Page 4 of Tempest

Cash took a step closer without thinking. “Are you okay?”

He hadn’t meant to ask that.

It wasn’t his business whether this eagle was okay or not. He wasn’t Cash’s responsibility. His only job was to send him on his way.

Even if the very idea made Cash’s panther growl in protest.

The eagle cocked his head, made a squeaking chirp, and then began to shift. It took longer than it should have. Longer than anyone Cash knew, except maybe a cub trying their first time.

Even though it shouldn’t, the slowness worried him. He knew it wasn’t a good sign and indicated the eagle had grown weak from injury or exhaustion.

When he finally finished, a tiny man with olive skin and black hair groaned and dropped to one knee. He took a few deep, heaving breaths, his muscles twitching beneath his sweat-slicked skin, a dark flush between his shoulder blades.

Cash wondered how long he had been flying that he was so overheated even in his human form.

Eyes so dark they looked black peered up at him, and Cash took half a step back. The man was breathtakingly beautiful, his features delicate in a way Cash had never seen before. His dark rose lips looked supple despite being chapped.

All the blood in Cash’s body headed south as the eagle’s tongue swiped out, trying to wet those tempting lips.

“Please,” the man gasped out. “Help me.”

“Help you with what?” Cash asked.

The eagle opened his mouth, but then all Cash could see were the whites of his eyes. He darted forward, but he was too far away to catch him before he hit the ground.

Chapter 2

Cash

Cash’s knees hit the grass next to the eagle, but his hand hovered above all that exposed skin.

He was hesitant to touch him, some instinct telling him that it was going to be a life-changing experience. There was a tugging in his gut, driving him to snatch up the tiny man and take him somewhere safe so Cash could protect him until he was better.

Except his instincts didn’t control him. Cash listened to them, buthemade decisions. He weighed options and went with what was most logical and best for his pack. Neither his panther nor his most base impulses were in charge of him.

And yet…

Growling at his own ridiculousness, he shrugged off the notion of some stranger disturbing his well-ordered life and laid a hand on his shoulder.

A small zap of electricity sparked where they touched, shooting up Cash’s arm.

He jerked back and stared at his own hand, feeling betrayed. What the fuck was that?

Ignoring the fact that it was humid as hell, he told himself it was just static electricity and refocused on the young man.He looked like he was maybe in his mid-twenties, a good ten to twelve years younger than Cash.

Not that that mattered. Nothing about the eagle was his business. He just needed to get him out of their territory and get back to Jorge’s. It didn’t matter how desperate he’d looked when he’d begged for Cash’s help.

Clenching his jaw, he gave the small man a rough shake, his head moving with the force of it, but there was no reaction or sign of him coming to.

Cash leaned forward and tilted his head to listen, frowning at the odd rhythm of the eagle’s heartbeat. The burning scent was overwhelming so close, worrying him even more than his off-beat pulse.

He sat up straight and stared at the man’s face. His cheekbones were sharp and flushed with exertion… or maybe fever. He had dark, thin brows, long lashes, and a cute little rounded chin that made Cash think it was probably adorable when the man tried to look serious.

He swallowed roughly. This man wasn’t his responsibility. The safety of the pack was all he should be worried about, and some strange shifter with an unknown illness posed a potential threat.

Cursing himself, he slipped his hands underneath the man’s body, his weight barely more than a feather as he lifted him and started jogging back toward his truck. He couldn’t leave him. He just… couldn’t.

He kept having to remind himself to watch where he was going, even though he could probably traverse the forest around their town with a blindfold and not get lost. But that didn’t mean he needed to spend the entire trip back to the main road staring at the unconscious man.

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