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Dom chuckled. “Of course he will. I did finally track her down to a cemetery on the south side of the city. Looks like she died of an indeterminate cause when her sweet Tihomir was seventeen.”
“That’s not suspicious,” he mumbled, pulling his emails up on his computer and scrolling through to see if anything urgent had come through.
“Right? Not surprising though, considering how long it took to find her and the shit we’ve uncovered about Tiho.”
A few days ago, Dom had gotten his hands on an unsealed copy of Tiho’s juvenile criminal record. There hadn’t been anything they hadn’t suspected, but the animal mutilations and fires pretty much confirmed what they’d already known.
“How much longer will you guys be staying out there?” Dom asked. “Ginger has a new spell she wants to try on you.”
Quinten laughed. “Your wife is a little twisted.”
“You have no idea,” he said adoringly.
“We probably won’t stay too much longer. It’s been nice having the time with Robbie, but he’s gone to Vegas for the week. Plus, being away from some of the bullshit that gets thrown at me when I’m there has been a relief, but I can’t indefinitely run things from here. I think my assistant at AI is about to quit.”
“The one who leaves her desk whenever you walk by?”
“Different one. That one didn’t last six weeks. This one won’t last another month.” He sighed. “She hides behind her computer screen when I come out of my office, Dom. What am I supposed to do with that?”
He snorted. “You should just hire someone from the pack and stop messing around with these timid humans.”
“We don’t—” He cut himself off, not bothering to correct him. “You know I like to keep that side of things parahuman-free.”
“Yeah, and I think it’s dumb, but it’s your call.”
“Thanks for your honesty,” he said dryly.
“No problem, boss! See you soon, hopefully.”
“See you soon.”
He laid his phone on his desk and went back to his emails, wanting to be finished by the time Caden, Dare, and Nero got back from their run. The three went into the woods behind his house at least once a day, Dare and Caden shifting, and ran for an hour or two. Caden—and Dare after Caden left his office—assured Quinten repeatedly that he was feeling as strong as ever, but the first time, he was pretty sure everyone had been holding their breath as Caden slowly but gracefully changed forms.
Each time after, he’d gotten faster until he could do it in just a second or two. Even Dare was impressed at how fast he could change, though he’d only expressed it with a twitch of his eyebrows.
He got sucked into work, losing track of time. His office door slowly swinging open drew his eyes up, and he grinned at the enormous jaguar prowling toward him, eyes glowing a bright gold.
“There’s my sweet kitten.”
Caden opened his impressive jaws, flashing him his long fangs and giving a quick barking roar of displeasure. While in his jaguar form, he didn’t appreciate being called kitten as much.
“I know, I know. You’re a big, ferocious cat.” He turned his chair to meet him as he came around Quinten’s desk. His back nearly reached the top, but he kept his head lowered, stalking forward.
God, he was gorgeous. His orangish-tan snout was the only area he didn’t have spots, the tip of his nose black like his markings. His small, rounded ears had adorable tufts of fur on the inside that were incredibly ticklish, and his black-tipped tail flicked back and forth when he was annoyed.
“Did you guys have fun?” He leaned over, extending his hand but waiting for Caden before touching him. Sometimes he didn’t like being petted and would dart away, but most of the time, he craved the touches.
Sure enough, his big, soft head pushed into Quinten’s palm, demanding scritches.
A loud, steady purring filled the room as soon as he complied, bringing up both hands to give attention to his jowls and around his ears.
Before too long, Caden was pushing into his body, trying to get closer. He was sure that if he could have, he would have climbed right into Quinten’s lap for a cuddle.
“Do you want to go upstairs and nap like this? I can bring my laptop.”
He stared at Caden’s bare skin a few seconds later, his cock thickening in his slacks. There was always a wildness about Caden when he got back from a run as his cat, a predatory gleam in his eyes, the scent of sunshine and leaves clinging to his skin.
“No, I don’t want a nap,” Caden said lowly, climbing into Quinten’s lap and straddling his thighs. He sank his fingers in Quinten’s hair, tugging his head back a little rougher than he normally would, and licked up the side of his neck, stopping for a second to suck on his earlobe.
