“Something isn’t right here,” he said aloud to Remy. The man was a homicide detective, obviously a leader. Surely he could feel it too.
Remy opened his mouth, closed it again and looked around. Yeah. He was feeling it too. He signaled to his brothers to finish dressing. Drake sent the signal to Joshua to call them in, but he was uneasy.
Joshua Tregre stepped out of the brush, automatic weapon ready, although he looked relaxed. He skirted around the brothers to close in to one side of Drake, about twenty feet out. Joshua’s sun-bleached hair, worn shaggy, made him appear more of a surfer than a leopard, until you looked into his piercing blue-green eyes. His gaze held a stormy, turbulent sea, rather than a calm one, belying the laugh lines around his eyes. He had the deep chest and upper body strength of most of his kind. The weapon he held so comfortably appeared part of him.
A second man emerged from Remy’s right, only thirty feet from the fallen leopards. Drake sent a small salute. Jerico Masters nodded. He was head of security at the Bannaconni ranch when Drake was gone, which was a good deal of the time. A quiet man, he was dark-haired with green, watchful eyes. Drake was a little worried to see him there. With Jerico gone, who was watching over Jake, his wife Emma, and their children?
The last man surprised Drake. Evan Mitchelson was a very quiet man, big and muscular, a former prizefighter with a major speech impediment. He rarely spoke, but used sign language. He never shifted in front of others and Drake had often wondered if he could. He held a gun as if he were rn with one.
“Nice to see you boys,” Drake greeted quietly. “We have a little situation here. I need to know if your leopards are acting strange. Enraged. Pushing for supremacy, goading you to pick a fight or fire your weapon.”
Remy sent him a shocked look. He looked at the three newcomers. Joshua nodded. “Almost from the moment we came into the marsh. We all discussed how edgy we were. We put it down to you being in danger. We just double-timed here.”
Evan signed frantically. His leopard was rarely let loose because he was a killer, very difficult to control under the best of circumstances and Evan was fighting just for survival right now. He wanted to leave the marsh.
Jerico nodded his own confirmation.
“How did you know where to look?”
“We followed your scent—well,” Joshua looked guilty. “Her scent. Her leopard is putting off some major pheromones.”
Saria rolled her eyes. “Great. You can smell me throughout the swamp. Just what I wanted to know.” She moved a little closer to Drake as if for protection. He could see the subtle movement was subconscious.
“Sorry, ma’am,” Joshua apologized. “Your leopard is rather alluring.”
Drake’s leopard clawed so hard, his muscles contorted and his jaw hurt. He felt the change sliding over him almost too fast to comprehend. His vision banded and he just happened to glance toward the two injured men. Armande’s eyes met his. The man stared back at him with despair and something else—something indefinable. The strange look steadied Drake as nothing else could have. It was if the two fallen shifters knew something the rest of them didn’t and were waiting for a catastrophe to happen.
He risked a glance at Remy and saw he was battling as well. “I think it’s this marsh.” He spoke loud enough for his voice to carry to the wounded shifters, watching them from the corner of his eye. Both looked uneasy, but they were as troubled as the rest of them.
Remy frowned but signaled to his brothers to work at controlling their leopards. “Perhaps we should all leave this place immediately.”
Drake glanced at Saria. “What about you, honey? Is she quiet, or giving you fits?”
“She’s extremely quiet. In fact, if it wasn’t for all of you talking about pheromones, I might not even know she exists.” Her gaze slid away from his, and for the first time, he knew she lied to him. Her leopard was reacting, but she didn’t want to admit it.
“Remy, I want my men out of here. Evan is having great difficulty with his leopard.”
“I am as well,” Lojos admitted.
“Same here, Remy,” Gage said. “If I don’ shift soon, he’s goin’ to tear me up inside.”
Remy looked to his other two brothers. Mahieu and Dash both nodded their agreement. “Elie, the boys are goin’ to help you move those two. If you have a painkiller, give it to them.” He glared down at the two wounded shifters. “We’re goin’ to pack you out of here, but all of us are havin’ trouble with our leopards. Shut the hell up and stay that way. Neither of you had better give a reason to killecause it isn’t too late dump your sorry asses in the swamp.”
Gage and Lojos immediately went to help Elie get the wounded men on their feet. There was a lot of hushed cursing, but neither of the punished shifters was stupid enough to protest. They began walking back toward the dock where the Boudreaux brothers had left their high-powered boat, picking their way carefully around all the hazards.
Remy and Mahieu remained behind. They waited until the others were completely swallowed up by the brush before they approached Drake and his team members.
“Boss, do you need us here?” Evan signed.
Drake shook his head. “I’ll meet you all back at the inn.”
Joshua sent a hard look toward Remy and Mahieu, but he followed Jerico and Evan after the others.
“I’m Remy Boudreaux, Saria’s oldest brother. This is Mahieu,” Remy held out his hand.
Drake took it. “Drake Donovan. Jake Bannaconni sent me to check into some things for him. I hired Saria to guide me in the swamp and things just got out of hand fast.”
Remy nodded slowly. “I can see how it could happen, and if you’re her choice, we’ll stand with you. We need new blood here. Our lair has dwindled down to nothing. Most of us have no choice.”