Page 13

THIRTEEN

The moment Leo scented his mate, madness overcame him. That's the only explanation he had for his animal behaviour. Chasing after the coach like a dog pursuing the postman. When all he had to do was pay a visit to Mirror Academy, the nearby college that owned the coach, and ask to meet his mate.

Even better, he could say he was returning the shoes she'd left behind. He might not know her name, but her shoes carried her unmistakeable scent, and he'd know her by it anywhere, masked or not.

Tomorrow, he'd pay the school a visit. In the afternoon, when they'd all had a chance to get a good night's sleep. He wanted his mate wide awake and well rested when he proposed to make her his partner for life.

Meanwhile, he should probably take a moment to interrogate Tremotino, or at least get some information from him. Leo might not want to work with the man on any of his projects, as the questionable legality of his methods left a sour taste in his mouth, but if he could find out what the holdup was with Tremotino's latest development, then maybe he could help Hea Sanctuary get closer to being more of a reality than its currently delayed construction, stuck in the planning stages.

Leo headed for the nearest door to the castle, so that he might sneak in unnoticed.

He emerged inside a bare passageway, the sort that was meant to be used only by servants and not the lord of the castle. The clatter of utensils on metal and the smell of something overcooked told him the kitchen was in that direction, so the ballroom must be the other way. The sound of voices spurred him on, before the words became clearer, and he stopped dead.

"You look like shit." That was definitely Uncle Jeremy's voice.

"Well, so would you if you'd just gone several rounds with a dragon. How did he even get on the property? I'm going to have to fire my whole security team after this. If I wasn't a shifter, he would have killed me," Tremotino slurred, almost like he was drunk.

Tremotino wasn't a shifter. He was human, or as least he had been the last time Leo saw him. Unless someone had bitten him and he'd become one. In that case, Tremotino was lucky to have survived the bite and subsequent transformation. Most humans didn't, and many of the ones who did went mad, or failed to transform back into human form afterward. The exceptions were those who had shifter ancestry, but not enough shifter genes to complete the transformation themselves. That's why all supernatural births, matings, and successful transformations were recorded by a team of lore keepers, who both maintained the records and made them available to the supernatural community, as required. Leo had never had any contact with the lore keepers, but he supposed he would now he'd found his mate.

"Well, you know you owe me for that. I hope you're still holding up your end of our bargain," Uncle Jeremy said.

"For how much longer? You said it would only be a couple of weeks, and it's been more than three months. I'm losing money on this deal, I hope you realise. It better not be much longer."

"Relax. Your party tonight should be the last nail in my nephew's coffin. Not only is he the Times Bachelor of the Year, but he's a gay playboy who's been hiding his true sexual proclivities from everyone. The papers will eat it up with a spoon, and the board will kick him out so fast, he might actually need a parachute." Uncle Jeremy laughed. "Once he's gone, we'll both sign the paperwork, and we can look forward to a profitable future working together. This silly sanctuary will never happen, and all the shifters who see it fail will fall all over themselves to buy into your shifter-only community instead. By the time they realise they'll be in the middle of a huge housing development instead of virgin forest, filled with ordinary humans, it'll be too late for them to back out, and we'll already have all their money. We can't lose."

No. Pride Holdings prided itself on its reputation for delivering high quality projects that were exactly as advertised, not pulling a bait and switch on its customers. Pride Holdings would never work with Tremotino and his dodgy dealings. Not now, not ever. It would ruin the company's reputation, and send them broke in a year. Two, at most. Not to mention Hea Sanctuary had been his dad's dream, and Leo would deliver on this project if it killed him. For his dad. Damn Uncle Jeremy for shitting on Dad's legacy. How dare he?

Leo clenched his fists, willing himself not to shift, because he knew if he did, he'd maul both Tremotino and Uncle Jeremy. They might both be shifters, but not even a shifter would survive his claws. He'd make sure of it. But that was the problem, wasn't it? Uncle Jeremy was dad's brother, a shifter who couldn't shift, and Tremotino was...a bitten shifter, even weaker than his uncle.

Only a small step up from ordinary humans, really – the sort of people Mum and Dad had always told him to protect. That was the duty of supernatural people like himself – to protect the world from the supernatural who would prey on them, preserving the secret of their existence. It would be like killing a puppy – something Leo just couldn't do.

His claws retracted and his shoulders slumped. What was he doing here, anyway? He should go back to the motel room, get a good night's sleep, and go find his mate in the morning. With her at his side, everything would come clear and he'd see his way through untangling this plot between Tremotino and Uncle Jeremy.

No worries.