Chapter 4 #2
A man intercepted Lon, but she showed no concern at his approach. Lots of pet parents stopped to ask if they were allowed to walk their animals there, so she wouldn’t have thought it was odd he didn’t have a dog with him at the time.
In three deft moves, he had her unconscious and on the ground where he ziptied her wrists at her spine. The Frenchie she had been walking bolted deeper into the surrounding woods, but Lon’s assailant didn’t go after it. He slung her over his shoulder and marched off camera.
“We need to locate that dog.” I glanced left, finding myself almost cheek to cheek with Rían. “Tara would never forgive me if I let something happen to one of her animals.”
“We’ll find it,” he promised, his expression unyielding. “We’ll have to examine the area for scent trails anyway. I’ll make sure Liam knows to search for the dog too.”
“I can handle it.” I waved away the offer. “I’m a pro at finding runaways.”
All it took was one time helping a kid down the road from GSG locate his missing pug to cement my local legend status as a doggy detective.
Any shifter could have done the same, including the sentinels trailing me, but they were too afraid of Mercer finding out they had taken their eyes off me to lend a hand.
Or a nose. But my human neighbors didn’t know that.
From that day on, if a kid lost a pet, I got a tearstained visit.
Since grateful parents tended to give me business from then on, I didn’t mind helping out one bit.
“Okay.” He zeroed in on the screen again. “I’ll take the assailant’s trail then.”
A laugh bubbled out of me before I could stop it, and I bit down on the inside of my cheek.
Tearing his attention from the clips, he studied me. “What’s so funny?”
“Are you sure you’re an alpha?” I turned my head, making our noses brush. “You give in so easily.”
“I’ve seen alphas rule through fear, and it never ends well.
For them or their people. I prefer offering the right to choose to each person in my clan.
I only intervene in private matters if their actions harm others or endanger the clan as a whole.
” He huffed a laugh. “I’m not saying I’m right, or how I rule is best, but it was the system my parents believed in.
” He fell silent, and I wished again that I had the nerve to ask how they had died, but I was still too afraid of the answer.
“I haven’t been magnus long, so the rules might change, especially if the Sartoris push us to defend our territory, but equality is where I would like to begin. ”
“It’s a nice dream.”
“It doesn’t have to only be a dream.”
The intensity of his stare, the wash of his breath over my cheeks, the knowledge I could lean in and taste his ideals on his lips was too much of a temptation for a cynic like me. Mouth gone dry, I forced my head forward and my wayward thoughts back to the job at hand.
As unlikely as it seemed after this morning, I think I understood Liam’s take-charge attitude a bit better.
The utopic view Rían’s parents held on ruling must not appeal to Liam. That, or he had seen too much to believe the idyllic vision of their clan’s future Rían held was attainable. Or sustainable. He was the stone others broke against before reaching his cousin.
I had been curious as to why Rían would send his own cousin into enemy territory, even before I learned Liam’s roles within the clan, but I was willing to bet he had volunteered.
I was starting to think there was nothing Liam wouldn’t do for Rían.
Perhaps even act as his foil, using my lifetime of engrained fears to drive me closer to him.
But maybe that was my paranoia talking. It definitely enjoyed the sound of its own voice.
“I found the client list on the shop computer.” Liam strode into the room. “Sloane matched up all the animals. We’re missing one French bulldog named Mephistopheles, but everyone else checks out.”
“He’s running loose on the property.” I noticed Sloane from the corner of my eye and updated her on Lon’s abduction. “The Frenchie got free on the loop. He’s got a forty-five minute head start. With any luck, he’ll be too busy sniffing and peeing to get far, but you know how that goes.”
“I brought this from his kennel run.” She tossed me a hairy blanket. “You want to do the honors?”
“No offense to Ana,” Liam said, sounding genuine, “but wouldn’t you be the better choice?”
“Her nose works just fine, as you well know, Bowie.”
“Your sense of smell is keener after you shift, and we might need that edge to locate the hostages.”
That a man with his training believed it was possible the staff was still alive set my pulse thumping.
Standing toe to toe with him, Sloane growled, “Then you shift.”
“No thanks.” A smirk twisted his lips. “A wolf can pass as a dog, but a dragon—”
“Want to get out of here?”
The low whisper in my ear set my heart pounding for other reasons, but I nodded, unable to resist Rían or his crooked smile as our guardians verbally sparred. Had I not been paying such close attention to Sloane, I might have missed her subtle hand gesture for me to get a move on.
That little sneak was antagonizing Liam to give us an opening. Not that he made it hard to do.
In that moment, her eyes alight with mischief, I couldn’t have loved Sloane more if I tried.
On silent feet, Rían backed away, guiding me where to step. I was nowhere near as quiet as him, but the tips worked their magic. He and I crept out the door someone, probably Sloane, had left propped open with a brick used for that purpose. I bent and set Tara’s phone on top of it, just in case.
“We won’t have long.” Rían covered the distance in strides that ate up the ground. “Liam won’t fall for her baiting much longer.”
“You noticed it too, huh?”
“I’m not half as oblivious as everyone seems to believe.
” His lips twitched up on one side. “Though the eye color does help convince people I’m blind to everything.
” He chuckled like it was a joke, but a hint of his earlier insecurity leaked through.
The subtle opening to ask him about his eyes tempted me, but he had been so accepting of me, I didn’t want him thinking I was waiting to judge him.
He gave it a minute then exhaled softly in relief or disappointment, I wasn’t sure.
“Underestimation is a handy weapon, especially for someone like me.”
His more casual style was so far removed from the militaristic way my dad ran his pack, I just might have fallen into a trap Rían set for his enemies. Underestimation indeed.
We hit the loop at a jog, oriented ourselves to where the abduction occurred, and pinpointed the spot.
Armed with the blanket Sloane had tossed me, I filled my lungs with the smell of Frenchie and isolated the most recent scent trail. I had taken one step in that direction when Rían caught me by the wrist.
“I hope I didn’t overstep.” He reached into his pocket. “I brought these, just in case.” Flipping my hand over, he unspooled a length of silver chain in my palm. “I looked for a holster, but I couldn’t find one.”
My claws.
I couldn’t believe he brought them for me. Especially at the cost of the mild burns on his skin.
Silver didn’t bother me, unless I cut myself on it.
Even then, I suffered a mild reaction compared to most shifters.
I had blamed it on being a latent, but perhaps it was also true of dragons who had yet to fledge.
Not that I was convinced I fell into that category.
I wanted it too much to believe it without any proof.
“I don’t have one.” I closed my fingers over them as gratitude swelled within me.
“Now that I live in Brentwood, I don’t have to keep them on me.
” The pack didn’t bother me in town. Too many humans plus my security detail acted as a strong deterrent.
“I leave them at home in the window.” The simple, elegant design of the claws paired with the intricate chains and buckles fooled people into thinking they were a modernist wind chime. “How did you know I would need these?”
“Until you can summon and wield fire, you need a weapon.”
“You really believe I’m a dragon.” I heard the ache in my voice and wished I had disguised it better. “Guess we’ll see who’s right soon enough.” I lifted the claws. “Thanks again.”
Pivoting away from him, I gathered his faith in me tight as he went hunting Lon’s attacker. As I began searching for the Frenchie, confidence thrummed through me, his trust a warm blanket thrown across a lifetime of cold shoulders.