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Chapter 1
SUCKING UP OXYGEN, THE FLAMES SPREAD OUTWARD, devouring thirsty timber and underbrush, perfect fuel for the firestorm The winds picked up force, and Tessa Anderson’s adrenaline surged again as she snapped the last of the photos for the h the fall and winter, leaving the California forests desert-dry, and now either a careless camper or an arsonist had turned the woods into a fiery inferno
What in the world was she doing risking her life to photograph this disaster?
Coughing, her eyes filled with smoke, she reminded herself she needed the money to help defend her brother Then in the haze, the silhouette of a wolf appeared—gray, like the s her? Wild ani Only a huh to stay put
His uncharacteristic actionsbeen fascinated olves all her life, she knew his behavior wasn’t natural
A tremor stole up her spine He looked just like one she’d seen before The one who’d attacked before
Snapping a picture of the wolf, she buer’s side of her Escort As soon as she fu like a coiled snake
Heart thundering, she jerked her door open and jumped inside Before she could shut the door, the wolf’s hulking body sla it closed She jumped back
Snarling, he bared his wicked canines She scranition, her skin prickling with panic Tires spun on gravel as she whirled the car around and headed for the hway
A half mile later, she came across a home in the direct path of the fire An SUV was parked in the driveway Its trunk lid was open and the back filled with boxes Reassured that the occupants were leaving, she tore on past
Herto her brother’s trial and praying he would be found not guilty
Hunter Greymere shoved four more suitcases in the SUV while his twin sister rushed out of the house with another box of dishes, her face and clothes covered in soot
The air was so thick with s to draw in a breath of fresh oxygen “Meara, enough! Get in the vehicle We leave now!”
Black plu upward indicated fire had clai ever closer to his own Ash rained down like a light gray snow flurry the smoke blocked out the sun, but the flalow
Meara shook her head and dashed for the house “We have to get the safe”
Seizing her arm, Hunter pushed her toward the vehicle “Get in the SUV! I’ll grab the safe”
The look of mutiny on her face meant she would disobey hi in a crouch so he could breathe, he grabbed the steel box fro roo low, her arms filled with another box
“Out, now!” he growled
The blaze crackled, incinerating the old forest and horeen woods, already rusty with trees that had died froht would soon be blackened And the home they had lived in for two hundred years would vanish in a roaring ball of fire No tiret now
The super-heated gases singed Hunter’s throat and lungs, and he chided hi into the vehicle, he turned the fan on high, but the car was already so filled with slistened with tears as she covered her mouth and nose with a wet towel
“We’ll be all right, Meara” Hunter gunned the accelerator and sped toward the highway that would take the-like smoke in front of them The driver apparently had the sa
“Hell, who is that?”
“Oregon plates So out here? Who knows”
“A woman? By herself?”
He peered harder into the s over her shoulders Intrigued, he wondered if her face was as enchanting as the waterfall of red curls But then he scowled She shouldn’t have been here in the first place
He followed her as she hightailed it out of his territory in an attempt to keep ahead of the eye of the firestorm, and hi his prey “At least we got all our people out”