Page 30 of No Strings Attached

Grabbing the handle of the door that led to his locked garage, Morgan glanced inside. The access door on the far side hung open, and so did his truck doors. The hard-cover liner over the top of the bed looked as if it had been bent in half.

Morgan snapped his head around when he heard a car door slam. Yanking the garage door closed, he raced to his front door and outside. Someone jumped into the driver’s seat of a burgundy car and sped off. As badly was Morgan wanted to go after it, the car was moving too fast for him to catch up.

Storming back inside, Morgan went straight to his kitchen and called Dominic.

“The bastard was inside my house!”

“Are you and Sam okay?” Sheriff Harper asked.

“Yeah, but he went through my truck, causing damage, like he’d been searching for something. Now he knows where Sam is.”

“I know you’re treating your mate with kids gloves, and I don’t blame you,” Dominic said, “but unless you get a name from Sam, we don’t even know where to start looking. Do you want to dust for prints?”

“It would be useless,” Morgan said. “I saw black gloves on the guy’s hands.” He headed back to the garage. “I’m going to try and catch his scent. If I run across him, I’ll know who he is.”

“I’m heading your way,” Dominic said. “We’ll see if we can find any clues.” He hung up.

Morgan doubted the stranger would be so careless as to leave anything behind. He was too careful, making sure not to look at the cameras at the station, donning a cap and sunglasses, and wearing gloves when he broke into Morgan’s garage.

What the hell could he have been looking for?

Setting aside the cordless phone, Morgan drew in a lungful of air. He picked up an unfamiliar odor, but the scent would be much more powerful if he was in his bear form.

Since Sam was upstairs sleeping, Morgan pulled off his underwear, tossed them onto the frame of his truck bed, and then shifted. The scent grew a hell of a lot stronger. Morgan sniffed around, noticing that the guy’s smell was strongest inside the cab of his truck.

He was dealing with a hyena shifter. Every hyena that Morgan had ever met was underhanded, cutthroat, and rotten to their core. They were also self-serving, caring for no one but themselves.

As Morgan eased back from the passenger side, he heard a small gasp. He looked through the driver’s side window and saw Sam standing there, rigid, his eyes wide.

His mate must have woken up at the sound of the commotion and made his way downstairs. Morgan moved away from his truck and shifted back to his human form, grabbing his underwear, and then sliding them on.

“Sam, wait,” Morgan said when Sam spun around and took off.

Morgan cursed as he ran after Sam, but his mate collided with the counter and fell sideways, crashing into one of the bar stools. He spun, grabbed for air, and slammed right on top of the chair. Sam screamed and writhed as Morgan closed the distance and dropped to his knees.

“Stay away from me!” Sam shouted. “You’re one of them!”

Cursing again, Morgan picked Sam up, and then rushed upstairs. His mate twisted like a wild man, but Morgan’s kept a tight hold on him. When they entered his bedroom, Morgan lay Sam down and turned him onto his stomach.

There was a lot more blood than the last time. Dr. Baldwin was going to kill Morgan for this. “I need to get you to the clinic.”

Sam had grown still, his arms lax at his sides, his head resting on his right cheek, staring straight ahead.

“Sam, I’m sorry you saw that.” Morgan crouched down so he was at eye level with his mate. “I wanted to tell you I was a shifter, but you’d just been through something traumatic. I wasn’t sure telling you the truth would help or hurt you.”

It was as though Sam was in a catatonic state. He still blinked, but it was as if his mind had shut down.

“I would never hurt you, Sam. I swear.” Morgan swallowed around the burning lump in his throat. “You’re my mate. Fate handpicked you for me. I would rather chew off my own arm than raise a hand to you.”

Morgan rested his fists on the bed and closed his eyes. “Please, Sam. Please talk to me.”

When the doorbell rang, Morgan stood, snarling. He didn’t want to leave his mate, but he stormed from the room, jogged down the steps, and yanked the door open, nearly ripping it from its hinges.

Dominic frowned as he looked Morgan over. “Something happened after we talked.”

“My mate saw my bear and didn’t respond well. I need to get him to the clinic. His back is bleeding.”

“Why is his back bleeding?” Dominic came in and closed the door.

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