Hunter's Heart (Alpha Pack #4)(39)

She scrambled to process what Kira was saying. "He becomes impotent for anyone else, and he'll get sick?"

"Exactly. "

"So, if Ryon hadn't bitten me?"

"Within two or three weeks, he would've been dead."

Daria reeled from the revelation. "No."

"I'm afraid so." Kira took her hand. "When Ryon told you that he had no choice, he wasn't just talking about saving your life. He saved his, too."

She had to know. "What if my injuries hadn't been life-threatening? Would he have turned me without my consent?"

Rowan shook her head. "Ryon is one of the most honorable men I know. He never would've taken that course of action unless it was to save his mate. If you hadn't wanted him, he would've let you go without saying a word."

"He would rather have died than force me," she whispered.

"Any of them would."

"That's probably how he feels now. Like I don't want him." She looked between the women in shame. "What happens to a mated shifter who feels rejected?"

"Eventually, he'd lose his will to live, I imagine," Kira said. "But don't worry about Ryon. He's made of stronger stuff than that. He won't give up easily."

"Take tonight for yourself," Rowan advised. "Give both of you the night to cool off. Then talk to him when he gets back from their search mission tomorrow."

She thought about that, then nodded. "Sounds like a good idea."

"Now, why don't I go back to our place and fetch stuff to make mojitos?" Kira suggested.

Rowan smiled. "Girl, I think that's the best idea I've heard all day."

Daria couldn't agree more.

. . .

"Jesse? This is Nick."

"If this is bad news, I'm hanging up," the man said gruffly. "I'm up to my dick in piranha."

"Don't get testy, I just have a question. You know that missing criminal attorney from Missouri that Daria's father called you about when he was trying to find her?"

"Yep. The guy's her ex-fiance."

"What did you say the man's name was?"

"Hang on." A shuffling of papers sounded on the other end. Nick didn't have to be a PreCog to see the mess. "Here it is. His name is Benjamin Cantrell."

"Oh, f**k." Pinching the bridge of his nose, he stared at the piece of paper on his desk.

"Why? What does that mean?"

"It means we've got a huge goddamned problem, and now I have to ask a favor. I need something containing Cantrell's DNA and I need it here yesterday. A strand of hair from his bathtub, his toothbrush, anything."

"What the hell is going on, Nicky? If you got a body, tell me."

"Oh, we've got something far, far worse than that. And if my information is correct, we've got an ID on our beast that's ripping up campers."

Bring the wolf to OR-4. I want to try to splice his DNA with human subject 356 again. I'm on the verge of a breakthrough.

Human subject 356-a missing human named Benjamin Cantrell.

. . .

Ryon suited up, pulling on his fatigues, slamming a clip loaded with silver bullets into his pistol, sheathing a wicked knife in his boot. If those human weapons weren't enough, he had his wolf. If he couldn't beat the beast, in wolf form he could hopefully outrun the bastard.

Ryon's group consisted of Jax, Aric, and Micah. The others had split up as well, covering other quadrants. Ryon's group focused on the area where the husband had been found, two miles from his wife. They would work their way outward in widening circles, looking for any sign that something large had come that way. Ryon wished his group had Kalen in it, so the Sorcerer could simply do his magical thing and shrivel the creature to nothing like he'd done with Malik's batlike Sluagh. But Aric could always torch him if things got bad.

Or he could if Nick hadn't given the order to take the thing alive if at all possible. Nothing worse than searching for the Incredible Hulk of paranormal beasts, except attempting to subdue it with a no kill order over your head. There were hopes that the man trapped inside his beastly counterpart could be saved.

He wasn't holding his breath.

Ryon parked the Range Rover as close as he could to the site of the second body and they walked the rest of the way. Aric carried a heavy net over one shoulder, Jax a coil of rope. "Nothing like having to play rodeo star with an enraged lizard."

"No f**kin' shit," Aric muttered. "It'd be a lot easier if I could just fry his ass. Then we could get on home and get laid."

"That's got my vote," Jax put in.

Micah remained silent, and Ryon studied his friend in concern. He never had much to say these days, and seemed kind of spacey. But he figured Nick knew best, letting him begin to take assignments although he was actually worse off than Phoenix, who still hadn't been cleared for duty.

A thirty-minute hike later, they came to the area where the man's body had been found. Crime scene tape was wrapped around the trees to form a rough circle, but if it hadn't been for that, there wouldn't have been much to mark where another life had ended so horribly.

Except the odor. Ryon detected old blood, and a more rancid smell that must belong to the beast. It was strong here, more so than at the first scene, for whatever reason. He wanted to gag.