Edward glanced around the room he was being held in.
He couldn’t believe he had been stupid enough to be captured.
If he got his hands on the werehyena responsible for him being here, Edward was going to rip that bastard apart.
Leon was in charge until Edward found a way out of this.
He had confidence in the wererat, but Leon was not a leader.
The man would seek outside help.
They had already talked about it.
It was Edward’s way of safeguarding his pack.
He didn’t want Leon in charge.
The wererat wouldn’t know what to do.
The thought of Leon going to Enrique for help made Edward ground his back molars.
He had ruled for over a decade.
Never once had he sought help from another changeling group.
But he didn’t have a choice at the moment and Enrique owed him.
Well, technically not him, but it was a family debt that he was cashing in on.
Hopefully Enrique was a man of integrity and would honor his father’s debt.
He shouldn’t even be in this mess right now.
That was what the fuck he deserved for letting a pretty face distract him.
“How you doing in there, king?”
Edward ignored the hyena.
They had done nothing but taunt him since his capture.
He caught the faint dirty yellow eyes looking in on him, the expression mocking.
The coloring of the hyenas’ eyes made Edward think of old newspaper.
The vibrancy gone, nothing remaining but a brittle reminder of what once was.
“Why don’t you come in here and find out?” he snarled the threat.
“Or are you only brave when there is a door between us?”
“Fuck you.” The hyena slammed the panel closed and walked away.
Coward.
Edward sat on the floor, putting his back to the wall as he looked up at the ceiling.
No matter how many times he had searched the room, he couldn’t find one tiny opening to escape through.
Being a wererat, he could shift into a creature the size of a large housecat and wedge through almost any opening.
But the werehyenas had made sure that option wasn’t available to him.
The room was air tight except for the tiny window in the door, and that had a sliding steel panel attached to it.
What pissed Edward off the most was the fact that he was being used as cannon fodder for the wolves.
The hyenas didn’t even want him or his race, not that he was aware of.
He didn’t know the local werewolf alpha, but he had heard that Enrique was just and fair.
The changeling wouldn’t leave Edward in this situation.
He prayed that the rumors were true, and hoped that they weren’t.
Enrique was being set up, and Edward didn’t want to be used in the alpha’s defeat.
But he did want out of this stank-ass hole he was shoved into.
The place was disgusting. Get faster updates on g.com.
Mold grew along the stone walls, and there was something small and smelly in one corner.
He was not getting close enough to find out what it was.
Edward growled as he tapped his head against the wall.
Just because he was a rat didn’t mean he could be used in such a demeaning manner.
His pack was strong, astounding in numbers, and he had fallen for a fucking pretty face.
God, he needed to be shot and put out of his embarrassing misery.
He was never going to live this down.
“Move away from the door.”
Edward had tried his best to overtake his guard, but the changeling had caught on at the last minute and been quick enough to get away.
They didn’t take any more chances after that.
There was another man with him, holding a gun that was aimed directly at Edward’s head.
“Dinner.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“Suit yourself.” The guard cracked the door open and slid the tray in, closing it quickly behind him.
As hungry as Edward was, he’d rather starve than eat the slop they were trying to feed him.
It was probably poisoned.
He prayed he found a way out of this situation before something happened to his pack.
He had been stuck here for two days and there was no telling what the hyenas would do if he remained locked in this room for too much longer.
Edward prayed Leon had enough sense to seek out Enrique—even if the thought pissed him of.
If his second-in-command didn’t, not only would Edward die in this wretched place, but he would be outed to the bigoted humans as changeling.
If that happened, there was no doubt in his mind that he would lose not only his job as a director of IT, but his hard-earned degree.
He wanted to kill the werelion who thought telling the world they existed was a bright fucking idea.
* * * * Rick cursed under his breath at the sight ahead of him.
“Get down.”
Dorian slid to the floor, wedging himself between the seat and the dashboard.
“What’s wrong?”
“There are police cars outside my home.” The hyenas were relentless.
It seemed they weren’t going to stop until Dorian was behind bars.
But Rick had a feeling they weren’t looking for the human this time.
He pulled into the neighbor’s driveway across the street and kept going until he reached the end of the driveway behind the house.
It gave him enough cover.
He turned in his seat and looked toward his home.
“Do you think they are looking for me?”
Sparing a glance down toward the car floor, Rick saw just an edge of fear in Dorian’s eyes.
How could anyone be this calm when they were sitting with handcuffs around their wrists and knowing the law was just across the street?
He shook his head.
“I think they’re looking for me.”
“Why would they be looking for you?”
Turning around, Rick settled back.
“Because one of those guys killed was my nephew. The werehyenas are trying to take over my territory, and it seems they have found a way to get both of us out of the picture.”
A puzzled look crossed Dorian’s face.
“I can understand why they sicced the cops after you, but why me? I’m human. I have nothing to do with your territory or changelings.”
This was why Miguel should have never put Dorian up for consideration.
The man didn’t understand a damn thing that was going on or changeling politics.
“Because, if I chose you, then you are just as important as I am, if not more.”
“I still don’t understand,” Dorian grumbled.
“If they took you, or had you arrested, they know I would do anything to get my mate back. I would go to any length to ensure your safety. That makes me vulnerable.” And that was one of the reasons why Rick had put off mating.
He didn’t like someone having leverage over him.
Dorian slid back down toward the floor.
“That’s why you shouldn’t pick me.”
“No, shit,” Rick agreed.
The man was turning out to be more trouble than he was worth.
Guilt swamped him.
No, Dorian wouldn’t even be in this mess if it hadn’t been for Rick.
The man would be standing behind the deli counter listening to Jayson and Cherry talk shit about nonhumans.
“Why did you let Jayson accuse you of hanging out with vampires?”
Dorian’s head snapped up, and then his eyes narrowed.
“Miguel told me about changeling hearing.”
“Answer the question, Dorian.” Rick could tell Dorian was stalling.
He was used to this tactic in juveniles, not his could-be mate.
“What do you want me to say, Mr. Marcelo?
I’m not sure how I feel about creatures that go bump in the night, but it pissed me off to know Jayson was trying to threaten me.
I was standing around in some sort of haze after the “party” at Miguel’s, and Jayson caught me.
He wanted to know if I had a few fang friends.” Dorian shook his head and pulled his cuffed hands closer to his body.
“If he had started those rumors about fang friends—” “You would have lost your job and been some sort of outcast among your peers.” The thought sickened him that Dorian would deny knowing nonhumans and made him feel like a hypocrite at the same time.
Wasn’t he doing the exact same thing?
Wasn’t he hiding his true nature to keep his job?
So why did it bother Rick that Dorian would deny him if ever confronted?
“That’s not really it, but it does have a part in it.”
If Dorian had lied, Rick would have driven him someplace safe and been done with the human.
As much as the truth hurt, he was glad Dorian was honest with him.
“What’s the other part?”
His head fell back and thunked against the door.
“I don’t like people being judged because they are different. Jayson lumps races together. His attitude is, if one is bad, they are all bad. He pisses me off.”