He had touched her soul, filled it, just as he’d filled her body, and she hadn’t even realized that he hadn’t let her into his own.
As she let her senses reach out, her eyes slowly opened again, her senses alerted to the spirit she’d become so used to as a child. The shimmering form of Dog’s mother, faint, so faint, wavering against the darkness, stood on the lawn just beyond the tree hiding them from view.
Turning, the spirit pointed to a first-floor window, the one in the exact center. An office of some sort, or a library, she guessed, barely able to glimpse shelves of books through a crack in the shielding curtains.
She could feel Graeme tensing, rumbling growls barely heard, as he must have sensed the spirit.
“First floor, center window,” she told Graeme. “He’s there, but he’s not alone.”
Mutt and Mongrel were with him, but they weren’t the only ones.
“There’s something out there,” Graeme muttered, the low growl beneath his voice filled with impending danger. “Something not natural.”
And Breeds were?
“She’s with me,” was all Cassie said, feeling his start of surprise as the spirit turned back and waved her forward imperatively.
Before the Bengal Primal could stop her, she dropped from the wall, crouched, then raced across the lawn in the exact line the spirit indicated. Following the faint presence, she slid into the shadows at the far side of the house and crouched within the decorative brush growing alongside it.
There, she waited, watching, aware of Graeme, her father, Cullen, Cat and Claire as they moved more slowly into position alongside her.
“Back door,” Graeme breathed into the night. “I’ll be with you; the others have the guards. Give the signal when you’re ready.”
When the spirit she followed was ready.
She met the gaze of the distraught mother as she waited, knowing it sensed what she was fighting to hold back. Fear filled a mother’s expression as compassion lurked in her gaze.
The guards passed, moved along their perimeter, the dogs looking, sniffing the air; they were wary but continued silently as she glared at them and urged them on.
As they passed the corner of the house, the second team was nearing; the spirit moved quickly.
Staying low, Cassie followed swiftly, aware of Graeme behind her as her father and the others moved to disable the guards.
They slipped into the house, the unlocked door opening and closing silently behind them.
They entered what was obviously a break room for the guards, thankfully deserted. The spirit didn’t pause as she led them through the darkened rooms before pausing outside a set of open double doors.
The sound of voices had her flattening to the wall, trusting the shadows to shield her as Graeme seemed to disappear into another set of shadows.
To protect you … the wavering image whispered as she slowly disappeared. All to protect you …
• • •
His grandfather.
Yeah, it was definitely his grandfather. Dog stared dispassionately at the old man, seeing his father in the old man’s features, but not in the scent of corruption and desperation.
He remembered his father’s scent. Gun oil and ammunition; below it, honor, strength. Grief.
He’d grieved for his mate until the day he’d died.
Aaron lowered himself stiffly to the leather sofa facing Dog, tired gray eyes lifting to where Dog stood silently in the middle of the room.
He shared blood with this man. He could smell the blood bond, and he cursed it.
Mutt stood next to the entrance with one of Aaron’s security guards. A former navy SEAL. A hard-eyed soldier who watched curiously. Dog couldn’t sense hatred or prejudice coming from him, but he sensed a determination to do his job and protect his employer.
Behind him, Mongrel stood with the other security guard. That one reeked of hatred and discontent. Humans. They never listened to all those Breed documentaries they watched that preached the acuity of a Breed’s senses to pick up such emotions.