For half a second, Indy’s jaw tightened before he got it under control. His smile remained, but felt slightly crooked on his face. “You know, for a guy who’s been tightlipped about the details surrounding your dilemma, you’re awfully quick to ask me to share.”
Something darkened in Malik’s expression.
“You can tell me what’s going on,” his mate said.
“I could.” Indy gave a nod. “Or you could tell me why a pair of demons were hunting you, and then we’d both be sharing.” He pulled the shirt back up his arm. “Seems like a fair deal. Information for information. Very democratic.”
Malik’s expression didn’t change. “It’s complicated.”
“You said that before.” Indy narrowed his eyes. “Funny how it’s complicated when I ask but suddenly an easy request when you ask.” He let a beat pass. “I’m a florist, Malik. I arrange peonies for weddings, and I worry about whether my lavender is getting enough drainage. If you’re not going to explain the reason, I don’t have to explain why I looked at some trees.”
The silence that followed had weight to it. Indy kept his expression neutral, but his fox was scowling at the cheetah. This was the same crap Indy’s father had pulled his entire life. “Everything’s fine, Indy. Daddy’ll handle it,” or “It’s nothing you need to worry about.” Indy hated being dismissed, especially when it involved his safety.
Without a word, Malik stood and went back to the grill, and Indy considered that a draw.
He looked at the oak trees one more time before turning away. The feeling had faded or at least gone quiet. Whatever it had been, it wasn’t announcing itself anymore, and Indy wasn’t sure if that was better or worse.
The steaks came off the grill a few minutes later, and Malik carried both plates to the small table at the edge of the deck. He set one in front of the chair beside him then looked at Indy with an expression that wasn’t quite an invitation and not quite a command but landed somewhere between the two.
Indy got up and sat down at the table.
Because the steak smelled extraordinary, he told himself. Because he’d been running on nothing since this morning, and if he didn’t eat, he would pass out.
And because it meant spending more time with his mate. His fox was calm, which it rarely was outdoors, lulled by Malik’s closeness into something almost embarrassingly content.
Chapter Three
After they’d finished eating and Indy had gone inside, Malik crouched at the grill, making a show of organizing the cabinet beneath it while his thumb worked across his phone screen. His message to Grayson, Reese, and Colton was brief. Eyes on me from trees, need perimeter check.
He kept his movements casual, knowing his team would understand the urgency without him spelling it out. The forest stretched for acres, but between the four of them, they’d find whoever was out there.
Malik let out a deep exhale. He wouldn’t be able to think straight until he knew who was watching them and why. The demons? Another enemy? Malik had made plenty of them in his long life. He wasn’t going to assume it was the two demons after him.
What concerned him most was that he hadn’t caught the feeling the same time Indy had. With the problem hot on his heels, Malik couldn’t afford to focus solely on his mate. The watcher could’ve attacked before Malik knew he was there.
And Indy was going to explain why he hadn’t said anything right away, instead of dismissing the feeling with a gripe about tree watching.
Then again, Malik couldn’t exactly preach transparency when he was keeping his own secrets. He’d even kept his friends in the dark.
As much as the thought made his gut twist, Malik needed to come clean about his troubled past. Those demons would eventually track him down, if they hadn’t already, and his team deserved fair warning rather than being blindsided because he’d been protecting his pride.
A figure appeared at the side gate.
Reese moved through it the way a glacier moved, taking up the available space without any apparent effort. He crossed the yard toward the far corner where the fence met the property line, his trajectory natural enough that anyone watching from outside would have read it as a man taking a walk.
A moment later, Colton came around the other side of the house, a beer in one hand as cover, his path curving him toward the opposite corner of the fence. His panther was already in his eyes, the irises catching the dim light in a way that human eyes didn’t.
Grayson didn’t appear. He didn’t have to. Malik knew their team leader was already heading unseen toward the woods.
Malik crossed the deck in four strides, stepped off, and broke into a full-blown run. The shift happened before he cleared the first twenty feet of lawn, and then his paws were hitting the grass at a speed that turned the yard into a blur.
The tree line came up fast. He reached the shadow of the first oak and the darkness swallowed him whole.
The forest smelled entirely different, his heightened senses even stronger in his animal form. The earth was uneven and damp, layered with seasons of decomposed leaves and, underneath that, the distinct smell of water from the nearby creak.
He slowed as he moved deeper, his pace dropping from the flat-out sprint to something more deliberate. The trees were old here, their trunks wide enough to put real distance between them. His cheetah moved through near-total darkness.
Then he found it.
