“Our place is warded,” Felix yelled. “It’s not like bullets can get us if we stay within the fence line.”
“You can’t catch anyone doing that,” Duron said, his low tones sending a ripple of arousal through Beaumont’s body. “We’ll scout out the back. You’ll stay here.”
Beaumont realized Duron was talking to him. “No. That’s not how we do this, mate.” He met his mate’s fascinating eyes. “I don’t like this any more than you do, but we go together or not at all.”
The grimace spoke volumes, but so did the nod. “I’ll come out back with you. I know the area,” the quieter brother Mao offered.
Wyatt nodded. “I’ll check out the front and make sure none of the brothers skin their knees or break a fingernail. Thank goodness your parents are off on another trip.”
“I’ll message them when we’ve found who did this and let them know to stay away a while.” Kylo’s face was grim. “My mom’s going to be gutted at the mess they’ve made of her house.”
Worries for another day. Beaumont knew only too well it was the safety of the people in a home that was more important than material possessions. It was with that thought front and center in his mind, he stalked out the back door, looking left and right, and then checking again, his alligator coming forward, using his eyes.
At first glance, there was nothing to see but vegetation. But Duron’s keen eyes clearly saw something as he darted across the small grass area, towards the fence. Opening his mouth slightly, to better filter the scents in the air, Beaumont followed, Mao just as quick and silent beside him.
Diesel fumes were coming from the left. Not a smell one would expect to find in a jungle area. It was faint, barely there at all, meaning it was more likely it had been carried on a secondary item, rather than the source. Something transferred from human clothes, for example.
They were on the other side of the compound from the gate. “Cover me,” Beaumont whispered as he put his gun on the ground and grabbed the links on the chain fence, grimacing as the wards kicked in and tried to kick him off it. For any regular human, the sting, like an electrical zap, would cause them to fall back as the wards intended. But Beaumont wasn’t human, and while the prickling sensation was annoying, he climbed quickly, remembering just in time to swing his leg that bit higher as he cleared the top, to account for his swinging junk.Next time, grab pants.
Dropping to the jungle floor, Beaumont internally smirked. His mate was on the other side of the fence, where he’d be safe. Before he’d even finished his thought, the giant man was beside him, flanked by Mao. “I won’t eat you,” Beaumont muttered, scanning the area again quickly, before he shifted. Better his mate could see what he was capable of early on.
In his alligator form, Beaumont was bigger, although he was lower to the ground. There was a gasp beside him, and a muttered curse from Mao, his body frozen.
Beaumont opened his mouth, using his vomeronasal organs located in the roof of his mouth to detect the chemical signatures in the air. Slowly swiveling his head to the left, Beaumont homed in on where the foreign scent was strongest. He started to move slowly because, with his bulk, it wasn’t easy to stay quiet under speed. The foliage brushed over his back and neck, barely noticed as Beaumont moved in on his prey.
There was something innately satisfying about the physicality of tracking in his animal form. For too long, his council position had trapped Beaumont on two legs. First as a councilor, and then more recently as the council leader when Ben nominated him for the position. Actually, it was more a case of Ben telling him “Tag, you’re it,” as he ran off to have fun with his twin-looking mates.
And now, I’ve found my own mate,and yes, the alligator was overjoyed to have Duron’s scent filling his nose while the sensors in his mouth worked on seeking out the people who sought to do them harm. The why wasn’t important to the alligator. Hunting down and eliminating the threat was the only focus. His keen eyes caught every movement in his peripheral vision as he moved through the undergrowth.
There was a sleek cat in the trees above him, although Beaumont could sense Duron had stayed in his human form. The muscled man moved from tree trunk to tree trunk, silent as the cat above, staying hidden. Beaumont doubted there was anything that would miss Duron’s gaze, and he wondered as he tracked his prey, just how many animal forms Duron had.
The bear was definitely the central one—perhaps the one Duron was born with—but there was a myriad of other spirits housed in that huge body. Beaumont planned on exploring that body and the amazing spirits it housed just as soon as they were safe.
There.
Beaumont stilled, even his tail motionless, as he spotted a patch of dingy blue material on the other side of some bushes. A man was crouched there, thinking himself hidden, gibbering quietly in Guarani—a language Beaumont had limited understanding of. It was clear by his tone that the man was rattled, and Beaumont was sure he heard mention of men being naked. Holding in his snort was an effort. Naked men were the biggest threat that idiot would ever face.
But even as he went to move forward, Beaumont saw and then heard, Duron had beaten him to it. While the cat watched overhead, there were sounds of a scuffle and a curse, and then Duron appeared in front of him, dragging the man by his hair and arm. The man’s eyes almost fell out of his head when he saw Beaumont’s magnificent form and his body seemed to crumple in on itself as the man wailed to the heavens with prayers for mercy from the jungle devils.
“The brothers will want to talk to him before we kill him,” Duron said simply in English. Beaumont felt the heat in his mate’s eyes.
Was that a smirk?
Beaumont waited until his mate and the captive went past, and then deliberately snapped his huge teeth just under the captive’s feet. Duron’s deep chuckle could clearly be heard over the captive’s wailing. It warmed Beaumont’s heart.
Chapter Five
Duron
His naked body didn’t bother him, normally. The arousal poking out at everyone was not his normal state. It had never happened before, so he’d certainly not had to consider climbing with one before. His dick needed to chill the fuck down. Bark rubbing against it wasn’t fun and nothing like the tongue it enjoyed before the idiot detonated the bomb.
Only his dick wasn’t getting with the program because after Beaumont shifted, his bear all but rolled over on its back and insisted the other animals fan him as he watched Beaumont stalk their prey.
Duron had intervened because he’d needed to think about something other than what this prat had denied him. For that alone, he wanted to kick the guy in the nuts, so he got a little of Duron’s frustration. It was all so confusing.
His killer instincts went wacky when Beaumont snapped at their captive. It had to be that when Duron wanted to drop the dude and bend the fuck over.
He chuckled at the guy’s wails, dragging him back towards the house, uncaring he was bouncing off the rough ground.
