quilt
before she could take two steps.
"Take her inside," Alex said in a
calm voice. "I'll clean up out here."
Again reluctant to leave his mate, Kyle
nevertheless followed his lover's instructions and headed toward the ruined
front door. The hyena pup turned back into her human form just as he stepped
inside.
Thankfully, Alex was only a minute behind him,
and Adrian, Tyler, and Derek a minute more than that.
~*~
Alex wasn't really sure how to react to a
child who'd very literally just tried to kill him. He had no doubt that if
she'd had the safety off when she'd first pulled the trigger, he would have
been dead. She was a little thing but she'd known exactly where a human's heart
was. He had no idea if leaving the safety on had just been an oversight, or a
Freudian-type reaction to not actually wanting to kill him.
The fact that she was a hyena certainly
suggested a link to his ex-partner and the internal affairs case he'd been
working on, but not why she'd tracked him down or how she'd found him. It also
didn't explain why no one had bothered to report her missing from the
shifter-friendly foster home she and her cousins had been sent to.
"You okay?" Kyle asked when his
brothers took over the investigation. They couldn't even consider an
interrogation since the kid hadn't stopped crying since she'd regained her
human form.
"I'm not sure," Alex said slowly.
The situation was heartbreaking and extremely disturbing at the same time.
Everything about the child before her change into her hyena form had suggested
she was a "done deal." She'd been calm, sarcastic, and more that
ready to kill him. She hadn't even hesitated to pull the trigger.
Thank fuck for safety mechanisms.
But the weirdest part was that the crying
child, the one who now shook with fear and confusion, didn't seem at all
capable of doing what she'd done.
"Can I hold you?" Kyle asked, not
making a move to step closer, just waiting a step away for Alex's answer.
Alex simply moved into his mate's arms and
held him close.
~*~
Kyle couldn't stop shaking. He'd gone so
close to losing his mate.
"I'm okay, Ky. I'm still here."
"But for how long?" He wasn't even
sure if he'd asked the question out loud or not, but thanks to their mating
link, Alex heard it anyway.
"I don't know if I'll ever understand
what happens at Santutegia, but you've shown me over and over that you protect
those who need it." He laughed softly. "And even some of us who
don't." Alex hugged him tighter. "I love you, Kyle, and I'm willing
to believe whatever explanation you give me."
Kyle heard the sadness behind that
admission, understood where it came from, and silently vowed to never give his
mate a reason to doubt him.
"I know it's a painful memory for
you," Alex whispered.
Instead of trying to block the memory from
his mind, this time Kyle let it run through in its entirety, from the
negotiation, to the scene, and even to the aftermath. The whip had left the man
beaten and bloody, gasping for breath even as he shuddered in orgasm. Of course
it had helped that he'd also been a werewolf, so once the scene had been
finished he'd simply changed forms, healed the injuries, and walked out of the
club.
Alex shook his head. "That information
would have helped clear up a whole lot of things way faster." He pressed a
kiss to Kyle's lips. "Werewolves can really heal that easily?"
"Most of them," Kyle admitted.
"We've come across a few packs that didn't have the ability, but most of
them can."
"Tyler?"
"Yeah, he was made by the alpha of the
Lupinville pack. He's still learning to control his change from human to wolf
and back again, but it's given Adrian a little bit of peace of mind. You might
have noticed our lives aren't exactly risk free."
"Considering that attack was because of
an investigation I was involved in before I met you, my life probably wasn't any less dangerous then than it is
now."
Kyle shuddered again just at the reminder of
how close he'd come to
before she could take two steps.
"Take her inside," Alex said in a
calm voice. "I'll clean up out here."
Again reluctant to leave his mate, Kyle
nevertheless followed his lover's instructions and headed toward the ruined
front door. The hyena pup turned back into her human form just as he stepped
inside.
Thankfully, Alex was only a minute behind him,
and Adrian, Tyler, and Derek a minute more than that.
~*~
Alex wasn't really sure how to react to a
child who'd very literally just tried to kill him. He had no doubt that if
she'd had the safety off when she'd first pulled the trigger, he would have
been dead. She was a little thing but she'd known exactly where a human's heart
was. He had no idea if leaving the safety on had just been an oversight, or a
Freudian-type reaction to not actually wanting to kill him.
The fact that she was a hyena certainly
suggested a link to his ex-partner and the internal affairs case he'd been
working on, but not why she'd tracked him down or how she'd found him. It also
didn't explain why no one had bothered to report her missing from the
shifter-friendly foster home she and her cousins had been sent to.
"You okay?" Kyle asked when his
brothers took over the investigation. They couldn't even consider an
interrogation since the kid hadn't stopped crying since she'd regained her
human form.
"I'm not sure," Alex said slowly.
The situation was heartbreaking and extremely disturbing at the same time.
Everything about the child before her change into her hyena form had suggested
she was a "done deal." She'd been calm, sarcastic, and more that
ready to kill him. She hadn't even hesitated to pull the trigger.
Thank fuck for safety mechanisms.
But the weirdest part was that the crying
child, the one who now shook with fear and confusion, didn't seem at all
capable of doing what she'd done.
"Can I hold you?" Kyle asked, not
making a move to step closer, just waiting a step away for Alex's answer.
Alex simply moved into his mate's arms and
held him close.
~*~
Kyle couldn't stop shaking. He'd gone so
close to losing his mate.
"I'm okay, Ky. I'm still here."
"But for how long?" He wasn't even
sure if he'd asked the question out loud or not, but thanks to their mating
link, Alex heard it anyway.
"I don't know if I'll ever understand
what happens at Santutegia, but you've shown me over and over that you protect
those who need it." He laughed softly. "And even some of us who
don't." Alex hugged him tighter. "I love you, Kyle, and I'm willing
to believe whatever explanation you give me."
Kyle heard the sadness behind that
admission, understood where it came from, and silently vowed to never give his
mate a reason to doubt him.
"I know it's a painful memory for
you," Alex whispered.
Instead of trying to block the memory from
his mind, this time Kyle let it run through in its entirety, from the
negotiation, to the scene, and even to the aftermath. The whip had left the man
beaten and bloody, gasping for breath even as he shuddered in orgasm. Of course
it had helped that he'd also been a werewolf, so once the scene had been
finished he'd simply changed forms, healed the injuries, and walked out of the
club.
Alex shook his head. "That information
would have helped clear up a whole lot of things way faster." He pressed a
kiss to Kyle's lips. "Werewolves can really heal that easily?"
"Most of them," Kyle admitted.
"We've come across a few packs that didn't have the ability, but most of
them can."
"Tyler?"
"Yeah, he was made by the alpha of the
Lupinville pack. He's still learning to control his change from human to wolf
and back again, but it's given Adrian a little bit of peace of mind. You might
have noticed our lives aren't exactly risk free."
"Considering that attack was because of
an investigation I was involved in before I met you, my life probably wasn't any less dangerous then than it is
now."
Kyle shuddered again just at the reminder of
how close he'd come to
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