I nod absently as I hear my next order called. Giving Raymond a wobbly smile I head to the window and grab the two plates. My legs feel wobbly as I make my way toward Raleigh, where he now sits alone.

“Where did your brother go?” I ask softly as I set the plates down.

“He had some other things to take care of.”

“And his food?”

“He wasn’t really hungry.”

Raleigh finally lifts his gaze to meet mine. If I didn’t know better, I would say he was sad, but that doesn’t make any sense.

“Are you from around here?” I ask, changing the subject.

My training kicks in and I know I need to gather all the information I can. Being able to report something back to my father that furthers his cause could finally be the thing that makes him proud of me. He hasn’t been the same since my older brother, Aaron, died in a raid last year. He doesn’t believe I have what it takes to be a hunter and I intend to prove him wrong.

Not even ten miles from where I am standing, one of these shifter animals took his life. Sadness wraps around me like a cloak. I loved my brother more than anything else in this life and I want to avenge what was done to him. We never even had a body to bury.

“Not really,” Raleigh replies. “We’ve only been here about six months.”

“What made you move here, to the middle of nowhere?” I try to smile but I’m not sure it works. My mind isn’t in the game.

He chuckles. “We found something we have been looking for.”

“Oh, that’s cryptic,” I try to joke. “What could that be?”

“You’ll find out soon enough, beautiful.”

Taking my hand, he raises it to his lips, placing a kiss on my knuckles. Again, arousal roars through my veins, and Raleigh smiles like he knows exactly what effect he has on me. Reaching into his pocket he pulls out some money and drops it on the table as he stands.

“I’ll see you soon.”

With those words and a wink, he is gone. I stand there, dumbstruck. Staring at the door after he leaves.

“I wouldn’t mind a piece of that,” Raymond says beside me, startling me out of whatever trance I was in. “But I have a feeling that fine-ass man only has eyes for you.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” I mumble, trying not to blush. “What would a man like that want with someone like me?”

Hell, that isn’t nearly as absurd as the thought of what a shifter would want with me. If this is true, I need to watch my step. I may end up dead, just like my brother.

Raymond stares at me in disbelief. “Girl, do you really not see it? You are stunning. I mean, if I was straight, I would be giving that man a run for his money.”

And there goes that blush…