Beaumont cleared his throat and stood. He placed a hand on Duron’s tense arm and squeezed gently. Affection and lust were the two things coming through their connection. The scent of arousal became noticeable, and Duron used a concerted amount of effort to hold back his groan.
“I was pointing out that your magical wards might do more than you think. And why I’ve brought this up in here.”
Kylo made a hand signal to his brothers and stopped them both, uttering whatever was on their minds.
“I’ve checked this house over. There is nothing amiss.” He made a zipping motion to Beaumont and Duron, who both nodded. It was easy to see by the deep frown lines that Kylo had found something while checking the wards.
“If that is the case, then we have a tail who appears to be brilliant at concealing themselves.” Kylo nodded and encouraged Beaumont to continue. “Do you have any ideas about who it could be? You’ve worked in law enforcement here for years. You should have a list of criminals capable of that, no?”
The conversation continued and Duron felt the tension coming off all the men in the room.
What do you think he’s found?
Beaumont didn’t look at him as he appeared to be listening to Kylo.That what I suspected about the wards is true. Now we need to figure out how Selina plays into all this. Whatever it is, my alligator is feeling edgy about this, and I’m feeling like I’m missing something important.
Duron suspected his mate was right, as his animals were signaling each other to watch out, which was never good!
Chapter Twelve
Beaumont
Whatever it was that Kylo had found was clearly going to have to wait. Duron had picked up on his agitation and dragged him into the bedroom… which Beaumont didn’t have a problem with. But instead of wrestling between the sheets, which would definitely take the edge off his nerves, Duron folded his arms and just looked at him.
“You were upset about the girl in the jungle.”
Beaumont sighed. It was tempting to say, ‘wouldn’t you be,’ but then he reminded himself who he was talking to. Duron wasn’t raised with family—though he must’ve had one at some stage. Duron was abducted as a child, not created like Ben’s mates had been. But even so, the horrific training the men like Duron had clearly been through would go a long way to stripping sentimentality from a man’s soul.
“Can we sit down at least? I always intended to tell you about my family. It’s just, we’ve barely had time to take a breath. Do you know what Kylo might’ve found wrong with the wards?”
Duron shook his head. “We’ll find out,” he said simply. “But you’re ready to snap at the first person you come across. Emotions do not lead to good decisions. Talk.”
Emotions. Was that what Beaumont was feeling? Something was setting off his alligator, and Beaumont wasn’t sure that talking about a family who died more than a hundred years ago was going to help. But Duron had asked and they were mates…
Sitting down on the edge of the bed, Beaumont linked his hands, looking down at the floor. “Many years ago, back in the eighteen seventies, I was married to a woman and had three children.”
“Eighteen seventies?” Beaumont glanced up to see Duron doing the math. “How old are you?”
“A damned sight older than you, and right now, I feel every one of those years.” Pressing his lips together, Beaumont tried to think how to put all he was feeling into words. He hadn’t spoken of any details about Eugenie and his children to anyone. Even when Marvin had called at his house, he’d only sketched the surface of what he’d been through.
“I wasn’t a good man before I was married. Shifters weren’t known about, yet it was as though people instinctively feared who I was… like they had a sixth sense or something, and I… There were times I took advantage of that.
“I fought other men for money, knowing I’d never lose. Drink others under the table because I’d never get drunk, and then twist deals to go my way. I’d gamble,” Beaumont chuffed. “The scent of desperation always let me know when to fold and when to push. There were places where the strongest and richest survived, and I thrived in those times.”
“Fun times.”
Beaumont didn’t pick up anything from his mate’s tone, but the waiting watchfulness was there. He pushed on. “I wasn’t a nice person to be around, and there were times when I hated myself, but it was like I was on a roller coaster, and I didn’t know how to stop. I remember I was drinking in a graveyard one day, singing bawdy tunes because why the hell wouldn’t I, when I heard the voice of an angel speak to me, asking me to please refrain from using such lewd language on god’s ground. That was the day I met Eugenie.”
“Your wife?”
“My wife and salvation.” Beaumont nodded. “I was sprawled over some guy’s tombstone, a bottle of whiskey in one hand and a cigar in the other. I looked up, and the sweetest face, topped with a pale blue bonnet, was smiling at me. At me. Can you believe it? I made such a fool of myself that day, trying to be so smooth and falling over that damn tombstone, just so I could stand and greet her properly.”
“You must’ve made some impression.” Duron moved closer.
“I’ll never know what that impression was. She insisted that I be respectably dressed for the following Sunday, so I could escort her to church, and I did it. Me, who’d never stepped foot in a church before or since. Six weeks later, we were married in that same church. No one came except her mother who disapproved and huffed right through the vows. That same night, Eugenie fell pregnant with our first son, Beau. Two years later, James came along, and then four years after that, we had sweet Victoria. By then, we had a homestead to call our own, and I was working on the railroad, sending back every paycheck so she could look after our home. Until I met you, they were the very best years of my life.”
“Did she know, about your alligator, I mean?” Duron sat down on the bed next to him, their shoulders and thighs brushing together.
“I told her that first day after church. We went for a walk, and I told her I was one of the devils the preacher warned about. That I contained an animal spirit in my body that no amount of praying was going to do away with.”
