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.”
