Even though he was expecting it when Andrew slammed the needle into his mate’s thigh, the wren shifters had to grab Dillon’s arms so he didn’t tear Andrew apart.
“You can’t hurt him,” Marlen whispered desperately in Dillon’s ear. “He’s our mate.”
Dillon stopped struggling as surprise swept through him. He’d never heard of a human mating with birds. He looked over at Chen who gave him a nod in confirmation.
Chester shot up off the bed. Sitting upright—gasping, his eyes wide open—he made noises that wrenched at Dillon’s heart. Chester’s wild expression calmed only after he found first Dillon and then Evin beside him.
“You’re all right?” Chester asked after he took a deep breath.
Dillon shook free of the birds and took Chester’s hands in his. “We’re fine. You’re having a reaction to the poison and we need you to tell us where the people are that have your brother.”
“Dillon!” Evin hissed.
“What? We don’t have time to tiptoe around this. We need that antidote.”
Chester’s eyes started to blink closed.
Dillon shook him. “Tell me where they are.”
In a slow, slurred voice, Chester told them the location of the place. From his description it was less than ten miles away. “Okay, honey, you can sleep now. We’ll take care of this.”
Dillon’s hands transformed into claws and the rest of his body soon followed. With a loud roar, he shook off the remnants of his clothing. A shrill cry had him tilting his head to see an owl perched on the back of a chair.
“Before you two go rushing off, take the wrens with you to scout ahead. You aren’t any match for a posse of armed hunters, not to mention you should take a car—you don’t know for sure how far away the place is.” Talan frowned in a disapproving way, telling Dillon in more than words how much he disapproved of his ‘shift and charge’ technique. Dillon lowered his head, indicating he understood his alpha’s disapproval.
The owl gave a disappointed screech at Dillon. Dillon roared back.
Chen laughed. 4Keys sailed through the air towards the wrens. “Take a Hummer and a few pack members. If you crash it, Adrian won’t be the least bit upset,” Talan said with a grin towards his mate.
Adrian rolled his eyes.
If Dillon had been in his human form, he would’ve also rolled his eyes over the familiar argument. Instead he tamely followed the wrens. They didn’t have time to mess around. The poison was travelling too quickly through Chester’s body.
5Chapter Four
Evin swooped down over the treetops and spotted a cabin nestled in the woods. He didn’t dare to get too close—after all, they knew about shifters and specifically about owls.
Getting shot and having no way to save Chester didn’t figure in his plans for the afternoon.
He settled for landing in the upper branches where he could see into the second floor windows.
Peeking inside, he spied one man in camouflage looking out of the window. He didn’t appear to have any weapons on him but then, they didn’t expect anyone to attack. In fact, Evin wondered if they really expected the tabby cat to return or if they were just stalling.
What could they achieve by sending Chester in as a distraction?
From his perch, Evin watched Chen and Marlen land on the windowsill. He’d kept them away from the humans, so the hunters might not know about the tiny birds. He knew the strangers thought they were all owls, and his brother hadn’t disabused them of the notion because he wanted to appear strong. Tilden had never considered the smaller birds to be of much worth. He’d only kept them around because he knew Evin would cause him problems if he chased them away.
Tilden might be the bad brother and a poor leader, but he wasn’t stupid. He’d waited until he had more people on his side before he tried to get rid of Evin. The cut of deception still stung. They might not have been super close, but they were brothers.
A sharp tweet snapped Evin out of his melancholy thoughts. There were five people and a cat carrier inside, according to Chen’s chirping. Evin didn’t respond. A hoot in the middle of the day would attract the attention of the people inside.
To Evin’s astonishment, one of the men inside opened the window, leaned out and lit a cigarette.
Chen took advantage.
The wren shifter fluttered inside, shifted and slammed his fist into the human. After the hunter went down, Chen let out a long, shrill whistle before opening the window wider.
Marlen hopped up to the sill and fluttered in after him. 5After the two men were clear, Evin glided through the window. Once his claws hit the floor, he shifted.
Shaking his head, he looked at his accomplices. “We’re probably the least intimidating rescuers in history. Three naked, unarmed men.”
Chen grinned. “Good thing we’ve got backup.”
Screams came from down below mixed with the roar of lions. Footsteps thundered towards them. They took out the two men who rushed in with a few well-placed punches. It was amazing what you could get away with if you took someone by surprise.
An enormous lion with a blood-covered mouth trotted over to Evin and deposited a human arm at his feet. Then he plopped down on his ass and waited for praise.
“You are seriously disturbed,” Evin said. “I’m not thanking you for your present, either.”
The lion made a sad noise.
Chen walked over and scratched Dillon behind the ear. “Who’s a good maneater? You are! Yes, you are.”
Dillon closed his eyes and let out a rolling half purr, half growl.
“I’d rather be shot by the hunters.” Evin shoved past the cooing pair and made his way to the staircase. No noise from below. Still careful, Evin went down each step, mindful of his feet placement. He didn’t want a creaking piece of wood to be responsible for his downfall.
When he reached the
