The Deputy and His Enforcer (Kincaid Pack #3) - Kiki Clark Page 0,58
to raise his voice at all.
Robson leaned over and opened his mouth to ask Marcus what Vanessa had said to him, but Marcus pressed a finger to his own mouth. When Robson pouted and crossed his arms, Marcus smiled at him and tapped his ear, reminding Robson that most of the people in the room would be able to hear everything they said.
Sighing heavily, Robson resigned himself to finding out later and tried to pay attention to what Bennett was saying to the younger people sitting closer to the front. Robson had noticed that the first couple of rows were occupied by mostly teens and men and women in their early twenties, with a wider range of ages filling in the rest of the seats, usually in obvious pairings.
Wait a second.
Robson leaned forward, tuning in and paying closer attention as Bennett talked to the group about listening to their mating instincts.
“Your animal side will know before your human side that you’ve met your mate.” Bennett paused when a hand shot up in the first row, a young brown-haired woman practically dancing in her seat she was so eagerly trying to get his attention. “Yes, Bridget?”
“Enforcer Young, how does our animal side know though?” the young woman asked, her voice a little unsteady but still clear enough to be heard by everyone.
Enormous arms crossed over an impressively wide chest as Bennett rocked back on his heels in thought. “Well, the best way I can explain it is by scent.”
Robson watched as the woman turned to the person next to her, and they both shook their heads, not understanding.
“Did you guys plan this at all, or are you just winging it?” Robson muttered to Marcus, then nearly swallowed his tongue when Bennett pierced him with a glare.
“Deputy Medina, you’re welcome to come up here and lead the discussion if it’s not meeting your expectations.”
The guy behind Bennett, Nico, began to snicker but tried to cover it with a cough. Robson had liked him when he’d met him at the manor on Saturday, but those good feelings were draining away quickly. Feeling his cheeks heat a little at all the eyes on him, Robson refused to back down, standing and meeting Bennett’s glare head-on.
“It’s not about expectations, Enforcer Young.” If he wasn’t mistaken, it looked like Bennett was about to start laughing, but Robson pushed forward. “I’m guessing the younger people in the front are unmated shifters?”
Everyone was looking at him now, but he kept his eyes on Bennett, pretending he wasn’t bothered by the attention.
“That’s correct.”
“So everyone else is just hoping to maybe learn something they don’t already know about their mating but them”—he pointed to the younger people in front, staring at him with wide eyes—“and me don’t know jack shit about what it means to find your mate or why shifters seem to have actual, honest-to-god soul mates.” He looked around, noting Teresa was still out cold and pointing to her. “Anyone else here a human mated to a shifter—other than Sleeping Beauty?”
Two people raised their hands, a middle-aged woman and a young, buff-looking guy sitting next to a tiny man with bright red hair and face.
Nodding at them, he asked Bennett, “You mind?”
For a long moment, Bennett stared at Robson, face serious, and then he broke into a wide grin and held up both hands before making a sweeping motion to his side. “Please.”
Stomach knotting, Robson turned to Marcus, noting his wide eyes and parted mouth, and reached down to grab his hand where it rested on his thigh. “Come on.” He looked at the other two humans. “If either of you and your mates would like to join us, I think this will be more helpful.”
The small guy next to his buff mate shook his head immediately, face full of terror, but the woman and her mate stood and came to the front. Robson realized he recognized the women from the art supply store on Main Street.
Standing in front of the eager-looking young shifters, Robson grunted and turned to Bennett and Nico. “Can you grab us some chairs? I feel like I’m lecturing new recruits here.”
Grumbling, Bennett grabbed a few chairs from the extras stacked in the corner, Nico grinning and following along. Once he and Marcus and the women were seated, he pointed to them. “I’m assuming you’ve been mated a while?”
They both nodded, the shifter tucking her long hair behind her ears before saying, “Fifteen years.”
Pointing at himself, he said, “I’m Robson Medina. I found out