“Are you telling us you found the cub?” the blue-eyed guy asks skeptically, and I shrug.
“Yeah, poor thing was cold and wet, and it was starving. I brought it in, dried it off, and fed it, and it’s been sleeping ever since. Poor baby seems exhausted.”
The two exchange a loaded glance.
“I was just about to call the watch again now that I’ve finished prep for the day.” I wave my hand at the table covered in tiny marshmallow animals, and the two men turn their attention from the cub to my display of tiny edible creatures. The blue-eyed man’s lips quirk up at the side.
“Crafting a little army to do your bidding?” He arches an eyebrow, nodding at my creations.
I blush a little at the suggestion. “It’s in celebration for the shifter king and queens’ retirement,” I tell them sheepishly. Here I am, cashing in on something that’s probably pretty important in their society.
“Yes, it’s quite an occasion,” he murmurs. “It’s a nice thought, though there aren’t any penguin shifters.” He turns his attention on his teammate who has crouched down in front of the cub and put his hand on the little tiger, giving it a gentle shake.
Huh, no penguin shifters, but he didn’t mention anything about the other three. Are there unicorn shifters? Now that would be something.
The little shifter yawns and stretches before they sniff the air and it comes instantly awake, its fur bristling as it snarls at the two men. It pushes past them and puts its body between me and the big men, its tail twitching back and forth while adorable threatening sounds come out of its mouth.
The blue-eyed man barks out a laugh, which warms something inside me. “What are you doing, cub? You don’t need to protect the pretty lady from us,” he assures it, still chuckling, but his words seem to have no effect. The tiger cub starts pacing back and forth between us, not taking its eyes off the two mountainous men.
“That’s enough,” the green-eyed man snaps, reaching down and picking the cub up by the scruff. The cub spits and scratches, but all it succeeds in doing is wearing itself out. “Now shift,” the green-eyed man—Hunt, I think his friend called him—commands.
My mouth drops open as magic shimmers around the cub, and suddenly, there’s a small boy in his place. He’s possibly four or five, if I had to guess. He crosses his arms and glares at the two men, completely naked and unafraid.
“Leave my friend alone, you big bullies,” he says in a high-pitched voice.
“Holy shit, is that…” The blue-eyed shifter gapes at the child in shock.
Hunt nods. “Yes, it’s Prince Archer. Archie, your parents are going out of their minds with worry. How did you end up here?” he asks, turning a suspicious glare on me, but I don’t cower under his stare, I just glare back at him.
The boy loses his glare, and his bottom lip starts to quiver. “I’m sorry, Hunter, don’t be mad.” The child obviously knowsthis man, which is a relief. “I snuck out of the castle so I could play with the kittens in the stable last night. A strange man was there. I didn’t recognize him as one of the grooms, and he smelled funny, like moldy hay, not like a shifter. I told him he had to leave, but he just laughed and grabbed me.”
“Witch,” the blue-eyed shifter growls, and the two of them exchange a loaded look.
“He took me out of the castle grounds and tried to put me into the back of a van. I tried to fight him, but he was too big, so I shifted and scratched him. He dropped me, and when he tried to grab me again, I ran, and I just kept running until I couldn’t run anymore.”
“Holy shit, how did a little thing like you run so far? That has to be like five leagues.” Blue eyes sounds both impressed and skeptical.
The little one wraps his arms around his body, shuddering with fear. I hurry to the cupboard and pull out a clean baker’s top, but as I approach him to give it to him, Hunt growls, so I stop, not willing to upset this mountain man, and hold it out.
“For the boy.”
He slowly reaches out and takes it from my hand before stepping closer to the child. “Here, put this over you.” Hunt uses gentle hands to help him into the shirt. I’m not a tall person, only five-five, but the shirt swims on the child.
“I just kept going until I couldn’t run anymore, and I found a space to hide, but it was raining, and I was cold and hungry, and when I saw the pretty lady, I couldn’t stop crying.” The boy bites his lip and stares down at his feet, looking ashamed.
“You have nothing to be ashamed about.” Hunt crouches again and puts both hands on the boy’s little arms, giving them an encouraging squeeze. “You did the right thing, but how about we get you back to the castle and to your parents and grandparents? Everyone is frantic and looking for you.”
The little boy sags and collapses into the arms of the blond watchman who gathers him and stands up. Without another word, he turns and leaves my kitchen, not sparing me another glance.
“Thank you for everything you did for him.” The blue-eyed man holds out his hand. “I’m sure the royal family will reward you for it.”
I scowl at him. “I don’t need a reward for doing the right thing. I’m just sorry the operator didn’t care enough to listen to me so you could be here sooner.” I take his hand, giving it a perfunctory shake, but I flinch back when a spark of something ignites between our hands. I look down at my palm, but there’s nothing there, so I give it a little shake. It must have been static from all the starch in the air.
The shifter’s eyes narrow slightly before he growls. “Yes, the operator will be suitably punished. No matter what is going on, your call should not have been blown off. Hell, the reason we were so busy was because we were looking for the boy.”
“I’m just glad he’s okay. Poor thing has been through so much. I would have asked questions, but he stayed in shifted form.”
“Yes, shifter children need help from an alpha to shift back. It’s why they are not allowed to wander on their own until they get control with their shifting around the age of twelve.”
