The car slammed against a tree and the airbags deployed.Alan whimpered at the impact, and everything went still.For a moment, Alan breathed in and out.He was alive.He wasn’t hurt beyond a few aches that might turn into bruises, or at least, he didn’t think so.His ears were ringing, but they’d stop eventually.He wasn’t safe, though.There was no way Victor wasn’t going to try to get to him now that he’d stopped moving.
Alan reached for his seatbelt, but the airbag was in the way He wasn’t going to be a sitting target if there was anything he could do to avoid it.
He was panicking and felt like he couldn’t breathe, and things didn’t get any better when he noticed movement outside the car.He scrambled to unhook the seatbelt, but his fingers kept slipping.The person kept getting closer.
Someone opened Alan’s door.He screamed and attempted to slide toward the passenger seat, but he was trapped.When a hand touched his shoulder, he batted it away, trying to breathe through the panic so he could do something to save himself.
“Hey,” a voice he didn’t recognize said.
He blinked.This wasn’t Victor’s voice.It wasn’t Victor.
That was enough to partially calm him down.He sucked in a breath, then another.He heard tires screeching on the asphalt and whipped his head in that direction only to see a car driving off quickly.That had to have been Victor, right?He’d seen that someone had found Alan and was leaving before they could get the cops involved.
God, the cops.Alan needed to call them, didn’t he?What would they do if he did?Would they care about what he’d have to say?
“You okay?”the man who’d opened the car door asked.His voice was muffled, but Alan managed to hear him anyway.
Alan finally turned to look at him.The man was naked.
Alan blinked, then blinked again, but it didn’t change anything.The man was still very much naked.He was also staring back at Alan, his eyes wide, probably because Alan was staring at him.
Alan cleared his throat.“I’m fine.”
“Are you sure?Because you don’t look fine, and you’re not behaving like you are.”
“I’m as fine as I can be considering what just happened.”
The man waited for a moment before nodding.“Fair.Let me help you out of the car.”
Alan wanted to argue, especially when the man leaned into his personal space so he could unbuckle his seatbelt after dealing with the airbag.The man’s body was tense—Alan would know since he could see andfeelall of it—but he didn’t say anything as he leaned back out of the car and offered Alan his free hand.Alan stared for a moment before deciding he might as well take it.Whoever this guy was, Alan doubted he was as dangerous as Victor.At the very least, he wasn’t driving a car and trying to kill Alan.
Yet.
“You’re sure you’re okay?”the man asked as Alan straightened his back and looked around.The headlights of the car were still on, so he could see that he was in a forest area.He had no idea where.He hadn’t been paying attention as he drove away, trying to escape Victor, but he should have.
“Where are we?”he asked.
“Oakland forest.That guy drove your car off the road.”
Alan blinked.At least he was starting to hear better already.“How did you know it was a man?”
“He stopped the car and stepped out before I reached you.He quickly changed his mind when he saw us, but I noticed that he was a guy.”
Alan nodded.“It was my boss.”He should probably keep his mouth shut, but he’d just escaped death.Besides, this guy was cute, even though he was naked.
Alan’s brain finally started working.Unless this guy was extremely weird, he wouldn’t be walking around naked in a forest so late at night.That had to mean one thing.“You’re a shifter.”
The man nodded.“I am.Franklin and I were on a run in our shifted forms when we heard your car.”
Franklin?Alan glanced around, and sure enough, another man was standing at the edge of the trees, looking up and down the road as if he expected Victor to come back.Alan didn’t think he would.
“I’m Matthew,” the shifter said.
Alan swallowed.Was it smart to introduce himself to this guy?Alan didn’t know him.That meant he couldn’t trust him, but was there anyone hecouldtrust?Clearly, he also couldn’t trust someone he’d worked with for almost a year and who he’d considered a friend.
Telling Matthew his name was probably safe enough.Matthew was a shifter.That didn’t mean he couldn’t be a bad guy, but what were the odds that he was working with Victor?
“You’re really freaking me out,” Matthew said.“Can you tell me your name?Or do I need to get a healer?”
