All Dallas knew was that they didn’t make sense.
He was torn from his thoughts—warring between trying to unravel a mystery and obsessing over Mel’s curves at the moment—by the scent of wolf catching his attention. Wolves and engine oil.
A second later, as his own truck came into view over a short hill, his eyesight confirmed what he’d smelled.
Parked next to it, there were several smaller, beat-up trucks, all loaded with trailers carrying various ATVs and UTVs.
Copperheads.
Though, what they were doing out here, Dallas could only guess.
He parked a short distance away from them, hoping to deal with things diplomatically so he could get Mel safely home without further trouble. But as their wolfish gazes lifted toward him and his precious companion, he could feel his tiger growling and snarling in challenge.
Dallas helped Mel up off the ATV, and she cocked her head at the two dozen men who were milling around uncomfortably close to their ticket home.
“Wait here,” he said, and Mel thankfully just nodded up at him, beautiful brown eyes sparkling in the noonday sun.
Before they came over, Dallas turned and strode toward the bunch of them. Some were wearing work clothes. others just had on jeans and undershirts. All of them looked mean and half-feral, and he made notes in his head as he quickly appraised each man individually in a matter of seconds, noting potential weak points or things to look out for.
After all, his extensive training as a child in how to kill and maim hadn’t entirely gone to waste as an adult.
“Howdy there, friend,” one of the Copperheads, a wolf by the name of Drew who Dallas recognized, led the rest of the group as they sauntered up. “What can we do for you?”
“Why are you here?” Dallas said, folding his arms. After all, this was far from the so-called “ranch” the Copperheads used as a home base.
Drew looked past Dallas in the direction of the hills. “Well, I guess we weren’t the only ones who heard about old Vern’s story. The old coot. Hell, maybe we’re even trying to find the same thing.”
“What’s that?” Dallas replied, enjoying their predatory, confident gazes as the Copperheads surrounding him realized that he was here alone, without the dragons today.
But Dallas didn’t need his friends to beat wholesale wolf ass if necessary.
“Well, that would spoil the surprise now, wouldn’t it? But seeing as you already made the trip, why don’t you just tell me and the boys what you saw, and maybe we’ll let you off easy this time, huh?” Drew’s expression fell, canines showing in his unfriendly grin.
If that meant looking for a basilisk, they were just as late to the game as Dallas was.
Then again, they seemed to know something he didn’t.
Dallas just shook his head and stood his ground.
“Not telling, huh? You sure about that, Dragonclaw rat?” Drew advanced, his cronies flanking him closely. “Yeah, I know about you and the others there. How you all think you’re better than everyone. Beats me how they even let you run with them anyway. So if you don’t pipe up now, we’re gonna beat whatever you’re hiding out of your smug little mouth.”
Dallas didn’t move an inch. He wasn’t afraid of bullies.
Even if there were more than twenty of them.
Then Drew’s gaze drifted past Dallas, and the wolf’s expression widened slightly as there were murmurs to the side. Despite their whispering, Dallas could hear their voices clear as day.
“Ain’t that the reporter we’re looking for?”
“Yeah, that’s her.”
“Nice. Pity she wasn’t in her hotel room when we trashed it…”
Dallas’s entire body tensed with rage and realization. So they were the ones who’d done that?
He’d tear them all from fucking stem to stern for even looking at Mel that way. Not to mention how threatened she’d been by their ransacking of her room.
But why? They were thugs and thieves. What could they want with a reporter chasing basilisks?
It didn’t look like he had time to think about it as Drew grinned and looked confidently up at Dallas. “Yeah, she’s coming with us. Curvy little piece like that is wasted with company like yours. But we’ll let you entertain us for a minute before we rip you to pieces and make off with your lady.”
Then Drew extended an arm, patting Dallas roughly on the shoulder in that friendly-but-not-friendly way, using his wolf strength in what Dallas imagined might have been intimidating.
If Dallas had been human, that was.
Dallas’s hand grasped Drew’s wrist, and with utter ease, he twisted the wolf’s arm sideways and down as snapping sounds punctuated the relative calm.
“You don’t touch what’s mine,” Dallas growled, watching as Drew’s eyes went wide in utter shock. Then he wrenched harder, and bones all up Drew’s arm and shoulder popped, even louder this time. “That includes the lady.”
CRACK.
Dallas’s fist exploded into Drew’s cheek, sending the wolf crashing into the dirt at his feet.
And all the wolves around him attacked.
They were haphazard, uncoordinated, as fists flew and growls resounded through the air.
But whatever speed, strength, or experience these wolves might have had in a fight, Dallas had them beat by a long shot.
Hell, he could do this blindfolded.
He ducked a wild fist, then grabbed the nearest Copperhead by the front of his shirt and pummeled his face with his other fist, hard enough to send them rolling into the dirt. There was a kick from his right, and he grabbed the haphazardly swung leg and threw the guy bodily into a small group on the left, sending them tumbling into a heap.
But wherever he dodged one attack, there were three more coming from every direction.
No matter. He’d take them one by one if he had to.
He lunged to the side, drawing them away from Mel, and the crowd’s attention shifted as the Copperheads gave chase. One Copperhead, who was snarling and a bit overeager, got a face full of Dallas’s
