Chapter Nine #2
“More than that!” Stryker said. “Axel and Anton dragons, Craig equals bear shifter, Nate bobcat shifter, and Bo is the Alpha hellhound. It is just as cool as that sounds, by the way. He turns into this big, massive beast and can talk to the other hellhounds. Drake vampire and when he mated Lawson, our buddy here received some unique gifts. Now Anton gets two mates like Nate and while River is human, Rainier is the king of the fae.”
“A king,” Hudson repeated.
“Yes, a freaking king! That’s why Rainier, River, and Anton don’t live here with us. They have to be in the fae realm. Although they use a portal to commute here,” Stryker said.
“A portal because why wouldn’t they,” Hudson commented. This was getting ridiculous.
“Isn’t magic awesome?” Stryker questioned.
Hudson didn’t have an answer for that.
“He’s new,” Lawson said with a laugh. “It still excites him.”
“To be fair,” Ansley said, “it still excites me too.”
Sam nodded.
Stryker huffed. “Where was I?”
“Me.” Sam raised his hand.
Stryker rolled his eyes. “I already did you. Sam is mated to Shawn, a wolf shifter, and Ansley to Trevor, a panther shifter.”
“Now that it’s laid out like this, I feel like we have the more normal of the mates,” Sam commented.
“True,” Ansley agreed. “Imagine trying to tell someone you’re a dragon or a demon.”
“Demon?” Hudson squeaked out.
“I’m getting there.” Stryker waved his hand around.
“So Seb is River’s twin and Lawson’s younger brother.
Have you met him yet? He’s awesome and way smart.
Anyway, he’s mated to Ash, who’s a reaper.
They live in the hell realm so we don’t see them a lot but they come for family dinner or we go to Adam’s. ”
“Don’t forget Ari and Atom,” Sam said.
“Ari and Atom are demons, like pure demons, and they’re awesome too. You should just think everyone is awesome at this point, because we are,” Stryker told him.
“Okay.” Hudson figured it was just easier to agree.
“Adam is mated to the master of hell.” Stryker held up his hands. “Now that sounds much scarier than it is. Mal is an unbelievable good mate to Adam. He doesn’t even mind when Adam kidnaps me to go realm hopping.”
“That’s not a good thing,” Bryce pointed out. “Your mate is going to strangle Adam one of these times.”
“Anyway,” Stryker said with a grin. “Adam has a whole gaggle of minions and demons so we’ll save that for another time.”
Sure, why would Hudson want to worry himself with demons? This had to be one awful joke.
“Now Levi is interesting,” Stryker continued. “He’s a gargoyle mated to Mason, who’s human like us. Mason’s twin, Jason, is mated to the demon Tristan. And Logan is a lion shifter and as you just saw, Dean is a mage.”
Oh God! He had seen that. “Noah?”
“Black cat familiar,” Stryker answered. “And next came me and my amazing mate, Gavin, who’s a thunderbird shifter.”
“Leo is a thunderbird too?” Hudson guessed. Gavin and Leo were brothers so that made sense, right? Or could brothers be different shifters? This was all way too much for Hudson’s exhausted brain.
“Right-o!” Stryker replied. “Leo brought Aaron, oracle, with him, and they called in your mate, Bastian.” Stryker took a deep breath. “And that is a lot to explain at one time.”
“We usually try to ease new humans into it,” Bryce commented.
Hudson nodded. “Easing into it might be best in the future.” Because his mind was whirling.
“I hate to be the one to mention this, but you left out one important little detail,” Sam said.
“No way!” Stryker argued. “I counted!”
“Luci?” Sam asked.
“Damn it!” Stryker stomped his foot.
“Bastian mentioned Luci before. I think as a threat to Noah,” Hudson offered. Ha! Hudson knew something at least.
“Luci is the best. He’s so sweet, and loving, and he spoils us rotten,” Bryce told him.
“Oh! Luci is male? I shouldn’t have assumed that he was a woman.” Hudson knew better than that.
“It’s just easier to use a nickname. People get weird when we call him Lucifer,” Stryker responded with a grin.
Hudson snorted. “The Lucifer?” Now he knew Stryker was joking.
“Lucifer is a very good friend of ours,” Bryce said sternly. “Until you get to know him, we ask that you not judge him by human tales and lies.”
“Wait! Are you serious? Are you friends with Lucifer? Satan? The king of hell?” Hudson asked, a little bit horrified.
“You do remember that nearly half our family lives in the hell realm, correct?” Lawson questioned. “Including my brother. We don’t judge anyone for where they were born or their species.”
Honestly, Hudson hadn’t had time to process everything that Stryker had revealed to him. And hell? It was scary just to think about that.
“Lucifer is the biggest sweetheart in the world,” Bryce said. “And his mates, Cary and Gage, are so fun and cute.”
“Lucifer is sweet. Mates Cary and Gage are fun.” Hudson nodded. “Guys, I think I need a bit of a break on all the reveals.”
“But it’s so cool!” Stryker danced around. “Just think about it. Your entire life, all this has been around you and you didn’t know. Now you get to know everything.”
“Because Bastian…” Hudson cleared his throat. “Bas is my mate?”
“Bingo!” Stryker looked so proud of Hudson for figuring that out.
Hudson knew enough about fairytales to get the significance of what having a mate meant. He took another drink of the horrible energy liquid in his hand. “I really wished I liked alcohol. Now would be the right time to indulge.”
Bryce, Lawson, and Ansley giggled.
“Shawn might have some stashed in our kitchen,” Sam offered.
Hudson shook his head. “I don’t think that would help me think any.”
“Thinking is highly overrated,” Stryker told him.
Wait. “So, you really stole Leo’s RV and drove it down here to stalk Gavin?”
“Borrowed,” Stryker said. “And stalking is such a negative word. It was foreplay!”
“Dude!” Sam groaned. “I don’t want to hear about your foreplay.”
“It’s fun!” Stryker said as he waggled his eyebrows.
Turning his head, Hudson caught Bryce’s gaze.
Bryce gave him an understanding smile.
“Bastian was going to tell me?” he asked.
“I’m sure he was. It’s not like he could keep this secret from you for long,” Bryce replied.
“And he’s the same cat that I’ve been talking to?”
Bryce nodded. “He scented you immediately and knew that you were mates. That was why he was sort of following you around.”
“Keep in mind that we’ve only known Bas for a few weeks,” Lawson said. “We know that he’s a good man. He’s protective over us and worked years helping the paranormal community by working for the council.”
“I thought he meant the FBI or something,” Hudson confessed.
“It’s even better than that,” Bryce said. “Bas, Leo, and Aaron spent their entire lives protecting the paranormal community. This is after they were taken in by the council when they were just children themselves.”
“Bastian said his parents were murdered.”
Stryker nodded and this was maybe the first time Hudson had seen him so serious. “They call it the great hunt. When humans banded together to hunt down all the paranormal. It was bad.”
“That’s how Leo and Gavin were separated?” Hudson asked.
“Yes. My mate was too young to fight. They hid him below the floorboards of a cabin. He escaped through a tunnel, but Leo was injured. The council saved Leo. Gavin was out on his own for a very long time. Until he met Axel.”
Hudson rubbed his chest. “Bastian told me some but not all of that.”
“It’s hard when so much of their past is wrapped up in being paranormal,” Bryce told him. “Axel doesn’t talk about those days. Neither does Gavin. Most of the others are young enough that the hunt was over when they were born.”
“Okay.” Hudson nodded. “Shifters and magic and all that is real.”
“Keep repeating it,” Lawson encouraged. “The more you say it, the easier it is to start believing.”
“I kind of wish Bastian was here,” Hudson admitted.
“He’ll be back soon,” Bryce assured him. “It must be killing him to be away right after you learned his secret.”
“I hope they’re okay,” Hudson said. “And that they find the missing boy.”
“They’ll find him,” Stryker told him. “Our mates are awesome!”
“Awesome,” Hudson repeated. He was starting to get a headache.
* * * * *
Bastian
Leaping from one tree to another, Bastian searched for any trace of the missing boy. Dean met with the boy’s parents and the reason for the scent blocker was obvious. The dad was a mage, using magic to hide his family from other paranormals.
Leo had been able to step in and offer assistance to the family that was hiding from a coven that sought to use their young child’s magic.
Aaron remained back with the parents, trying to force a vision.
Bas wasn’t counting on a vision coming through. Aaron couldn’t control when they came or even if he would understand what they meant once he got one.
Below him Logan, Trevor, Craig, Bo, Nate, and Shawn were searching in their shifted forms. High above him, Axel and Gavin were circling the area where the boy had gone missing.
Back at the ranger station, Mason was coordinating, with the help of Levi and Drake.
It was all hands on deck and they wouldn’t give up until the boy was found unharmed.
He couldn’t let his worry about Hudson learning about him and the paranormal world affect him doing his job. The six-year-old boy was counting on them.
Mason had mentioned reports of a mountain lion being spotted but they all had doubts.
Few natural animals stayed in their territory or even near it with the number of predators in their family.
Not to mention that magical wards placed by Dean and reinforced by many of their friends kept the area secure.
He soared through the air, landing on the branches of another tree. Bastian was making the transition from one branch to another higher up when he heard it. Bas nearly missed landing but managed to catch himself.
There it was again.
The sound of crying.
Bastian lifted his head and yowled as loud as he could.
His call echoed through the dense forest.
A returning roar of a lion alerted him that the others were on their way.
Carefully, Bastian made his way from the branches to the thick round trunk of the tree. The lower he climbed, the louder the crying sounded. He peered around the forest, trying to find where the crying was coming from. He still couldn’t smell the little boy.
Once he was a few feet from the ground, Bastian jumped down.
He padded across the damp forest ground, heading closer to the crying.
Bastian yowled.
The crying stopped.
Tilting his head, Bas realized that he was practically on top of the child. He lowered his head to peer under the fallen log where the boy had wedged himself. Bas gave a small meow.
The little boy shook.
Okay, the boy wasn’t coming out for him. This was going to suck. Bastian lay on the ground, trying to make himself as small as possible as he scooted forward.
The boy stared at him with big blue eyes.
Bas crawled closer.
“Are you a nice kitty?” the boy questioned with a shaky voice. “The dog thing was mean!”
Dog thing? Had the boy seen Bo in his shifted form and gotten scared? Bas stretched out his neck to lick the boy’s trembling fingers.
The little boy giggled.
Bas did it again. He wasn’t the best with children, just didn’t have the experience, but he knew he needed to calm the boy if they had any chance of coaxing him out of his hiding place.
The boy grabbed Bas to pull him close to his chest. He roughly petted the top of Bas’s head. Bastian winced but allowed it.
Several long minutes passed until he heard the pounding paws of the rescue team.
Logan came into view first. The lion shifter shoved his nose under the log they were hidden under.
Bas called out to him.
Logan lifted his head and turned toward the others.
Bo shifted. “Carl?”
“Who’s there?” the little boy asked.
“We’ve been looking for you, buddy,” Bo said calmly. “Can you come out.”
Carl hugged Bastian tight. “Are the bad dog things still out there?”
Again with the dog things.
“Well, we have a lion, bobcat, bear, panther, and I’m pretty sure you have our margay,” Bo replied.
“No, the mean spotted dogs,” Carl said. “They chased me.”
“Don’t worry, buddy. I won’t let no mean dogs get you. Your mom and dad are really worried about you,” Bo said.
“I’m scared,” Carl told them.
Bas licked Carl’s cheek. He was getting a real bad feeling about what might have happened to the boy. The report from the council about the rogue hyena pack had come right at the perfect time.
“We have a dragon,” Bo said. “Wouldn’t it be cool to see a dragon?”
“Yes.” Carl’s voice was small. “He won’t eat me?”
“No, I promise he won’t eat you,” Bo replied with a chuckle. “His mate would be really mad at him.”
“Okay.” At first Carl tried to wiggle out while still trying to hold on to Bas. When that didn’t work, he released Bas and climbed out on his own.
Bas followed, relieved when he spotted Carl staring at Logan with a look of pure happiness.
“He’s so pretty!” Carl gushed.
Logan pushed out his chest as he preened. Logan really did like when he was called pretty.
“Why don’t you hold on to his mane and Logan will lead us to your parents,” Bo suggested.
That sounded like a wonderful idea to Bas. Logan could be on kid duty and he could start worrying about how Hudson was doing.