Catching a Coyote Read online

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Chapter Forty

  EVERNIGHT PUBLISHING ®

  www.evernightpublishing.com

  Copyright© 2019 Serenity Snow

  ISBN: 978-1-77339-928-7

  Cover Artist: Jay Aheer

  Editor: CA Clauson

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  CATCHING A COYOTE

  Serenity Snow

  Copyright © 2019

  Prologue

  Restless, she couldn’t sleep, but she hadn’t been able to since this all happened. And all of her instincts were screaming just like they had the night her mother had been killed. Misty had been plunged into a world of uncertainty and betrayal.

  Unlike then, she was on edge and on the verge of running. However, she knew she couldn’t just take off. Her testimony was vital to putting a crime lord behind bars for life.

  This was a safehouse with experienced guards whose job it was to protect her. So why did she feel surrounded by an electrical fence?

  Misty pushed out a rough sigh and paced over to the window. Pulling back the curtain, she peeped out and instead of finding the shadowy figure of the FBI agent who was usually out back smoking at this hour, she found a prone lump on the concrete.

  Her heart stopped and scenes of the night her mother was executed before her played through her mind. Her blood, her voice weak as she begged for her life, and his cruel laugh as he pulled the trigger.

  For the third time in Misty’s life, her world had tilted on its axis and the room spun around her.

  “He’s coming for me.”

  “You can’t escape me, Misty. I will never let you go. If I can’t have you, I won’t let you live without me.”

  The words haunted her, and the whisper of his voice raked over her chilling skin. She would never forget the retribution in his eyes or the blood on her face, running down the corners of her mouth to stain her chin and the bodice of her dress.

  The body at her feet had been a testament to the brutal reality that she’d had to deny just to survive. The gaping hole in the olive-skinned throat and the dark eyes that stared up at her, the expression of rage forever etched in them, were a memory imprinted indelibly on her brain.

  The dull thud from outside the door jerked her from the gruesome reverie of only two months ago. The sound was followed by a rap on her door, but her heart stopped. She dared not hope the threat had been neutralized.

  Misty had seen first-hand what the hitters of the American yakuza could do in the name of their boss. As a result, her senses went on high alert.

  She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. The doorknob rattled, and the door creaked open to reveal the golden-skinned Kenji Yamamoto. His lips pulled into a grin and the gun he held in one hand lowered as he came toward her.

  Her heart beat started again, a harsh tattoo that almost deafened her.

  “I told you the FBI couldn’t keep us apart.” Kenji closed the distance between them and tried to touch her, but Misty shrank away.

  “Kenji—” A masculine voice protested from behind him.

  “Just do as you’re told,” he snapped without taking his gaze from her. “Leave me.”

  “We don’t have time,” the man muttered. “Grab her or kill her. The damned agent got off a call.”

  “Wait outside,” he ordered, his tone impassive.

  The man left them alone, and Kenji’s gaze slid over her and lust shimmered in his eyes.

  “I’m disappointed in you, Misty,” he said. “I thought we meant more to each other than this betrayal. For killing my cousin, I can forgive you, but not this.”

  “I testify tomorrow, Kenji, and there is nothing you can say to stop that.”

  “Say?” he asked in a silky tone. “I didn’t come here to convince you of anything. It’s too late for that, unless you’re agreeing to come to me.”

  “I will die first.” She spat the words as if they were a distasteful morsel. “Your father killed my parents. Being with you would be like pissing on their graves.”

  “And you killed my cousin. He was like a brother to me. That makes us even,” he snapped. “But since you won’t come to me…” He lifted the gun and cocked it.

  His brown eyes lit with the excitement of the hunt while resignation filled her. Tonight, the running from the American yakuza would end one way or another.

  She’d been reduced to nothing but prey to them. She was a witness promised protection and left to the cold mercy of a cop or agent who’d betrayed her life for mere money.

  “No last words?” Kenji asked and laughed. “Don’t think to stall. The men coming are in my pocket.” He tapped his chest with his free hand.

  “What can I say to a dickless wonder like you?” she demanded. “You come at me with a gun instead of manning up and using your bare hands.”

  He growled, the tiger—the animal that lived inside him—snarled at her, eyes going golden as the animal glared at her from the man’s face. She could almost see the stripes.

  Misty laughed. “You don’t scare me. You’re a weak-ass son of a bitch like your father,” she sneered. “You both think you can take whatever you want.”

  “Your life is what I’ll take tonight.” He pulled the trigger, malice bright in his eyes and satisfaction coming over his features. However, the gun merely clicked. He looked at it in shock.

  Her skin cooled as the animal inside rose to the fore of her mind, determined to survive. Cold issued from the center of her forehead to slam into his. He shook it off, expression puzzled.

  Then he attempted to pull the trigger again.

  Misty kicked him in the groin and shoved him backward. The gun went off and the heat of it grazed her shoulder as the bullet rushed past. She kicked him in his knee as she locked her nails in the side of his forearm.

  The gun fell to the floor, and he snarled. Misty lunged forward and sank her teeth in the shoulder, missing the side of his neck. He howled in pain and pushed her away. She threw out her hand and the ripples of icy energy tore a cry from him as they connected with his
face.

  He squeezed his eyes closed and blood trickled from them. Misty whipped around and grabbed her bag from beneath the bed.

  “Bitch.” The insult came from the doorway.

  Misty threw a ball of ice at him. It hit the floor, vanished, rose up as a wall of snow, and rushed him, throwing him backward. She raced for the window and his grunt floated to her.

  “Misty!” Kenji grabbed her, and she struck out wildly as she turned, and they fell to the floor.

  “My father was right about you,” he said as he pressed the bulge in his pants into her back. “You are special.”

  She struggled, and Kenji turned her over. Their eyes met and arctic cold chilled her eyes before coming out in laser thin rays. He growled and tried to look away, but Misty gripped the sides of his face. Her icy fingers stuck as the frigid energy blinded him.

  He snarled, and his body began to convulse as the chill played havoc with his heart.

  “D—” The words froze on his tongue, and he crumbled in her hands, turning to snow.

  “Kenji!”

  She got to her feet at the sound of hard footfalls on the stairs and rushed to the window. Wrestling it up, Misty shoved the screen, but it didn’t give right away.

  “Kenji, we’re out of time. Kenji?” A harsh voice demanded in the dark, behind her.

  Misty put her shoulder into the mesh and the metal frame gave way, sending the material outward. Misty landed hard on her bag, but sprang to her feet as shots pinged on the window frame. She looped her bag over her head to hang cross-body wise and took off for the fence that separated the yard from the neighbor’s.

  When she reached it, Misty sprang over like a teenager as the dog snarled and barked. She heard him change course as the man chasing her followed her over. She reached the other side and was over even as a shot whizzed by her head.

  Landing on the ground with a wince, Misty was up and moving, hands shaking.

  A car came out of nowhere, and the headlights blinded her temporarily. Misty moved onto the sidewalk and the car picked up speed as it headed toward her, jumping the curb.

  Her eyes widened, and Misty’s hand shot out of its own volition, sending a large ball of ice to hit the vehicle, causing it to jerk left. Breathing hard, she clenched her fists and snow swirled around her head and raced for the car. It crashed into the light pole, crumpling.

  In surrounding yards, dogs barked, and Misty quickly assessed her options. There was no going to the police. One of them had allowed her to be put in this position and whoever that was would ensure she died.

  She only had one choice. She shifted into her animal form and sprinted down the street, bag beating at her chest.

  Chapter One

  Six Years Later…

  “What’s going on?” Brynn, her second in command, asked after slipping into the chair across from her.

  Mallory took a sip of her drink and met the other woman’s gaze. Her emotions rioted inside her for the first time since she was a kid preparing to take over her pack. Back then, it had been easy to know what to do.

  The certainty of youth and the righteousness of rage had driven her while the comradery of her friends had sustained her. Tonight, the very friends she’d leaned on were no comfort.

  “I just know those bastards created the perfect storm of discord and this town might drown in it.”

  “I know you think Sam is excluding you, but she’s just protecting her ass,” Brynn said. “Jenner is pissed. The charges against Mica didn’t stick, and he can’t get Sam, Syd, or Kamari for Jerry’s disappearance.”

  Jericho had been the alpha of the wolf pack that Jenner was now alpha of. His pack was still clamoring for justice that they felt they’d been denied in the past weeks for the deaths of other packmates.

  “What are her plans?”

  “Talk to her,” Brynn ordered. “She’s not going to lie to you.”

  Mallory pushed out a sigh. Nothing could be truer of Sam. She’d let you know she was going to gut you with a paring knife if you asked.

  She was bold and fearless, but she had survived the unimaginable, giving her a backbone of steel that Mallory wasn’t sure she had.

  “I don’t know if there can be much trust right now,” Mallory said after a long moment. “She knows I’m in the hot-seat over this.”

  “She trusts you,” Brynn told her gently. “Don’t sell yourself or her short.”

  “How are things on the floor tonight?” Mallory changed the subject.

  She and Sam were co-owners of Coyote Closet, the strip and sex club for lesbians. The business was doing better than ever despite the murder that had occurred there a week ago and accusations that Mallory and Sam were involved.

  Patrons seemed to be coming in just to watch the show to see what happens next as tension between the packs ramped up.

  “Fine,” she said. “You know what? I asked Treasure to come up and give you a lap dance.”

  “No.” Mallory shook her head. She didn’t fool with those damned dancers. Some of them were as contentious as grade school children at recess.

  The rest wanted a sugar mama.

  Right now, any one of them could be a plant, convinced by the Coalition or Jenner to turn on her and Sam. It was a risk she couldn’t take.

  “She’s still too new to the area to be a problem, Mallory,” Brynn said. “You need to relax. It’s the only way for you to see clearly.”

  Mallory made her best decisions when she was languid, but she hadn’t gotten laid in three weeks, and she was in heat. That meant, she was going to become edgier than normal and her pack would feel it.

  She didn’t need them doubting her or her strength. That kind of discord in this situation might lead to some of her people betraying her.

  “If you aren’t going to do this, then you need to go into the city and get laid,” Brynn suggested.

  “I will,” she said. Brynn was a good friend of Sam’s, but she’d remained with Mallory when Sam had left the pack to take over Gray Tail, a pack they’d recently defeated.

  Mallory appreciated that, considering Brynn was one of the rare shadow coyotes. They were Indian born, stronger and more resilient than normal coyotes. They even lived longer and healed faster.

  “Okay. I’ll leave you alone,” Brynn said.

  “Head back to the den,” Mallory told her. “I want you to stay out there when I’m here.”

  “Anticipating trouble?”

  A storm was coming, and she could already smell the snow.

  “I’ve heard a few rumors that some of the men aren’t too happy with the decisions I’ve made lately, and they might challenge me as well as you. So, be careful.”

  “I’m already on that,” Brynn told her. “I’ve been trying to pinpoint the source of the problem. When I do, I’ll let you know.”

  “Thanks, Brynn.” The other woman was a dominant, but Mallory hadn’t expected her to take such a leadership role as she’d formerly been consigned to following.

  Brynn gave her a smile. “I want you to take a look at a few things I’d like to do.”

  Mallory chuckled. “Email me, and I’ll go over it tonight after I get back off the floor.” She always walked the floor unless she was in a playroom letting off steam, but she hadn’t done that recently for fear of betrayal.

  “Okay. I’m going. I’ll see you later.”

  “Later.” Mallory got to her feet and straightened her tie before heading out to the floor.

  When Sam was in the club, she was mostly in the security room now-a-days or patrolling the playroom floor. They were both concerned about what the wolves might do in order to get them both hauled into human court or in front of the Coalition.

  The Coalition was the shifter board that kept the balance in their area and often were instrumental in having justice meted out to shifters who broke the rules.

  Once on the floor, she went to the bar where Kamari, Sam’s mate was pouring up drinks as their temporary head bartender. Mallory gave her a nod an
d Kamari finished up what she was doing and walked down to her.

  “How’s it going?”

  “It’s busy,” she said with a smile. “A cop’s out there tonight.”

  Mallory wasn’t surprised. “Has she been doing anything other than watching?”

  “Not that I noticed,” Kamari replied. “She came over for a drink, and I gave her a strong one.” She grinned.

  “Water the next one down and make sure she gets a ride if she needs it.”

  Kamari nodded in understanding. “Eyes on her,” she said. “But just between us, she’s a he, about twenty-four.”

  “What’s she wearing—” Someone screamed, and Mallory faced the floor.

  ****

  On stage, Treasure ignored the scream and ran her fingers down between her breasts, giving her tiny top a tug, lowering it just enough to give patrons a view of the creamy mounds. She bent a little and her eyes were snared by a pair of hard almond-shaped brown ones.

  Larue McDaniels. She was the jackal Treasure had gone out with who’d refused to take no for an answer. She’d tried to rape Treasure, but she’d managed to get her off her and escape the club alone.

  Before she could draw back the woman reached up and grabbed her. Treasure gasped and tried to push her hand off, but claws scraped her nape, penetrating the first layer of skin.

  “Come a little closer, whore.”

  She tumbled from the stage and a low growl escaped her as she fell right into the jackal’s arms. Treasure tried to get free, but the woman’s hold tightened.

  “Remember what I said?” Larue whispered. “The bouncers are too busy just now to worry about what I’m doing to you.” Then, sharp teeth bit into Treasure’s earlobe, drawing blood.

  Treasure let out a cry of pain and braced her hands on the woman’s thighs but didn’t attempt to pull back. Jackals were vicious attack dogs and this one would take her lobe off if she showed too much fear or pulled hard against her hold.

  “Get down there, little slut.” She shoved Treasure’s head down to her crotch and the soft perfume of musk filled her nostrils.