Page 14 of Mountain Air
Chapter Nine
Hearing an unfamiliar yowl echoing from the canyon walls had made Garrett forget about stealth and had him running full speed toward the camp. He didn’t know if the cat was friendly or on drugs or what. Skidding to a halt next to his nieces, his jaw dropped. Not a good look for a mountain lion.
A cat that smelled like Rob was standing with its jaws wrapped around a man about six feet away. Calming his heartbeat, he spoke to Rob’s lion and got him to release the unconscious man. As he stood there, he watched Rob go through his first shift back and winced. Garrett was used to shifting after doing it his whole life so it didn’t hurt him but to go through your first shift at thirty? Oh hell no.
“Unchi, he ‘kay?” Erin asked from next to him. Garrett swiped his tongue across her cheek, making her laugh before stepping back and releasing his lion to shift. As soon as he was human again, both girls threw themselves into his arms.
“Shhh, it’s okay. I’ve got you. You’re safe.” He repeated himself over and over as the girls cried until they fell asleep. Placing a kiss on their foreheads, he lowered them to the ground and after a quick peek in the tent, pulled a blanket over them. Spying a roll of tape next to a duffle bag, he grabbed it and hogtied the man before moving to check on Rob.
Garrett stepped over and kneeled next to Rob’s sleeping form. Running his hands along Rob’s body told him that Rob was fine, just overwhelmed. Seeing the ATV down near the creek, he ran over and pulled out the two-way radio. Checking the channel, he flicked it on. Holding down the side button, he spoke into it.
“Thiago? Javier? Can you hear me?” Garrett let go of the button and waited for a response.
Not ten seconds later, Thiago’s voice answered him. “We can. Where are you? Who was that cat that yowled?”
“We’re on the east side of Succor Creek, at the bottom of the sheer cliff face. We found the girls and Rob found his cat. The men that took the girls have been subdued. There were three of them. Unfortunately, two are not able to answer any questions but the third might be convinced.” Garrett chuckled as he said that last part, knowing that the Quad could be very persuasive.
“Who’s Rob?” Thiago asked.
“Apparently my fated mate?” Garrett wasn’t one-hundred percent sure of that, but it all added up. His lion’s reactions, what Uncle Mario had told them about late shifters. A glance at Rob lying naked on the ground, no denying he’d shifted.
“Your mate? That will make the Alpha very happy. We’ll be there shortly. Luis is closest. Is there anything we should bring?”
Looking at Rob, there wasn’t a stitch of clothing on his body. Garrett’s clothes were with the other ATV but he hadn’t brought along any spare items.
“Maybe a set of men’s clothing?” Garrett suggested. Thiago’s laughter echoed over the radio waves.
§ § §
When Rob woke up, he was laying on a bed in a room he didn’t recognize. There were two doors on the opposite wall, one looked to be to a bathroom, the other must be a closet. The window across from the doors was open with the curtains moving gently and there was an open door next to it. What the hell? Last he remembered, he’d shifted back from being a puma and passed out. He was a fucking shifter! Oh he needed to talk to his parents. How could they have not told him? Why wouldn’t they have told him? Where the hell was he? And where was his cell phone?
“You’re awake?” Garrett was standing in the doorway, a pair of jeans low on his hips, no shirt and barefoot, leaning against the frame.
Rob looked to him and felt a purring coming from inside him. Garrett’s neck was too smooth for Rob’s liking. His teeth itched to bite him. Claim him for all to see. “What the hell is going on?”
“Are you purring for me?” Garrett asked as he moved to sit on the bed. Rob thought about that for a moment before answering.
“Maybe? Do big cats purr?” To say he was confused was putting it lightly. Rob sat up and started rubbing his cheek back and forth against Garrett’s. He pulled back quickly, remembering the girls. “Where are the girls? Are they all right? I had to pull the tape from their faces, and it made them cry and I didn’t want to and—” Rob stopped abruptly and closed his eyes. When he opened them, he looked in Garrett’s and asked, “I’m a shifter?”
“The girls are fine. Kelsey has a bruise on her cheek. They’re with my parents until Kim’s found. Mom’s still pretty torn up that she couldn’t protect them earlier. As for being a shifter? Pretty sure on that one. I saw you with your teeth on a man’s jugular and since I don’t think your human mouth is that big…” Garrett trailed off.
“Ha, ha. How did… why did I shift? Why do I want to sink my teeth into your neck and not let go?”
“I think the information that my uncle shared about late shifters was accurate. You shifted in a stressful situation.” Garrett sat there looking at Rob expectantly, not answering his question about biting.
Trying to remember what Garrett’s uncle had told them, hurt Rob’s brain. It took him a minute but then he blurted out, “But I don’t have a mate to share… fluids with… or do I?”
“Feel like sticking around Oregon more permanently?” Garrett asked.
