Chester’s slow breathing was the only sound in the room until a knock on the doorframe turned their attention to a pair of tall men. One of the men had an oriental cast to his smooth features and the other appeared to have Native American blood from his hooked nose and his dark eyes. They definitely looked like a matched set in the way they subconsciously leaned into each other as they stood in the doorway.
“Can I help you?” Talan asked in a cool tone.
“I’m Chen and this is Marlen. Ev said you could use us.”
“Are you the wren shifters?” Talan asked in a disbelieving tone.
Dillon couldn’t blame him. The men were thin but tall. How they transformed into tiny birds fought against the bounds of even shifter physics.
“Yeah, that’s us,” Marlen said.
“You made good time,” Adrian commented.
“Our leader has gone nuts,” Chen said with a scowl. “He ordered the owls to attack the pride land.”
Talan snarled. “How many can we be expecting?”
Marlen snorted. “Are you kidding? We might have let Tilden lead us, but he’s off his cracker if he thinks we’re going to go against lion shifters. I’ve seen you guys in action before and everyone’s heard the story of your mate there.”
Chen nodded his agreement as they both looked speculatively at Adrian.
“You guys don’t follow your alpha?” Talan asked as if it would never occur to him that people would rebel against a leader.
“First of all, we don’t call him our alpha. He’s our leader and we follow him when he’s not power hungry and stupid in the head from dealing with the wrong kind of humans. He didn’t listen to any of us when we told him they were bad people. If he doesn’t feel the need to listen to us, we won’t listen to him,” Chen insisted. 4“What can you tell us?” Talan asked.
“There are currently fifteen of the bastards at the aviary. They treat us like we’re dirt beneath their feet and Tilden refuses to see the problem. The rest of the birds are thinking of overthrowing him.”
Dillon bit his lip. He didn’t know Evin’s relationship with his brother but if the man had had him beaten and starved it couldn’t be a very good one. “Evin’s in the shower. He’d probably like to know about this.”
He nearly stepped back when the two wrens focused their gaze on him with identical expressions of intent.
“What?” he asked, nervously clearing his throat.
“You must be Evin’s lion.” Chen’s smile could’ve lit up a city block.
Marlen’s wasn’t any less brilliant. “We’re so happy he found someone.”
“He found two someones.” Dillon pointed to the bed. “Chester’s suffering from a poison the hunters gave him. We’re waiting for a doctor to come and see if he can help.”
“Oh, poor Ev,” Chen said, walking closer to examine Chester. “What kind of shifter is he?”
“A cat.”
Marlen tilted his head. “Panther? Cougar?”
“House.” Dillon hid his smile as the pair gave him enquiring glances. “He’s a house cat.”
“Huh.”
“Interesting.”
Dillon was about to ask what was so interesting about that when Andrew Everett walked through the doorway and both of the wren shifters froze.
“Hello, everyone.” Andrew paused in the doorway. The man appeared to be barely hitting his fifties and was handsome in a distinguished way, but Dillon wouldn’t consider him breath-taking. However, the wrens froze as they watched the man approach.
Andrew scanned the room and caught sight of Chester. “I see this must be the patient.”
For the first time Dillon noticed the old-fashioned doctor’s bag the man carried with him.
“Yes, this is Chester, my mate.” 4Andrew gave him a sympathetic look. “I’m learning about mates. I’ll do whatever I can to save yours.”
Dillon couldn’t miss the sincerity in the other man’s eyes. “Thanks.”
“Chen and Marlen, if you’d come with me and give me what info you can about the hunters that would be great. We can’t find out more about the antidote until Chester wakes up and shares the location of the hunters’ hideout.” Talan motioned to the wrens who showed no sign of moving.
“We’ll wait until Chester wakes up,” Chen said.
“Yeah, that would be best,” Marlen countered.
Neither of the birds looked away from Andrew. Dillon wondered if they’d even notice if Chester died.
“Hey, guys.” Evin walked back into the room wearing a pair of jeans and no shirt.
Neither of the wrens tore their gaze away from Andrew to greet their friend.
Evin rifled through Dillon’s drawers and swiped a shirt. Dillon smiled in delight. He was glad his mate felt comfortable sharing their belongings…not to mention, it would prove to others that Evin belonged to him.
“Your friends seem fascinated with Andrew,” Dillon said with a smile.
Andrew looked up at the wrens for a long moment. A blush stained his cheeks as he turned his concentration back to Chester.
Neither wren commented but they didn’t move their gaze from Andrew, either.
Taking out a needle, Andrew drew a vial of blood from the still shifter. Chester didn’t even twitch during the ordeal. “I’m going to take this with me to see if I can create at least a temporary counter-potion. If they used what I think they did, then it will take too long to make a cure. We need to get the one they already have or he’ll die.”
Dillon appreciated that the scientist didn’t try to sugarcoat the situation. “Can you wake him up enough for him to tell us where his brother and the cure are located?” Adrian asked.
“I think so.” After a bit of rummaging he pulled a pre-loaded syringe out of his bag and popped off the top. “This should shock his system enough to snap him awake but not kill him. It’s sort of a liquid adrenaline. I think he’s having an allergic reaction to the poison.
From what you’ve told me, he should’ve had several more days before the poison attacked his system so strongly.” He paused to meet Dillon’s eyes. 4“Go ahead,” Dillon urged him.
