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any possibility that her conversation might drift to the wrong ears.
    “Information,” said the voice on the other line. “What city and state?”
    “I need the police department in Little Paradise, Texas.” Miko took a deep breath and lowered her voice. “I have a crime to report.”
    The woman on the line made a startled noise. “A crime? Are you all right?”
    “I’m fine,” Miko replied. “The crime hasn’t happened yet.”
    “Oh.” The operator got very quiet, and then cleared her throat. “I’ll connect you through.”
    The line got quiet, and then a second operator picked up a few moments later, this one male. “Little Paradise police department. Can I help you?”
    “Hi. I’m going to give you an address,” Miko began, realizing she probably sounded a little crazy. “There’s a crime in progress.” She quickly rattled off the street address, and since she was outside of the city, gave them landmark specifics.
    The cop paused for a moment, and she could hear him typing. “What kind of crime is it?”
    Oops. She hung up on him, wincing. Hopefully that vague threat would still get them to come out. Because if not, her little plan was going downhill fast. She tucked her phone back into her jeans pocket, and then began to remove her shirt.
    The plan? Set herself up as fox-bait, drag the hunters right to the cops, and then escape before anyone would even notice she was gone. Her problem would be taken care of, the local foxes would be safe from the idiot hunters, and she’d finally get the two men out of her hair and her house back to herself.
    So why did it feel like such a lousy idea? Why was it so very depressing to think of waking up and having an empty house tomorrow morning?

Chapter 9

    The sound of a nearby hunting horn caused both men to come out of their funk. Sam cocked his head slightly, listening for the telltale thunder of horses’ hooves in the distance. To his side, Jeremiah got to his feet, a grim expression crossing his face.
    “Where’s Miko?” he asked.
    Sam put down the wrench and wiped his hand on his shirt. Thinking about how dinner had turned sour had bothered him, and when Sam was bothered, he worked with his hands. He’d spent the past hour fiddling with the leak in Miko’s faucet, and had completely lost track of time. He’d thought that Jeremiah was in the other room, placating her or trying to make her understand his – their – frustration. But maybe not. “She’s not with you?”
    “No. I haven’t seen her since dinner.”
    The hounds bayed nearby, and the hunting horn sounded. The skin on the back of Sam’s neck prickled. It was obvious they’d found something. On a hunch, he ran out to the porch…and stared at Miko’s discarded t-shirt and the pile of her clothing. “Shit! Jere, she’s run off.”
    Even as he stripped down and began to transform, Jeremiah was at his side, doing the same. Their goal was Miko’s safety, and as the horn sounded again, off in the distance, he desperately hoped they weren’t too late.

Chapter 10

    Run, run faster. Dart under bushes, weave through the grasses. Wiggle down a foxhole and come out the other side.  Miko’s brain rambled directions to her, as if that could make her small black paws move faster, or stop her tail from twitching in anxiety.
    The hounds were nearly upon her, the hunters hot on their heels, the horn braying in her ear. Her plan had seemed better from the safety of her porch. In fox form, her thoughts became frantic, fleeting and wild, and she struggled to maintain a sense of control over her emotions, even as she ran for her life. All she had to do was get to the road, where the police would be waiting. The fox-hunters would be caught red-handed, and her life would be her own again.
    Providing she didn’t get caught first.
    Providing she still wanted things – all things – to go back to normal.
    A beagle bayed in her ear – too close. She slammed to the left, darting under a bush and