Glass shards covered most of the kitchen floor as one of the big bay windows had been shattered. On the floor, amidst the demolition debris was a dead raven. The bird was already stiff since rigor mortis had already set in. The bird was long dead. Someone had most likely killed the bird just for the purpose of smashing it through the window. No wonder Preston had been so mortified. Glancing around the kitchen, I grabbed a dish towel and used it to cover the bird. It deserved dignity in death as much as any other victim of a violent crime. I climbed onto the sink and examined the edges of the window behind it. No blood on the glass but on the ground were heavy boot prints that didn’t belong to me or one of the other Moonscale Guards. That’s what had irritated me. Someone who shouldn’t have been there – someone who probably pressed their piggy nose right up on the window – was too close to my mate. My instincts put it together before I ever had the chance. Whoever they were had waited until Crilus had left the kitchen. It was time to interrogate Preston to see what the snacking bear was really hiding but that could wait until Medwin was here. I always liked to have another omega around if I had to interview an omega. Add to it his beingCrilus’s cousin and a kid of the leaders of another group and I figured all the extra ears on it would be for the best.
Whatever magic the suspect used to propel the raven through the window still sizzled in the air. Part of me wanted to give chase and track him through the woods. If a second guard were here, I would’ve but I wasn’t falling for that and leaving four omegas alone inside the cabin. Not even if Creon now had my back up taser that could shoot electricity up to ten foot if the need arose.
I took out my phone and snapped some photos of the crime scene as the headlights of Medwin’s minivan pulled into the driveway of Moonglow Cabin. Everyone teased him about that damn van, but it did the job of hauling him and his family around. I snapped more photos from every angle I could think of because I was pretty sure now that Crilus was here, Medwin would try to put me on mating leave. I appreciated the sentiment, but this was personal now. Twice in one night someone decided to fuck with a building in which my mate stood. That wasn’t going to fly. Not now. Not ever.
I went out the backdoor, wishing Crilus and I had already exchanged our claiming vows. Then I could keep the omegas huddled in the living room in the loop, but he insisted that wasn’t going to be the nature of our relationship. I’d wait until Earthside itself crumbled down upon its own atoms if that’s how long Crilus needed to trust me. I wasn’t going anywhere but neither was the longing burning behind my fangs.
“The others are en route,” Medwin said, killing the engine and stepping out of the minivan.
I wasted no time filling Medwin in on the details. He nodded along, smoothing down his bed tussled dark hair. His eyes shifted to that of his dragon and raked across the cabin and its grounds. The damn place had become an epicenter of things going wrong.
“You’re considering taking them to your parents’ place out in the mountains, aren’t you?”
“Perhaps,” I said, not willing to commit to telling him a location. When shit hit the fan and it involved your mate, you told no one your next move. It was a lie of course. If whoever was after Preston was willing to follow him out here into the wilds, they’d probably be willing to follow him into another nature-filled location. I wasn’t sure where our next move was but I’d figure it out soon. Hell, maybe even going back to the Raven Hollow Wolves with Creon would be an option.
“Let me know when you’re leaving. I hate to do this because I actually think you’re one of the best guards we have and I know how you’d stay on top of this but until you claim him and get all the magic out of your systems, I have to put you on mating leave.”
I opened my mouth to protest. I was willing to wait forever for Crilus to realize that I was the same man he chose all those eons ago in the Other World, I wasn’t willing to sit on my hands and not work forever. I’d write in with a letter of protest as soon as I had a spare moment. The language Medwin used made it sound as if he’d force mates to exchange the claiming vows---
“You know damn well that’s not what I meant,” Medwin sighed, picking up my thoughts over the flight link. “No one has to do anything, but instincts run wild during the true-mate response, and I don’t want you to fuck yourself over because of it.” Three SUVs pulled up and Medwin dismissed me to go inside and wait with the omegas.
I was never good at being a civilian. Being a guard suited me. Sitting on my hands wasn’t something I could do. Only this time, Crilus was waiting on me inside.
Chapter Twelve
Mori
“Preston, what the fuck is going on?”I asked over our twin link.“I really want a cup of coffee or a pillow, but I can’t have either because someone blew out a kitchen window. You’re covered in knicks and when the medics get here, they’re going to be picking shards of glass out of you forever.”
“I’m fine,”Preston shrugged off my worries.“Seriously. Bear flubber. It catches everything. I’m just mad that I didn’t get to finish my sandwich.”
“Who’s after you?” Crilus broke the spoken silence.
“No one’s after me. I’m a nobody,” Preston shrugged off the question as Pierce came into the living room.
Crilus’s already racing heart skipped a beat and for a microsecond I was envy incarnate. Then I remembered what Dern told me about their future first born child. I wasn’t so jealous of that little fact. Pierce’s intense gaze landed on his mate and Crilus blushed before crossing the room to hug the vampire. My wolf breathed a sigh of relief as the newly met mates embraced but it was short lived. After the latest broken window, I was eighty percent sure someone was after my brother.
“Did you find anything, Pierce?” Creon asked when the mates parted from the hug.
“Somone meant to break that window,” Pierce said. “I have reason to think that they meant to harm Preston or at the very least scare him. There was a nose print -human form- on the window. Someone had their face pressed up against the glass watching you. Maybe watching you and Crilus.” He wrapped a protective arm around my cousin’s waist as he said this. “Butthey waited until you were alone to do anything.” Pierce met Preston’s gaze.
“Medics,” a voice called from the kitchen and Pierce turned on his heels to meet them.
Crilus pressed his lips together as the warmth of his mate left his side. I bit the inside of my cheek. Floria or not. I was envy incarnate. I was ready for a headache if that’s what meeting my true-mate brought on.
“I don’t---” Preston started but I shook my head.
“Maybe it’s someone you don’t realize is an enemy,” I said. “Maybe it’s something to do with our parents. They did ban the use of exploding bullets within the territory. That probably pissed off some folks even if we all voted on the issue and….”
“What about who you were arguing with on the phone right before I came downstairs earlier?” Crilus cut into the conversation, his arms crossed over his chest and his knee bouncing as if Preston was hiding a murder weapon.
“That wasn’t---” Preston started but stopped. “I don’t have to explain myself to anyone.”
“You do---” Crilus started but Creon stood and put a hand on his son’s shoulder to silence him.
“You’re right. You don’t owe us an explanation. Short of you committing an act of violence against someone there is no excuse for anyone doing this to you,” Creon said. “Only we can’t help if we don’t know who we’re helping you against.”
“It’s not—”
