Page 29 of Shifter's Homecoming

Trent turned away from her quickly and tried to make his way to the room, but his dick was hard as stone. It pressed against his pants, aching, trying to turn him, crotch-first, back to his female.

He willed it to go down and it completely ignored him. It might have gotten harder. Trent shuffled across the room, trying to figure out just what in the fuck he was supposed to do now. Intellectually, he knew all the details of mating but had he been prepared for this? No he hadnot.

He felt like his intellect had been torched, his reason had been thrown out the window, and any sense of street smarts he’d ever laid claim to had been… obscured by this intense …wantingin his brain. Nothing could compete with it. Nothing could crowd out the thoughts of his mate, the focus on his mate, the desire for his mate … His senses tightened behind him, even as he walked the other way. He could hear her breathing, he could sense the tiniest movement of her body through the air of the room, and, for the first time since he arrived at this place, he could feel her looking at him.

He wanted his mate, and he could think of nothing else, not even his mission.

19 - Reed’s Field Briefing

Reed and Troy and the baby stood silently together for several minutes. Reed could hear someone moving around upstairs. A baby cried, but only for a minute.

Troy had Treena. Her pudgy-baby cheeks were slack and her eyes closed, her dark puff of hair framing her face. She was wearing a plain white onesie and a diaper, and she cuddled close to her uncle’s chest, even in her sleep.

Troy kissed her on the corner of her mouth. “Trevor says he’ll be back down in a sec,” he said.

“Am I the only one around here who can’t hear the mind-talking?” Reed whispered back.

“Nah,” Troy said, his eyes far away out the window, staring at the forest outside. “Beckett can’t, Cerise neither, I’m pretty sure. Rogue can’t. Harlan can’t… wait.” He swung his gaze to meet hers and his eyes narrowed. “Harlan was talkingruhitwo days ago… I thought he couldn’t—”

Trevor came back down the stairs, no baby in his arms this time. He took the steps two at a time, his eyes on Troy, cutting him off. “What happened to Trent? Start at the beginning.”

Troy kept his voice low. “I had a dream. I don’t remember what it was about, but Trent… he’s in trouble now, Iknowit. We have to go and find him.” He stammered. He started to speak, then stopped himself.

Trevor caught his eye. “What, Troy, what are you not saying?”

Troy shook his head and looked at the wall. “It makes no sense.”

“What makes no sense?”

Troy shot him a look, but he spilled. “It’s like … it’s like he’s ok, but his wolf is not. We have… only a few days to find him or … or his wolf will die and Trent will… Trent will…”

“Die?” Trevor said, his face and eyes hard, his fists clenched.

“Never be able to return,” Troy said, softer than ever.

He looked his brother in the eyes and his brother looked back. Troy shook his head, his expression clearly stating he knew it made no sense, but that… but there was more to it, too. Trevor shook his head and paced in a little circle, but no one said anything. No one knew what to say.

Finally, Trevor stopped pacing. He pointed at Troy. “Ok, you and Reed leave right away. I’ll roust your team now. It may take an hour or two.”

“Team,” Troy growled, but some of his usual lightness was back. “We don’t need a team. My mate can talk to the trees, and me, I’mme.We’re untouchable in the forest, and I definitely know Trent is somewhere in the forest.”

Reed held up a hand, not wanting to disagree, but really having to disagree. She was not near as confident in herself as Troy was. “We need a team,” she told Trevor, even as her heart beat too hard in her chest, worry for Troy’s brother filling her.

Trevor’s expression was amused. “Don’t worry, you’re getting one. We’ll drive out to Lower Serenity Airfield and fly a group of you out to the town closest to Trent’s point of entry. You’ll have to go on ATVS and dirtbikes after that. We’ve had some recon done in the area, and the forest is thick. Eventually, you’ll be walking.”

Reed blinked, not wanting to process any of that. This was serious. “Walk how far?”

Trevor shook his head. “We don’t know, but you might want to bring your comfortable boots.”

Reed shook her head, preparing to protest. The only boots she had were 6-inch heels that went up to her thighs. She wasn’t going to get very far in them.

Trevor waved her protests away. “Ella went shopping for you yesterday while you and Troy were… recuperating. You’ve got a whole tactical winter weather wardrobe on the bed in Trent’s room. You’re headed pretty far north and it will be cold, especially at night.”

“Thanks,” Reed whispered, thinking she wasn’t ready for all this action hero stuff, but she better get ready. But then she remembered her briefing, and… what the tree had said. “Wait! We have to talk to Graeme.”

Troy gave her a look, his expression tightened for a moment, then he said, “He’s coming to the house now, but we’ll have to meet him outside. He’s got Kendra.”

Reed headed back out the door she had come in, feeling strangely desperate to talk to Graeme. She saw him walking up the back lawn, between two cabins and she hurried that way, Troy and Trevor following her.

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