Lajos Farkas stood next to his older brother, Kristof. Even though Kristof appeared cool, calm and collected on the outside, Lajos knew he was anything but. Power emanated from Kristof’s body, crackling and pulsating, growing and expanding with each passing minute. Human eyes wouldn’t be able to see the fine tremors in Kristof’s hands, or notice the miniscule movement of Kristof’s slacks because of his shaking legs, or feel the electricity in the air from an impending shift.

While his brother’s wellbeing was his utmost priority, Lajos was sure Kristof would get through the chemical and physical reactions that were taking place in his body. There was an even more pressing matter that Lajos was concerned about.

His brother had just life-mated with a human, the unsuspecting accountant Trudy Hollander.

“What was all that about?” Lajos asked. “Why are you forcing her to go with you?”

“She’s a target for the information she has or what she might know. Going anywhere else will put more humans in danger.” Kristof growled low in his throat.

Lajos gave Kristof a half-smile. “Sure, and Trudy being your life-mate has nothing to do with it?”

“Not at the moment,” Kristof strained to say.

Lajos could feel Kristof and his wolf battling for control. Lajos didn’t blame the wolf for fighting to get out, since he had, in fact, just imprinted on his life-mate.

They were in Trudy’s bedroom while Kristof pushed his thoughts to her, telling her to pack an overnight bag—something that Trudy had expressly objected to earlier. But controlling Trudy while trying to keep his wolf at bay was draining him of most of his energy.

Lajos stood so close to Kristof that their arms touched. He would need to grab him if and when Kristof fell again. The last time Kristof had fallen, it had been outside Trudy’s house, when Kristof’s wolf had first imprinted on her. Lajos knew an imprinting could happen anywhere, but neither he nor Kristof had expected it to happen in the middle of the fucking street.

Lajos had never witnessed an imprinting before and had only heard stories that other couples had regaled on after the fact. They talked about how magical it had been, the instant attraction. They also talked about what a relief it had been to finally find a life-mate. To Lajos, it had always sounded too fairytale-ish. As far as he was concerned, he’d be perfectly happy if he never found his mate. There were a lot of Shifters who were unmated and they were happy just the same. But no one had ever mentioned imprinting on a human or the feelings that Kristof had just experienced.

If the thought of his brother being stuck with a human for the rest of his life hadn’t been so horrifying, Lajos would’ve found Kristof’s imprinting almost comical.

It had all started so innocently. There they were, on an assignment, trying to find out who had targeted the outside firm that Kristof had hired to audit their company. And boom! Out of fucking nowhere, the first night he’d met Trudy Hollander, the owner of Hollander Accounting, he’d imprinted on her.

And with that, there went Kristof’s plan to terminate the contract between Dark Wolf Enterprises and Hollander Accounting.

Lajos glanced toward the bathroom door, where light clanging could be heard. “Do you think she knows what happened to her?”

“Hopefully not. If we can get what we need, see to her safety and be on our way, I’d call this a successful trip.”

Lajos rounded on Kristof, not believing what he’d just heard. “Wait, are you thinking about leaving her behind?”

“Of course,” he said, with a poor attempt at nonchalance. “She’s human. She doesn’t have a place in our world.”

“But is that even possible? Will you be able to leave her?” Wolf-Shifters mated for life. He had seen some of his best friends go from independent wolves to love-sick puppies in mere minutes. Life-mates were always joined at the hip. He’d never heard of one talking about leaving the other behind.

Beads of sweat had formed across Kristof’s forehead. The strain of trying to hold himself together showed on his face. “Lajos, right now your job is to go to her office. I don’t need you poking your nose into something that doesn’t concern you.”

Lajos crossed his arms over his chest. “What’s going on with you does concern me. You look like shit on a wet stick.”

Kristof grumbled under his breath. Out of the three brothers, Kristof was the one who was always impeccably dressed without ever being caught with a strand of hair out of place. Now he appeared to be unraveling at the seams. “I can take care of this…setback. Go to her office to do your job, search for clues.”

“How are you going to be able to hold up with me gone?”

“I’ll be fine,” Kristof ground out. “Stop coddling me.”

Lajos snorted. “Well, you don’t look like you’re fine. Your wolf is about to break free and that poor woman in there is going to get the shock of her life when he comes strutting through the bathroom door to meet his mate.”

Kristof shook his head. Lajos couldn’t tell if he was trying to communicate that he wasn’t okay or if Kristof was having some kind of internal battle with his wolf. “I can’t believe this just happened,” he muttered.

“You and me both. What the hell? I didn’t even know we could imprint on humans or I would’ve stayed clear of them.”

Kristof huffed. “Yeah right. You like bedding the humans too much to stay away from them.”

Lajos smiled. It wasn’t as if he preferred humans over his own kind. It was more that when he slept with a human, the odds of seeing her again were slim, while fucking a wolf meant he would eventually run into her again. Despite the multitude of Shifter Packs and clans, their community often felt small and alliances were always being tested. There was no point in having a dispute between the Packs because of a jealous lover. Something he didn’t have to worry about with humans. “Right, but maybe from now on I’ll wear shades while I’m doing it.”

Kristof smirked and shook his head again.

“Was that for me or for your wolf?” Concern laced Lajos’ voice.

“For you, you idiot. My wolf is beyond reasoning with. He wants Trudy. End of story.”

“Tell me this,” Lajos asked. “Did you have any indication this would happen? Even a little bit?”

Kristof ran a hand through what had once been his perfectly styled hair. “None, or I wouldn’t have come. When I spoke with her on the phone my wolf was interested…curious, but nothing more.”

“So now what? This isn’t going to be as cut and dried as you first thought.”

“You’re right. The plan to come down here and dissolve our contract will need some reworking. It seems the wolves who sliced up her employee want to do the same to her.”

Lajos scanned the small bedroom, and if he hadn’t known better he would’ve thought a hurricane had passed through. From what he knew, two wolves had entered from another bedroom window. When Trudy had seen them coming down the hall she’d tried to keep safe by closing and barricading her bedroom door. She had then taken her Beagle and jumped out of her bedroom window. That was when Kristof had had his first encounter with her. Mistaking him for one of her pursuers, she’d kneed Kristof in the nuts and run to a neighbor’s house.

While Kristof had lain writhing in on the dirt, Lajos had chased the wolves. Unfortunately, the wolves had shifted and gotten away. Even though his wolf had wanted to do the same and follow them, Lajos had held back. He and Kristof were from Marquette, Michigan, and knew nothing about Jacksonville, Florida. He couldn’t risk getting caught with his pants down—literally.

“And you’re sure you didn’t recognize their scent?” Kristof asked.

Lajos and his brothers had built Dark Wolf Enterprises from the ground up. While his brothers had a knack for business, Lajos didn’t. Kristof was good with numbers and was the Chief Financial Officer, and Andras, the Alpha of the Pack, was the Chief Executive Officer. Lajos couldn’t imagine being trapped in an office for hours on end, stuck in front of a computer, talking on the phone or conducting business meetings. His wolf would’ve driven him crazy if he’d even tried.

When his brothers had first thought of the idea of Dark Wolf Enterprises, mainly as a way to funnel the money they’d accumulated over the one hundred plus years of being on their own, both Andras and Kristof had come to him, hoping he’d partner with them. ‘Hell no’ had been Lajos’ answer. Lajos even remembered shuddering at the very thought. But, when Andras said he could be head of security and wouldn’t be confined to an office, he’d relented. Andras knew no one had a nose that was better than his.

Lajos had the ability to walk into a room and spot any Shifter in the area, wolf or not. Most wolves were drawn to each other, but Lajos was the only one in their Pack who could not only sniff out others, but place them in a Pack. Lajos had found that all Shifters carried the scent of their family. If he met one member, he could identify any other members. Unfortunately, finding out what Pack or clan a Shifter was from meant he would’ve had to have dealt with that particular Pack or clan before. Which wasn’t the case with the two wolves they’d encountered tonight.

“Not at all.”

Kristof let out a hard breath. “So, we don’t know them. Or at least you don’t know them.” He frowned and stroked his chin. “I just don’t get why the embezzler is going through this much trouble to bankrupt us. Embezzlement and murder? That’s excessive. And the bigger question is how they’re able to pull it off right under our noses.”

Trudy had finished packing her overnight bag and had come to stand next to Kristof, watching him with faraway eyes. She hadn’t wanted to go with Kristof to his hotel room for the night, and she’d vigorously declined his offer of protection. But it was too dangerous for her to stay at home, since the wolves would probably return. So Kristof had had no other choice but to push thoughts into her mind in order to make her leave with him. Lajos knew Kristof was telling Trudy that she wanted to go to the hotel with him and she wanted Kristof to protect her.

Lajos inclined his head toward Trudy. “Hopefully your new mate can help answer that question. She said she found something in the records,” Lajos pushed his thoughts to Kristof.

Kristof narrowed his eyes at him.

Lajos put up his hands. “What? What did I say wrong?”

Trudy peered at Lajos’ raised hands and frowned. After a few seconds her eyes glossed over again and she turned away, uninterested. Lajos figured that, with Kristof in her mind, muddling it, the thought of asking him why he’d raised his hands for no apparent reason had come and gone.

“Just don’t say anything more about her being my mate,” Kristof pushed to Lajos, then to Trudy he said, “Come on, let’s go.”

Trudy hesitated, she tilted her head to the side as if her mind was trying to reason or override Kristof’s thoughts. Then, losing her battle, she started for the front door. Her dog let out a sad whine. Trudy stopped in her tracks, glanced down at her dog and scrunched her brow. Lajos knew she was probably searching her brain to figure out what she was supposed to do with her pet. After she came to that conclusion, she would begin to wonder about the bag in her hand too.

Kristof must’ve come to the same conclusion. He was at her side in a hurry. “You might as well pack some food for the animal too.”

“She can’t come to the hotel with us,” Trudy mumbled.

“Why not?” Kristof asked.

“She’s a barker. She’s not used to the noise of people in the room next door or walking down the hall. The other hotel guests will complain about her. She’s the reason I’m a house owner. She got me evicted from an apartment.” She said the last sentence with a half-smile.

“Do you have someplace we can take her?”

“To my friend Meisha’s place. She lives in an apartment, but they’re used to noise over there. Meisha will be happy to spoil her for the night.”

“Write down the address for Lajos.”

Lajos frowned at Kristof’s back. I guess I’m taking care of dogs too.

When she retrieved a pen and paper and began to write, Kristof turned to him. “Use the rental to take the dog to her friend’s house.”

“What about you and Trudy?” Lajos asked. “Do you need me to drop you two off at the hotel first?”

“Trudy, do you have a car?” Kristof asked.

She nodded. “It’s a rust-bucket.”

“Well, I guess I’m driving a ‘rust-bucket’ back to our room.” Kristof sounded disgusted and Lajos held back a laugh.

Lajos started down at the fat Beagle. “What’s the dog’s name?” he asked Trudy.

“Piper.” Her voice was monotone.

Lajos bent down to pick up the elderly dog, noting to himself that she could stand to lose about fifteen pounds. “I don’t expect any trouble out of you,” he told Piper.

Piper peered up at him with wide, innocent eyes.

Like all animals, Piper would be able to sense the wolf inside of him and would feel a kindred spirit.

Piper wagged her tail, as if she didn’t have any plans to run away as soon as he put her down and opened the door. He could sense the excitement building in her old bones. She planned to break for freedom without a second glance back.

He snorted at the thought of Piper doing her best to outrun him and stuffed her under his arm.

“Here is the address.” Trudy handed Lajos a piece of paper. She still had that far-off look in her eyes that most humans got when their thoughts were being manipulated by a Shifter.

“Thank you.” Lajos studied the address. “Should you call to make sure she’s home?”

“Yes, yes. I’ll try to call her.” Trudy’s voice was odd and flat. “I’m sure she’ll want to know that I was attacked.”

“No,” Kristof rushed out. Then to Lajos he pushed his thoughts, “I don’t want her friend bringing back her memory. I’m using all my strength to hold on to her mind as it is.”

Lajos gave a short nod. “If your friend isn’t home is there anywhere else Piper can go?”

“I have a key.” Trudy rummaged through her purse. “Meisha teaches a karate class at the Boys and Girls club on Thursday nights, but she should be home by now. But if she isn’t, you can use the key, just leave it on the nightstand. She’ll give it back to me later.”

Lajos took the key Trudy gave him and stuffed it into his pocket. After dropping off the dog he would go directly to Hollander Accounting to look for any clues. By now, the cops had already been over the crime scene, taken pictures and catalogued the evidence. Lajos only hoped there was something left behind—anything the cops might’ve thought was unimportant, but useful to him. He needed to go tonight because, by tomorrow, Trudy’s business would be thoroughly cleaned by a maid service. Lajos had to get there before they arrived. Otherwise there wouldn’t be anything left to smell but bleach.

“Call me when you get to Hollander Accounting,” Kristof said. “I’m interested to find out who we’re dealing with.”

“Me too. I really want my hands on or my teeth in whoever is behind this.”

Lajos extended his free hand to Trudy. “Nice to meet you, Ms. Hollander.”

She returned his handshake. Her lips ticked up into a polite smile. “Nice to meet you too.”

After Lajos released her hand he gave Kristof a scolding look. “She looks brain dead. Release her.”

“I will, as soon as we get to the hotel. I don’t want her changing her mind again.”

Kristof didn’t seem to have plans to release her any time soon. Lajos shrugged. It wasn’t his mate’s brain that Kristof was screwing around with. If Kristof was smart, he would want Trudy to be able to string two coherent thoughts together after this mess was over. “I’ll leave you lovebirds to it then.” Lajos smiled and stepped back out of Kristof’s reach.

Kristof growled again.