Chapter Five
~ Rooster ~
My head throbbed where that bastard had hit me with the bat, the pain pulsing in time with my heartbeat. Even with the ice pack, it felt like someone was driving a nail through my skull with each beat.
But the pain hardly registered compared to what I'd just witnessed—Liam shifting into a lynx right in front of me, then slipping away to change back into human form in private.
My mind was still processing the implications. The kid had been a shifter all along. A lynx shifter surviving on his own since he was seven years old. The thought made my chest ache almost as much as my head. No wonder he'd been so wary, so careful about keeping his distance. He'd been hiding more than just his homelessness.
Liam moved with that fluid grace I'd noticed before—the grace of a predator in human form. His golden eyes met mine briefly before darting away, his body language screaming uncertainty.
That's when it hit me.
The scent washed over me like a tsunami, my bear roaring to attention within me so suddenly I nearly lost my breath. How had I missed it before? But of course—he'd never been close enough, and he'd masked his shifter scent somehow.
Now, having shifted, his true scent filled the kitchen—earth and pine and something uniquely him, something that called to my very soul.
Mate.
My mate.
The one I'd given up hope of ever finding.
"You're my mate," I blurted out, the words tumbling from my mouth before my brain could filter them.
Liam froze, his entire body going statue-still in that way only cats can achieve. His golden eyes widened, pupils expanding into black pools of confusion and alarm. He took a half-step backward, his gaze darting toward the nearest exit.
"I can smell it on you," I explained, trying to keep my voice gentle despite the bear inside me that wanted to roar with triumph. "It's... it's a shifter thing. The scent. When someone is your destined mate, you can smell it."
Liam frowned, then lifted his arm to his nose and sniffed it, his face scrunching up like he'd encountered something unpleasant. I almost laughed at his expression—somewhere between bewilderment and offense.
"No, not like that," I said. "It's not a bad smell. It's... perfect. To me, at least. It's how our kind finds our mates."
He still looked utterly lost, and I realized with a pang that he probably had no idea what I was talking about. If he'd been on his own since childhood, who would have taught him about mates? About anything related to shifter culture?
Before I could explain further, the back door swung open, and voices filled the hallway—Butch and several others returning from securing the captives. Liam moved with lightning speed, darting behind me like I was a human shield. His thin fingers clutched the back of my shirt, his body pressed against my spine.
The protective instinct that surged through me was unlike anything I'd ever felt. I rose to my full height, ignoring the wave of dizziness from my head injury, and positioned myself as a barrier between the doorway and my newly discovered mate.
Bear, Gunner, and Henry appeared in the doorway first, mid-conversation about the captives. They fell silent when they saw me standing there like a bouncer at an exclusive club.
"Everything okay?" Gunner asked, his eyes flicking from my defensive stance to the glimpse of Liam behind me.
"Fine," I said, my voice gruffer than I intended. "Just need a minute."
Henry frowned, his doctor-brain probably noticing how I was swaying slightly. "You should be sitting down with that head injury. I told you—"
"I'm fine," I repeated, more firmly this time. My bear was too close to the surface, too protective of the frightened lynx using me as cover. "We just need a moment."
They exchanged glances but moved past us toward the common room, giving us a wide berth. Henry muttered something about "stubborn patients" as he passed.
Butch was the last to enter, his expression shifting from weariness to sharp interest as he took in the scene. "Rooster? What's going on?"
I took a deep breath, reaching behind me to gently touch Liam's hand where it clutched my shirt. A silent reassurance.
"Butch, can I have a word? Just you?"
He nodded, then waited as the others disappeared down the hallway. When we were alone, I felt Liam relax slightly, though he still remained safely behind me.
