“Exactly,” Bas said before he shifted into his margay.
“What the fuck!” Carter jumped back as little Bas stared up at him from the floor.
“Isn’t he adorable?” Hudson gushed as he ran over and picked the cat Bas up.
Aaron rose slowly from the couch, concerned with how pale Carter was. It might be his turn to catch a fainting cop.
In Hudson’s arms, Bas was snuggling and purring while Hudson cooed to him.
“This is a joke,” Carter said. He was blinking rapidly while his hand went to his gun to his radio and back. Like he didn’t know what to do.
Poor guy. And now Aaron was going to be tasked with fixing this. Damn it!
“It’s not,” Hudson replied. “Shifters are real. There is a whole group of them that have made this town their home. Bas and Aaron are a part of the family.”
“Ah,” Aaron said. “We’re more like the cousins.”
Bas yowled, throwing a paw up.
“That was an agreement,” Aaron said amused. He strolled over and stroked a hand down Bas’s back showing that the cat wasn’t a threat. He didn’t want Carter freaking out and accidentally shooting one of them. “I’ve got this from here.”
“Got what?” Carter asked as he backed slowly away from them.
Even if Aaron didn’t want to do this, it was his responsibility. Mate or not, Carter was his. “The explanation.”
“Explanation?” Carter scoffed. “I think I’ve heard enough.”
“This is a secret that has been kept for a very long time. Whether or not you want to be a part of it, you’re in it now,” Aaron explained.
“And how is that?” Carter crossed his arms over his chest.
“Hudson is mated to Bas. If you tell anyone, it will be Hudson that’s hurt. We both know that you’ll do anything to protect your brother,” Aaron stated knowingly.
Carter’s jaw tightened.
“Am I wrong?” Aaron asked.
“What do I need to do?” Carter questioned.
Chapter Two
Carter
Throwing the remainder of his dinner into the trash bag, Carter stared at it. They didn’t order food often. Carter tried to eat healthily nowadays and Hudson was always up for a home-cooked meal, especially when he didn’t have to cook it. Carter had been too…something to worry about cooking, and with his brother still with Bastian, Carter ended up grabbing food from the diner and taking it home.
The paranormal world was real.
Carter was still questioning everything he’d been told, hell, had seen with his own eyes, earlier that day. Hudson, Bas, and Aaron talked to Carter for over an hour, explaining everything they could in the short amount of time they had.
It wasn’t until Carter’s boss had called looking for him that Carter had managed to get away. Okay, after promising his brother a dozen times that he wasn’t going to say anything about what had been revealed. Like anyone would believe him.
Fucking shifters! And vampires. Magic. What the hell!
There had always been something off about the town. Rumors of the family that lived in the big house by the state park. And now Carter knew why there were so many questions. It wasn’t a cult. They were a family of paranormals. Like the kind from one of Carter’s favorite books.
He slammed the lid down on the trashcan. It had been hell finishing his shift when all Carter had wanted to do was grab his brother and get them both as far from the town as possible.
Hudson wouldn’t go. Carter knew the look in his brother’s eyes when Hudson was around Bastian. Hudson already cared deeply for Bas. Shifter or not.
