Page 58 of His Prodigal Alpha

“Isn’t that cult-leader-guy a weasel?” Lena asked, her foot hovering over the final step from the staircase, then she muttered, “Which, y’know, is a bit clichéd if you ask me…and I’m pretty sure weasels get a bad rap because of it, too. I mean, weasels are actually really cute.”

Ignoring her nervous rambling, I felt anxious. Cam was out of my sight, and there were strange shifters nearby, and the coincidence of them being the same species as the guy who had tried to have Beck kidnapped was even more unnerving. Especially when that same guy had been strangely silent since posting his diatribe to his followers at Christmas.

“Are the kids safe up there?” I asked, tilting my chin in the direction Lena had just come. There was a baby monitor on the coffee table —one of those fancy ones with a video feed— and a glance down at it showed all three babies were fast asleep.

Still, unease tugged at my gut, and I’d learned to trust my instincts. “Go back up there. Dex, you go with her.”

Neither of them argued.

I looked at the others still seated around the living room, on the floor or in the additional chairs Beck and Ollie had bought, most cuddling their children close, and I did my best to smile reassuringly. “I’m just gonna go see if these newcomers are lost, or if they’ve just got really bad timing.”

“Uh huh,” the woman I’d been chatting with only minutes earlier arched her eyebrows, holding her granddaughter to her chest. “Sure. That’s why you’ve sent the dragon to guard the Alpha’s kids and yours, huh?”

“It’s just a precaution,” I insisted, trying not to sound too frustrated. I was a new dad, and I was pretty sure Damon would castrate me if I didn’t think about Cam before I went outside to investigate the strangers who still hadn’t come to introduce themselves. Hell, I’d castrate myself. “And if there’s a problem, Dex and Lena will get everyone into one place. There’s safety in numbers.”

As I said it, I scented the air again, a feeling of foreboding bubbled in my gut.

If the strange shifters were here to cause trouble, they’d also understood that concept. They must have been waiting for an opportunity to strike, because it seemed far too convenient that they’d arrived when most of the town’s defenses were down. And if they were smart, they would have also come in force.

The faint scent of weasel was gone, but the air feltwrongsomehow. Instinct told me they were still out there.

Hadn’t Eric mentioned something about scent blockers once?

Shit.

For all that Beck, Eric, and Brandt had said they were expecting the Moonmusic people to regroup and come atthe town again, it felt as though they had become complacent. Where was the security on nights like this one, when the pack was dispersed and running Gods-only-knew where?

Glass broke overhead and Lena’s shout had me launching into action. As much as I wanted to race up the stairs to protect my son, I knew I needed to make sure the group gathered downstairs with me were safe as well.

“Change of plan: get into the downstairs bathroom,” I demanded, pulling the adults up from their seats as I spoke. They clutched their little ones to their chests and bustled down the hallway. “It’ll be a tight fit, but at least you can lock and barricade the door. Don’t come out until one of the pack confirms it’s safe.” I had no idea how much of that they paid attention to, given that they were already halfway down the hallway while I was making my way up the stairs.

I stopped short in the doorway to the nursery, terror speeding through my veins. I felt sick, and my heart hammered at the sight of the overturned bassinet. My knees threatened to give way when I saw that it was empty, as were the twin cribs.

Lena’s limp form was slumped against the wall to my right. I almost hadn’t noticed her. When I bent to check on her, she had a pulse, but she was out cold. On the floor, Dex was sprawled on his stomach, bleeding from a pretty significant head wound.

Something inside mesnapped.

One second, I was a terrified man —a new father whose two week old newborn had been snatched out from under his nose— and the next I was shifting, my bones and organs rearranging, fur sprouting from my limbs. It didn’t hurt, per se, though I wouldn’t call the process comfortable. My clothestore and I lashed and kicked to get out of them.

Then the world was in sharper focus, somehow. Scents, sounds…even my vision was all so much more intense.

As I became used to my new form, I could hear my son crying. In fact, I could hear all three of the missing babies crying.

I didn’t stop to think, just leapt out of the window, landing on the pitched roof of the wraparound porch. My claws instinctively dug into the tiles to slow my slide, but when I focused on retracting them to leap from the roof to the ground, it worked.

I followed the sounds and scents of our abducted pups and cub, still unable to catch more than just the faintest whiff of the strange shifters. Someone was muttering, though, making demands to get the babies to shut up.

They were in human form, then. At least some of them were. It made sense: it would be hard to carry children off in animal form, especially for creatures as small as weasels. Who knew how many wolves or other predators were with them in shifted form, though. There was no way —especially after their attempt to kidnap Beck— that they wouldn’t bring enforcement.

As much as I wanted to rush after them, I knew the smarter thing to do would be to stalk from afar. I needed to get a better idea of how many there were. I couldn’t let them leave town with our children, but I also knew better than to run into unknown danger. I wouldn’t be any good to Cam, Duke, and Rory if I got myself caught, or injured, or killed.

It struck me that Eric or Brandt would still be at the clinic. One of them always stayed there in case someone needed urgent medical attention. Unfortunately, the kidnapperswere heading in the opposite direction to the clinic. I was a mountain lion, and my phone was presumably still somewhere in the tattered remnants of my clothes back in the nursery.

Casting one last mournful glance in the direction of my baby’s wails, I made the soul wrenching decision to head to the clinic.

At least in this form I was fast.

All four limbs worked with effortless, feline grace as I raced towards the clinic. I scratched at the front door, yowling until Brandt swung it open with a scowl. The expression slackened into surprise when his gaze landed on me.

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