“Is that a threat?”

She snorted, amused. “No. Unless you hire Van Helsings, in which case all bets are off.” Amara allowed some bark to seep over her hands. “You wouldn’t do that, would you, Kate?” Considering how much magic the local witches poured into keeping Maggie’s Grove off the hunters’ radar, it would take a true miracle for them to find out about it accidentally.

Or a resident would have to invite them in.

A resident like Kate.

Kate turned on her four-inch heel and left without another word.

“Man, I hate that bitch.”

“Why is Dragos tapping that, anyway? You’d think he could find someone better to sink his dick into.”

Amara shrugged again. “Don’t know, but whenever I try to ask, he growls at me and refuses to answer.”

“You don’t think she’s got him under some kind of spell, do you?”

“Nah. Selena would have noticed something like that and taken care of it. He’s just got tragically bad taste in women.”

Rock took her hand. “So. This Terri person who’s after Parker.”

“Yeah?”

“Your five days’ vacation are up. Your sole job now that you’re back to work is to hunt that bitch until she’s dead. Got it?” Something about the way Rock was watching her scared her. She’d never seen him so bloodthirsty. “I want the threat to our forest and town gone.”

“You think she’s hiding in the woods.”

Rock shook his head. “She’s on the mountain, off the trails. I can feel her there, deep in the rocks, and they’re trying to reject her. I’m betting she’s in one of those caves we warn people to stay away from.”

Damn it. That explained why they couldn’t find her; the only plants that lived in the caves wouldn’t respond to a dryad, and the forest wouldn’t know she was there until she moved out of it. It could also explain why Parker was having such a hard time finding her. The damn lichen-infested caves would disguise her scent.

“I need to talk to Parker. If you’re right and she’s in the caves, I need him to go hunting with me.”

A shadow fell over their table. “Mind if I tag along?”

Amara whirled and stood, ready to fight the pack alpha.

“Down, girl. I’m no threat to you, not now.” Noah’s hands were out, indicating he’d come in peace. “It appears we have a common enemy.”

Amara didn’t relax, not by a breath. “Did you speak to Parker?”

Something cold and ruthless slid across his features before they returned to bland politeness. “Yes.”

“Is he in one piece?”

“I can honestly say he was more ready to attack than I was.”

Rock coughed. “If you two are done pissing around each other, since when are you allowed back in the woods, Noah?”

“Greer gave us special dispensation to hunt the threat to the town.”

“And Parker will let you hunt with Amara, why?”

“I agreed to a public apology at the Founders’ Day party,” the alpha growled.

“You agreed to what?” Noah never apologized. It went against the macho alpha code.

“Don’t make me repeat it.” Noah groaned and lowered his hands. “I will hunt with you and help your mate keep you safe.”

And thus prove to the other wolves that their alpha had accepted her. “Thank you.”

Noah gave her a swift nod and turned on his heel. “Tomorrow night. I’ll meet you at the foot of the mountain.” He left without a backward glance.

“Well. That was surreal. Should I start looking for the cameras?”

Amara picked up her coffee. “Cameras?”

“Candid Camera. Jeez, what did Glinda allow you to watch on television? Gardening shows? This Old House?”

Well, those, but there were the other shows Glinda had allowed. Amara ticked them off on her fingers. “Looney Tunes, Merrie Melodies, Tom and Jerry…”

“Thus explaining your strong desire to drop anvils on people.”

“Hey, it worked for Bugs.”

Amara tossed her empty coffee cup and waved goodbye to Rock. She was eager to start her night’s hunting, but first she needed to pick up Parker. She wrenched open the driver’s-side door of her jeep, eager to start.

“Hello, sweet.”

Amara screeched and slapped Parker’s stomach. “Don’t do that!”

Sitting behind the wheel, her vampire laughed and opened the passenger-side door for her. “In a hurry, are we?”

She ran around the hood and climbed in. She fastened her seat belt with shaking hands. “Shit. You damn near gave me a heart attack.”

“Sorry. Vampires tend to be good at the whole stalking thing. We can’t help it. It’s instinctive.”

She rolled her eyes and handed him the keys. “Fine. You’re in the driver’s seat. Drive. Base of the mountain, and hurry.”

His brows rose, but he started the jeep and burned rubber. “What’s going on?”

“Rock says Terri is hiding in some caves up on the mountain.”

“Ah.”

“If we can flush her out, we can use the forest to find her.”

He grinned.

“What? It’s a good idea.”

“I know. That’s why I mentioned it to Greer.”

“When did you see Greer?” Amara hung on to the grab bar and prayed for a clean death as Parker took a turn on two wheels.

“Tonight. He helped me in The Greenhouse with the heavy lifting.”

Her brows rose. “You wimp you.”

“I know. What can I say? Perhaps I should have my manly-man card taken away.”

“Oh, before I forget, I’m supposed to go hunting with Noah tomorrow. Eep!” Parker screeched around another corner, startling some fauns into running for cover.

“Noah, eh?” Parker’s tone was mild, but when he glanced at her, she could detect red glints in his eyes.

“He says he’s going to apologize to me publicly. He also offered to guard my back.”

“Good.”

“How do you think his pack will take that?”

“I really don’t give a flying fuck.”

Amara blinked.

“Okay, I could if I wanted to, but only with you. Noah doesn’t do it for me.”

She bit her lip. “Speaking of which, did you know the parking lot of the Sav-A-Lot has security cameras?”

“It does?” The jeep rumbled out of town, toward the forest and the base of the mountain.

“Yeah. Rock told me. I know these people. Our asses are going to be hanging out on YouTube.”

“Nah. Xtube.”

Amara groaned. “What the hell is Xtube?”

Parker grinned, showing his fangs “What do you think it is?”

“Oh Goddess.” She thumped her head against the seat. “What next?”

The road exploded in a shower of stones and dirt.

“Down!” Parker roared, ripping the wheel sideways and barely avoiding the poison sumac erupting from the ground. The treelike weed reached for the jeep, cracking the windshield faster than Parker could maneuver away. “Fuck!”

Amara ducked. At this speed there wasn’t much she could do, but she knew one thing for certain now: Terri was no longer hiding.

She glared at the sumac trees. “Oh hell. Floor it!” Creeping vines raced down the road after the jeep, leaping from the earth like dolphins in the surf. Parker cursed as the jeep surged forward in an attempt to stay ahead of the vines.

“If someone else comes along this road, they’re screwed!” Amara was moving so quickly she couldn’t concentrate, couldn’t commune with the plants alongside the road. As she made contact, the delicate thread was lost to distance.

If she was going to fight, she was going to have to get out of the jeep. “Stop the car!”

He glared at her. “Hell no.”

“I can’t fight if we’re moving at a hundred miles an hour!”

He snarled. “Hold on!” Parker spun the jeep, narrowly missing a tree. “Go.”

Amara leaped from the car and allowed her hamadryad nature to take over. Thick, flexible bark covered her skin. Leaves sprouted in her fiery curls. She grew three feet, and her clothes fell to shreds. Amara gave in to the fire burning inside her and roared, the sound a challenge and a call to the forest to aid its champion.

And the forest answered. Roots lifted, branches swayed as the forest came alive and prepared to do battle with the enemy. The trees raked at anything that came within reach, narrowing the field where the weeds could work to a thin section of the road that Amara could somewhat control. The underbrush kept the weeds from getting into the roots of the trees, protecting them from being destroyed.