“You didn’t see anyone?”
“No, I could probably identify them by scent, but I didn’t see anyone. Just as I was coming around, they realized. I had just enough time. I sensed you nearby and called out to you, as a mate would. I hoped you would hear my call, and that I wouldn’t be so weak already that it wouldn’t work. I didn’t know, because whatever they did to knock me out the first time, they did it again and everything went black once more. There was only the leopard and vulture in the alley though. The panther who had been there outside my house wasn’t with us when they stopped to try to… to…” She couldn’t get the words out and just glanced down her long, slender legs that were currently wrapped to the knees in bandages. “Did they really try to take my pelt? I feel it. I feel pieces of me missing.”
I didn’t even think beyond offering her comfort. “Come on, Moonbeam,” I cooed to her as I pulled her in.
“Moonbeam?” The whispered question in my ear made me chuckle.
“Yeah, that’s all I could compare you to. I saw bits of your fur, it looked like moonbeams made solid.” She shook in my arms as I held onto her.
“It’s okay if you don’t want me because I’m no longer whole,” she managed to get out between whimpers.
“Shh, none of that. If you think I’m not claiming you, you weren’t paying attention when you were feigning sleep.” I heard footsteps approaching from down the hallway. “We’re going to focus on getting you healed up, and even if your pelt is,” I swallowed thickly wondering what the ramifications were of a partially removed pelt. “It doesn’t matter,” I shook it off. “It won’t matter,” I told her more firmly just as the door opened and Knox stepped inside with Bomber and Brace.
“Sent Wooly and Mammoth to the scene to check it out,” Knox explained before noticing Chantal was awake and clinging to me.
“Holy hot damn! Knox said you got a pretty one, but he was kind of underwhelming in the description,” Brace called out only to be smacked in the back of the head by Bomber’s over-jeweled hand. The man wore more bling than a heavy-handed pimp in Grand Rapids. I shook my head at him as his purple-hued eyes twinkled at me. His long, chestnut-colored locks flowed over his shoulders and down his back, looking like a fucking woman’s shampoo commercial as he approached.
“Well, well, well darling, looks like you’re a special little thing,” he hummed. “So precious.” The gleam in his strangely-hued eyes twinkled a bit brighter upon seeing Chantal. I didn’t like that one fucking bit. The other men in the room were cued into that as a low-level growl emitted from my throat, getting louder the longer Bomber stared at my woman.
Brace walked up and smacked the dragon shifter in the back of his head this time. “We get it, she’s bright and shiny to you, but you can’t have her for your hoard, you purple-eyed freak of nature.”
“Jesus Christ, you two knock it the fuck off.”
“She’s a shadow cat,” Bomber said as he appeared miffed and stepped backwards to put more space between himself and the bed where Chantal still clung tightly to my arms.
“Why do you have a dragon in your house?” Chantal asked while peeking around my shoulder at the asshole who winked at her while grinning like the fucking idiot he was.
“We like to take in strays here, sweetheart,” Knox told her. “Now, you want to fill us in on your adventures so we can maybe get something done about it?”
I relayed what Chantal had already told me. There was at least one panther, leopard, and vulture involved in the attempt to steal her pelt. “She said they snatched her from Caledonia. That’s almost an hour from here. Why would they snatch her an hour away only to attempt to skin her in an alley in Kalamazoo? It makes no sense.”
“That does beg a few questions. Were they transporting her somewhere here and something happened, or was Kalamazoo just a stop along the way, and they got surprised?”
“Surprised into skinning someone in an alleyway instead of taking it private or moving on to wherever they originally intended?” Bomber asked.
“What if the third went to secure the location they were taking her to? Maybe it was close by, but she started waking and whatever they had done to keep her out of it involved the third guy who wasn’t there?” Brace surmised, much to everyone’s astonishment. He simply shrugged his shoulders. “I watch a lot of crime drama in my down time,” he admitted sheepishly.
“Jesus,” I huffed. Chantal giggled quietly. I pulled her a little closer, not at all missing the way her tits jiggled against my chest and arm with her movements. My inner cat was ready to come out and claim what he thought of as his, and these guys just continued to talk about what might have happened. “Heard anything from Wooly yet?” I asked.
“I know you’re a little impatient on this one, but cool that shit. They probably only just got there.” Knox turned to the rest of the men, “Let’s get out of here and give them some time.” He turned to me, then glanced at Chantal. “If you can think of anything that might be helpful, let us know right away. Anyone been following you around, suspicious behavior, the feeling of being watched? Anyone who knows what you are?” He quirked up an eyebrow at that. It seemed he was still a bit resistant to the idea that my woman might be one of the legendary
