Page 17 of Bear the Burden

“Damn, you’re nosy.” Hyett traced his fingers along the rough asphalt roof. “I saw the way you two were gazing at each other through the window at the pizza shop.”

Killian choked on a disbelieving laugh. “He was high as fuck and zoned out,” he argued. “His mind was probably riding rainbow unicorns through a melted chocolate waterfall.”

Hyett had been joking with his brother, but… “You’re way too specific for that to be random,” he snarled.

“Because it just popped into my head. Jeez. I can see now you’re going to be a barrel full of laughs until you claim him.” Killian rolled his eyes. “He’s now my brother-in-law, Hyett. I’m going to treat him just like I treat you and Ryker, so stop with the attitude.”

“If you treat Wesley the same as us, Dad will help me bury your carcass.” Hyett reached into his back pocket when his phone started ringing.

It was Wesley. Hyett’s heart skipped a beat.

“Get lost so I can talk dirty to my mate.” He shooed his brother away before he answered. “Hey, hon.”

“Hyett,” Wesley groaned with a heavy wheeze.

He bolted upright. “Wesley, what’s wrong?”

Killian turned back around and trotted toward him, a quizzical expression on his face.

“Hurts,” Wesley coughed roughly. “Hurt m-me.”

Hyett was up and racing to the edge of the roof, Killian right behind him, texting on his phone.

“Are you still at home, baby?” Hyett flung himself down from the roof so fast he nearly landed on his ass.

“Y-Yeah,” Wesley wheezed, his breath rasping through the speaker. “Hiding.” Then a ping. Wesley shared his location.

Hyett’s heart pounded like crazy, but his bear wanted to attack whoever had hurt their mate. So did he. “Wesley, is the person who hurt you still there? Are they in the house?”

His dad and Ryker shot out of the back door, Quinton taking the wheel as they jumped into the SUV and his dad sped from the driveway.

“Wesley?” Hyett’s voice cracked with fear. “Baby, answer me.”

His father’s hand landed on his shoulder, squeezing hard as they tore down the back road.

“Wesley?” He pulled his phone away and saw the call had disconnected. “Shit!”

Closing his eyes, Hyett prayed whoever had hurt Wesley wasn’t still there, but another part of him hoped like hell they were, because they had four deadly bear shifters heading their way to wipe them from existence.

Chapter Five

As they pulled to the curb a few houses down from Wesley’s, Hyett struggled to keep his bear under control. It was raging inside of him, desperate to break free and maul whoever had hurt his mate.

This was the one time he didn’t want to keep a cool head. Hyett wanted to tear someone apart, but that wasn’t the way to go. They couldn’t storm in there blindly without knowing what they were up against. Wesley’s attacker could still be inside, or there could even be multiple assailants, which would make the situation even more dangerous for his mate.

But damn if Hyett didn’t want to crash through the door to get to Wesley. It made him glad he’d exchanged numbers with the guy earlier. Otherwise, Hyett wouldn’t have even known his mate was in trouble.

The four of them headed up the driveway in complete silence. All the lights were off, shrouding the interior in complete darkness.

Even the porchlight wasn’t on.

Cautiously, he and his dad stepped onto the porch as Killian and Ryker disappeared around the back of the house.

A foul odor filled his nostrils and made his gut churn. He glanced at his dad, who clearly smelled it too.

Why would a demon be at Wesley’s house?

Quinton must have sensed that Hyett was about to unravel because his dad swung open the front door, not even bothering to check through any windows first.

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