Page 29 of Felix
She shook her head. “Not for another fifteen minutes. They stopped at Leah’s house.” Suddenly, she gasped. “Why do I know that?”
“I don’t know, Little one.”
“Did you know that?”
“No, Baby girl. I can’t scent them yet. They aren’t close enough.”
Her bottom lip trembled. “Why can I sense them?”
“That’s an excellent question. Have you ever had an experience like this before?”
She shook her head. “I don’t think so.”
“What about in the last few weeks? Have you sensed other Alpha Protectors nearby or any other shifters?”
“No, Daddy. I’ve only noticed the bears.”
His entire body went rigid. “Bears? You’ve scented bears nearby?”
She shook her head again. “I don’t smell them, Daddy. I feel their presence. And they weren’t nearby. They were just out in the mountains. They’re always out there.”
“Why didn’t you tell me, Baby girl?” He tried to remain calm.
She frowned. “Why would I tell you there were bears? You know there are bears.” She pointed to his chest. “You said one of them attacked you last year.”
He swallowed. He needed to tell her so many things. He had no idea where to begin. Apparently he had fifteen minutes to do so. “That’s true, Little one. There are bears out in the mountains,but I never explained what happened that day. I wasn’t attacked by a normal bear. It was a shifter.”
She gasped. “There are bear shifters?”
“Yes. We only recently found out they were in the area. Before that, none of the living Alpha Protectors had ever encountered another shifter species.”
“So the bears I sense are shifters?”
“I don’t know, Khloe. They could be regular bears. However, the shifters can block their scent from us. If you’re scenting shifters, apparently they can’t block from you. But more importantly, I have not scented them in the area here before. I’m wondering why you can.”
She shook her head. “Daddy, I can’tsmellthem.”
“Right. You said that. You didn’t think it was odd you could feel their presence?”
She slowly shrugged. “Maybe I should have. I just thought my senses were heightened after I learned to shift.” She set a hand on his chest over his heart. “You’re nervous.”
He chuckled. “You just now picked up on that? You can sense bears and wolves in the distance, but you can’t tell your mate is freaking out?”
She cringed. “Are you freaking out?”
“A little bit, yes,” he admitted. He didn’t like this. It was unnerving. What the fuck was going on? “Is there anyone else out there you can sense, Khloe?”
“No. Nothing large. Just small animals like squirrels and rabbits. There haven’t been any wolves nearby until now. Just the bears.”
“Leah lives too far away from here for you to scent her or her mate or anyone else.”
“But I told you?—”
He covered her mouth. “I know. I know, Little one. I get it. You aren’t smelling them. I’m just talking this out in my head. Idon’t know anyone who can sense when guests are coming. I can scent them when they get close, but not from a distance, and I certainly can’t feel their actions.”
She cocked her head again, her eyes doing that weird glazy thing. “They’re coming now. Leah is not with them.”
He waved a hand in front of her face, wondering if she could be distracted from her vision and finding she could not. In any case, she didn’t linger long in the weird trance. She shook out of it and met his gaze with her normal sight again.