Doubtful. He still didn’t know what we were.
Needing to keep him close, I rolled to my side and tucked him under my chin, our limbs tangled around each other. He sighed, relaxing into me, and I hoped he would sleep peacefully, instinctively knowing that I would protect him.
I’d tell him we were mates tomorrow.
Holingup in a house that was mostly windows had not been the best idea. I awoke not because I was done sleeping, but because my ankle was slowly burning thanks to a goddamnedskylight allowing the morning sun to shine down on me. I moved my entire leg out of the way while looking around the room to see where else the sun shone.
From where he sprawled on top of me, Wiley gave a snort and turned his head before nuzzling against my right pec and then falling back to sleep.
Perhaps I would just stay here and fry so as not to disturb him.
No, for fuck’s sake, that wouldn’t help either of us. Everyone at the institute no doubt knew who he was, so he needed me to keep him safe from them. I also had an obligation to make sure The Coalition knew what was truly happening at the Barnabas Institute of Genetics under one Doctor Edsel Barnabas.
“Wiley?” I petted his hair and down his back. “Wake up, love.”
Did he…moo?
“Five more minutes,” he muttered and turned his head so that he was breathing against my sternum. “Nooooo…”
Oh, he’d said no. Like a lamentable cow. I huffed a laugh, making him bounce, and he gave a tiny kittenish growl. I patted him and gave him a few more minutes while keeping an eye on the sunbeams.
To appease my curiosity while I waited, I gave a series of calls—because I was in human form and not as strong—to use echolocation on the house and grounds. Downstairs, the sunlight seemed more muted, and I wondered if they might have laminated glass that blocked most UV rays. Interestingly, the garage was underground with a drive that wound up and around half the house before meeting the street. Perhaps I wouldn’t be injured as we prepared to leave this place after all. I almost didn’t want to leave, but I was certain we couldn’t stay this close to the institute for much longer.
As if on cue, I heard a doorbell chime below.
Wiley lifted his head with a start, blinking fast and wiping drool from his chin. He looked down and was then wiping away the pool on me before he sat up, straddling my thigh, a blush blooming on his cheeks. If it weren’t for whomever was down there, I might’ve caught Wiley in my arms and convinced him to let me mate him again.
“Yes? Can I help you?”
The man’s voice sounded slightly mechanical and distant, but I still flew from the bed to peer around the doorframe to the main room below us.
“Pardon us for bothering you, sir, but we’ve had reports of a prowler in the area. Could we come in and look around for a moment?”
The three men at the door might look like police officers, but I doubted they were anything other than institute soldiers. I didn’t recognize them, but I was fairly certain I’d killed all those who’d regularly dealt with me. It was too much of a coincidence for them to be anything else.
The other voice seemed to be coming from a doorbell camera device attached outside the house.
“Oh, I’m not sure. We’re not home right now.”
“Have any alarms tripped in the last few hours?”
“No, nothing.”
Excellent news for us. I hadn’t thought there were any cameras on the patio, but sometimes they were small. My own home had seventeen cameras.
“Are you able to unlock the door remotely, sir?”
Say no, I willed toward the homeowner.Don’t let them in.
“Well, yes, but it doesn’t seem necessary if no one’s broken in.”
“And you’re absolutely certain?”
The homeowner didn’t answer right away, and I turned to look back at Wiley because he was rustling around. Apparently,he’d found clothes that fit him and was getting dressed. I caught the boxers and trousers he threw at me, quickly dismissed my distaste for putting on another man’s underwear, and dressed as I listened for more from downstairs.
“Sir? Are you still there?” The doorbell rang again.
“I’ll be sure to call 911, if necessary. Thank you, officer.”
