I could have it. I could have it all.
“Will you help me?” she asked again.
I cocked my head to the side. My wolf strained to get out.
“My price might be higher than you can afford,” I said, licking my lips.
Cassia straightened her back. “I told you,” she said, her voice barely more than a whisper. “I’m willing to give you anything you want.”
Oh, I wanted. I wanted it all. Starting and ending with her.
TO BE CONTINUED IN BITTEN BY FLAME
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About the Author
Kimber White writes steamy paranormal romance with smoldering, alpha male shifters and kickass heroines (doormats need not apply). She lives on a lake in the Irish Hills of Michigan with one neurotic dog, her sweet, handsome son, her fire-breathing warrior-princess of a daughter, and the most supportive husband any writer could hope to have (seriously, he just took said son, daughter, and dog out for a boat ride so she could finish this book in peace!).
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Books by Kimber White
Wolfguard Protectors
Shift of Fate
Echo of Magic
Kiss of Midnight
Heart of the Wolf
Secret of the Fae
Dragonkeepers Series Page
Kissed by Fire
Tempted by Fire
Marked by Fire
Claimed by Fire
Freed by Fire
Dragonborn Daughters
Bitten by Flame
Touched by Flame
Cursed by Flame
Called by Flame
Loved by Flame
Mammoth Forest Wolves Series Page
Liam
Mac
Gunnar
Payne
Jagger
Wild Ridge Bears Series Page
Lord of the Bears
Outlaw of the Bears
Rebel of the Bears
Curse of the Bears
Last of the Bears
Wild Lake Wolves Series Page
Rogue Alpha
Dark Wolf
Primal Heat
Savage Moon
Hunter’s Heart
Wild Hearts
Stolen Mate
Claimed by the Pack Series Page
The Alpha’s Mark
Sweet Submission
Rising Heat
Pack Wars
Choosing an Alpha
The Complete Series Box Set