The Love He Squirreled Away (16 page)

From what Soren could tell, his mate’s injuries weren’t life-threatening. Daniel’s propensity to always buckle his seat belt had saved his life. For whatever reason, that part of the car had suffered most from the accident, but his heartbeat was steady, and the abrasions and scratches on his face were already healing.

Daniel cracked his eyes open, and their connection was flooded with feeling once again. A quick assessment told Soren Daniel might have broken ribs. He needed to get a doctor to see his mate. Daniel’s previous condition could make this accident lethal.

“I’m okay,” Daniel whispered, having obviously caught on to the thought. “You saved me.”

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Soren would have very much liked that to be the case. However, he felt acutely aware of all the unfriendly eyes on them.

The sound of clapping hands drew his attention, and Soren looked up to see a tall, dark-haired man approach. “How exciting. The knight in shining armor comes to the rescue of his”—he paused and gave Daniel a disdainful look—“maiden,” he finished. “I’m all aquiver.”

Soren glowered at the man guilty of Carlie’s death. “Back off if you don’t want to die,” he said in a growl.

His opponent chuckled. “Please. Just look around yourself. You’re completely surrounded and at my mercy.” He licked his lips. “I have to say the situation has potential.”

Soren admitted the man had a point. “Who are you?” he asked. He remembered Byron’s advice to stall. That was their only hope now, a distant promise of a shark-shifter he didn’t trust. “What do you want?”

“Oh, how rude of me. I haven’t introduced myself. Heathcliff Cunningham, at your disposal.” His gaze went to Soren’s right, where Garth was standing. “But of course, you already suspected that. Isn’t that right, Garth?”

“You’ve gone too far, Heathcliff,” Garth shot back. “You shouldn’t have messed with the werewolves. It will all blow up in your face.”

Heathcliff just laughed. “And who is going to tell them? All I have to do is blame it on that idiot squirrel.” His eyes shone with amused madness. “Don’t worry, though. You won’t live to see it. My brother is no longer here to save you.”

“You’re an idiot if you think he won’t find out.” Garth looked around at the rest of the black-clad men. “Heathcliff is endangering the family with this whim of his. The werewolves aren’t people who should be crossed, and your boss will be furious.”

“Enough.” Heathcliff retrieved a gun and pointed it at Garth.

“You’ve spoken more than was your due. Now you die.”

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The situation was coming apart before Soren’s eyes. Even if his main loyalty lay with Daniel, Soren didn’t want Garth to die. The man had put his life on the line for them.

He could tell Nicolas wanted to do something to save his mate.

The hummingbird was kneeling at Garth’s feet, keeping pressure on Skylar’s wound. His gun peeked out of the back of his jeans. They were so close their limbs touched, and upon close inspection, Soren realized Garth was trying to keep Nicolas from reaching for the weapon.

Unfortunately, as much as he’d have liked to save Garth, Soren admitted that an attack from Nicolas would only make things worse.

Stall, stall. How to stall?

“You still haven’t said what you want from us,” he heard himself say.

By some miracle, Heathcliff allowed himself to be distracted. He grinned at Soren. “Why, I want you, of course.”

Soren sheltered Daniel with his body as the shark approached them. Heathcliff invaded Soren’s personal space and inhaled. “I watched you,” the man whispered in his ear. “You’re a real man, a predator, too good for this weak squirrel. You need someone stronger to stand by your side. Think about it, Soren. You and me. We could unite my family with the werewolf nation. We’d be unstoppable.”

The guy was nuttier than the peanut butter Daniel hated so much.

“I’m not sure that would work,” Soren said. “How would your family take mating a man?”

The shark shrugged. “They won’t care. Besides, if anyone causes me problems, I’ll just kill them. Like that little squirrel there.” He released another laugh. “You know, it’s quite amusing. That idiot Jenkins wanted to protect him so much, and now, I’m going to eat him up. I hear squirrels make good stews.”

Anger and fear coursed through Soren. He could not argue with an obvious psychopath, but he would not allow the shark to touch Daniel.

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Before Heathcliff could add anything else, a sense of overwhelming power flowed over Soren. He didn’t even know how he felt it, with all the shape shifters in the area, but he did.

Heathcliff’s eyes widened, and every muscle in his body tensed. The other men, his lackeys, began to show clear signs of fear. Garth just looked relieved.

For a few moments, nobody moved. Soren remained motionless, careful not to break the trance the group fell in. It occurred to him that Heathcliff could have easily ordered their deaths by now, but everyone seemed too engulfed in the approaching presence to even consider it. They seemed to have forgotten about Soren and his friends altogether.

At last, a huge, black car parked next to Soren’s. Its sheer size made Soren arch a brow.
“Do you think he’s compensating for
something?”
Daniel’s small voice appeared in his mind.

The relief Soren felt upon hearing the cheeky comment almost made him lose it right then and there. He could tell his mate struggled to remain in his legged form, so as to prevent becoming more vulnerable, and it made his heart squeeze in his chest. With his attention focused on Daniel, he nearly missed the moment Byron Cunningham left his car. Or rather, perhaps he would have missed it, if not for the incredible power the man exuded.

Soren couldn’t help but gape as he stared at the man.
“No, baby,”

he sent to Daniel in reply to the earlier comment.
“I don’t think so.”

Byron was, for lack of a better word, humongous. He towered over all the men in the area, even Soren, who was quite tall in his own right. The material of his elegant suit strained against his bulging muscles. Soren half expected the ground to shake as the man moved.

In an odd development, no such thing happened. There was barely a shift in the air as Byron approached, as if the man somehow managed to avoid the law of physics. In spite of his huge bulk, he walked with grace and fluidity, the gait of a true predator.

“What’s going on here?” he asked in a low voice.

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To Soren’s surprise, Heathcliff found his voice. “Stay out of this, brother. It’s none of your business.”

“I disagree,” Byron replied coldly. “In case you didn’t get the memo, I lead the family. You have no right to order my men around.”

His gaze fell on Nicolas and Skylar. He walked to their side and asked, “How is he?”

“How do you think?” Nicolas snapped back irritably. “He’s bleeding heavily. He needs a doctor.”

Skylar chose that particular moment to open his eyes. Soren didn’t know how much the other man remained aware of, but for a few moments, Skylar stared straight at the imposing Byron. “Help us,” he croaked out. After that, he simply went limp, and concern for Daniel’s friend skyrocketed inside Soren.

The moment Byron looked away from Skylar, Soren could swear the temperature dropped a few degrees. “Who did this?” he asked, his voice almost a whisper.

No one answered. Heathcliff’s daring seemed to have disappeared altogether. “Who did this?” Byron repeated, this time bellowing. The stench of urine filled Soren’s nostrils as several of the men present pissed themselves.

Their weakness drew Byron’s attention to them. “Was it you?”

The men in question began to shake their heads, but even Soren could see through their denial. He also realized what Byron intended, and he could only be thankful the man was on their side.

Soren pulled his mate to his chest and shielded his eyes. He didn’t want Daniel to see what would follow. Daniel came to him and buried his face in Soren’s shirt. Just in time, too, because moments later, Byron attacked. Blood splattered all over the place as the huge man practically ripped his underlings apart.

Nobody moved a muscle to aid the unfortunate men, not that Soren could blame them. The rest of the group must be afraid of sharing their companions’ fate. Soren couldn’t say he was fully pleased. He’d have liked to know if those were the men who’d killed
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Carlie. From his connection with Daniel, he’d found out Nicolas had killed two of them. He wondered if his mate could help him with that.

Having obviously heard the thought, Daniel whispered in Soren’s mind,
“Two of those guys who died were there at Carlie’s. One’s not
here.”

“Don’t strain yourself, Dani. We’ll find all of them. They’ll be
punished.”

Most importantly, they needed to deal with their chief, or rather, the man who’d orchestrated this entire thing. With everyone distracted by Byron’s display of power, Heathcliff could be easily taken down.

Daniel slipped out of his arms and sat down, releasing Soren for the purpose of what he was about to do. Without delaying one single second, Soren shifted into his wolf form and lunged at Heathcliff. Still focused on his brother, the shark went down under Soren’s onslaught.

The surprise didn’t last, and Heathcliff did his best to fight Soren.

But the shark couldn’t shift while on land, and he didn’t have the advantage of Byron’s bulk. Soren managed to sink his fangs into Heathcliff’s throat and was about to tear out the man’s jugular when a strong arm landed on him.

“Stop,” Byron said simply. “He’d get away too easily if you kill him, and I have a pending issue with him as well.”

It was the one argument that could have convinced Soren to back down. He released Heathcliff from his hold and backed away. His wolf wanted to tear Heathcliff to pieces but at the same time yearned to be by Daniel’s side, to soothe his hurts. His concern went first and foremost to his mate.

“Thank you, Byron,” Heathcliff panted out as he tried to get up.

“The wolf would have killed me.”

Byron scowled fiercely. A large foot landed on Heathcliff’s back, pushing him down once again. “Brother, don’t make me eat you. I swear to God, if you’re going to cause me any more problems, you won’t live until tomorrow.”

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Heathcliff’s eyes widened, and he remained very still. Soren wondered what that threat meant but couldn’t bring himself to ask. “I want my revenge,” he told Byron. “He killed Carlie and hurt my mate.”

“And you will have it.” Byron kicked his brother in the back of the skull, effectively knocking the man out. He gestured for a few of Heathcliff’s former lackeys to approach. “Take him,” he ordered.

“We have many important issues to discuss.”

Soren didn’t like seeing the opportunity of vengeance slip through his fingers, but at this point, he couldn’t do anything about it. He was growing more and more concerned about Daniel. Even if his bond with the squirrel remained steady and Daniel hadn’t slipped into unconsciousness again, Soren still feared for his mate’s life. And then there was Skylar, whose injuries could very well be life-threatening.

“We need a doctor,” he said.

“We can go to the adoption-agency clinic,” Garth offered. He helped Nicolas to his feet and picked Skylar up, while Soren lifted Daniel in his arms.

“Keep me posted, Garth,” Byron said simply.

A brief look Byron’s way made Soren note the weird expression on the big man’s face. Byron was staring at Skylar, and the strain Soren could read in the shark leader’s stance revealed to him the reason of Byron’s anger. He didn’t know how sharks mated, or if they mated at all, but Skylar had made an impression on Byron, in a very deep, personal way.

Nevertheless, the man let them go without further ado. Soren and his companions made their way to their car. Soren got behind the wheel while Garth took shotgun. Nicolas stayed in the backseat, caring for his injured friends. Just as Soren started the car, Daniel at last lost control of his human form and turned into a small, red squirrel.

The trip seemed to last forever and was an exercise in torture for the entire group. Every pothole jostled the wounded men, and pain
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coursed through Soren in echo of Daniel’s. Garth called ahead and let the agency know they were coming. By the time they reached their destination, the entire clinic staff had been mobilized, ready and waiting to deal with their boss’s injury. As Skylar’s friend, Daniel was looked over with similar professionalism. Nicolas’s injuries weren’t as serious, but no one was willing to take any chances. In spite of the hummingbird’s protests, he also received the same treatment. It was a good thing, because Soren felt like he would go insane with worry.

Soren and Garth could do nothing but wait while the doctors did their job. Thankfully, Soren had his connection with his mate to keep him posted.
“It hurts,”
Daniel said at one point,
“but it seems I’ll be
fine.”

“Can I come see you, baby?”
Soren asked.

“I think one of the doctors will come get you. To tell you the truth,
I feel a bit woozy right now.”

Indeed, a medic appeared and explained the details of all the injuries. Daniel wasn’t in any danger. His ribs were indeed broken, but they hadn’t pierced his lungs, which was the real risk in such circumstances. He had a mild concussion, but returning to his squirrel form helped him deal with both issues. In a few hours, he would be released from the hospital. Similarly, Nicolas could go home right away, since the few scratches he’d attained during the accident had already healed.

Skylar, however, was a whole different issue. “Mr. Pierce was shot with a special bullet, and it caused a lot of damage to his system,” the doctor said.

“Silver?” Soren asked. He was surprised. He hadn’t thought any other species held the same vulnerabilities to silver as werewolves did.