Page 13 of Enter the Lair

Sarah snapped her attention to Luca.“Is Cyril one of those things?”Her heart was pounding, it was all she could do to remember her training.It never covered anything like this.How am I going to get out of this?

Hunter moved a step closer.“You know Cyril?”

She held the gun steady.“What’s Cyril’s connection to you?”

“He’s our cousin.He was experimented on and set loose.He’s still in rough shape.How do you know him, Sarah?”

“He attacked me, but I took him down, arrested him.He was released the next day due to his mental state and returned to the facility he escaped from.”

“Who took him after he was arrested?”Hunter said.

“His family came for him.”

“Sarah, Cyril’s family hadn’t had any contact with him for years.He wasn’t in a mental facility he was abducted.Where were you attacked?”

“No, I’m not playing this game with you.”

Devon felt her unease surge.

Hunter’s voice was a whip.“This is no game.This is my family and some fucker’s trying to rip it apart.”His eyes glowed amber.He noticed Sarah’s hesitation.Sensed her indecision and anticipated her next move.It was the reason he hadn’t resumed human form.Now that she knew her gun was useless, she bolted into the trees.

Devon motioned his brothers to stay then bounded after her.He could easily have jumped on her to bring her down, but he didn’t want to frighten her further.He darted around her from the side.She almost ran into him when he appeared in front of her.She skidded to a stop.

“Devon if you can still hear me...”

He shifted.“Sarah, I need you to calm down and stop running long enough for me to talk to you.”He relaxed his naked body.

She held the gun in both hands, angling to the ground.“Calm down.Are you kidding, you’re a fricking animal!”

Devon’s voice remained calm.“I’m a shifter, part cougar and part man.We have the attributes of both, but we are our own species.”Her steady glare denied the confusion he felt emanating from her.

“Why doesn’t anyone know about you?”she asked.

“We are cautious.Only our human mates are privy to what we are?”

“You mate with human women?There are no female shifters?”

“When we find our mate, we bite them, starting the transformation.They become shifters.”

“Since I’m not a mate, I assume I’m not supposed to know your little secret.”She said carefully.

“You are someone’s mate, Sarah.You’re mine.”

Sarah struggled to remain in control.Her voice stayed calm due to her training.“I’m not your mate Devon and you didn’t bite me.”She needed to get away from him.Time to think.

“No, I didn’t, but Cyril did.Didn’t he?”

Sarah’s voice wavered.“What does his attack have to do with this?”

“He was experimented on.He went insane.Started to rot like Daniel.We caught him, but he admitted to biting several women while looking for his mate,” he said sadly.

She raised the gun “So you bite women until one of them starts to transform.That’s sick.”She felt sick.She had feelings for Devon.She may not understand them, but the betrayal felt real.

Devon regained his composure.“No.We instinctively recognize our mates.We court them in your world and get consent before bringing them into ours.Cyril was insane due to the things that were done to him.This has never happened before.”

“What exactly is this?”She forced back the feeling of impending doom.

“Talen was tasked with tracking Cyril after he failed to return to the lair as planned.He caught him attacking Lucy.He saved her, but Cyril had already bitten her neck.Lucy is Talen’s mate.She started to change even though Talen hadn’t bitten her himself.We assume that, since we all carry the same enzyme in our teeth, if a woman is bitten and her mate is close, she will start the change.”