Rick heard Dorian draw in a loud breath when they pulled up to the house they were supposed to be lying low at.
There were cars parked all along the driveway, and some were even parked on the grass.
Rick could tell the entire pack was here.
“I thought we were supposed to be hiding?”
“We are,” Rick said as he maneuvered his Mustang around the throng of cars, getting as close to the house as he could.
He had called his pack here.
They needed to know what was going on.
It involved a lot of them from the pictures the wererats had given him.
Things were getting out of control, and Rick needed to snuff out the hyenas responsible for the photos and bring peace to his pack once more.
He also needed to clear his and Dorian’s names with the cops in Shelton.
The pack wasn’t going to like the fact that their shifts had been caught on camera.
Half of them were going to want blood.
Some of his pack members held very important jobs and would go nuts if discovered to be changeling.
“Rick,” Nate said from the porch, “everyone is here and waiting for you inside.”
“Thanks.” He waited by the steps for Dorian to catch up with him.
The man seemed hesitant as he walked slowly toward them.
His eyes were guarded as he glanced around at all the cars parked at the house.
“What’s going on?” Dorian glanced up and saw Nate on the porch, his expression going from wary to angry in the span of a second.
“What’s he doing here?” He shoved his hands into his front pockets, stopping where he was, not coming any further.
“Dorian, this is Nathaniel, my top enforcer.”
“Your what?” Dorian asked, narrowing his eyes at Nate.
“I just thought he was a douchebag relative of Miguel’s.”
Nate laughed.
“He knows me so well already.”
Rick elbowed the guy.
“Knock it off. He’s been through enough already.”
Both men stared at him.
He wasn’t sure why Dorian was looking at him strangely, but he knew why Nate was giving him a quizzical look.
Dorian was human and probably not going to cut it in the end.
So why was Rick defending the human?
He wasn’t sure, but he ignored both of them as he opened the door and walked inside.
The Wallington place was pretty big, but it seemed small with so many people gathered inside.
Rick saw that some of the pack had spilled out into the backyard.
“What is going on, Alpha?” George, one of his pack members, asked.
“Some new developments, George. I’ll tell everyone soon enough.” He moved through the room, barely able to make it past everyone without bumping into people.
Most moved aside to let him through, but there really wasn’t much room to move aside.
He spotted Omar to the far right of the living room, standing off by himself and looking sullen.
That wasn’t how Omar usually looked.
The man was a wealth of information and loved to share what he knew most.
But the guy just stood there, his hands in his trouser pockets, glancing around at everyone.
Rick walked over, smiling.
Omar was one of his candidates, after all.
“Why are you standing against the wall, Omar?”
The changeling shrugged, which wasn’t his usual reaction when Rick normally approached him.
The man used to be enamored with Rick.
Now he didn’t seem too interested.
He didn’t want to be in this mate thing any more than Dorian did.
But as alpha, he took care of his pack members.
If something was bothering Omar, he wanted to know about it.
“Just too crowded in here.”
Rick could smell the lie and it pissed him off.
But he didn’t come here to pick a fight with one of his candidates.
He would talk to Omar privately later.
Maybe the man didn’t want anyone else to know.
Nodding, Rick moved further into the room, everyone greeting him.
He wanted to shout for the people surrounding him to give him room, but he stopped himself.
Alphas couldn’t appear weak.
Letting everyone know he felt like he was suffocating wasn’t something he was going to do.
Rick stilled when the metallic scent of blood filled the air.
The entire room grew quiet.
His mouth began to salivate, his instincts trying to make him shift so he could hunt the wounded prey.
“Who’s bleeding?” he asked quietly, fighting against his natural drives to kill that which bled.
“I cut my hand on this stupid sculpture,” Dorian said from across the room.
He was standing there examining his hand, unaware of the danger he was in.
Rick took in a deep breath to calm his nerves, but instead, swallowed the sweet smell all the way down his throat.
Nate stood next to him, his jade-green eyes glowing yellow.
“Who in the hell would have such a sharp piece of trashy art sitting out for someone to get hurt?” Dorian continued, unaware of the entire room’s attention on him.
Rick’s werewolf form burst from his skin as the scent grew stronger.
He howled and then tore through the room at incredible speed.
He had to save the human.
He grabbed Dorian and flung him out of the front door, the entire room shifting as well, trying to go after the human.
There was nothing Rick could do.
The changelings were going off of natural instincts to hunt when they smelled something wounded.
It was an inborn need so great that Rick feared he wouldn’t get Dorian to safety in time.
The pack was coming after them, snarls and howls erupting all around him.
“Run to the car, Dorian, now!”
Dorian didn’t hesitate.
The man took off, running toward the Mustang.
Rick spun around, snarling and snapping his jaws.
“Anyone who goes nears him dies.” He didn’t wait for affirmation.
Rick slammed the front door shut behind him and raced toward Dorian.
He was fighting his baser instincts as well, but being an alpha, he had a little more control than the others when it came to hunting and killing.
Dorian was damn lucky.
He jumped behind the wheel, started the car, and then took off from the house at breakneck speed.
“What the fuck was that all about?” Dorian asked as he cradled the wounded hand to his chest.
Rick tried to hold his breath.
The interior of the car flooded with the coppery scent, making his hands grip the wheel tighter.
He could tell Dorian was trying not to freak out seeing Rick in his third form.
The man was holding it together better than Rick had thought the man would when seeing his werewolf form.
He seemed more worried about his hand at the moment.
Said a lot about the human if he was this composed.
“You bled. They reacted to the scent.”
Dorian’s eyes widened.
“They wanted to eat me?”
“Basically, yes.”
“Shit,” Dorian mumbled under his breath.
“And you?”
“I want to lick the blood from your hand and then feast on the wound.”
Why lie?
“Stop the fucking car,” Dorian shouted.
“Now!”
Rick pulled over and Dorian jumped out, backing away, still cradling the wounded hand to his chest.
Rick growled, the urge to go after the man so strong that it took sheer will to stay rooted to his seat.
Right now, Dorian was prey, not his nominee.
The man was human, weaker, and bleeding.
How much more of a temptation could that be?
Rick couldn’t help the way he felt.
He didn’t like that he wanted to tear into Dorian, but he was who he was.
“You are all a bunch of fucking nuts!” Dorian began to walk down the road.
“Forget about me being a nominee. Go fuck yourself, Mr. Marcelo.”
Rick slipped out of the car, the metallic rich scent immediately fading away.
He was able to get a better grip on himself and think a little more clearly.
He still wanted to eat Dorian, but the urge wasn’t making him insane, just mildly disturbed.
“You can’t just walk down the damn road, Dorian. Any cop could come by and pick you up, or worse, a werehyena could be close by.”
“I’d rather take my chances with them. You are all a bunch of psychos.”
Dorian didn’t know what he was saying.
Werehyenas would be ten times worse.
The savage bastards would be feasting on Dorian already.
He had gotten Dorian away from his pack in time and was doing a damn good job of controlling himself.
“Get in the car, Dorian.”
Dorian lifted his hand and flipped Rick off, never stopping.
Rick shut his car door and began to follow the human.
“Get your furry ass away from me.” Dorian picked up his pace.
“You’re weirding me out.”
Rick knew he looked the sight.
He was walking upright, yet he was covered in fur.
It was his third form, what all werewolf changelings shifted into.
It was normal.
His jaw was extended, his claws were razor-sharp, and he had grown two inches.
He was massive in size now and wondered why Dorian wasn’t running down the road screaming.
“I don’t give a fuck what I’m doing to you. Get your ass back in the car, now!”
Dorian stopped walking and turned around.
“I’m not changeling. That voice won’t work on me. Piss off, Rick.” Although Rick could see the need to obey in Dorian’s pretty brown eyes, the man hadn’t come to him.