This was the ilk that had determined Eira’s punishment for violating their covenants was death. And they’d sent the Fist after her. The Fist was a legendary entity charged with meting out the sentence delivered by the Tribunal. No one knew who the Fist was. Or if the Fist was more than one individual.
Emme glanced at the time on her phone.
Late. He was late.
Sitting outside a café in Anchorage, Alaska, she was waiting for the individual who was hired to take her to a place called Red Devil, somewhere to the west. Once there, the guy from the company had said she would be provided a driver and a vehicle to navigate rough roads and snow. She hadn’t cared for the idea of having a driver. She preferred to work alone, but that had been one of the conditions. And it wasn’t like there was a car rental location in Red Devil, Alaska. Nor was she interested in renting a vehicle here in Anchorage and then trying to traverse the territory.
She was paying good money, so why was the pilot late? You’d think that kind of cash would procure punctuality.
You’d think.
She took a sip of a quickly cooling latte and scanned the street, then let her gaze take in the Chugach Mountains, their green-and-white peaks, which would be totally white come wintertime, according to the brochures she’d picked up at the Visitor’s Center.
A man approached. Tall, scruffy. Big. Give him a full beard, and he could have been a Viking. Did she mention he was big? She was glad he wasn’t bearded. Those bearded ones weren’t really her type. There was something about him. She couldn’t have said what. Maybe it was the amber flames in the depths of his light eyes. Color like the sky over the ocean, but with flickering swirls of gold. Oddest color she’d ever seen. Almost made her think of that man Eira had brought to the apartment. That had been right before Eira vanished. The thought of Eira created pain in Emme’s chest. It felt like her heart was being put through one of those shredders that cross-cut paper. She became so immersed in her thoughts, she briefly forgot Almost-Nordic Man. Not that it mattered. She wasn’t interested. She’d already had to rebuff two horny Alaskan men this morning. Where the hell were the women? What was up with the men? Those two were big, lumberjack guys who seemed to think they were god’s gift to women, and she should be fawning all over them.
As if.
Then she noticed Almost-Nordic Man was standing before her and he’d said something.
“Pardon?” She looked him up and down. Big wasn’t the half of it. Muscular. Yup. Handsome face, too. Now, why couldn’t he be in Chicago? And particularly at a time when she wasn’t trying to find her missing—translation, runaway—sister. Translation, being hunted and hopefully-not-dead sister.
“Miss Autumn Emerson?” His voice was husky. A just-got-out-of-bed voice, but in the middle of the morning.
“Yes.” She’d opted for an alias. The driver’s license she was traveling under had her listed as Autumn Emerson from Miami, Florida. She squinted at Almost-Nordic Muscle Man. Her mind was befuddled because she was way too involved in this case, her missing sister. It wasn’t a typical case, and she was not focusing like she needed to. “You’re the one I’m expecting?” That question right there proved how scrambled her brain was. He did know her name—alias—after all, so why wouldn’t he be?
Strong jaw with a nicely defined chin tipped down in a quick nod. “I’m your ride. Red Devil, right?”
She raised a brow. “You’re the pilot?” She wouldn’t have pegged hunky Almost-Nordic Man as a pilot.
His lip curved the slightest bit. She couldn’t tell if that was supposed to be a smile, a smirk, or a condescending sneer. “Asa Wulfsen. Pilot and driver.”
“Asa Wulfsen? I thought I was waiting for...” She looked down and thumbed through her phone. “Someone called Davin.” She double-checked. “Davin Wulfsen.”
“He couldn’t make it. Not that it matters. We’re brothers. We both hire out. Any of us, actually.”
Any of them?
Made her wonder how many of them there were, but then again, it didn’t matter. What mattered was finding Eira.
“I still have the cabin Davin arranged?”
“If that’s what he arranged, then you have it.”
“And you have a Tahoe waiting for me at the airport?”
“I have a vehicle waiting for us. I’m sure Davin explained the terms to you. We don’t let our vehicles go with any tourist that happens to want to explore the bush.” He shrugged thick, defined shoulders under a gray thermal shirt, top two buttons unbuttoned. Untucked, it was layered under a—also untucked—peat moss-colored plaid shirt jacket. There was no hiding the muscles bulging through, even with two layers of fabric. Those muscles extended downward, filling out denim, quads popping.
Once more, she found herself thinking how she wished she had her sister Eira safe and sound and was at a bar meeting this guy for the very first time. She slipped a finger under the hat and scratched lightly.
Though this was not the itch she really wanted scratched.
Chapter Three
On the plane trip between Anchorage and Red Devil, a particular train of thought had been playing on Asa’s mind. Autumn Emerson was a beauty. Even Asa’s wolf could stall its persistent perpetual attempts to kill him long enough to notice her.
This might be the only thing they’d agreed on in years, him and his wolf.
Too bad Asa couldn’t see her hair. And her eyes. And yeah… why was she wearing glasses? It wasn’t that bright out. And why was she hiding so much of her face? Asa’d had his share of undercover missions, covert operations, and subterfuge to recognize when someone was trying to stay on the down-low.
The remaining question—what did she want at Red Devil? There was nothing out there. Nothing but the Wulfsen brothers’ property, a road or two, a couple of lodges that seemed to be empty half the time. And a few cabins, ones he and his brothers owned. One she would be staying at, though he had no clue why or for how long she would be in the area.
Red Devil was the nearest post office to the subterranean compound where Asa and his brothers lived and spent their time. Unless, of course, they were contracted out, and had to go to another location, as they had recently. They’d returned from the Lake Huron area not too long ago. Battle between two shifter families. Casualties. Missing shifters. They’d journeyed to Mackinac Island, saved three orphaned shifter kids. Griz had taken them to Bear Canyon Valley.
The Wulfsens also did solo jobs. Like the one Range had just returned from, during which he’d met Eira. A woman who’d become his mate. A violet-eyed, preternaturally fast woman of interesting history who was adept at fighting. Eira had revealed to them she was Valkyrie. Not that the Wulfsens had ever met a Valkyrie, of course, or even knew much about that species. She’d been closemouthed about her life otherwise, simply informing them she was Valkyrie. Range was quick to protect her from any questions the other Wulfsen brothers had about Valkyrie.
This job—involving Autumn Emerson—was to have been Davin’s, but he’d begged off. Something about the side effects of the study. Asa hadn’t had the heart to tell him about his own side effects. His brothers never asked him why he’d disappear for days on end.