"We can help you… For a price," Tai said with a grin that bared all his fangs.
A shudder ran down my spine. Had I made a mistake? Did I put my trust into these coyotes too quickly?
A sudden gust of air blew all around us. A second later, I felt myself being scooped up. I squeaked in alarm before shifting into human form.
Right into Cloud's arms.
"Meeko! Are you okay?" Cloud asked, a wild look in his eyes. Without waiting for my reply, he glared at the coyotes. "You two get away from him!"
Ry shifted to human form and put up his hands. "Hang on, I think there's been a misunderstanding here…" He grabbed Tai, still in his coyote form, by the scruff of his neck and raised him off the ground. "My idiotic mate was just joking about paying a price. You see, he has a very stupid sense of humour."
Tai grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, I kinda do."
Cloud's ruffled feathers smoothed out. "So you weren't hassling him?"
I figured I should speak up before this misunderstanding got out of hand. "No, they weren't. Actually, they were just about to give me information about Mistral."
"Oh." Cloud unwrinkled his nose. "That's good then."
I felt Cloud's muscles relax. Before we cleared the air, he was incredibly tense. Was he thinking of fighting off these two coyote shifters?
At the same time I realized he was still holding me in his arms. Our skin was touching. He was so warm. And his arms weren't even shaking with effort. He must've been stronger than I realized. For some reason, that filled me with a sense of safety.
I'd been staring up at his face this whole time, and Cloud finally noticed. His brows rose and he looked a bit flustered.
"Oh, sorry. Here, let me put you down," he said.
He bent his knees to lower me to the ground. As much as I liked being on my own two feet, I couldn't help but feel a twinge of disappointment. Being held by Cloud like that wasn't that bad.
"Thanks," I said. Turning back to the coyote shifters, I asked, "What were you saying before my friend dropped in?"
From the corner of my eye, I saw Cloud beam. Right. He didn't know that I thought of him as a friend yet. Well, I guess the cat was out of the bag.
Ry dropped his mate, who shifted into human form as well. Tai dusted off his hands. "Ahem. Now that everyone knows I was joking, I'll just tell you." Tai nodded his head in the direction behind him to where the ground sloped upward and the trees grew densely together. "There's an abandoned cabin over there, and if the amount of noise is anything to go by, we think that spirit of yours is hanging out there."
"Noise?" I asked.
Tai crossed his arms. "I don't know if he's trying to lie low or what, but if so he's doing a shitty job. All he does is grunt and squeal and sigh. And at all hours of the night no less! It's like, does this guy even sleep?"
Cloud tilted his head and thought. "Actually, I don't think spirits sleep, no."
"Whatever. The point is, he's a rude neighbour."
I frowned at Tai's words. What was Mistral doing making so much noise? I almost didn't want to think aboutwhatwas going on in there. But the important thing was getting my sword back. Mistral could do whatever the hell he wanted as long as he handed it over.
"Thanks a lot for your help," I said. "Cloud, let's go."
"Sure thing."
"Hang on," Tai called. "You're not going to go confront a spirit naked are you, little mouse?"
I blinked and glanced down at my nude form. "What difference does it make? We’re all wild shifters here."
In my peripheral vision, I noticed Cloud was deliberately keeping his gaze focused head. Was he trying not to look at my lower half? What a weird alpha.
"I mean, yeah, I love having my bare ass out as much as the next shifter," Tai said. "But it's a little brazen to go beat up a spirit in the nude, don’t you think?"
I raised a brow. I didn't think it was that important, but I shrugged. "I guess. I don't have any clothes with me though." I turned to Cloud, looking him up and down. Feathers began growing on his skin around his hips, so he didn't have the same problem as me. His junk was neatly tucked away behind a fluffy wall of feathers.
