Midnight Wolf (Shifters Unbound #11)(85)

“Bringing Ben a present from Jaycee.” Zander glanced at Angus again, who stood tall next to him and didn’t move. “Ben told me this was his room number.”

“We switched,” Angus rumbled. “He must have forgotten.”

Or not, Tamsin thought. Ben might have thought it funny to send Zander to their mate-frenzied room at dawn. She and Angus had practiced their spontaneity most of the night and hadn’t been quiet about it.

“Well, anyway.” Zander turned to go, then looked Angus up and down. “You might want to put on clothes before you join us. Don’t scare the natives.”

He opened and closed the door so quickly, Tamsin barely felt the draft. She heard Zander move to the next door and begin banging on it.

Tamsin was anxious to learn what Zander had to say, but she took a shower first, a quick one, knowing Angus’s scent would be all over her. She didn’t mind so much, but the teasing would be unbearable. Shifters saw nothing wrong with sex, and lots of it, and could discuss it at length and in detail, but she didn’t want to embarrass Angus.

Angus had already dressed and gone by the time she emerged. Tamsin threw on clean clothes and went next door, shaking water from her hair.

Zander had brought breakfast in the bags—pastries, donuts, and bagels. They feasted while Dion remained tethered. Dion was afraid, the scent of his fear cloying, but he’d returned to growling and cursing.

“Should we feed him?” Angus asked.

“Nah,” Ben said. “Don’t want him to choke. We’ll fix him up later. Ready to go?”

“You’re going to leave me here?” Dion asked, incredulous.

Ben turned to him, and Dion blenched as soon as those very black eyes were on him. “Yep. I’ll deal with you when we get back.”

Dion snorted a laugh. “When the maids come in, they’ll find me. Or I’ll yell, and someone will rescue me.”

“Sure you will.” Ben approached him, something in his hand, and Dion sucked in a terrified breath. “But, one, no one will hear. Two, you really want them to call the cops? You’re wanted for murder, my friend. Keep quiet, and we won’t give you to Shifter Bureau. Here’s the remote.” Ben laid it by his side. “Enjoy yourself.”

Tiger took a mug that rested next to the coffee maker in the corner, filled it with water from the sink, and stuck in an extra bendy straw from last night’s feast. He set the mug where Dion could turn his head to drink and then nodded for Zander to lead the way out.

Ben closed the door once they were outside then gestured to it and muttered a few words Tamsin didn’t understand.

“What did you just do?” she whispered to him as they walked to the stairs.

Ben looked modest. “Nothing too difficult. A glam to keep people from noticing the door or hearing what’s inside. I’ll have to make my own bed when I come back, but oh well.”

Ben must have cast the don’t-notice-me glam on himself before they drove out, because Tamsin kept losing sight of him on the road, even when she’d been looking right at him the moment before. Tiger rode in the truck with Angus and Tamsin, while Zander brought up the rear on his motorcycle.

Angus drove sedately as usual, winding down the highway toward the location of the trailer and the stash.

As they turned down the lane that led to the clearing with the trailer, Tamsin heard Ben shout and gun his bike. Zander, on his motorcycle, swerved around Angus and raced to see what was wrong.

Angus rattled to a halt near the tree where they’d parked the day before. He and Tiger boiled out of the truck, running down the path after Ben and Zander.

Tamsin scrambled out and followed. She saw what had alarmed Ben when she reached the grassy field that opened out around the trailer.

The door Ben had padlocked was wide-open. About half a dozen men—humans—were climbing into and out of the trailer, all of them carrying the weapons from the cache.

They weren’t Shifter Bureau—they were ordinary guys in jeans and T-shirts. When they saw Ben and the three Shifter males racing toward them, they froze, shouted, and then turned the weapons on them.





CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE


Angus halted at the sight of the guns turned toward them, as did Zander, though Angus reasoned that they likely weren’t loaded. The ammo had been stored separately, and these guys had been carrying the weapons out like they were firewood.

But who knew if they’d loaded a few as a precaution?

Tiger had no such worries. With enviable speed, he shifted to his tiger form, his clothes shredding behind him, and sprang in silent fury at the men.

One tried to shoot, proving his pistol at least was loaded. The bullet went through Tiger’s hide where his foreleg joined his chest. Blood spattered, but Tiger didn’t slow one stride.

The man who’d fired gaped in fear, and Tiger bore him down.

The other men were yelling, calling to others to get out here. Angus tore off his shirt and kicked out of his boots, loosening his jeans as he started to shift. It took him longer than it had Tiger, but at last he shucked his pants and underwear and sprang to Tiger’s aid.

Angus’s Collar went off, burning his flesh, but he didn’t stop. They had to knock these guys out, contain them before they got hold of more weapons or went running off to report a Shifter attack.

A man went down under Angus’s paws. Angus held back his wolf instinct to savage, settling for trampling the man on his way to the next one.