Page 37 of Destined Predator
The label Casey had pinned on him stung, for reasons Rhett wasn’t about to go into right then. He called Casey’s name again and, getting no reply, walked a few steps in the direction he’d gone, but soon turned back. If Casey had left, he presumably wanted to be on his own. Besides, Rhett had their visitors to deal with.
Not for much longer—they were preparing to leave when he got back into the kitchen. They seemed to have thawed a little too and were answering Emil’s questions about their division.
“Nothing like they show on TV, no.” Perez cast a glance at Rhett when he came in. “Just that with unusual matters becoming known about with more widespread and accessible media, it made sense to centralize information and resources.”
“Matters?” Ben asked.
“Different threats.”
“Threats. That how you see us? And what do you call us—hostiles?” Ben continued.
“No—” Rand’s cell beeped, and he focused his attention on that. “We’re out of here. Got a sighting,” he told his partner.
Robin’s head shot up. “Ernesto?”
“We’re not at liberty to say.” Rand cocked his head at them. “Don’t think about skipping off anywhere, and keep your heads down, okay? Take our cards and call us if there’s anything we should know.”
Rhett showed them out. He imagined the town’s reaction to discovering there was such a thing as shifters. Hell, thecountry’sresponse. They’d be exploited, the best they could hope for being treated as circus freaks, and the worse, as animals with reason, which would make them great slaves.
“Casey cooling off?”
He turned to see Ben and his brothers heading for their car. “I guess.”
“My advice? Let him.” Ben shared a kiss with Jack. A goodbye kiss.
“Hey, Jack, go with them if you want.” Rhett indicated the others.
“And leave you alone?” Jack sounded shocked.
“He won’t be alone for long,” someone commented from inside the car, to wolf-whistles.
It didn’t take much more encouragement to persuade Jack—soon the Akers’ vehicle and Jack’s were bumping down the track.
Let him cool off, they said.“He’s not. Not cooling off,” Rhett muttered. “He’s…”What? Hot and bothered?And no matter how much he tried to put Casey out of his mind, he couldn’t. “Damn it!” Fighting their destined bond made his head thump and yeah, was cowardly. What he had with Casey was frightening. What hethoughtthey had.I’m not sure,he told himself.We can’tknow. Except…he did.
“Well, I’m not ready!” he complained to the night. Memories came to him of other milestones in his life. Him a kid, and his first time on horseback, and his mother clutching at his father’s arm, saying Rhett was too young and he might not be ready for it.
“No one’s ever ready for something. It’s ready for them,” Chauncey had replied, setting Rhett atop Lucky Spot, his pinto. Rhett hadn’t fallen, just like he hadn’t drowned in the creek his first time in deep water or crashed the car on his maiden voyage behind the wheel. He wouldn’t have won any prizes for riding or swimming or driving, but he’d gotten more proficient. Did his father’s belief cover this situation too? Was being with Casey something that was ready for him?
Cursing—mostly his own stupidity and fear—Rhett called Casey’s cell. He was done denying what they were. The fear in his gut wasn’t just human worry—it was the pull of something ancient, animal, older than language. If Casey was in trouble, there wasn’t a power on earth that could stop him finding him.
It rang then went to voice mail. The silence after the voicemail clicked off was worse than any voice message.Something’s happened.He felt it in his stomach like a cold pocket of dread. He peered out into the dark as if that would do anything, then stumbled, and nearly fell. Except it wasn’t him falling, wasn’t him in distress. He was accessing Casey’s feeling’s, hispain. Rhett’s body twitched and spasmed, his limbs flailing and burning. Casey was trying to shift! No, he was shifting, from coywolf to human and back. Something was very wrong.
The pain hit Rhett in rolling waves—fur where there should be skin, claws scraping inside his own bones. He gasped, gripping the porch rail to stay upright, heart syncing to Casey’s ragged pulse somewhere out there in the dark.
Almost before he knew what he was going to do, Rhett was in his truck, speeding for Jerry’s house and surprising him by interrupting his dinner, and asking for the loan of Duke, Jerry’s German Shepherd, the best tracking dog in town.
“No, stay. I’ll manage.” Rhett waved Jerry back inside. God knew he felt guilty enough bothering one of the men on his own time. They’d been working more since Vince and Aldan had been fired, and even more this last week with Ernesto having gone AWOL. “I’ll bring him back.”
Jerry grinned. “Sendhim back. Just tell him ‘home’, and he’ll do the rest.” He would, too.
Back at the Double T, Rhett saddled Hurricane, checked his supplies, his flashlight and his gun, then rubbed the towel that Casey had used into Duke’s muzzle. “Track,” he ordered. “Track, boy.” He led Duke to the porch where Casey had set off from. Duke yelped and pawed the ground—he had the scent.
“Good boy,” Rhett told him. He swung up onto Hurricane’s back and set off into the night to rescue Casey, who was in trouble and needed him…and was his destined mate.
The stars blurred as Hurricane pounded over the open range, wind burning Rhett’s eyes. Somewhere ahead, that invisible bond thrummed like a beacon, weak but unbroken. He leaned forward in the saddle, whispering to the dark, “Hold on, Casey. I’m comin’.”
Chapter Sixteen
