Chapter Four

How did Rocky earn the trust of a turtle shifter who was smarter than him in every way and knew how to evade him whenever he wanted? He wasn’t sure how he’d earned the trust of anyone. Doing so had never been deliberate. Rocky had always been himself. It had been good enough for most people. But was it good enough for Henri? It didn’t seem so.

The trust should have been as instinctive as the attraction. There wasn’t any doubt the attraction was mutual. Rocky smelled Henri’s arousal, even from where Henri sat all the way across the lake. It floated on the breeze as Henri sipped tea at his little table, reading a book about some moment in history.

Well, he had been reading until Rocky had stepped onto his back patio. Henri had on gray trousers and a dark blue button-down shirt. He was a sexy sight. Rocky’s eyes had shifted, and his fangs dropped. His partial shift had been near constant since the alpha had assigned him to guard duty. The time apart had allowed him some level of control. Seeing Henri, even from across the lake, was enough to steal it from him again.

Rocky wanted to shed what little clothing he had on, shift, and fly across the lake. He envisioned himself taking Henri into his arms and kissing him until Henri forgot about the thing keeping them from bonding.

He wanted Henri. The desire grew with each passing day. The lack of intimacy Henri insisted on did nothing to diminish it.

Rocky hadn’t put a shirt on yet, or socks and shoes.

So there he stood, meeting the gaze of a mate who wanted him but didn’t trust him with a secret big enough to keep a lake between them.

Did Rocky tell him he knew?

The sliding glass door was open partway, so Rocky heard the morning newscaster as they talked about the weather. It was background noise. Soothing because of its familiarity. The staring contest he and Henri had going on was much more interesting. It wasn’t until the news program shifted focus and began speculating about where and why Senator James Fowler had disappeared that Rocky paid attention.

No one suspected the truth about Fowler’s whereabouts because people didn’t believe Fowler’s claim that paranormals existed. Some thought he’d gone into hiding or off the deep end and had done something crazier than trying to convince the world shifters and vampires existed. The theories depended on the news station. None of the speculation mattered much because none of them were correct.

In practical terms, it meant people were interested in where he’d gone. Some already knew but they were a select few. They just had done nothing about it yet.

Maybe they’d leave Fowler to rot in the paranormal council jail. He might be as expendable as everyone else. He’d controlled the purse strings before, but the money fizzled away when Saint Lakes and the paranormal council had captured him. So the question was, did anyone important care about Fowler’s freedom? If they did, would they do anything about it? And also, what value did Fowler have to them?

Henri bit his bottom lip. A crease formed between his brow. The scent of his arousal became stronger as the breeze shifted, blowing in Rocky’s direction.

If they had bonded, Rocky would have pushed all the longing he felt in Henri’s direction. He didn’t want to hold anything back, but he didn’t want to scare Henri away.

Rocky made a point of rubbing his chest, letting Henri see him. Henri was the source of the ache.

Henri’s bottom lip poked out. That alone let Rocky know he was affected. He set his book on the table beside his cup before pressing his hand to his chest in much the same way Rocky had.

He stood there far longer than he should have, making himself late for the meeting. But something had shifted between them. Rocky could feel it as though it were a wave washing over him.

The phone rang. He didn’t want to end their staring contest, but no one called unless it was important. Rocky went inside, shutting the door behind him. His phone sat on the kitchen counter. He didn’t have to lose sight of Henri while reaching for it. But by the time he answered and stared across the lake in Henri’s direction through his sliding glass door, Henri was gone. It didn’t stop him from stepping outside again.

“You’re late,” Ladon said.

“Sorry. Got hung up here at home.”

“Is everything okay?”

Define ‘okay’. He should have said it aloud, but it would alert Ladon to a problem Rocky and Henri needed to fix. “I’m running behind.”

Rocky saw Henri peeking from behind the curtain of his front window. Rocky crooked his finger. The curtain fell into place. Henri came outside, shutting the door behind him. He stood on his front stoop, watching Rocky.

“Wingspan’s alpha received a message demanding he hand over his mate. He’s the only scientist left, other than Henri, who can enhance humans. It’s a matter of time before we receive a letter. My guess is they’ll demand we hand over Echo and Lucas too, along with Henri. Or maybe they won’t bother sending one at all since it didn’t go well for them the last time. Maybe they’ll just attack and take what they want.” Ladon could have told him he was dropping a bomb on Rocky’s house and Rocky would have had less of a reaction.

Rocky growled. His hands shifted. It was hard to hold the phone to his ear with his dragon claws. He couldn’t take his eyes off Henri. If he could see him, then he knew he was still there, and he was safe. Sully was close to Henri’s house. Hidden but near enough in case of an emergency. “So we’ll fight.”

Henri sucked in a breath. His eyes widened. No doubt, he’d heard Rocky’s side of the conversation.

“Against the human military? Their show of force will happen in every paranormal town. They’ll try taking over Wingspan too. And what about other paranormal towns? This thing is growing. Even with Fowler in custody. Hell, locking him up is probably what’s propelling it.” Ladon sighed.

“Do you have any evidence to support the theory?” Rocky didn’t doubt it was a possibility. But it wasn’t the only outcome to consider. They couldn’t predict the future.

“Beyond the feeling of doom in my gut, you mean?” Ladon still had conviction in his tone and resignation. He expected to fight at some point.

“Despite that.”

“No. You’re the investigator. How do I investigate a gut feeling?” Ladon sighed. “I’m scared, man. I’m not sure what to do if it all turns to shit. And I know it will.”

It was easy to forget how young Ladon was. He was a natural at leading and did a great job, even though they were in troubled times. He needed guidance. He didn’t need Rocky telling him he was wrong about his gut feeling. “Focus on now. What can we do?”

“Right. Well, I have Bandos searching around for where the message came from. Wingspan has a couple of council members as clan, so the paranormal council is involved. I’m sure their investigators are all over this, too.”

“Offer our support to Wingspan, if you haven’t already. Then call the council. Find out what they’re doing about the potential problem and tell them about your premonition.” Rocky didn’t think it would hurt anything if the council investigators found out human soldier movements. It would be difficult because the soldiers they were searching for were of the elite variety, but it wasn’t impossible.

Rocky might not think Ladon was right, but he didn’t think he was wrong, either. Something was going to go down. It wasn’t an if, but a when. And they needed to know what the humans had planned.

“So my gut feeling has graduated to a premonition now?” Humor laced the words, but it was short-lived. “The council won’t stop them from attacking paranormals.”

“We continue to investigate. It will make you feel as though you’re doing something about it.” Sitting around, waiting for something bad to happen, was getting to all of them. Jailing Fowler put them in the eye of the storm.

Sully came out of the trees. He was in his wolf form and showed himself to let Rocky know he wouldn’t let anything happen to Henri.

Henri wasn’t aware of Sully’s presence. Or if he was, he didn’t act as if it bothered him. He wanted Henri to feel as though he were giving him the space he needed. But protecting him came first.

After Rocky won Henri’s trust and he stopped running from what they could have, he wouldn’t need to give him space. Rocky wouldn’t feel so feral once he could keep Henri glued to his side.

“I’ll be there in a few minutes.” Rocky ended the phone call, feeling as though he’d just had the meeting he’d been late for.

He grabbed a shirt from his closet and the papers exonerating Henri. He was on his bike and heading toward the Somersets’ house in under three minutes.

The sooner they got the meeting over with, the faster he’d get back to his mate. Rocky would feel better if he never let Henri out of his sight.