Wolf.
And not one I recognized.
Shit. I pulled the bike over to the side and flicked the engine off. It had to be my imagination, right? Some wolves out for a holiday in Vegas, maybe? I pushed some money in the parking meter and headed into the city's park.
I jogged ahead, following the trail, and another smell joined the first.
Two wolves. One male and the other… wolf and a hint of something else that I couldn't place. Yet my gut told me there was something wrong with these two being so close.
I picked up the pace, a snarl building in my throat. This was our territory. No other wolves were allowed here without first clearing it with one of us. Or had my brothers forgotten to mention they'd given permission?
No. I shook my head. No, they would have told me even if it had to be in a text.
The trail shifted to Las Vegas's Hidden Forest, and I increased my pace to a run. What the fucking hell were they doing so close to us and not gambling?
Hunting on another's land was taboo, and I know neither of my brothers would've allowed this, no matter who had come to visit.
I hopped over the fence and crouched in the shadows, following their scent.
The moon was hidden behind thick clouds, the air still.
I pushed forward until the scents vanished. Whirling in a circle, I backtracked only to discover the trail ended here in the middle of the fucking forest. Fuck! I'd been too distracted—my anger clouding my judgment—that I had raced after shadows. How had I lost them?
I gave a hard sniff, the trees giving off a sweet scent. Something sour floated on the wind. Blood. A fresh kill of a rabbit lay at the base of a thick tree, half-eaten, both odd wolf scents all over it. Why would they leave this here?
An owl hooted nearby, followed by the distant screech of a bat, and I froze.