Cohen didn’t reply but shrugged tensely.
“Hey, actually, about Jade,” Mason began. “Is she your mate? Did you have that sense yet?”
Parker sighed. “No. I haven’t. Granted, I have no clue how it’s meant to happen, either. It’s not exactly like I can reach out to my parents and ask them how it is. We’re not on speaking terms.”
“Well, as a shifter who has had that whole mate thing happen, let me tell you, something is off about it in this town. I know we’ve already discussed it a bit, just you and me, but I wanted to get my brother’s take on it. Jack, feel free to chime in.”
Jack shook his head. “Nope. I’m not even going there.”
“There is no take to have on it,” Cohen insisted. “There’s nothing going on in this town that could mess with the mate sense.”
Mason and Parker exchanged a skeptical look. Neither man believed the sheriff, but Parker thought it was probably because the sheriff liked to be a loner type. He didn’t actually want to meet anyone, and so it didn’t matter to him if the town’s glitchiness made things weird for shifters.
Jack might have his own reason. However, the lion shifter was just as tight-lipped as the sheriff when it came to all thingsmate, so Parker wasn’t all that surprised that he wouldn’t actively participate in this line of questioning.
“Hold that thought,” Mason said when his phone went off. He grinned down at it and answered, “Hello, love of my life. What’s going on?”
It was only because of his shifter hearing that Parker was able to hear the other side of that conversation. On the other end, Lila sounded panicked. “There is a very strange man in the diner,” she whispered.
Mason frowned, and no sooner had he heard the words than the four gathered shifters pulled their fishing rods from the water to step closer to the phone, ready to act, ready to help their buddy protect his mate.
“What do you mean?” Mason asked.
“Well, this guy just walked in. He is obviously a stranger. Not from here, and I definitely do not recognize him.”
“What’s weird about him?” Parker wanted to know. Already, his senses were going wild.
“I can’t explain it. I just have a really bad vibe, but it’s more than that. You know, I think he might be one of your kind.”
“We need to go,” Parker snapped.
They were a few minutes away from town in their cars, but that was still too much for him. He was already running toward the police cruiser in which the four men had ridden to get to the fishing hole.
“Right behind you.” Cohen took his spot in the driver’s seat, and as soon as Mason and Jack were strapped in, they were gone.
Cohen had the sirens going and the lights flashing. They were barely gone from their spot by the lake that the car sputtered. All at once, it died, taking with it the sirens and the flashing lights.
“Fuck!” Parker screamed.
“Why are you so scared?” Mason asked. “This could be nothing.”
“Or it could be everything,” he roared, jumping out of the car.
“You mind telling us what you obviously know but don’t want to share?” Jack asked, slamming his car door closed.
“I was just about to ask if this is something for the sheriff to handle on his own,” Cohen commented roughly.
“A little while ago, when Jade and I were in town, we ran into this guy from my past. Rueben Cast.”
“Let me guess,” Mason was already starting to run toward town, right behind Parker and with Cohen and Jack close behind him. “He was trouble.”
“Fucking shifters,” Cohen grumbled. “Why does trouble follow wherever we go?”
“We’re just lucky like that, I guess,” Mason panted as they continued to run like four very motivated predators … which is exactly what they were. “The good thing is that Lila didn’t sound too freaked out.”
“Are you fucking joking?” Parker snapped. “She sounded downright terrified.”
“Right, I’m just trying to keep a level head,” Mason replied.