Chapter Nine
Hudson
With his head on Bastian’s thigh, Hudson opened his mouth to accept another grape. Bastian teased Hudson’s lips with the plump fruit before slipping the bite onto his tongue. Hudson groaned as his cock made a valiant attempt at filling.
After the second round of sex, where Bastian had taken Hudson while on his back with his legs up in the air, they’d both been spent and hungry. He ached in all the best places and being spoiled with his boyfriend hand-feeding him, Hudson was warm, happy, and might never move again.
As Hudson had cleaned up in the bathroom, Bastian had fetched a plate with meats, cheeses, crackers, and fruit that Drake had prepared for them.
One thing Hudson could say about having the family was the food was delicious and seemed plentiful.
And the stories that Bastian shared about the family were even better.
Not that Bastian did all the talking. He asked questions too.
Bastian wanted to know all about Hudson and Carter, EJ, his work.
They had to have been talking for hours now.
Hudson had no idea what time it was, but it felt late.
Bastian traced Hudson’s lips again before offering him the last piece of cheese.
He groaned as he accepted the bite. He was full and getting sleepier.
“What do you think about paranormal stories?” Bastian asked quietly.
“Paranormal?” Hudson asked, wondering about this change in topic.
“Like shifters and vampires and dragons,” Bastian said.
Hudson chuckled. “Carter loves fantasy books but honestly, I’m not much of a reader.”
“I mean, do you think they could be real?” Bastian set the empty tray on the bedside table.
“That would be nice, don’t you think?” He cuddled back into Bastian’s leg as his boyfriend settled back against the pillows. “Magic and all that. Or being able to ride a dragon.” It was silly to think about.
“Way back in the early days of humans, many believed in magic and all that, as you put it,” Bastian pointed out.
“They also tried to sacrifice witches just because they were different,” Hudson replied. “I don’t think we can go off of their beliefs.”
“That’s true.” Bastian ran his fingers through Hudson’s hair. “Have you ever seen anything that made you wonder though?”
Hudson yawned as he shook his head. “How would that even work? Wouldn’t they want to hide magic? In today’s world there’re too many cameras. Surely someone would have caught a werewolf in mid shift if that ever happened.”
Bastian hummed. “But would you be scared?”
“I don’t know.” He gave a halfhearted shrug. “Maybe? I don’t want to be eaten by a werewolf or scratched and turned into one.”
“I’d protect you from the big bad wolf,” Bastian teased as he pulled gently on Hudson’s hair.
“Thank you. I’d protect you too.” He wanted to make sure that Bastian knew that.
“I appreciate that, baby.”
“Why are you asking me about creatures?” Hudson wondered. “Do you have something to tell me? Or you going to howl at the moon or something?”
Bastian opened his mouth but before he could answer, there was loud banging on the front door.
They both jumped.
“Who’s that?” Hudson asked sitting up. “It’s pretty late.”
Bastian was stiff. “It’s Levi. He wouldn’t come over unless there was an emergency.”
Hudson scrambled out of bed while Bastian rose.
Bastian grabbed his discarded jeans from the floor and yanked them up. More pounding on the front door had Hudson really worried now. “You can stay here?”
“I might be able to help,” Hudson replied. He hurried to get his own pants on.
Bastian looked like he wanted to say something.
Hudson buttoned his pants. “I’m trained for emergencies.”
“This isn’t the type of emergency that you’re used to,” Bastian responded. “I just hope you don’t hate me after this.”
“What?” Hudson had no idea what Bastian was talking about.
Bastian was already stomping to answer the door where pounding had resumed.
Hudson ran behind Bastian as he unlocked and swung open the door.
“Bas! I’m sorry. I’m sorry to interrupt—” Levi looked panicked.
“What’s going on?” Bastian demanded.
“A little boy in the state park went missing,” Levi told him. “He was supposed to be in his tent; his parents were in a tent right beside him. Dad woke up to take a piss and saw the boy’s flap open. No one can find him. It’s been two hours.”
Bastian nodded.
“How old?” Hudson asked. A missing child in the middle of the night was a big deal.
“Six,” Levi said. “We’ve been looking for hours but his scent is being blocked by something.”
“Fuck!” Bastian spat.
“Scent? Do you have dogs out there?” Hudson questioned.
Levi looked from Hudson to Bastian.
Bastian turned and pulled Hudson into his arms. “I was going to tell you. I swear I was leading up to it.”
“Tell me what?”
“I’m Bas,” Bastian said.
“I know?” Hudson was confused. “You named your cat after you.”
“No, baby.” Bastian gave him a sad smile. “I am the cat.”
“Huh?” Was he so tired that he wasn’t understanding words?
“I’m a shifter, Hudson,” Bastian said.
“Shifter?” Was this a joke? They didn’t have time for this when there was a missing child! Hudson shook his head.
“This family that lives here? It’s made up of men from the paranormal world,” Bastian said. “I wanted to find a better way to tell you but I’ve run out of time. I need to go.”
“Go?” Go where? What?
“No one can track from the trees like I can. If the boy’s scent is being blocked that means magic is being used. I’m sorry.” Bastian did look sorry. He stepped out onto the porch with Levi.
“Wait!” Hudson followed. “What is going on? Bastian! What are you talking about?”
Bastian just shook his head.
“It’s okay. I’ve got this.” Bryce stepped from behind Levi where Hudson hadn’t even noticed him. Or some of the other guys.
“Thanks.” Bastian glanced at Hudson then away.
“We need to go! There have been mountain lions spotted in the area,” Levi said.
Bastian and Levi rushed down the steps to where Dean was waiting in the yard.
“I’ll portal you,” Dean said.
Portals? Hudson took a step forward, stopping when Bryce grabbed his arm.
“They need to go. I’m sorry that you’re finding out this way, but it could be worse, trust me. We’ll explain everything,” Bryce told him.
“I don’t understand,” Hudson confessed.
Bryce wrapped his arm around his waist as Lawson hugged his other side. Sam, Ansley, and Stryker all moved closer.
“Watch,” Stryker said. “This is awesome.”
Hudson was growing more nervous and upset as none of his questions were being answered. He wanted to know what the heck was going on.
Bastian faced him in the yard, his eyes nearly glowing. That had to be a trick of the porch light. Except Hudson was beginning to think that his entire world was about to change.
“Everything is going to be okay,” Bryce assured him.
“Just remember that Bas would never hurt you. No one here would,” Lawson added.
Why would he be hurt? Hudson nearly vibrated.
Wait!
Bastian was pushing his jeans down.
“Hey!” Hudson started forward again. That was his boyfriend getting naked in front of everyone.
“Just wait.” Stryker jumped in front of him. “It’s kind of necessary for him to get naked. It takes some getting used to.”
Hudson scowled. Luckily, he was tall enough to see over Stryker.
“It’s happening,” Stryker told him as he turned, pressing his back against Hudson’s chest.
He was surrounded. Like they were trying to corral him.
Bastian shook his head then…something happened. Hudson didn’t believe his own eyes. Right in front of him, Bastian began to shrink and he was Bas…like Bas the cat. Hudson would know his furry friend anywhere.
Some kind of sound escaped but even Hudson couldn’t explain what it was.
“Wait for it.” Stryker was practically bouncing. “This is my favorite part.”
Dean waved his hands in the air as he began to chant.
The air around Dean, Levi, and Bastian shimmered.
“They’ll be back,” Bryce whispered.
Levi strode into the shimmering air and disappeared, Bastian followed, then finally Dean, and with a snap, everything looked normal again.
Hudson’s knees went weak. “I think I need to sit.”
“Here.” Bryce urged him into the porch chair.
“Drink!” Stryker shoved an energy drink into his hands.
Hudson wasn’t normally a fan of the drink, but he took a long sip and winced.
“You’re not supposed to be drinking those,” Bryce said to Stryker.
“Well,” Stryker drawled. “As my Papi is currently circling the state park, I don’t think he’ll know. Unless someone tells on me.” He pointed off in the distance where lighting lit up the sky.
“I’m dreaming, right?” Hudson didn’t feel like he was dreaming. He had been pretty tired earlier though.
Bryce knelt in front of him. “The paranormal world exists and you just found yourself in the middle of it.”
Hudson blinked.
“Your mate is a shifter. A margay, in fact. Mine is a dragon shifter. Stryker’s is a thunderbird. Lawson’s is a vampire, Sam’s is a wolf shifter, and Ansley’s is a panther shifter. We’re the human partners.”
“Uh.” Hudson stared at the can in his hand. Had he been drugged? Maybe the food that Bastian fed him earlier was bad? Meat went bad and could cause hallucinations. That was something he’d read, he thought.
“This is real, buddy.” Stryker patted his shoulder. “It’s difficult to process. Well, it was easier for me since I’d been kidnapped by a group of evil witches.” He gave a careless shrug.
Real? Like the man who’d made love to him for more than half the night had actually turned into the same cat that Hudson had rescued from a tree? “Dragons, shifters, and vampires are real.” He tested the words out loud.