AllFreeNovel
Share Us
They sensed when something was wrong with their leader, whom they had known since childhood.
“Deimos, what’s up?” Thyone asked.
“There’s something nearby that I really don’t like. It hits my skin the way the smell of death hits your nose. Just be extra alert,” Deimos said.
Within thirty seconds, the massive pipes of the doorbell rang through the house.
“Well, it looks like it’s arrived,” Qev said. “You have backup if you need it, Deimos.”
Deimos’s smartphone, even more advanced than the ones on Earth, streamed a video feed of the front door. He instantly recognized the two men who stood outside.
“Dumb One and Pest Dick,” Deimos said. Duggan and Pechik. The henchmen. Tura’s Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum. “Let’s see what they want.”
Deimos opened the heavy front door.
“If I had known we were having company, I would have dressed more nicely,” Deimos said. “How can I help you today?”
“We have a message for you from Tura,” Duggan said. They looked like hell’s bouncers.
Fire spread through his body, every cell preparing to ignite into transformation. He wanted to tear their throats out. But he wanted their boss most of all.
“What is it?” Deimos growled.
Pechik, who reminded Deimos of an ornery bull, handed a vial wrapped in a note. He could barely read the words.
“Laboratory results … gift … cows … enjoyed … off your hands … in the care … real man.”
Hope. That mother fucking scoundrel had kidnapped Hope. Tura would pay.
“Get. Out of here!” Deimos roared.
He threw the vial of poison on the ground, shattering it. The paper wrapped around it crumbled into nothing in his hands.
“Nice seeing you,” Pechik said. “And don’t worry. I hear Tura’s taking good care of your girl.”
Deimos slammed the door so hard the windows shook.
His mind and body went into overdrive. Qev and Thyone stepped back instinctively. Deimos rarely lost his composure, but when he did, the results could be explosive.
Thoughts flew through his mind like racing phantoms. Confirmation that Tura had been poisoning his animals. He had thought that not even Tura would stoop so low to murder innocent creatures, but now he knew better.
And, worse, he wasn’t above abducting a woman, a weaker visitor from another planet. Not any woman. His mate. The kindest, most beautiful, most compassionate person he had ever known. The person destiny promised was meant for him.
And that fucker had taken her. He didn’t want to think about what he had done with her, but he couldn’t help it. If he could murder cows, then … but he had to stop himself, or he would have transformed and burned everything in sight. Any other shifter would have burned the city down.
“So. Time for a plan of action,” Qev said.
“I think a declaration of war is the only course forward,” Deimos said. “There’s the threat to our livelihood with the cows, yes. But the bigger thing is the crime of abducting an honored guest. He needs to pay.”
“Deimos, I think that’s your anger speaking,” Thyone said. “What he did, taking the girl … even though, yes, it’s a crime, it’s not the level of a high crime or military assault where taking military action is acceptable. It would cast us as the enemy.”
“And it’s clear that it’s intended as a message rather than a seditious act,” Qev said. “He wants to let you know: ‘I’m putting an end to the cattle, and that includes your attempts to fix their health problems.’”
Deimos looked calm on the surface, but inside he was roiling.They don’t know what they’re talking about, he thought.
“And, Deimos, this is a particularly sensitive subject,” Thyone said. “What’s sowing dissension among Tura’s faction? People who have moved here and settled from Earth. Even if she is your guest, we can’t go starting wars over a random human.’”
“She isnota random human.” Deimos barked. “She’s not a message. She’s not a guest. She’s mymate.”
