“That’s what I figured.”

  Kayla sighed. Good. They didn’t need any trouble this morning on their wolf run.

  They quickly finished up breakfast and cleaned the dishes, then stripped off their clothes in their bedrooms—the heat filling their muscles, stretching, feeling glorious as she turned into her wolf. She and Roxie left their bedrooms and bumped into each other on the way down the hall—standard sibling rivalry for both of them—trying to beat each other to the wolf door. It was definitely their ritual, and when their brothers had lived with them at the house, they had waited until the sisters had had their fun. It never ceased to amuse their brothers. Or the sisters. Kayla realized when she and Nate mated, she would miss that with her sister.

  Both Kayla and Roxie were just as fast as each other, but they weren’t about to give leeway to the other. They got stuck in the wolf door trying to get out and barked happily at each other as they finally squeezed the rest of the way out. They would have been laughing their heads off if they’d been in their human form. Kayla just hoped they’d never get stuck in the wolf door like that again. She could just imagine she and her sister having to howl for their brother Blake to come and rescue them since he lived right next door.

  They ran past Blake and Nicole’s house, but it was still dark, so they knew the two weren’t up and about yet and wouldn’t go for a run with them. Since Nicole had gotten pregnant, she hadn’t managed to run with them most mornings. Blake stayed home with her because of it, but she would run at night with them because she was always feeling better by then.

  Kayla and Roxie scared a couple of rabbits, not meaning to, and the bunnies ducked into a burrow underneath a fallen tree. Now if Rosco had been with them, he would have chased the bunnies.

  This land was all private property owned by the Wolff siblings, and whoever needed a home next would build on the property on the other side of Blake and Nicole’s place. It was all wooded, perfect for running as wolves and safe from visitors to the area. Even other wolves in the pack didn’t normally come out here since their pack leaders, Darien and Lelandi Silver, had so much land available for the pack members to run on that normally was safe. Kayla’s family had signs posted here and there that said the land was private property, but some didn’t pay attention to that.

  Still, Kayla couldn’t imagine building a house here or even what she wanted. She was afraid that when she mated, she would be absolutely overwhelmed by it all. But for now, she was having a blast. She realized if she was living here with Nate, she’d be able to do this with him early in the morning before work and with Roxie too. And when Nicole had her babies, how much fun would it be to supervise the little ones while running with Kayla’s very own mate? She took a deep breath of the fresh air. She’d love it.

  That’s what she had to think of more. About all the good things she could do with Nate around their work schedules. She just hoped Roxie wouldn’t feel like a third wheel when Nate and Kayla went with her for runs in the morning and at night.

  Though there was another situation she hadn’t discussed with Nate—and that was the business of her not being a royal. His sister was fine with Blake not being one, but that didn’t mean Nate was totally comfortable with it. They had to be on the same page concerning that for sure.

  After a couple of miles through the woods, Kayla and Roxie turned around and raced each other back. The two of them were so equal in speed that she knew they’d end up at the wolf door at the very same time and be struggling to get inside like they’d done trying to get outside. Did they care? It was part of the fun.

  Kayla nipped at her sister’s ear, and Roxie turned to get her back, which gave Kayla the time to get a little bit ahead of her.

  Roxie barked in a playful way and immediately caught up to her. When they reached the door, they dove through it at the same time. Once they finally wriggled through it, they raced through the house and up the stairs. In their own bedrooms, they shifted and began getting dressed.

  “You know one of these times we’re going to get stuck,” Roxie said.

  “That’s why you need to eat more veggies, not so much chocolate.”

  Roxie laughed. “Says you. I saw you eat that extra chocolate bar after lunch yesterday.”

  “That was stress food.”

  “Yeah, that catering venue you had for the birthday party was annoying. What was it? Three people changed their minds about their meal orders and then complained that you had messed them up and were mad they were not eating at the same time as everyone else?”

  Kayla buttoned her blouse. “Exactly. Blake said he was glad he hadn’t had to deal with it. For once, it would be nice if someone like that admitted they had made the mistake. We don’t mind changing out the meal, but I do mind being blamed for them changing their minds. At least as far as our wolf run, I had a blast as usual. I always think that it’s going to take too much time, but running helps me to focus and work out any stress I might be feeling before we tackle the day’s work.”

  Roxie poked her head into Kayla’s bedroom while she was pulling on her shoes. “Yeah. Every time I feel lazy about it, especially at night, I just need to push myself out the door.”

  “So we’re running tonight,” Kayla said.

  “Naturally.”

  At the PI office that morning, Nate had actually remembered Nicole had her doctor’s appointment and asked her about it right away to learn how it went.

  Nicole smiled at him. “You remembered.”

  “I had it on my calendar.”

  She laughed. “Everything’s good.” Then she got a call and took it. When she got off the phone, she said, “Hey, we have a case to look into in Green Valley. A twenty-four-year-old man who lives in a farmhouse on his parents’ property has gone missing.”

  “They have a couple of PI agencies in Green Valley.” Not that he and Nicole would turn down cases from there, but Nate was just curious why the parents would hire someone from out of town to search for the missing son when they had local PIs who could do it.

  “Yeah, but his parents wanted someone who wasn’t from there because they’re afraid that someone who might be responsible could be in league with the police in Green Valley. Anyway, we need to begin working on it.”

  “Oh?” He was surprised about that because the Green Valley wolf pack leader was also the mayor and had developed good relations with the police force, so he wondered what that was all about.

  He was trying to concentrate on his work, but he sure couldn’t quit thinking about Kayla—about her sweet smiles and the teasing light in her pretty brown eyes. The way she always slid her tongue over her lips after she’d eaten, making him want to lick them for her. The way she laughed at his jokes like he really tickled her. Even the manner in which she swept her hair off her cheek in such a sexy way when the wind blew the strands over her eyes.

  He really wanted to run with her as a wolf too. He knew she and her sister ran early in the morning before work, but he never could get up early enough to catch them before they left. He needed her to stay the night with him so they could run on the pack leaders’ territory, morning and night.

  For the entire week, Nate had been working on numerous cases, and he was having dinner with his sister tonight to do some follow-up stuff about the missing guy from Green Valley. While Nicole was fixing dinner, she said, “Why don’t you call up Ryan and see if he’s learned anything about the jewelry-store robbery case?”

  Ryan McKinley was the pack leader and mayor of Green Valley and had his own private investigation agency there. Nate called him, put it on speakerphone so Nicole could learn what was going on too, and told him about having been there when the robbery went down.

  “If you hear anything, I’d love to know about it,” Nate said. So far as he knew, the police had never caught the four men who were involved in the actual armed robbery and the getaway driver. Thankfully, the robbers hadn’t hurt anyone during the robbery, but they’d gotten away with a ton of jewelry in black plastic bags, the news had said.

  “They hit three more jewelry stores in various cities south of us,” Ryan told Nate.

  “Hell. The same people?”

  “They were armed, wearing black ski masks and all black clothes, and carrying black plastic bags. They shot out the store windows and got away within minutes of stealing the jewelry. It sounds like the same MO as the ones who committed the robbery in Green Valley, according to news sources.”

  “Sounds like it. Have you heard what they were driving? A black truck possibly? Do they have any viable suspects yet in those cases?”

  “The police are questioning everyone about the crimes, but no one’s been charged or jailed yet. If we hear anything, we’ll let you know. And about helping Nicole out while you’re gone on vacation for a week, we’ll have you covered.”

  “Thanks, Ryan,” Nate said, and Nicole echoed his response. He just had to ask Kayla if she’d like to do that with him for her birthday. He was afraid she might reject him because of the shifting issues she might have during that time when the moon was full, but he wanted to prove to her he was fine with them.

  “No problem. I’ve got several PIs who are willing to aid you, Nicole. And let us know if you need any help in the case of the missing guy in Green Valley. Phil Peterson, right? Even though his parents don’t trust some of the authorities here, we know more people living in the area than you do, and if we can assist you, just let us know.”

  “Yeah, Phil Peterson, and we’ll do that.”

  Then they ended the call.

  The wolf pack that ran the PI agency there were great at helping the Silver Town wolves with their jobs, like one extended happy family. So they didn’t mind that Nate had a PI job he was taking care of in their territory.

  Nate had the case file open on his sister’s dining room table that evening after work, glad Nicole was also a former army officer. Both of them owned the PI agency that they’d started in Denver and moved to Silver Town, so they worked together on cases when they needed each other’s help.

  “You know,” Nicole said, “you were supposed to be having dinner with Kayla tonight.”

  “I know. But this case is eating at me,” Nate said. His sister pulled the roasted chicken out of the oven for the two of them, while her mate, Blake Wolff, was at the ski lodge working late.

  “You told Kayla you were working on this case?” Nicole asked.

  “Yeah.” He was rereading police interviews and needed to reinterview some of the witnesses. Sometimes witnesses were less nervous around a private investigator since he couldn’t arrest them. But if he learned any of them had had anything to do with the disappearance of the missing man, he’d turn the information over to the police.

  “Kayla could have come over here and had dinner with us, you know.” Nicole served up their meal on plates.

  Nate looked up at his sister. “She would have felt left out. She would be here just for dinner, then she would have to leave so we could look this over together. Besides, you know how I am when I’m working on a case like this.”

  “I know. Focused. Nothing else exists or matters. But Kayla’s such a sweetheart. She doesn’t see anyone else. She’s shy and reserved—avoiding meeting other people when she doesn’t have to—but I suspect she had her heart set on having dinner with you.”

  “She didn’t seem to mind when I canceled on her.” He wanted to get as much work as possible done before he took a week off to be with Kayla and not leave it all for his sister to handle.

  “Right. That’s how she reacts when she’s disappointed but doesn’t want you to know how she feels.” Nicole set their plates on the table. “You better have told her you’re going to make it up to her.”

  Nate adored Kayla and had wanted to date her from the moment he’d seen her at the lodge and she’d helped him on a prior case. For the past six months he’d been working on a cedar-lined hope chest for her birthday. His mother and sister had made a quilted pillow seat cushion for it in Kayla’s favorite shades of blue and white, with wolves and the mountains in the background. He’d just finished carving the front of the chest with a wolf howling in front of a backdrop of mountains—Kayla, a wolf with a voice—last night, wanting to finish it ahead of her birthday. He didn’t want her feeling bad about their missed date, though he had thought his reasoning for canceling on Kayla was perfectly sound until his twin sister made him doubt himself.

  “I will.”

  “Nate.” Nicole frowned at him as she sat across from him. “Unless you don’t want to date her, make this right.”

  “I will.” Nate felt guilty then. He hadn’t realized Kayla had been disappointed at all.

  Nicole rubbed her belly, and he glanced at her. She was now six months along with twins, and he sighed. “How are the babies?”

  Nicole smiled at him. “Good way to change the subject and be human for a moment.”

  He chuckled. “I do care.”

  “I know. You just need to show it more.” She began eating her chicken. “To answer your question, I’m fine. So what have we got on the case?”

  “Phil’s parents suspect he’s in trouble. He was reluctant to tell them what he was bothered about before he vanished, and the police couldn’t find any evidence of foul play, so they believe he has just taken off on his own as he’s known to do.” Nate buttered his baked potato and broccoli.

  “And at his age, it’s reasonable that he is just doing his own thing and that nothing’s wrong, if he does this often,” Nicole said.

  “Which is why the police aren’t really working on the case. They have a lot of cases they know need to be solved. So the parents hired us to see if we could find him and ensure he’s all right.”

  “Did you interview witnesses who saw him last yet?”

  “Some. But others are next on my list. I’ve spoken to his parents, of course. You…wouldn’t want to come with me and do that, would you?” He figured she would unless her pregnancy was bothering her too much.

  “Yeah, sure. I’m pregnant with twins, but it doesn’t mean I can’t do any more investigations. In fact, I’ll be taking up the slack while you go to the cabin with Kayla.”

  Nate opened his mouth to speak, then closed his mouth.

  “Don’t tell me you’re even considering canceling on staying at one of the pack’s wolf cabins with her for a week. I thought you were planning something really special for her birthday—I mean, beyond giving her the beautifully hand-carved wooden hope chest.”

  “Yeah, no, I mean, I hadn’t planned to cancel the reservation, but this case—”

  “Can wait. Have you… You haven’t even asked her if she can go, have you? I swear, dear brother, if you don’t ask her soon, I’ll do it.”

  He ran his hands through his hair. “Yeah, I’m telling her, but I wanted it to be a surprise.”

  Nicole sighed with relief. “I’ll keep after the case the whole time if we don’t solve it before you leave with her, but I’m not going to update you on it. Not while you’re with Kayla at the cabin.”

  He smiled at Nicole and set the file aside and started eating his chicken. “Yeah. Kayla and I need this time together alone.” Especially because he was going to ask her to mate him and he wanted it to be a pre-honeymoon for the week. He finished his dinner and called Kayla. “Hey, it’s me. Listen, about tonight, I’m sorry.”

  “Oh, don’t be,” Kayla said. “Roxie and I just finished eating rib eye steaks. They were delicious.”

  He glanced at his empty plate. Steaks sounded good. “Well, it won’t happen again.”

  “Yeah, it will. You have a job to do, and it’s no big deal.”

  Nicole raised her brows at him, expecting him to say more.

  “I’ve got to go. Roxie is pouring more bubbly,” Kayla said to Nate.

  “Oh, girls’ night out.” At least he was glad they seemed to be having a good time of it, but he hoped it wasn’t to cheer Kayla up because he’d let her down.

  “It is. Unexpected too. Roxie was going to be at the lodge late, so we just switched things up so she could be here with me instead.”

  Sure. That’s why Blake wasn’t here with Nicole. All because of Nate.

  He rubbed his whiskery chin. “Hey, can I come over for breakfast?”

  As soon as he said it, he knew he was in hot water with Nicole, who was shaking her head and looked perturbed. Yeah, he probably should have offered to take Kayla to breakfast, but if they ate at the lodge’s restaurant, he wouldn’t be paying for it since she co-owned the restaurant with her siblings. And he was certain she wouldn’t want to go into Silver Town to have breakfast because it would take too much time away from her work. He knew she would have turned him down, though he should have at least made the gesture. He was probably in trouble with Kayla. Maybe with her whole family.

  There was a lengthy pause, and Nate got the impression his sister was right. Kayla wasn’t happy with him.

  Kayla knew she had to expect that Nate would be busy with cases sometimes, but she still felt hurt that his cancellation had been such a last-minute thing, and, like usual, she just acted like it was no big deal. She was glad Blake took over for Roxie at the lodge and then their sister had been here for her instead.

  “Breakfast,” Kayla said to Nate. “Yeah, I eat breakfast, so if you’re here when I’m eating it, you can have some too.” She wasn’t going to make a special breakfast date with him just so he could tell her he wasn’t coming. She understood that his cases could take priority. She just didn’t want to get excited about seeing him and be let down again.

  Smiling, Roxie shook her head.

  “Okay, it’s, um, a plan then. See you at eight?” Nate asked, sounding like he was in hot water with Kayla.

  “Sure, see you then.” She didn’t want to make him feel bad, but he’d made her feel that way! After they hung up, she poked at her cauliflower. “Well, he wants to have breakfast with me, but who knows if that’s for sure or not.”