Chapter 21

Stepping out of his tiny house, Blair rubbed a hand over his face and yawned. He was going to have to get a coffee maker for in there. He was used to it being within reach as soon as his eyes focused in the morning. Especially if he was going to keep having these long restless nights.

Closing the door, he looked around to see Cale running toward the front of the house, to where Gage, Devin, and Calum stood. None of them looked happy. Something was going on. “So much for coffee.” He mumbled and hurried to find out what was going on.

Devin was waving a hand around as Calum scowled and looked out toward the road.

“What have I missed?” Blair stifled another yawn.

“Dev’s parents have decided to visit.”

“What?” Coffee or not, that woke him up. “Here, now?” He looked at Calum, who mirrored his thoughts. They had enough issues keeping the women safe.

“They’re flying in, Devin said, looking around. “We’ll land them over at Ed’s.”

“Shit.” Blair looked around, he knew how many guards traveled with Shepard Addison.

“They can stay at our house,” Gage motioned to the small building Blair had just come from, “we’ll put the guards up in the bunkhouse.”

Blair nodded, still trying to process. “Why now?” He turned to see Kobie coming out of the house and forgot he’d asked a question. She was wearing low riding jeans with a black and white patterned halter top on. It covered most of her waist, he was thankful for that with the men here, but it left all of her shoulders and neck bare. He wanted to go over and lick that skin. She smiled at him and his heart started pounding. She was wearing makeup and it only enhanced how fucking gorgeous she was.

As she got closer, she held out a cup to him. He hadn’t even seen it.

He took it, unable to find his voice to speak. Taking a sip, he burned his tongue and didn’t care. It was probably the best coffee he’d ever tasted.

“What’s happening?” She looked only at him. “Rayne is in there on the phone with Beth making a shopping list that sounds like it will feed an army.”

“My parents are coming,” Devin said, in an unamused tone.

Kobie’s dark eyes went wide, “The king and queen are coming? Here? Now?”

“Yes.” Calum looked at Blair, an expression he couldn’t read on his face.

She put a hand over her throat, drawing Blair’s attention back to it. “I guess I better go try to tidy up, if that’s possible with paint cans and ladders all over the place.” She smiled up at Blair and then walked away.

Blair took another sip of the coffee, watching her walk away, momentarily mesmerized.

“We need to…”

Blair held up his hand to pause whoever was talking and darted after her, spilling hot coffee all over his wrist. “Hey,” he touched her bare shoulder and his cat rolled against him, prodding him to mark that soft skin. “Thanks.” She turned and gave him a soft look, those eyes, was all he could think. “For the coffee.” He added in case she was having as much trouble thinking as he was.

Kobie smiled slowly. He wanted to nibble on that bottom lip of hers. “You,” she placed a hand against his chest, “need to focus on whatever needs doing before royalty is on our doorstep.”

He inhaled, taking her scent into his body. No perfumes, no oils, just the intoxicating scent that was her, “you look fucking amazing,” he said in a whisper.

She smiled, a playful look in her eyes. “Thank you.”

Blair nodded slowly, his eyes moving all over her face. Just fucking amazing.

“Blair?” She whispered.

He watched her mouth as she said his name. “Yeah?”

“Kiss me and then go do whatever it is you have to do.”

His gaze darted back to her eyes. A man could get lost in those eyes. Holding the cup out of the way, he leaned down and grasped the back of her head, and pulled her closer. He wanted to devour her, his cat wanted more, but instead, he kissed her gently, slowly, tasting her mouth, coaxing her to kiss him back. When she did, he still controlled himself and kept it soft and sensual. Lifting his head slowly, he looked down to see her eyes had a sexy, longing look in them. He smiled and kissed her briefly. “Go in the house so I can focus. You’re killing me here.”

Backing away, she touched her mouth and gave him a heated look. “Let me know when you want breakfast.” She said in a breathless voice and then went back into the house.

Blair waited until she closed the door and then blew out a breath.

“All better now? Can we focus on how the hell we’re keeping Dev’s parents safe?” Calum said loudly.

Blair turned his head, his body following slowly, and went back toward them. Nodding, he took a quick sip, “what were you saying?”

Gage grinned, Devin shook his head. Even Calum looked amused, despite the serious issues they needed to talk about.

“Tell me I didn’t look that dopey over Rayne,” Devin said quietly.

“You were worse,” Calum said.

Devin scowled at him, “you were an idiot with Shaelan.”

Calum rubbed a hand over his chest. “Completely different circumstances.”

Blair smiled, “we’re all idiots when it comes to them.” He lifted his cup, “now how the hell are we keeping, nine coveted females, and the entire royal family safe?”

Blair stood beside the house and watched the helicopter fly overhead, then disappear as it landed at Ed’s.

“I’m nervous as fuck.” Cale came up beside him.

“Gage said the vans of guards arrived an hour ago.” Blair crossed his arms and looked up at the sky. It was getting darker.

“They must have been on the road before we were told they were coming.” Cale followed where Blair was looking. “This storm is going to hit hard.”

Blair nodded, “yeah. Because this isn’t enough of a challenge.” He motioned to the house, “having the whole royal family here and then twenty people trapped in an unfinished, partially furnished house.”

“What’s my priority here?” Cale scratched the side of his head, “I’m here to watch over this clan, but when royals are here…”

“They’ll bring about ten of their own guards,” Blair glanced back at the house, “you just keep doing what you’ve been doing and patrolling and keeping an eye on the girls.” He blew out a breath, “they’re getting better at not wandering away…”

“They’re getting annoyed with shadows at their every move,” Cale said quietly.

Blair nodded, “I know, but it’s either that or stay in the house. I’ll remind them.”

“Thanks. I thought Franki was going to take a bite out of me last night for trailing her on a run.”

Blair laughed, “would you rather be assigned to the girls that can’t shift yet?”

Cale’s eyes widened, “I think that might be worse. Those four are going to be a force, mother nature won’t even challenge.”

Blair nodded. “And they’re all ours.”

Cale turned to watch the vans come up the drive. “I’m definitely on their side in any battle, fight, or squabble.”

Blair felt pride move through him.

Kobie looked around the yard. There were so many guards. She didn’t know how many, but was glad some had stayed over at Ed’s with Irene, the Queen of all shifters—she still couldn’t believe she’d met her. Turning, she watched Gage, Blair, and Devin come back with huge grins on their faces.

Calum eyed them, “what’s going on?”

Gage shrugged, “we just thought a little fun has been earned.”

“Fun?” Calum frowned.

“Yeah, you remember fun, don’t you?” Devin glanced at Gage. “Was he ever fun?”

“I can’t remember,” Gage smirked.

“What have you guys done?” Kelsey looked from one to the other.

Blair motioned to the back of the property. “We hid something out there and want to see who finds it first.”

Calum looked over at his mate, then back to them. “Again? How many times do I have to make you guys look bad?”

Devin crossed his arms over his chest and grinned, “oh, we’re not participating.”

Blair turned and smiled at Kobie, “best tracker and hunter against the all-mighty Calum.”

Calum’s eyebrows both went up as he looked at them.

Kobie shrugged, “what are the rules?” She could use a little fun right now.

Gage was still smiling. “You both leave on two feet, once you reach the stake you can shift, and whoever brings back the hidden object wins.”

She looked at Calum, then back to Gage, “what’s the object?”

“A rabbit fur,” Calum said in an annoyed tone.

Kobie stood there for a moment, “how old is it?”

“A few days since it was cleaned., Blair confirmed, looking at Cooper.

“It’s not dried out?” She asked.

Cooper shook his head, “No, it’s still good and rank.” He tipped his head to her.

Kobie shrugged, “okay then. Any other rules I need to know about?”

Gage and Blair exchanged a look. “Nope.” Gage crossed his arms and smiled at Calum, “you in?”

Calum stood looking at them for a long silent moment, then gave her a quick smile. “I’m in.”

“This is going to be interesting.” Shepard stood in the doorway.

Devin glared at him. “Stay inside.”

His father stepped out the door and looked around at the number of people and guards standing there. “If they can get to me through all of you, then we’ve failed on many levels.”

Kelsey and Rayne came over to Kobie.

“Kick his ass,” Kelsey mouthed, then smiled.

“Can we carry our packs?” Kobie asked.

Daisie ran out the door with hers in her hand and gave it to Blair, who started walking toward her with a big grin on his face.

Kelsey leaned closer, “Blair is the only one that found the hide at the same time Calum did, but Calum runs faster.”

Kobie nodded, “yeah he’s got the speed I don’t have.”

Rayne looked over at Devin, “he’s even faster than Dev’s wolf.”

“Okay,” Kobie took off her jacket and handed it to Rayne, “so outmaneuver him is what you’re saying.”

Kobie bent down and pulled off her shoes as Blair reached her.

“You got this, babe.” He looked over at Calum where Gage and Shaelan were whispering to him, “use those amazing skills of yours and ignore him. He’ll try to send you on a wild goose chase and then run like the wind in the right direction.”

Kobie took the pack from him, “why would I follow a male when I can scent things for myself?”

Rayne and Kelsey glanced at Blair and then smiled.

“Good luck, we believe in you,” Rayne said and took Kelsey’s elbow and went over to stand with the others.

Kobie looked up at Blair, “I hope I don’t screw this up.”

Leaning down, he brushed a light kiss over her mouth. “I believe in you.” He smiled at her.

She held his pale eyes, her heart pounding in her chest, “that means a lot, Blair. I’ve spent half my life trying to prove to men that I was useful to the clan.”

“Babe, you don’t have to prove that here.” He motioned with his head to where Kelsey and Rayne had gone, “Kelsey’s been making us look incompetent for years.” He grinned.

“I doubt that, but thank you.” He continued to stand there and look at her. His expression was gentle, his eyes flicking to her mouth, then back to her eyes. Kobie’s insides tightened, “stop distracting me.” She hissed.

“I’m not doing anything.” He answered honestly.

Kobie rubbed her hand over his chest and then gave him a little push. “You don’t need to.” With that, she turned around and walked over to where Calum stood.

He inclined his head to her and motioned to start walking.

She did. “You didn’t know this was coming?”

Calum shook his head, “no.”

“You don’t seem happy about it.” She glanced at him but kept walking.

Huffing out a breath, he held her look for a moment, “I almost hope you beat me.”

That surprised her. “You do?”

He nodded, “yeah, then you can be challenged constantly every time there’s a group of shifters together.”

Kobie laughed quietly, “what clans have you beaten?’

“All that has challenged me.”

That didn’t tell her much about which type of shifters he had beaten in the past.

“Blair is the only one that came close.” He told her quietly.

Looking around for the stake they were supposed to be going to. “That doesn’t surprise me. Everyone only has good things to say about him.”

He looked down at her while he walked, “is that a bad thing?”

Kobie shook her head, “no, I just feel like everyone is trying to sell him to me.”

“Maybe they just want to see him happy and you’re what’s going to make him happy.” He said quietly, and then pointed to the red stake in the ground. “Who knows, maybe you’d end up being happy too.”

Kobie paused and looked at him, she hadn’t thought of that. Having someone that believed in her and trusted her had been something she’d been looking for since she was little. She frowned at Calum, “that’s cheating, distracting me right before this.”

Calum pulled his shirt over his head, “if you’re as good as I’ve been told, nothing will distract you from the task at hand.” He grinned, “nothing.” He turned his back to her.

Blowing out a breath, Kobie stood there. When he started to take off his pants, she turned her back to him and pulled her shirt over her head. Inhaling slowly, she scented all around. From this point, she could pick up Blair, Gage, and Devin’s scent. They were smart, doing this right after a rain when all the scents of nature were amplified and enhanced.

She pulled off her jeans and stuffed them in the pack and put it over her head. They’d be smarter than that, making sure their scents crossed all over this area. Find the pelt, she thought as she shifted fast.

Kobie had found four places the men’s scents crossed paths, and twice where Calum had followed them. She paused and looked up. Would they have put it in a tree? That would hardly be fair, but she wasn’t putting anything past them. She was near the furthest border of the property by this time. She could make out the decaying smell of the pelt, but the fresh rain was messing with her picking the exact location. Stopping, she inhaled slowly and processed everything that came back to her.

Rage moved through her, and she froze. That scent. She would never forget it. The last time she smelled it was on the bodies of their loved ones when she’d found them dead. Spinning, she inhaled again. She had to find Calum—had to warn him.

Catching a hint of his cat’s scent, she took off in that direction, paying no heed to any obstacle that was in her way. As she ran, she filtered through the other scents, trying to see if there were any others in this area that were out of place or didn’t belong to one of the clans that had been out here.

Spotting Calum, she leaped over a small ditch and then changed direction to cut him off before she lost him again. She moved fast and silent as she jumped over a downed tree and then took a quick right. This should put her right in his path.

When she could smell him closer, she crouched down and debated if she should just leap on him. If she ran for him, he may think she was just looking for the pelt and trying to weigh lay him. Too late to decide, she made out his dark fur on the other side of the ferns growing. Bounding over them, she landed in front of him—later she’d do a victory cheer that she’d been able to startle him as he crouched down, his ears lying flat. Straightening, she bumped her head into his shoulder and then turned and visibly showed him she was scenting the area. She emitted a low yowl so he would hopefully understand.

She looked back to him, he was standing straight again, sniffing the air.

Calum shook his head, then moved over to bump against her and then turned to look in the house’s direction.

Kobie took off. She hoped like hell he’d been telling her to go get backup because that’s exactly what she was planning on doing. Bounding over a mucky area, she caught the scent of the pelt. Later, she told herself she’d come to get the prize and win that. Right now, she needed to get help and get all those she loved hidden away safely.

She jumped over the fence and heard cheering as everyone thought she was bringing the pelt back.

Blair stepped out of the small crowd when she was almost to them. “Something’s wrong.”

Kobie slid to a stop in front of him, then went back to the corner of the house and looked out in the direction she knew Calum to be, then growled for all to hear.

“Fuck.” Blair ran over and stood with his back to all the other shifters. He inhaled slowly. Then glanced down at her. “Someone’s out there.”

“Shit.” Gage was already pulling his shirt over his head. “Kelsey, you get the women in the house and lock all the doors.”

Devin started to take off his shirt when Gage shook his head, “You’re staying, watch over your dad and kill anything that comes near the house.”

Devin didn’t look happy but turned back to usher the others to the house.

“Cale,” Blair called out as he kicked off his boots, “you get on that roof with a loaded rifle.”

Kobie watched Cale run for the truck.

“Noah, you’re with us. Jake, you and Gary stand guard here.” Gage said quickly, then unzipped his jeans.

“Take us to him, babe,” Blair said as he pulled down his jeans.

Kobie turned and waited until three tigers were standing beside her instead of three naked men. The size of Noah momentarily shocked her, then shook it off and took off in the direction she’d come. She didn’t plan to run straight for Calum. The odor of the intruders wasn’t leading toward him. There were two scents now, possibly three, the rain was covering their presence like it had the pelt.

Skidding to a halt, she turned to see the men had no problems keeping up with her. She lifted her chin and inhaled slowly, then made a slow movement with her head to show them the directions she was picking up scents.

Noah didn’t wait for any further instruction, he bound off in the direction she’d started with.

Gage went to their left, leaving her and Blair to go down the center.

Calum was straight ahead, and she wasn’t sure if he was stalking them or waiting for backup. They were smart, she had to give them that, they weren’t sticking together to make it easy to be found.

Blair kept pace with her and didn’t even hesitate when she’d deviate around something in their path, he was letting her lead, and not making it more work for him to stay with her. She respected that he wasn’t trying to send her back to the house now that they knew what they were looking for. Their cats were in synch with each other. That was something she’d had to work for before, even with her own twin.

The scent of blood filled the air, Kobie stopped quickly and listened to pinpoint a direction. She could barely make the sounds of frenzied movement, but it was enough to show them where to go. Twisting, she turned and ran in that direction as fast as she could. They couldn’t kill these men, despite her cat thinking they should, they might have information about the rest of her clan, and that had to be her main objective.

Clearing a small grouping of trees, Blair and Kobie came to a fast stop to see a naked Calum standing there with a naked, bleeding man on the ground. Around the man’s neck was a thick leather collar. That would prevent him from being able to shift. Kobie didn’t even care that Calum was naked. With some cord in his hand, he zipped the pack back up and motioned to a tree. “I’m going to tie him to that.” He dragged the man by his arm to the tree, then looked at Kobie. “You can bring the guys here for him after we get the other two.”

Kobie made a soft prusten to let him know she would before moving closer to look at the man. She didn’t recognize him, nor his scent. He wasn’t one of the men that had killed her clan members. She snuffed at him, then turned away.

Calum was back in cat form. He swung his head and looked at her, then looked to their right.

Kobie inhaled and checked to confirm the other two scents of their intruders were both in that direction. She didn’t wait to see what they were planning on doing, just took off running. She needed to get to them before Noah or Gage killed the one that had killed her clan members.

No animals were making a sound with this many predators present. It wasn’t hard to find the other two, the sounds of fighting traveled easily in the quiet bush. As Kobie burst through the foliage, her heart pounded when she saw a body on the ground. She trotted over to it and inhaled. It wasn’t the one that had been on their land back home. Turning, she saw the flash of orange through the trees and took off toward it.

Calum and Blair were already there, circling with Gage as Noah took on a large tiger. He couldn’t kill him, she relayed to her cat, so she’d ignore the scent of blood. When Noah pinned him to the ground, his teeth clamped under the other cat’s jaw, Kobie sprung in that direction and flew at him. She hit Noah hard, causing him to release the other animal. Scrambling to her feet, she stood over the injured animal and growled low, ears flat.

“We need him alive,” Blair said loudly from behind her.

Kobie stared at the tiger and hissed at him, demanding he shift.

His animal cried out in pain and ended with a man screeching as he finally lay there on the ground in skin and not fur.

“I got him.” Calum was there, wrapping his shirt around the man’s bleeding neck. He glanced behind them. “Noah, go get help and bring that body back to the house.”

Kobie looked to see Noah take off into the trees.

“Blair, Kobie, go get that other guy,” Calum said.

Gage, wearing his jeans again, walked over and squatted down beside Calum. “I got this one.” He glanced at Calum, “you go find out how the fuck they got on this land without us knowing.”

Calum stood up. “It might take a while. I’m going to have to go around the entire perimeter, that team of Dev’s missed something.”

Blair came over to Kobie and rubbed along her side, giving her a gentle nudge. They had to track back and get that one that was tied to a tree.

Bumping her head against him, she turned and took off back into the trees.