“Obviously,” he mused. “Reptile shifters, other aggressive clans who discovered this place. But no one lasted long, and the rest don’t know we live here. We have a lot of distraction tactics.”
Just like her clan. “I bet a lot of people stumble in this area and are clueless that this community exists.”
“Not a lot, but yes. Lesser now with Angelo around.”
The way everyone just kept mentioning Angelo with clear-cut admiration and not a hint of fear spoke of how much he had a hold here. Yet the man she faced once or twice had been nothing but friendly, showing none of that wielded power.
“Does Angelo have enough connections to protect your clan?”
“Some. We don’t rely on outside sources if we can help it.”
“And how many deaths have you had lately?”
“Zero.” There was a long pause. “I’m sure Nico and the others will come back alive.”
The quiet scrutiny had her backing off when she realized how obvious she was being. She searched for an explanation, but the younger man had returned to his books as he sat on the ground and leaned against a tree trunk.
“I will leave you to your devices,” she said. “Have—”
His head snapped up and his body tensed. A second later, the book was tossed down as he zipped out of the area, confounding her until she heard it: faint clicks in the distance. She felt the forest come alive as energy pulsed everywhere and clan members came out of hiding. Then she watched bushes part for a group stumbling their way through.
The scent of blood hit her first. Then she was nudged to the side as a male shifter crossed the barrier to meet them, where Charlie was holding a bulkier figure over his shoulder. She ran towards them, ignoring the shouts as she heaved the bulky figure’s other arm over her shoulder. Charlie nodded, and the two of them dragged the unconscious person towards the forest.
“He’s not responding. His vitals are faint. We need to get him blood and set his bones back—”
“Not here,” Paul warned in a low voice. The easygoing man from the party had been replaced with a stern persona who was already looking around for possible threats. Hand gestures were made and dispersed more members as the group reached Charlie’s post. “Who needs medical assistance?”
“Nico.”
She nearly dropped the unconscious body but hardened her quivering knees at the last second. The scent of blood grew stronger as a body was passed to the front—and her heart stopped when she saw the bite marks all over Nico’s unconscious form. Then he was gone.
Michael limped after him, one leg also filled with bite marks. Someone took the unconscious figure from them, and Charlie whipped back to face the other way, taking off his shirt and wiping the trickles of blood on him. He tossed the shirt to her.
“We need help getting rid of the blood.”
She wanted to run after Nico. But there was nothing she could do for him, and there was something needed of her here. The agony of not knowing if Nico would survive had to be pushed aside as her mindset aligned with Charlie. She knew this. She did this daily before she got here.
“Okay.”
Instinct dictated her movements once she got into action, sharp vision honed to spot the smallest red dot and brush it off. The rest became a blur as she scratched tree bark and buried leaves until that particular area was clean.
“Cover me.”
“Anne—”
His protest cut off when she climbed a tree and swung from one to another in her haste to get outside the barrier. Once there, silence became her ally as she continued tracking blood, swung down to destroy evidence, and scrambled back up to reassess her surroundings. The process was fast but careful. She sensed a presence and looked down to find a dark-haired, pale figure observing her.
“Clear,” someone called out.
“You should get down there and return to safe territory,” the pale figure remarked.
Fangs glinted in the shade, startling her. She gawked as the woman hitched up the hood of her coat and went striding confidently towards their forest area, covered from the sun. Anne hopped down to follow, stopping close to where the men who had been sent out gathered.
“The area is secured,” the woman declared. “We expected an influx of reptile shifters, considering how good at tracking those bastards are, but the team did a good job of wrapping up the blood scent and erasing all signs of their presence.”
“Thanks, Jan.”
Jan. Janella. So, this was Angelo’s wife.