Then she watched as she heard what sounded like a low growl rumbling against the walls around her.
And then, in the blink of an eye, the shadow was gone.
Fear and curiosity warring inside her, Mel dashed for the exit to the alley. But as she reached the street, which seemed bright and well-lit in comparison to the alley, she saw nothing.
Not a single soul at either end of the long thoroughfare that made up Main Street of Parson’s Creek.
Mel shivered from head to toe, wrapping her arms around herself as she tried to make sense of everything that had just happened.
How could someone move so fast? How could someone be so quiet as to dispatch four grown men while hardly making a single noise?
Either way, she wasn’t going to wait around to see if whatever that… thing had been was going to stick around to do to her whatever had been done to those men.
Maybe it was just exhaustion from the long drive and the hot Texas sun.
But as she pulled her phone out, turning on the flashlight and bolting for the hotel down the street, Mel Carpenter knew only one thing: There was something going on here in this little town.
And she was going to get to the bottom of it.
3
Dallas watched from his booth across the diner as the determined reporter interviewed an old woman who was hemming and hawing at the details of her own story.
The reporter’s name was Mel (according to the note from Harrison), and after last night, Dallas could tell she was going to be trouble.
Roaming the streets when it was dark, trying to interview the most questionable sort of people just to find leads for her story.
His dedication to staying in the shadows meant that he should have left her to fend for herself. After all, she was a problem for him, and things would be much easier if she stopped asking questions and just disappeared.
But his tiger could never allow that to happen, not in a million years. Especially not when he’d seen the fear in her eyes, fear he knew all too well from his youth.
Dallas had gained many things from his short time on the streets, most of all a hatred for bullies and a natural protective instinct for anyone being preyed upon.
Although, it had been a long time since anyone had stirred this kind of reaction in him. There was definitely something different about this reporter.
As he was eyeing her, trying to decide what that was, his phone buzzed in his pocket, and he pulled it out, eyeing the caller ID.
It was Harrison.
Dallas leaned back and rested his arm on the red vinyl booth as he held the phone to his ear.
“Yes?”
“How’re things going? They gone yet?” Harrison asked.
“Nope.”
A low grumble on the other side signaled the dragon’s discontent. “Any idea when they’ll leave?”
Dallas shrugged. “End of the week maybe.” He looked out the window. “She’s determined, boss.”
“I heard,” Harrison replied. “For now, just keep watching her.”
“Yup.” Dallas nodded, frowning as a cascade of footsteps neared him. “Gotta go.”
Just as he ended the call and shoved his phone into his pocket, the reporter sat down in the booth across from him.
“Hi,” she said, smiling at him.
He just stared at her, eyes wide as he eyed her up and down. She had sparkling brown eyes, beautiful dark skin, and curly dark hair that was smoothed back into a tight ponytail.
She was even more stunning up close than at a distance, not that he had noticed when following her, and her snug blue jeans and grey blazer did little to hide her gorgeous curves.
“I’m Mel, a reporter for Channel 8. I saw you sitting alone and thought I might ask if you could help me out.”
Shit.
Dallas needed to get out of here. He was supposed to be shadowing her from a distance, not sharing a booth with her. Still, it wasn’t like she was getting anything out of him.
He returned her gaze, jaw flexing as he held his silence.
Mel smiled amusedly. “What? Not much for words? That’s fine. I listen to people talk all day, so it’s refreshing in a way. Plus, you can always just nod or shake your head.”
Dallas just continued to watch her.
“See.” She went on brightly. “I’m here on account of some of the weirdest rumors I’ve ever heard. Something about huge monsters rising from the earth and people being able to transform into animals and whatnot.”
He cocked an eyebrow, and she laughed.
“Funny, right? I didn’t think any of it could be true, but I wanted to come out and see for myself.” She leaned forward intently. “I wanted to get to the truth.”
Dallas eyed her again. He was becoming more and more curious about her by the minute. Curious about this reporter from the city who was so intent on walking down dark, country alleyways just to find out about something that would likely get her killed: shifters.
Plus, unlike most people, she seemed to be genuinely at ease with his silence, and very few people made it past greeting him.
“Have we met before?” She narrowed her eyes at him. “You look familiar for some reason.”
Dallas shook his head, wondering if his cover was blown. He’d been careful to stick to the shadows during the scuffle last night. There was no way that she had seen him.
Either way, that was his cue to leave. He’d lingered too long, and it was better that he not leave a lasting impression.
He got up from the booth, moving to the door even as Mel followed him, dodging a waitress as she shot questions at him.
“Have you heard about or seen any of those things? The giant monsters?”
Dallas didn’t answer, and as his hand was on the door, he realized that keeping his cover wasn’t the only reason he needed to be away from her. No, something deep within him
