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Nathan nodded. Then he blinked and refocused on the pair cuddled up on the sofa. He felt a small kernel of jealousy take root in his gut. They were obviously a well-fitted pair with their shit together. Nathan wanted that.
And I have to get Khan on board to get it.
“Well, to have that problem, I still need to convince Khan to give me a chance,” Nathan reminded them. “And I think that means figuring out this hunter shit.” Waving his hand absently, which held a chip, he nearly caused the French onion dip to fly off of it. Fortunately, he caught it in time. “Okay. So. What have you and your people been dealing with that you’ve been keeping from the police?”
Declan chuckled as a feral smile curved his lips. “Ye know,youare the last human at the sheriff’s office.” His grin widened. “I’m gonna like having a staff that’s all paranormal or those in the know. It’s going to make things so much easier around Stone Ridge.”
“They’re all shifters there?” Nathan asked curiously.
“Except Nereo,” Declan told him. “He’s a vampire.”
“Oh.” Nathan nodded. “Of course he is.”
Over the course of the next hour, Nathan ate, drank, and listened to Declan explain what had truly been going on behind the scenes in the Stone Ridge and Colin City area. Events included private and government-funded science experiments, CIA interference, military experiments, and rogues bent on revenge after getting kicked out of the territory. The last in the long list had been bigoted fanaticism about the number of homosexuals in the area, accidently drawing shifter hunters to them.
Nathan fell asleep on Declan’s couch, his mind reeling with information until it had no choice but to shut down.
Chapter Eight
Once again, Khan climbed into Beta Sam’s sidecar. This time, however, he was in human form. The jeans, boots, and jacket felt restrictive after so many years in wolf form.
Khan knew they were required to fit into the human world, so he sucked it up.
After sliding the helmet on his head, Khan buckled his safety belt. He rested his hands on his thighs and clenched them into fists. When he felt the shiver work through the motorcycle when Sam brought it to life, Khan fought back a tremble of his own.
He wasn’t certain this was the right course of action, but he knew he needed to explain things to his mate. He needed to make it right with him. Maybe, if he did that, his human would be willing to wait until it was safer for him to be bonded with a shifter.
Khan knew that Konta and Sam had Nathan’s phone number, and it had been so very tempting to just call him. His need to look into his human’s eyes, as he explained, had won out. He needed to see Nathan’s response and take in his scent to be sure.
To that end, Sam was driving him to Nathan’s house. They’d received the information from Sheriff Anthony. Accompanying them—because they never went anywhere alone, a testament to how dangerous the area had become—was Sam’s mate, Ryan, on his own motorcycle. Hunter, a human, and his penguin shifter mate, Yuma, were with them, too.
Evidently, the pair were really good at calming people.
Khan sort of wondered if they’d been sent to keep an eye on him, not Nathan.
Oh well.
As they started rolling, Khan gripped the edge of the sidecar. He watched the trees zip by and tried to quiet his mind. Khan knew there was no point in stressing himself out, but he sure hoped his mate took everything okay.
Upon reaching Nathan’s address, Khan took in the small home with shaker-style siding. There was a small cement front porch where Nathan had hung a large hanging chair. The place had an attached garage that appeared to be an addition because the small second story was on the other side of the house. A dormer faced the opposite direction of the garage and looked into the woods.
As Khan walked up to the house, his attention once again fell on the porch swing. While it wasn’t overly large, due to his own small size, he bet they could both fit on it.
If we cuddled.
Giving himself a mental smack upside the head, Khan reminded himself that he should not be thinking that way. He was there to tell his mate that he couldn’t claim him right away. Khan actually wondered if Nathan would even be willing to bottom for him. His mate seemed pretty dominant, after all.
Maybe this whole claiming and bonding stress is a moot point, anyway.
“Are you going to ring the bell?” Yuma asked gently. “Or knock?”
The penguin shifter was shorter and smaller than Khan’s own five-foot-ten, but Khan definitely envied the other shifter’s obvious confidence.
“Or would you like one of us to do it?” Yuma offered, touching his elbow.
Man up, Khan.
“No,” Khan responded, perhaps a little sharply. “I’ll do it.”
