Force of Nature by Kathi S. Barton Page A

traveling together. Solomon has been screwing over his pack for months and with you seeing and then being invited to play, why I got it as good as solved.”

    “You take it then. I’m going to go and find me a nice company to work for and become another driver for the rest of my life. I so don’t need this shit.” She leaned back against the truck as what he’d just said sank in. “He’s a wolf too? Christ almighty, isn’t anyone who they claim to be?”
    Isaac called his boss. Not the furry one, he told her, but the one that he worked for. The guy showed up ten minutes later and she told them what she’d seen again. Then she’d shown them the BOL she’d gotten from Solomon.
    “This is great,” Detective Leo Weaver told her. “Not only do we have the goods, a driver who is gonna help us, but because you were nice enough to have him email it to you, we got his IP address too.”
    She didn’t care about the Internet Protocol address, the string of numbers responsible for routing packets of information across network boundaries; she was more concerned with him thinking she was going to help them. But every time she tried to point out she wasn’t going to accept the load, both men would literally pat her on the head and go on as though she hadn’t spoken. When Isaac asked her if she’d wait on the line for this enforcer person, she decided that he might be a better person to listen. Turns out she was wrong about that too if he was anything like his asshole brother.
    And now here she sat, waiting. She wasn’t sure how to tell Leo she wasn’t going to drive the rig. She wasn’t sure what to tell Austin or his brother. Hell, she thought, she wasn’t even sure what they had to do with any of this. She was still trying to figure it out when she heard her door open.
    “Go away. I said I’m not taking this load and you can stick your threat up your ass for all I care.” She heard someone snort and closed her eyes. “Please tell me you’re Isaac.”
    “It’s Austin. And you’re damn right in thinking you’re not taking this load. I’m not having my mate going across the county, much less across the country. Besides, we have a few more things to discuss and you’re not leaving until we do.”

    If he thought telling her he agreed with her about the load and her not taking it would work then he was wrong. She would take it now even if it meant certain death for her. She rolled to her side and looked up at him. He looked even more furious with her now than he had before. She lay back down without speaking.
    Another knock at her door made her sit up, but she didn’t leave the sleeper. Austin’s brother sat in the other seat. She laid back down on the bed without speaking to either of them. They, however, had plenty to say.
    “She’s not going on the run. She is finally being smart for once,” Austin said. CJ wanted to hit him, but decided he’d be pissed enough when she drove off. She had to smile at that thought.
    “Austin, has anyone ever told you you’re a prick? Besides me, I mean. Christ, the woman is right there.” CJ thought she might like this brother. She listened to him when he continued. “You should really learn to say please and thank you.”
    “She had already decided to not go so what would be the point? I’m taking her home and we’ll get our differences settled and this mate thing complete. She’ll whelp soon and everything will be normal again.” CJ snorted and Austin turned to her. “You have something to add?”
    The knock at the door prevented her from answering. She sat up again when Isaac yelled for her. “Kid? You in here?”
    “Yeah. You need me again?” She moved to the doorway from the sleeping compartment and then out the door on Dallas’ side. She heard him chuckle and a growl. She didn’t even bother looking at either man. She purposely shut the door when she got out and walked away with Isaac.
    “So,” he said in a low voice. “You have an alpha as a