Chapter Three
After they’d finished eating and Indy had gone inside, Malik crouched at the grill, making a show of organizing the cabinet beneath it while his thumb worked across his phone screen. His message to Grayson, Reese, and Colton was brief. Eyes on me from trees, need perimeter check.
He kept his movements casual, knowing his team would understand the urgency without him spelling it out. The forest stretched for acres, but between the four of them, they’d find whoever was out there.
Malik let out a deep exhale. He wouldn’t be able to think straight until he knew who was watching them and why. The demons? Another enemy? Malik had made plenty of them in his long life. He wasn’t going to assume it was the two demons after him.
What concerned him most was that he hadn’t caught the feeling the same time Indy had. With the problem hot on his heels, Malik couldn’t afford to focus solely on his mate. The watcher could’ve attacked before Malik knew he was there.
And Indy was going to explain why he hadn’t said anything right away, instead of dismissing the feeling with a gripe about tree watching.
Then again, Malik couldn’t exactly preach transparency when he was keeping his own secrets. He’d even kept his friends in the dark.
As much as the thought made his gut twist, Malik needed to come clean about his troubled past. Those demons would eventually track him down, if they hadn’t already, and his team deserved fair warning rather than being blindsided because he’d been protecting his pride.
A figure appeared at the side gate.
Reese moved through it the way a glacier moved, taking up the available space without any apparent effort. He crossed the yard toward the far corner where the fence met the property line, his trajectory natural enough that anyone watching from outside would have read it as a man taking a walk.
A moment later, Colton came around the other side of the house, a beer in one hand as cover, his path curving him toward the opposite corner of the fence. His panther was already in his eyes, the irises catching the dim light in a way that human eyes didn’t.
Grayson didn’t appear. He didn’t have to. Malik knew their team leader was already heading unseen toward the woods.
Malik crossed the deck in four strides, stepped off, and broke into a full-blown run. The shift happened before he cleared the first twenty feet of lawn, and then his paws were hitting the grass at a speed that turned the yard into a blur.
The tree line came up fast. He reached the shadow of the first oak and the darkness swallowed him whole.
The forest smelled entirely different, his heightened senses even stronger in his animal form. The earth was uneven and damp, layered with seasons of decomposed leaves and, underneath that, the distinct smell of water from the nearby creak.
He slowed as he moved deeper, his pace dropping from the flat-out sprint to something more deliberate. The trees were old here, their trunks wide enough to put real distance between them. His cheetah moved through near-total darkness.
Then he found it.
The scent hit him somewhere between the third and fourth row of oaks, carried on the slight movement of air coming from the north. I would’ve bet my left nut it was one of the demons watching me.
Determined to find out what he was tracking, his cheetah pushed deeper into the trees, following the thread.
The leaves to his right rustled slightly then Colton, in his panther form, was beside him. Colton had caught the scent too. His head was angled in the same direction, ears forward.
They scent was still fresh enough to track, which meant the watcher was a few minutes ahead of them. His cheetah moved faster, trying to close the gap before he lost the trail.
The ground sloped downward, and the air grew cooler and wetter as they descended.
The sound of moving water reached him before Malik saw it.
A stream, roughly four feet across, cut through the shallow ravine.
The surface didn’t reflect any light, and the banks were muddy, pressed with leaf debris and the occasional impression of something that might have been a hoofprint.
The scent disappeared at the water’s edge.
The son of a bitch had scouted the area beforehand because they’d raced straight for the water without hesitation, knowing the water would wash away their scent.
Malik circled the bank, nose close to the ground, but the stream had done its work. Whatever had stood here, whatever had watched his yard from the shadows then retreated into the woods, had crossed the water and taken its scent trail with it.
Just to be thorough, Malik checked the opposite bank, but it gave him nothing but the scents of wet earth and moss and the neutral smell of moving water.
He shifted back to his human form.
Cool air hit his skin that had been recently covered in warm fur. He stood at the edge of the stream, bare feet sinking slightly into the muddy bank and tried to find anything useful in the darkness across the water.
Absolutely nothing.
Colton shifted beside him a moment later, a man now standing where the black panther had just been. Grayson appeared through the trees from the left, fully clothed, his expression unreadable. Reese joined them from the right, moving quietly for his size.
“Did anyone get a read on that scent?” Malik asked, listening to the sound of the babbling water.
Grayson slowly shook his head.
Reese looked across the stream, brows furrowed. “It isn’t anything I’ve come across before.”
Malik looked at Colton who was studying the water, jaw tight. “No,” he said. “Never came across that scent before.”
That covered a lot of ground without covering anything at all. Malik stood at the edge of the stream and felt the frustration of it move through him like slow-building heat. Unknown nonhuman, watching their property, watching while Malik’s mate was on the deck, relaxed and vulnerable.
That thought alone made him snarl as the stream flowed past with complete indifference.
Now all Malik wanted was his mate. Wanted to get home to his little fox.
Indy was inside the house with Ryan and Sonny, too far away for Malik’s comfort.
Especially when he had no idea what the watcher was or what their intentions were.
“We can head back.” Malik let out a deep exhale. A mysterious stranger with hidden motives was going to drive him crazy until this was solved.
Shifting back into his cheetah, he took off toward the house, praying his mate didn’t judge him too harshly.
* * * *
The dogs were sleeping.
Indy crouched beside the blankets, his fingers moving through the terrier’s matted fur in slow, careful strokes. The little dog’s breathing was even, its body finally relaxing since they’d found them shivering in that box behind the shop.
The one with the fractured leg had its splint wrapped neatly, its face slack with exhaustion and painkillers.
Third dog, the one that had done nothing but shake, was pressed against its companions with its nose tucked under the terrier’s chin.
All three of them asleep. All three of them safe.
Hand stilling against the terrier’s side, Indy listened to the soft rhythm of three animals breathing. Something in him that had been pulled taut since this afternoon loosened by a single degree.
He’d never understand cruelty, never understand how anyone could hurt something so small and vulnerable.
“If I ever run across the person who did this to you guys, I promise I’ll bite the crap out of them.”
One of the terriers cracked their eyes opened, as if it was accepting Indy’s vow.
“Hey.”
The sound of Malik’s low tone came from behind him. Indy didn’t startle, which surprised him. His fox had apparently decided that sensual voice didn’t require a threat response.
He looked over his shoulder.
Malik stood in the doorway of the bedroom, one shoulder leaning against the frame and his arms loose at his sides.
The overhead light caught the line of his jaw and the fullness of his beard. He was watching Indy the way he’d been watching him all evening, with that focused attention that made Indy feel both seen and slightly undone.
“They’re doing okay,” he reassured his mate. “Sleeping. Which is what they need.” He gave the terrier one last scratch then pushed to his feet, brushing a streak of dog fur from the sweatpants. “Ryan knows what he’s doing.”
“He does.” Malik didn’t move from the doorway immediately, eyes remaining on Indy, then he exhaled through his nose.
Indy tilted his head. The expression on his mate’s face said something heavy was on his mind. But he didn’t push, giving Malik time to gather his thoughts.
He’d pushed enough already for one night.
“Would you come to the living room?” Malik’s gaze moved briefly to the floor, then back up. “There’s something I should’ve said earlier. To everyone.” A pause. “I’d like it if you were there.”
The request was simple enough, but the weight underneath it wasn’t. Already Indy had learned that Malik wasn’t someone who spoke without measuring his words first, and the fact that he’d just asked instead of stated told Indy something about what this cost him.
He looked at his mate for a moment. Then he looked at the dogs. Then back at Malik.
“Okay,” Indy said, suddenly nervous. He headed out of the room, pulling the door toward him, but leaving it slightly ajar instead of fully closing it.
The hallway opened into the living room, which was warm with lamplight and smelled faintly of the fresh coffee someone had brewed, as well as the lingering outdoor air that had followed the men in from the deck.
Grayson was already seated in one of the armchairs, his posture easy but his eyes attentive.
Colton stood near the far wall in a casual pose.
Reese occupied the couch with Sonny tucked against his side, the two of them giving off the kind of settled, gravitational energy that Indy tried very hard not to be envious of.
Ryan leaned in the kitchen doorway, close enough to hear everything, a mug wrapped in both hands.
Indy took the armchair nearest the lamp and pulled his knees up. Malik didn’t sit. He moved to the center of the room and stopped, and the quality of the silence shifted the moment he did.
No one said anything. They just waited.
Malik looked at the floor.
Not at Grayson, not at Reese or Colton, not at Ryan or Sonny. Not at Indy. He looked at a specific point on the hardwood, and his hands, which were usually so deliberate and controlled, pressed flat against his thighs.
The way his mate looked, Indy wanted to go to him, to curl himself around Malik until the uncertainty disappeared from his expression.
“I owe the demons money,” Malik said. His voice was even, but it had a stripped quality to it, like something that had been pared down to its minimum. “Ten grand.”
Nobody spoke.
Malik’s jaw moved. “I have a gambling problem.” He said it the way someone said a thing they’d practiced saying and still found the actual saying of it nearly impossible. “Had. Have.” A beat. “It’s complicated.”
Indy glanced around the room. Grayson’s expression hadn’t changed, but his eyes had tightened slightly. Colton had gone very still. Reese was watching Malik with something that wasn’t anger, exactly, but it wasn’t happiness either.
Malik still hadn’t looked up.
Indy watched the line of his mate’s shoulders, the way they were set too carefully, the way his hands pressed into his thighs like he needed something to push against. Malik was built like a structure designed to hold weight, and right now, he was holding all of this in the center of a room full of people who mattered to him, waiting for him to continue.
“The debt is mine,” Malik continued. “Not the team’s.
I didn’t tell anyone because I thought I could handle it.
” He looked up then, and his gaze moved around the room, touching Grayson first, then Reese, then Colton.
Not Indy. Not yet. “I was wrong. The demons escalated. They came for me.” He stopped. “I’m sorry.”
Pressing his lips together, Indy looked down at his own hands, which were curled loosely around his knees. Ten thousand dollars. Gambling. Demons who operated as an aggressive collections agency for supernatural debts. His mate had been running from this, carrying it alone.
He thought about the way Malik had said it’s complicated every time Indy had asked. This was about as complicated as it could get. He couldn’t imagine owing demons. They scared the crap out of him.
But then he thought about Malik standing at the grill, turning a steak with intense focus. Malik crouching in front of the armchair in the bedroom, giving Indy time to pull away before he touched him. The quiet sincerity in his voice when he’d said, “I’d like it if you were there” and meaning it.
Indy glanced at his mate.
Malik was staring at the floor again.
His mate was ashamed.
Indy understood shame. He’d worn his own version of it for years, apologizing for taking up space, of allowing his dad to “handle it” because it had been easier. Indy knew what it felt like to tell the truth and unable to look at the person whose opinion mattered most.
The confession didn’t make him look at Malik any differently. If anything, it made him feel even more connected to his mate.
Grayson spoke first, voice low. “How long have they been after you?”
“A few weeks,” Malik admitted. “They caught up to me today, right before I ended up at Indy’s shop.”
“Then you came here,” Reese stated, his hand absently rubbing Sonny’s side.
Indy imagined Malik rubbing his. His mate was tense, still standing in the middle of the room like he was waiting to be stoned.
Indy was dying to go to him, but held back, unsure if Malik would welcome his touch while this vulnerable.
“The dogs needed help.” Malik’s jaw tightened. “I should’ve said something sooner. I know that.”
Indy thought about the two creepy figures in the rain, the watcher in the trees, whatever it had been. Thought about his flower shop, which smelled like earth and petals and was the only thing he’d built entirely on his own.
Now, two demons knew its address.
He thought about how Malik still hadn’t looked at him.
“So the ten grand…” Indy piped up.
Every head in the room turned toward him. Malik’s chin lifted, but his gaze landed somewhere around Indy’s collarbone rather than his face.
“Is that the whole number?” Indy forced out the question, refusing to show just how much he hated being the center of attention. “Or is ten thousand the number you’re comfortable saying out loud?”
A beat.
“That’s the number,” Malik said.
“Okay.” Indy nodded. “And the demons collecting it… Are they the kind you can pay off or the kind where the money stopped being the point somewhere along the way?”
Malik finally met his gaze.
It was brief, a second at most, but it landed directly, no skipping stones this time, just eye contact that had weight behind it. Something in Malik’s expression shifted, something that looked almost like relief before the shuttered look came back down over it.
“I have no idea,” he replied.
“At least you didn’t tell me it’s complicated,” Indy said. “I’ll take it.”
Outside the window, the oak trees were invisible in the dark, though the occasional sound of wind moving through branches could be heard.
Indy wanted time to himself. This was a lot to think about. Everything felt as if it had gone so fast. Not only had he found his mate, but also discovered the cheetah was dealing with demons.
Actual demons, not just the metaphorical kind. Ten grand. A gambling problem. Getting chased in the rain.
But most of all, Indy had a mate who wouldn’t keep eye contact with him.
It would’ve been easy to walk out of the room like the others had, but Malik stood by the unlit fireplace, looking like a man waiting for a sentence to be handed down to him.
Indy wasn’t sure what to say, but he couldn’t leave his mate standing there feeling all alone.
Malik wasn’t alone.
He might not be able to look at Indy, but that’s what makes were for. To be there for you when you felt at your lowest.
Uncurling from the chair, Indy stood and crossed the room, approaching Malik. His make tense, gazing out the same window as Indy had.
“Look at me.” He touched his mate’s arm, giving it a light squeeze until Malik met his gaze. “How do we handle this?