"I don't know, but I'm about to find out." Randal set the box on the counter. "Can you stand back a little?"
Luca's eyebrows lifted. "You think it's going to go off?"
Randal shrugged. "You can never tell with my father."
Luca took a step back, glanced at the box, and then took another step back.
Randal drew in a deep breath before carefully lifting the edge of the lid. When nothing happened, he lifted it the rest of the way. "Huh."
"What?" Luca came closer, and then frowned as he peered down into the box. "What is that stuff?"
Randal lifted one of the syringes filled with blue liquid out of the box. There were a lot of them. "I believe this is what my father uses to stop shifters from shifting."
Luca wasn't a shifter, but just thinking about it made his stomach roll. "Why would he do that?"
"Control and intimidation. It's easier to beat someone up and make them feel it if they can't shift and heal their injuries. I suspect this is what he gave to your nana to keep her from shifting and escaping."
Luca's jaw clenched and his eyes flashed with rage. "We need to show this to Rob."
Randal nodded. "It's another nail in my father's coffin."
"How so?"
"It proves that my father was working with Alpha King. He's the one that was using this stuff on shifters to keep them under control before selling them." Randal's shoulders sagged. "I had really been hoping he wasn't involved in that mess, but I guess I was wrong."
"Hey." Luca plastered himself to the front of Randal and reached up to cup his face. "You are a good man. You need to believe that. You are not responsible for your father's actions. He is."
"I know, but—"
"No buts, Randal. My mate is not the type of man to hurt people just for his own gain. You didn't do this. In fact, you've done everything you possibly could to stop it."
Randal's jaw clenched. "No, I haven't, not yet." He put the syringe back in the box and then snapped it closed. "Come on, we need to take this to Rob. He'll know what to do with it."
Luca followed after Randal as he stormed toward the front door. He made sure he locked the door, even though he doubted it would keep anyone out of they really wanted in. He needed to do something about that.
When they reached the street, Luca realized they had no way to get back to the mansion. He also realized Trent was still sitting in the window of the diner when he saw the man wave.
Luca grabbed Randal's hand and pulled him down the street. "I know where we can get a ride."
Luca could see Trent watching him as they marched down the street. The moment they stepped inside the diner, Trent turned in his chair to watch them walk across the room.
"What's going on, Boss?"
"It's nothing for you to be worried about, Trent. We just had a little trouble with Randal's family. They don't like the idea of us moving in together so they were trying to cause trouble. They've been taken down to the sheriff's office, so you shouldn't have any more problems."
Trent's eyes flickered to Randal. "You two are moving in together?"
Luca couldn't have kept the smile off his face if he had tried. "Randal is my mate."
Trent was human, but he lived in a shifter town. He had to know what that meant.
"Oh." Trent's face fell for a moment before his eyebrows rose. "Does this mean you're going to stop plastering yourself to the front window when he walks by, because it's kind of bad for business?"
Luca's cheeks flushed when Randal let out a little snort of laughter. He had kind of been hoping Randal wouldn't learn that small tidbit. It was embarrassing as hell, but also something he hadn't been able to prevent himself from doing. He had hungered for any sight of Randal.
"No, Trent," Randal said, amusement still lacing his voice. "Luca won't be pressing his face to the glass anymore."
"Trent," Luca said to change the subject, "can I use your car for a little bit? I left my truck at Randal's place."
