Page 8 of Leashed

Chapter Four

Bo jogged down the trail, the clean mountain air clearing his head of the exhaustion still slugging through him from his unexpected guard duty two nights prior. He dropped his bag against the base of a tree, grinning as Ryan did the same. “Keep an eye out up the trail until I’m ready,” he ordered, a chill running through him as he pulled his shirt over his head and the cold air hit his skin. “And stop looking at your fucking watch.”

“I’m removing it, not looking at it,” Ryan grumbled, slipping his watch into his backpack and craning his neck toward a small offshoot of the path they were on. “I’m going to put these bags a little deeper in.”

With his clothes balled up and zipped away, Bo dropped to all fours as the hellhound transformation took hold. While holding human form was second nature topside, there was nothing like letting his hound out alongside one of his brothers. His twin, Alex, was a few states away, making the complete unification into Cerberus impossible, but that was usually for the best, since two dogs ripping through the forest was a little less conspicuous than one three-headed beast tearing up the trails.

The scent of a cougar hit him hard, and his mouth watered at the idea of taking down bigger game than a ground squirrel. Pacing impatiently until Ryan joined him, he nipped at his older brother’s hind leg before he took off through the overgrown trees and shot down the path, determined to ignore the ache in his injured paw.

Far fitter than him, Ryan caught up with ease, surpassing him and turning on a dime when the scent of the cougar switched directions.

They needed this—an afternoon of hunting for sport, tearing across Cougar Mountain without thoughts of work and bloodlines and mousey women with asshole boyfriends.

As he began to lag behind, Ryan slowed to a trot, taunting him with plaintive barks and feigning exhaustion until Bo would catch up and Ryan would dart ahead another hundred yards.

The brothers stayed tight to the cougar’s trail until it came to an abrupt stop at the base of a tree. Looking up, Ryan chuffed and backed up from the wildcat’s striking distance, nudging him aside as they assessed the animal’s size.

It was a fucking beast.

He licked his lips, snapping his jaws at Ryan when his brother shook his head.

He could make it.

Ryan’s head dropped for a moment, the resignation clear in his eyes as he pawed at the ground to pull the attention of the agitated cat. Skulking to the base of the tree, Bo hooked his claws deep into the bark and began to heft his weight up, his eyes tracking the distracted cougar’s movements on the branch above him. His muscles strained from the effort to pull himself to the first branch, Ryan’s low growls covering the sounds of the tree groaning under his weight.

The cougar was a full-sized alpha male, comparable to Bo in both size and weight. His tail twitched as he tracked Ryan, his body prone and ready to attack. Placing his front paws on the branch holding the cat, Bo inched forward until he was in a prime position, the cougar too focused on Ryan’s challenging snarl to notice the encroachment. When the cat’s head finally swung toward him, Bo launched himself onto the beast’s back, his jaws clamping down on the nape of his neck as his claws dug deep into the soft belly.

Ryan’s barked warning came at the moment the branch broke, sending him and the cougar plummeting to the ground, the two-hundred-pound animal landing hard on him. His jaw snapped open and the injured cat tore between the trees without a glance back.

The delicious pain radiating through his body was dulled by the adrenaline pumping in his veins. He rolled slowly onto his stomach, stilling long enough for Ryan to do a quick scan of his injuries. Pushing himself to his feet, he lumbered back in the direction of their bags. The intoxicating rush of the attack faded before he zipped up his jeans.

*

Catching sight ofClotho standing outside the shop where he was working, Bo was forced to use the steel post he was hammering into place to help him to his feet while his back continued to protest his every movement.

Fucking cougars.

Walking out into the parking lot, he lit a cigarette. “Hey, girl. What’s up?”

“You’re accompanying me to Riddley’s Roadhouse tonight.”

He exhaled slowly, watching the smoke hang in the cold air before it dissipated. “Really dedicated to slumming it with the humans, aren’t you?” He glanced down at the time. “When do you want to go?”

“I’ll meet you there at eight. Do you know where you’re going?”

“The one on Fourth?”

“That’s the one. See you there.”

He dropped his cigarette to the ground and snuffed it out with his toe as she walked away, her colorful woolen hat disappearing around the corner. Heading back into the shop to wrap up his day, he walked the shop owner through the repairs. The sizable check in his wallet made his drive home a little more pleasant than usual.

After scrubbing off the grease and grime of the day, he stood in front of the full-length hallway mirror, staring hard at his reflection and smoothing his T-shirt down. “You sure this doesn’t look too scuzzy?”

Glancing up from his computer, Ryan shrugged. “It’s probably the least offensive shirt you own.”

“Not a fucking help,” he muttered, yanking the tee over his head and storming into Ryan’s bedroom. “So if I put one of these over it, it’ll cover the words on the back and the skulls on the arms?” He tugged his shirt back on, shrugging on a black button-down and returning to the living room. “Yeah?”

“Better.” Ryan continued to tap away on his laptop. “Where are you off to tonight?”

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