He wasn’t sure who Tah thought he was fooling anyway. They all knew Abby got her way. Period. Tah might be the head of the pride, but Abby ruled his heart and soul. Reno envied his friend that type of love.
“Thank you, Reno. I knew you’d have my back on this. It’s one of the reasons I love you so much.”
Reno laughed as Tah turned his displeasure onto him instead. They’d tangled before. Reno wasn’t worried. Not even with Tah’s increased lion strength. Then not much scared Reno, especially since he had a few secrets of his own.
“I’m just saying now isn’t the time for you to be away from Abby,” he told Tah. “I’m guessing this is something that needs to be done immediately?”
Tah sighed and nodded in agreement. “The sooner we get answers about what we’re facing, the better.”
“How big is the place where their farm is?” Murphy spoke up.
“Not big. Small town at the base of a mountain around the Glacier National Park area,” the Professor answered.
“Which means whoever goes in there will stick out like a sore thumb,” Zane said with a snort. Of course Zane would make note of that. He stuck out a lot no matter where he was. Probably due to the contrast of skin, so dark his pale brown eyes almost seemed yellow at times.
“I’m not sure a group is the way to go,” Reno stated then held his hands up as Tah opened his mouth to argue. “Just listen to me for a minute. If we want to do this, we need to be smart. Zane’s right. Sending a group into a small town will automatically call attention to them. But a lone drifter? Not so much.”
“You’re not going off on your own, Reno.” Tah crossed his arms as if that was the end of the discussion.
“Why not? I’ve done things like this plenty of times when we needed me to, in places far worse than some small town in Montana.”
“We could two man it,” Murphy offered. “I’ve been your wingman more than once.”
Reno shook his head. “We’re too exposed here right now. The security measures we’ve discussed aren’t all in place yet.” He turned to Tah. “So far, you’re the only shifter we have here.”
“Am I?” Tah questioned with a pointed look that Reno chose to ignore like always.
“Unless you’ve seen someone shift that I missed, then yes.”
Abby sighed at that comment, and Reno couldn’t help but smile at her. She had become a great friend to him lately. She was as adamant about protecting Tah as Reno was. She’d asked Reno more than once if he was okay. He knew what she meant. Abby was the one who had sensed Tah was more than he was and had helped awaken the beast in her mate. Now she was turning those eyes Reno’s way in speculation, and she had Tah doing the same.
“He has a point,” Vic pointed out in her soft voice. “We’re in the middle of a forest surrounded by trees, which provide easy cover for someone to get in, as you guys already found out. Sure, you got the whole kitty thing going on, Tah, but it’s not enough. Not yet. We need all the bodies we’ve got here, patrolling and guarding you and Abby. Because legend or not, I don’t see anyone else showing up yet.”
Tah did growl then, but Vic didn’t back down. She might have a soft voice, but she was as hardcore as any of them. She’d go toe to toe with any man there if she felt the need, and that included Tah.
“Don’t growl at them,” Abby admonished Tah.
She held her hand out to him, and Tah crossed to where his mate sat in a chair. He took her hand and used it to pull her into his arms before sitting in her place with her now draped across his lap. Abby snuggled in and looked back at Reno, making him smile.
“What are you suggesting?” she asked him.
“A quick in and out for information only. We need to know what we’re up against here. I’d love to get my hands on one of those hunter books you’ve read about. See what kind of sick shit they’re teaching these people. As for who goes…” He looked straight at Tah. “I propose going myself. I’m the best choice.”
“If security is an issue, I’d think it would be more important you stay here,” Abby countered, looking to Tah for confirmation.
Reno was Tah’s right hand and the head of security. It was his job to make sure everyone was safe, especially Tah and Abby. But there was something inside him urging him to go, something similar to how he’d felt when he’d woken up in that hospital room and knew he had to find Tah.
“Logan and Tah will be here. Zane can step up and fill in for me. He’s the one who’s been helping me work on getting the sensors up. Finn knows the system as well. He’ll keep working on the cameras, and Vic has the monitors set up and going so we keep eyes up. Kenzie and Holt can jump in anywhere you need them.”
“What about me?” Murphy demanded, making Reno laugh.
“You’re the craziest of the bunch by far,” Reno assured him, and the man’s chest puffed out as if that were a compliment. “I think you’re pretty good at watching and fitting into any job you’re needed on.”
Reno kept his gaze on Murphy and didn’t miss the flare of surprise the other man quickly hid. Oh, yeah, there was more to Murphy than met the eye.
“Besides,” Reno assured Abby, settling his gaze back on her and Tah. “I’ll be faster on my own. Tah knows I’m the most logical choice we have right now.”
Tah nodded. “He’s right. He’s the best choice for this. We can’t wait. This is as important as increasing security around here. We can’t have another incident like we did with Harlan Jones.”
Reno watched Abby shudder at the reminder of the man who had killed her parents and stalked her for most of her life. Harlan had almost killed Tah when he’d shown up with a group of men and a plan to take both Abby and Tah prisoners. He’d managed to shoot Tah and grab Abby before Reno had snapped his neck and killed him. Reno knew through Tah that Abby still had nightmares sometimes, where she woke up screaming. It worried Tah. Reno, too. How much more were these two supposed to handle? A lot if they didn’t start getting some actual answers. Hell, even the legend seemed to grow and change the more Abby and the Professor dug into it. It was anyone’s guess what was truth and what was storytelling.
“I think it’s a good idea then,” Professor Mueller spoke up.
Reno grinned as Tah growled and Abby patted her mate’s arm. The Professor always seemed to rub Tah wrong, especially when he was after samples of blood, saliva and semen. It was enough to drive Tah insane and make Reno laugh his head off. The Professor had no fear. Absolutely brilliant, but no sense of self-preservation.
He walked over and patted Abby on the arm. “We’ll get Reno up to speed on what you’ve uncovered and see him on his way.” He turned back to the rest of the room, and Reno knew what the Professor was going to say even before he opened his mouth. “Since you’re all in here, why don’t you each stop by the lab and give some blood before you head back to wherever.” He waved his hands.
There was a collective groan around the room. Reno swore the Professor must have been a vampire in a previous life, and agreed with Logan’s nickname for him—the Vampire King. The man was constantly running tests on their blood. He never mentioned what he was looking for, or even if he found anything, but he was always requesting more.
“Reno.”
He glanced over at Tah, lifting his brow in silent question.
“Stay,” Tah said as the others began trickling out past the Professor.
“Don’t think to stay away from my lab,” Professor Mueller warned Reno as he walked over to him. “I’ll want a few more samples from you before you go.”
Before Reno realized what the man had in mind, the Professor pulled Reno’s head down and poked at his teeth, his canines to be exact. He yanked his head back and snapped his teeth together with a click.
The Professor just looked at him, hummed under his breath, then turned and walked away, mumbling to himself. Brilliant and crazy as hell. What the fuck was that about? Had Abby and Tah passed their suspicions on to the Professor, or had his previous blood samples shown something? He’d have to make a point of chatting with the Professor more when he got back.
He watched Diane stop to say something to Abby.
“You can go down with me now, Abby. I’d like to do another ultrasound and see what we can see. Your little guy seems to be growing like a weed.”
No matter how light Diane tried to keep her tone, Reno could easily hear the worry in it. He was willing to bet Abby and Tah did, as well.
“I’ll be back in just a bit,” Abby promised as Tah helped her to her feet and stood beside her. She walked over to the desk in the far corner of the room and lifted a notebook from the pile there. She handed it to Reno. “Read this. I’ve put most of my notes and thoughts in there about the Blane family. They’re fairly ruthless hunters if the journals I’ve read are anything to go by. There’s a lot missing. The Professor can’t remember where he picked them up from, or I’d try to make contact and see if there were more. You’ll have to be very careful, Reno. They won’t be easy to fool if they catch on to why you’re there.”
“I’ll be careful. Promise.” He took the notebook, and smiled as Abby stepped into him, hugging him close for a second. He could feel the growing life in her belly where it brushed him. He swore he could hear the staccato beat of the baby’s heartbeat, no matter how implausible that notion seemed.
“We’ll talk later. I want to go over a few things in more detail.” she spoke over her shoulder as she headed out with Diane. “The Blanes come across as cold-blooded, brutal even. I get the impression there’s nothing they wouldn’t do if they felt it was necessary.”
“I won’t leave without talking to you. Promise. Now go with the doc and give Diane hell for a bit.”
Diane snorted. Abby sighed. And Tah laughed, effectively getting a glare from his mate.
“Now, now,” Tah said. “You know I love you.”
She softened with just those words, and it made Reno’s heart ache for what they had.
“I love you, too, Tah,” she whispered. Tah crossed and took her in his arms, and the kiss they shared made Reno feel like an intruder.
Tah seemed reluctant to let his mate go, even when Diane cleared her throat. It made Reno laugh at the blush that stained Abby’s cheeks. It was good to see Tah so happy, to know he had a woman so worthy of him. They both stood silent as the two women made their way out of the room and down the hall toward the staircase that led to the lower labs.
“What’s up?” Reno asked when they were finally alone.
“You’re restless. I can feel it.” Tah’s words surprised him.
Reno had been feeling a little cooped up lately, but he shrugged his shoulders in a non-answer.
Tah paced the room. He’d look at Reno, then shake his head and pace some more.
Finally, Reno snapped. “What?”
“I’m flying blind here. I have no fucking idea what to do or say in these situations. The last thing I want to do is fuck with your head.”
Reno laughed. “Since when? I remember you fucking with my head a lot when we were running around the desert trying not to become a statistic.”
“This is different.”
Reno rubbed his neck. “War is war, and we are in a war here, Tah. These hunters, whoever they are, aren’t going away just because we killed the group that Harlan led. Someone sent them, and that means they may know exactly where we are. From what Abby’s told us about what she’s found in all those journals, they’ve been trained since birth on what you are and how to take you the fuck out. That gives them the advantage. We can’t have that. You know it, and I know it. We need information so we can go on the offensive instead of always waiting and trying to prepare for whatever move they make. Harlan wanted you, but he was going to take Abby, too. And he had no idea she was pregnant. Imagine what they might do to Abby if they had her.”
Tah nodded, and Reno watched his eyes going stone cold at the reminder of that day, and how Abby had suffered. She’d been attacked while almost everyone had been out trying to help Tah learn to shift into his lion spirit for the first time. The hunters had been smart, using stink bombs the Professor thought they’d purposely created to confuse the enhanced shifter senses. Tah and the wolves that had been there then hadn’t smelled anything but the stench. They hadn’t realized what it was, and that had allowed the hunting party to get to the house and Abby.
Harlan and the rest of his party had died that day, but not before the group had managed to damage them as well. Logan had taken a bullet, which had put him out of commission at a time they couldn’t afford to lose him. He’d pushed himself too hard during recovery because that was how Logan was. Team before self. The bastard was always doing that, and Reno loved him like a brother. Logan and Tah were brothers no matter the lack of blood ties.
Tah had also been shot that day, and once again, Abby had been left to watch him be carried away, not knowing if he’d survive or not. Once more, Reno had stepped in for his friend to watch over and protect Abby, forcing her to take care of herself while Tah was treated.
Reno had been the one Tah had vented to when he’d woken post surgery. Once Abby had allowed herself to be forced to the kitchen for dinner, Reno had slipped in to sit with Tah. And Tah had poured out his fears. He swore he didn’t deserve his mate. Tah felt she was everything a woman should be, and so much more. She was fierce in her loyalty, both to Tah and any member of their growing pack. She was fierce in her desire to protect everyone around her, especially the baby she carried inside her. Her love for the unborn babe seemed to terrify Tah as much as it delighted him.
Reno understood. She wasn’t just carrying a human baby. She was carrying the baby of a fully awakened lion shifter, and none of them knew what that meant. All Diane could verify was that the baby already showed anomalies similar to those Tah carried now that he’d merged with his lion. It was anyone’s guess what to believe from the many journals and written historical accounts the Professor had collected over the years. There were so many conflicting stories, especially the few times pregnancy was mentioned. Mostly, it was just wait and see what actually happened, hoping always for the best. But there was no missing that Abby’s body was changing rapidly, her pregnancy somewhere between the fifteen-week gestational period of a lion and the forty-week timeframe of a human.