Chapter Fourteen
Chay was already standing naked in the hallway when Gabriel came out. He knew his mate would want to go in and end this mess. He wanted it over, as well. He didn’t want to have to keep looking over his shoulder while he started a life with his mate.
He just wanted his mate.
Gabriel raised an eyebrow when he stepped out of the bathroom and closed the door. “You’re not going to tell me to stay in the bathroom where it’s safe?”
“Would you listen to me if I did?” He would give just about anything if Gabriel would stay in the bathroom. He just wasn’t stupid enough to think it would ever happen. His baby was a predator after all.
“No.”
“Then what’s the point?”
Gabriel chuckled as he stripped off his clothes.
“Um, how do you get it all to go one way or the other?” Dom asked.
Chay’s eyes rounded when he glanced down the hallway and saw Dom standing there, black furry ears on top of his head and a tail coming out of the top of his ass. The tail was swishing wildly as Dom tried to grab at it.
“It’s easy. Chay helped me,” Gabriel said. “Think about having four legs and a tail, ears, whiskers, that sort of thing, then find your center, that place deep inside. That’s where your cat is while you’re in human form. Tell your cat that it’s time to trade places.”
No sooner had the words left his mouth than Gabriel shifted, flowing into a black panther. Chay took just a moment to slide his fingers through Gabriel’s sleek fur. “You are breathtaking, mate.”
Gabriel purred and leaned into his hand. Chay scratched him behind the ears before grabbing his muzzle and meeting his eyes. “Don’t get dead.”
Gabriel made a chuffing noise before licking a line up Chay’s cheek.
Chay stood and glanced back down the hallway when he heard a small snarl. Okay, he was trapped between two deadly panthers. It was good to know he was on their side.
“Okay, let’s do this.” Chay walked toward the bedroom. He couldn’t hear anymore gunshots, but the smell of gun smoke was thick in the air. He walked over to one of the windows and peeked out through the slit in the curtain. He didn’t see anything, but that didn’t mean something wasn’t there.
Chay unlocked the window and slid it open, wincing when it made a screeching noise. That was sure to draw someone’s attention. “Hurry, out the window.”
He didn’t wait to see if Gabriel and Dom listened to him. He just shifted into his bird form and flew out the window. As soon as he was outside, he soared higher up into the air. He wanted to get a bird’s eye view of the surrounding area.
Chay’s house was set on the edge of town. He was still within city limits, but his was the only house for a couple of blocks. The neighbors might hear the gunshots, but they could easily think it was just someone doing target practice. At least, that was what he hoped they thought. They really didn’t need the authorities showing up right now.
Chay would have been thrilled if it had been night out. He could see just as well in the dark as he could in the light of day. Unfortunately, in the daytime, those on the ground could see him. A bird flying around the treetops might not gain any attention, but apparently, one flying out of the house did.
He dodged several shots aimed in his direction and flew around the woods, keeping close to the tops of trees. He found a tree high enough up that he might not be seen and settled on branches near the top.
“Gabe, can you hear me?” He knew they had a mental link because they were mates, and it worked for mates when they were in either form, but he wasn’t sure if it worked when they were different species.
“Where are you?”
Chay tried not to let his relief show through their link. “I’m in the trees west of the house. Where are you?”
Gabriel snickered. “Right below you.”
Chay chirped when he glanced down and saw his mate. He hopped down the branches until he was on the one directly above Gabriel. “Where’s Dom?”
“He took the east side of the house.”
“Are you able to communicate with him?” It sometimes happened with family members, but again, he didn’t know if it was different for panthers than it was for falcons.
Gabriel’s head went up and down.
“Okay, good, tell Dom to stay to the woods, but head toward us. We’ll meet him on the far side of the road in front of the house. I suspect that is where our shooters are hiding.”
