Chapter Eleven
Hudson
Skipping down the steps of Bastian’s office building, Hudson waved as he spotted Easton coming out of his own office door.
“Hud?” Easton called. “What are you doing here?”
Hudson couldn’t very well tell his friend that he and Bastian had stopped by Bas’s office to pick up files on a rogue hyena shifter pack, so he shrugged. “Visiting my boyfriend.”
Easton cut his gaze toward the door that Hudson had just exited. “The tattooed one, right?”
Technically several of the men were covered in tattoos. “Bastian,” Hudson supplied. “You met him the other day at the town meeting.”
“I remember,” Easton said. “He was with the guys that own all that property out by the state park. Is he staying there too then?”
Hudson nodded but he was getting a strange vibe from his friend. Easton was acting strange. Oh! Maybe he’d heard that weird rumor Hudson had regrettably repeated. “They’re not a cult,” he offered.
“A cult?” Easton repeated with a frown.
“I heard that when I moved to town too,” Hudson offered. “It’s not true. They’re nice guys once you get to know them.” Some of them just happened to shift into animals like margays and dragons and oh, they used magic on a regular basis.
Easton shook his head. “Hudson, I’ve been diving into the old mayor’s records, and some stuff just doesn’t make sense. You need to be careful until I can figure out what’s going on.”
“There’s nothing going on,” Hudson said quickly. They did not need Easton to get suspicious. It was now Hudson’s duty to help protect the family.
“You’re sweet, Hud, but I think there’s a lot going on in this town that’s been ignored,” Easton told him. “The old mayor might have been fine with ignoring the weirdness, but I’m not.”
“Easton.” Hudson didn’t like this one bit.
“No, Hud,” Easton said. “You don’t have to believe me. No one does. I’ll figure this out.”
There wasn’t anything Hudson could say that wouldn’t totally ruin his friendship with Easton.
Instead of arguing, Hudson pulled Easton into a hug.
He’d keep an eye on his friend and let Bas know if things began to look dangerous.
Maybe they would eventually get to tell Easton the secret, so he knew that there was nothing to worry about.
“You just let me know if you need anything,” Hudson told Easton.
“I will, buddy.” Easton patted his back. “Be careful.”
“I’m always careful,” Hudson said.
He debated going back inside but he’d promised Bastian coffee and a breakfast sandwich from the bakery. Hudson hoped they still had some donuts left. He felt like he could eat a whole dozen on his own! Although Aspen, who turned out to be a real fairy, had offered to share the donuts with him.
So yeah, while there were weird things going on in town, Hudson was getting as excited as Stryker. It was true that finding out about the paranormal world really did change his outlook on things. Like Aspen, who had been thrilled to reveal his secret to Hudson.
Already Hudson was learning more than he could have imagined.
“Hey, Hud!”
He whirled, spotting his brother jogging across the street in his uniform.
Uh-oh, this was going to be hard.
“Hey, Carter,” Hudson greeted as his brother joined him on the sidewalk.
“What are you doing in town?” Carter asked. “I thought you were still hanging out with Bastian.”
Hudson had texted his brother not to expect him home again. He needed more time to work out what he was going to say when he revealed that Bas would be moving in with them.
“Bastian needed to stop by the office to pick something up,” Hudson explained.
“And he left you out here on the sidewalk?” Carter demanded.
“No!” Hudson answered and laughed. “He wouldn’t do that.”
“He better not.”
Hudson rolled his eyes at his brother’s overprotectiveness. “I offered to grab coffee and food from the bakery. I caught up with Easton for a minute but was headed there now.”
“So everything went okay last night?” Carter asked, rocking back on his heels.
He knew that his face was red and looked away quickly.
“I wasn’t talking about that, perv,” Carter joked as he shoved Hudson’s shoulder.
“Then what did you mean?” It was obvious from Hudson spending the night and all that day what they had been doing.
Carter huffed. “I just meant…I…”
“Weren’t asking about my night?” Hudson teased. It was his brother’s turn to blush and that was hilarious.
“I just wanted to make sure he was treating you well,” Carter said. “I’ve heard things about the guys out there. The county sheriff is not a fan.”
“You told me that the sheriff was a bigoted idiot that needed to retire,” Hudson reminded his brother.
“Doesn’t mean he can’t be right this time,” Carter argued.
“Bastian and his friends are wonderful. They’ve made me feel very welcome. I get fed the best food, I have plenty of people to talk to, and Bastian treats me like a prince.”
“Fine.” Carter rolled his shoulders. “If you say so.”
“I do say so,” Hudson insisted. “They moved here for the same reason we did. They were looking for a place to call home. I really want you to give them a chance.”
“It’s not like I’m going to have much of a choice when you decided to date one of them.”
Date. Mate. Same difference, right?
The door open and Bastian stuck his head out.
“Are you okay, baby?” Bastian asked as he scowled at Carter.
Not the way that Hudson wanted Bas and Carter to start off.
“Yes!” Hudson waved back. “Fine.”
Bastian pushed the door the rest of the way open before stalking down the stairs. “I thought you were going to the bakery? Aaron called from there asking if we wanted something. I told him that you were headed that way, but he hadn’t seen you. I got worried.”
Now he had two overprotective men glaring at him.
Hudson took a long breath before blowing it out. “I ran into Easton. Then Carter. I was headed that way! I’m perfectly capable of walking down Main Street.”
“You never know what can happen,” Bastian told him.
“What could happen to him?” Carter demanded. “I keep my streets safe.”
“I’m sure you do, officer,” Bas replied. “And I didn’t mean anything by it. You can blame my worry on not being here long. I know it’s not the same as the city streets that I’m used to. I can’t help but worry about my boyfriend.”
Carter gave him a sharp nod. “I get it.”
At least they could agree on that.
“You don’t have to go to the bakery,” Bas said as he pulled Hudson to his side. “Aaron grabbed your donuts and the coffee.”
Normally Hudson would love that Bastian couldn’t help touching him all the time. Especially since they’d mated, but Carter was watching the way that Bastian stroked down Hudson’s back.
Carter caught Hudson’s gaze and winked.
Hudson was actually shocked at what he took as his brother’s approval. Not that there wouldn’t still be overprotectiveness or issues when he and Bas shared their plans, but Hudson needed Carter to understand that Bastian was the future for him.
“There’s Aaron now.” Bastian nodded behind Carter.
Carter turned and they waited for Aaron to join them.
“I didn’t do it, officer,” Aaron said cheerfully. “But if you need to break out the handcuffs, I totally understand.”
Hudson giggled as Carter rolled his eyes.
“Like I haven’t heard that one before,” Carter said.
“You haven’t heard it from me,” Aaron pointed out.
“Could you stop hitting on Hudson’s brother, please,” Bastian grumped. “It’s kind of disturbing.”
“Brother?” Aaron’s face lit up. “A firefighter and a policeman in the same family?” He shoved the boxes and cup holder into Bastian’s hands.
Bastian scrambled to keep everything from toppling over as he growled.
Aaron wiped his hands on his dark pressed jeans. “Hello, brother! I’m Aaron. I’m an Aries who loves long walks, candlelight, and getting handcuffed.” He held out his hand. “And of course a man in uniform.”
Carter reluctantly reached out and clasped his palms to Aaron’s.
Hudson had no idea what happened in the next moment.
Aaron jerked like he’d been jolted by a taser and his eyes rolled back in his head, showing only white.
“Fuck!” Bastian spat. “Catch him!”
Aaron went down.
Hudson jumped forward, but Carter was already slipping an arm under Aaron’s knees and lifted him up.
“What’s going on?” Hudson didn’t know what to do as Aaron convulsed in his brother’s arms.
“Vision,” Bastian replied.
“Vision?” Carter barked.
Bastian sighed as he tilted his head toward the office door. “Bring him inside. We have something to tell you.”
Now? They were going to tell Carter now? What if Hudson wasn’t ready?
“Come on, baby.” Bastian nudged him with a shoulder. “Can you get the door?”
Carter was walking up the steps with Aaron in his arms. Bastian had the boxes and coffees in his. Hudson rushed up the steps and yanked the door open too hard and it rattled.
Aspen came running from around the reception desk.
“Can you take these to the break room?” Bastian passed Aspen his load. He turned toward Carter. “We can lay Aaron down on the couch in his office.”
Hudson followed behind, not knowing what else to do.
Aaron had started to mumble about mates and pretty men.
“Bas!” Hudson hissed as he caught Bastian’s sleeve. “What’s going on? We’re telling Carter now?”
Bas grinned at him. “We can even start explaining or let Aaron recover and give him the task.”
“Why would Aaron do that for us?”
Bastian’s chuckled as he pulled Hudson close. “Because I’m pretty sure that your brother is Aaron’s mate.”
No way! Hudson peered to where Carter was gently laying Aaron down on a long black leather couch in the office in front of them.
Carter bent to brush the hair from Aaron’s forehead as Aaron continued to say things that made absolutely no sense to him.
Oh! Hudson was sticking around for that conversation. A mean little giggle slipped out. His brother was going to have his hands full. Maybe Carter wouldn’t even notice when they moved Bastian in.