“Highway coming back into town beside the state park,” Aaron told him. Damn it! How was Aaron going to keep his mate safe if Carter went off chasing after fires? That wasn’t even his job. Carter was a cop, not a firefighter.
“I’ve got my bike. I’ll get there faster,” Bas called as he raced off.
Leo clicked the key fob to his SUV and Aaron jumped into the passenger seat. As soon as Leo had the vehicle in motion, Aaron was texting Carter.
‘Carter! Are you okay?’
‘Carter, please answer me!’
‘Don’t go near that fire!’
‘I’m serious! This could be a trap!!!’
Aaron gave Carter a few seconds to text back. When nothing came, he sent another round of text messages.
‘It could be the hyena pack.’
‘Okay, I know you won’t stay away if someone needs help. Just be careful.’
‘Can you just stay in your vehicle?’
‘Carter?’
“He’s not answering!” Aaron cried.
“I’m sure he’s either driving or on the call with 9-1-1,” Leo told him.
“He shouldn’t be anywhere near there! What if he gets hurt?” Aaron asked as he held his phone tight. He bit his lower lip until he could taste blood. Was this his fault? The dream had come too late? He was so frustrated that he couldn’t even keep his mate safe with his damn defective powers!
“Carter is a cop,” Leo said. His voice was low and calm. Usually that would reassure Aaron. Not this time. Not when Carter was driving into what was likely a trap. “He’s trained for this.”
Aaron glared at his best friend. “He is not trained to go up against a hyena pack!”
“You need to calm down,” Leo told him.
“Calm down?” Aaron growled. “Would you be calm if this was your mate that we were talking about?”
“I don’t have a mate,” Leo reminded him. “And you just got done telling me that you don’t want to talk about yours. Did you change your mind? Are you ready to tell me why you aren’t claiming your man?”
“No,” Aaron snapped. “Can’t this SUV go faster?”
“It’s going fast enough,” Leo responded.
Aaron went back to texting. Leo could be a stubborn asshole. Although he was Aaron’s stubborn asshole. And Aaron knew that Leo was right. Aaron was running out of time on tellingCarter the truth. Or the rest of the truth. Dread settled in his gut. If they got out of this unharmed, Aaron was going to have to decide on how to proceed.
‘Carter? Please answer me? Are you okay?’
‘I’m fine.’The response came.
Aaron let out a relieved breath.‘Are you sure.’
‘The fire is in the forest. I’m worried it’s going to spread.’
‘We’re on the way,’Aaron promised.
‘I called it in. No one else seems to be around.’
“Fire is in the forest,” Aaron told Leo.
