I patted Claude’s arm. “He’s right. You can single out two criminals in a club filled with dancers, but this is Matteo’s territory. He can probably tell a squirrel’s ass from a raccoon’s.”
Nobody laughed.
Matteo looked like a primitive man in his animal pelts. Especially with his unkempt hair and long beard. It wasn’t a bushy beard that hid his face; it grew thinner than most, and he had a band tying it together like my father often did. For a man in his prime, he didn’t seem to care about his looks.
“It’s a Shifter,” Matteo explained. “But it’s not one of the lions.”
I scanned the woods but saw nothing. “How can you tell it’s a Shifter?”
“Too many emotions lingering with animal scent. Animals don’t have complex emotions that constantly shift. There aren’t any packs in this area. I know of two rogues, but it’s not their scent.”
I glanced back at the cave and then at the men. “I’ll go.”
“You’ll go where?” Christian asked as he wedged himself between the men and me.
“I think it’s Joshua. If he’s in animal form, he won’t come close.”
“You can’t go out there alone.”
Viktor had ordered Christian to stay near the cave. He was the only one strong enough to fight off an attack if the lions got in. Viktor said he could walk the perimeter as needed but go no farther.
“I can’t leave him out there,” I said. “The lions might use him against us.”
Christian gripped my shoulders and gave me a pensive stare.
I searched his eyes. “He’s just a kid. Maybe he’s not part of this group, but we can’t leave a sixteen-year-old to the lions.”
Despite Christian’s dark past of countless murders, he still had a conscience. Especially when it came to children. If not, I wouldn’t be alive.
I gripped his wrists extra hard to remind him I still had a little residual strength from his blood.
“Don’t get yourself killed,” he finally said.
I darted ahead and went in the direction Claude had pointed. Hopefully Joshua’s animal would recognize my scent.
“Joshua,” I whispered.
I weaved around the trees and stepped over a fallen limb. Every so often, I’d stop to listen. If General’s men were this close, they wouldn’t have allowed Joshua to get through. Not without a fight, and we would have heard it. It was just a matter of finding him.
I walked a familiar path that sloped down. The clouds had passed, and the moon lit up the world like a torch. At some point during the walk, I gave up on Joshua. I didn’t have the skills to track a wild animal, but Blue was out there somewhere, and I’d made Viktor a promise. When the ground leveled, I flashed as far as I could to shorten the journey back to the first campsite.
Charred smoke lingered in the air. With my heightened senses, I made sure I was alone before investigating. Once I crossed a tree line, I circled the perimeter around the dying embers of a fire.
“Blue,” I whispered, swinging my gaze upward. She retained consciousness while in animal form, so maybe her falcon had just separated from the group. “Blue!”
My heart ricocheted in my chest when I spotted the shape of a man standing not too far away. I blinked a few times to make sure I wasn’t just mistaking a tree for a person. My vision sharpened as he drew near, his broad shoulders and swagger familiar. As he moved into view, the moonlight caught the waves of his long blond hair. The scruff around his mouth only added to the animalistic look in his predatory eyes. General was a beast in human and animal form, and I remembered all too well his cruel heart.
I lightly gasped when I noticed the falcon perched on his arm. Despite the hood over her head, I recognized the beautiful coloring of Blue’s breast.
“We meet again,” he said with a growing smile.
One I wanted to wipe right off his face with the bottom of my shoe.
I searched the area for his brothers.
“Funny how you’re always meddling,” he went on.
“What are you doing out here? This doesn’t look like loan shark business.”
