Teeth gritting together to maintain his focus, he swung effortlessly over the top of the wall and landed in what appeared to be a small rockery, which had several water features that led off towards the huge, impressive house. The pinks in the sky had dipped and changed to a pale purple, heralding the blue to follow. It made for a peaceful setting.
Only Duron could smell death. It tinged the air and made his nose burn. The scent they’d tracked was everywhere and stronger than ever. Was the elusive Devil Selina’s father?
If Duron was a betting bear, he’d have laid all his savings on it.
Duron gauged the place covered several acres, with a number of smaller buildings tucked back into trees. He scanned the area as he arched back to allow Beaumont to stand.
Beaumont’s arms released from around his neck, and he handed back the cell phone. Duron nodded his thanks, his gaze going to the screen and the dot that represented Wyatt.
By Duron’s estimate, Wyatt was in the middle of the house. The sound of howling brought his gaze from the timer.
We’ve two minutes to get inside. I’ve had worse odds. I’m going to shift into my cheetah. You need to stay here and keep a check on where Wyatt is and let me know where to go.
I’m coming. My alligator will have your back!
He didn’t sigh; it was pointless when in reality Duron wanted his mate with him, despite the worry it would distract him from his mission of getting Wyatt out safely. He went and hid his cell phone in a bush, ensuring it wasn’t visible and he pinpointed where to come back to.
When he came back to Beaumont, he gave him a hard kiss. Met his gaze and worked to convey without words what it would do to him if anything should happen to Beaumont.
Let’s go.
Beaumont’s words came with a surge of warm feelings that made Duron’s pulse skip giddily before he could control himself. He nodded and stepped back, allowing his shift to come.
His cheetah was off the second his paws hit the earth. The other animals were there waiting for their turn to be set free. It was always the same when he let one out fully.
The sounds of Beaumont’s alligator were long behind him, and Duron had to trust his mate, regardless of the fact that he hadn’t had the training Duron had. The howling increased, then there was a loud yowl along with snapping jaws.
Duron relaxed a fraction at his mate dealing with business as he shifted at the glass double doors that led into what appeared to be a summer room full of plants. Duron checked the handle, his pulse leaped in warning at finding it open.
He didn’t hesitate. Through the door, his bare feet moved over the tiled floor silently. His ears pricked up listening out for any noise even as his gaze searched the room before moving on.
Into the main house, lights blazed everywhere, revealing black marble. The place sparkled, yet was cold. Sterile almost.
A huge staircase sat in the middle of the hallway. In the distance came laughter, a door closing and someone talking. Duron searched for Wyatt’s scent and when he found it, his eyes widened.
What the actual fuck!
What is it?The words penetrated past the shock as he twisted and to see his mate stalking silently toward him. He’d not learned to read his alligator’s expression yet. Right then he didn’t need to with what Beaumont was feeling.
Never mind that for a second. What’s wrong? I can feel your confusion, anger, and terror.
It was all Duron could focus on, despite the shock of Wyatt smelling like he was about to sex someone. That was not how they worked.
My son. I smell my son.
What?He had to be mistaken.You said it yourself, it can’t be him. He’s a hybrid, unable to shift, a human long dead.As Duron said it, he realized he was being ridiculous.
The pieces of the puzzle shifted and reformed into a different picture, clicking in his mind, and bringing it into focus. The child had been eight when they’d taken him. Hybrids from what he’d learned, shifted in their teens or later if they had the ability. Beaumont had been adamant that his son likely couldn’t shift as his mother was human. So Duron had never doubted him, his first mistake.
Then there were those who had taken him. Were they the same ones who’d taken Duron, only they’d started practicing decades before? Gareth, the shifter on the council who’d injected Marvin with his deer DNA and caused him to become overly hairy, had said Marvin was the first they’d experimented on in the assassin program. Was that a lie?
He shuddered at the thought of the barbaric things they might have done to Beaumont’s son to get from point A to point Z when, decades later, they’d kidnapped Marvin and then the others like him.
His mind whirred with possibilities, only for them to disappear at the loud cry from above of “Get the fuck away from him,he’s mine.”That was distinctly Wyatt’s voice.
There were the sounds of boots thudding on marble and shouts, followed by gunfire. Duron was off and running before he registered what his intention was.
The sound of feet slapping behind him said Beaumont had shifted back and was following. Beaumont closed off his thoughts, which helped Duron keep his attention on Wyatt. Although it hurt his heart to do that when his mate was clearly distressed at what he could smell inside the house.
