Page 42 of Untamed Instincts

His mate rested his hand on his knee as he sat up. “You have your bad apples in every species, babe. Not all vampires are evil. Jax, one of the men who showed up to protect you, has two mates, one of which is a vampire. Arion is a real nice guy. Then you have vampires like Toro, who make a bad name for their kind.”

“Wait. Two mates?” The thought of sharing Quinton with someone else made jealousy rear its ugly head. The bear shifter was his.

“It happens.” His mate stood. “Ready? I’m only taking you along for the meeting with Harris. I want you to lure him outside.”

“Then what?” Noah was still stuck on the two-mate thing.

“Then we snatch him and find a vampire to undo whatever Toro has done to Harris’s mind. Simplest way is to have the vampire who performed the hypnosis undo it, since only they know exactly what was done. But we both know Toro isn’t going to.”

Noah’s gut told him that whatever Toro had done to Harris was going to take a miracle to reverse, if that was even possible at all.

Chapter Ten

The meeting at Deep Dish with Harris was set. Quinton had called Roman, the owner, to give the snow leopard a heads-up. It also wouldn’t hurt to have an extra set of eyes and, just in case, extra muscle.

Hyett had dropped Wesley off at work, and although Quinton’s youngest son despised letting someone else protect his mate, Wesley’s boss, a wolf shifter, vowed to guard the human.

Quinton also asked Kalen to help, and without hesitation, he’d agreed, telling Quinton he would bring the twins with him.

Which meant Raidh, Jaytee’s mate, along with Casimir, Damon’s mate, had cast protection spells over all three Frost men.

Quinton would love to have a fae at the ready to cast those kinds of spells over him and his family.

At the moment, he and his boys were at Harris’s small bungalow, along with Noah. His mate was seated on the couch, glancing around, but he could tell Noah was still upset about the human remark.

He wanted to kick himself for letting that slip out. Of course Quinton didn’t think all humans were bad. He’d started to tell Noah that he’d lived for over three centuries and had seen so much violence and hate.

After a while, Quinton had lost count of how many shifters had been hunted and killed by humans and how many vampires, especially back in the day when superstitions ran rampant, had been staked or beheaded.

It was just…when Quinton listened to the voicemail Layne had left, saying he was going to “rescue” Noah from a biker gang, and heard how Harris felt about Quinton’s sons and longtime friends, even threatening to call the cops, rage filled him.

Call the cops for what? Wearing leather and riding a motorcycle? For being extremely tall and muscular? For looking pissed that Noah had taken off, putting his safety at risk?

Killian and Ryker had told Quinton they’d needed help to find Noah since his mate used a car, which made it almost impossible to track.

It’d been Raidh, a biker’s mate, who’d used a location spell to find where Noah had gone. If it hadn’t been for the fae, Noah would have been at Harris’s when the hyena shifter had shown up.

And that was exactly what Quinton smelled. A hyena. That was how Toro was able to get his hands on Harris before full dark.

“Hyena,” Killian spat, picking up the scent the same time as Quinton. Hyett deeply inhaled then scowled.

“Hate them sons of bitches,” Ryker grumbled, joining them from the rear of the house. “I didn’t see anything disturbed back there. You might want to talk to your boy, Noah. I think he might have a little problem with obsessive cleaning. I’ve never seen a bathroom that sparkling before.”

Noah glanced up at Ryker, the glint in his green eyes dulled. “There’s a reason behind the madness, but it’s not my story to tell.”

Not only was Noah still upset with Quinton, but being in this house, knowing Toro had targeted Harris because of the deal he’d made, had to be eating away at his mate.

“There’s nothing else here we need,” he said to his sons. “Let’s head toward the diner.”

No sooner had everyone walked outside than Noah stood at the bottom of the porch steps, closed his eyes, and inhaled deeply before letting it out slowly.

Quinton moved in behind Noah, careful of his strength, and began working his mate’s stiff shoulders, kneading the tightness, unsurprised at the numerous tension knots he felt.

Quinton was developing his own trying to navigate their relationship. So used to being a bachelor, he had a lot of readjusting to do himself, but it appeared he wasn’t off to the best start.

“Is there any way to talk this out, hon?” He pressed his fingers into a tough spot on Noah’s left shoulder.

“I’m just really worried about him. I’m also afraid to talk to him in the diner after the conversation this morning.” Noah moaned, his head lulling to the side, making noises Quinton forced himself to ignore.

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