Declan - Heart of a Tiger (Royal Taiga Streak #1) - J.R. Loveless Page 0,23

get back to bed. You’ve had quite a bit of excitement tonight and the doctor hasn’t given you the all clear to be walking around just yet.”

“I’m really all right,” Sean protested.

“Until the doctor says you’re okay for more than light activity, I’d rather you not strain yourself.” When Sean would have complained again Declan interjected, “Please, for me.”

Giving in with a sigh, Sean nodded and placed his hand in Declan’s. “Okay.”

“Thank you. I’ll have the doctor swing by tomorrow to examine you.”

Declan escorted Sean back to his room and remained a watchful presence as Sean settled into bed. Despite his exclamations of being fine, Sean couldn’t quite stifle a yawn as he burrowed into his pillows. “Good night, baby,” Declan said.

“Good night, Declan.”

Sean watched as Declan left, closing the door behind him. He lay there and stared at the ceiling above him for a while, thinking over dinner and everything that had transpired over the evening. He couldn’t get over his awe of the computer and the card game, but his embarrassment at how little he truly knew about everything edged out his joy of winning. He didn’t know how to read, he had no skills, and had never gone to school to learn anything. Sean’s skin fairly itched with shame at how stupid and simple he must seem to everyone. Those thoughts whirled around in his mind for quite a while before he managed to slip off to a restless sleep, dreams of a disappointed Declan haunting him.

8

Declan

Declan closed the door behind him, tightening his fingers on the doorknob momentarily. His tiger scratched at the surface of his skin. It wanted him to claim his mate and he wasn’t sure how long he could hold onto his instincts. He knew Sean desired him. He scented Sean’s arousal, especially earlier in the dining room, but Sean was nowhere near ready to accept him or his position as Alpha-mate. The sheer mountain of insecurities housed inside Sean seemed almost unsurpassable. Declan needed to make Sean aware of their connection first. He just hoped Sean could get past the self-doubt he’d felt in Sean’s mind at the dinner table. Sam’s words from earlier came to mind. “Sean can’t read.”

He’d never imagined just how much Sean had been robbed of in his life, even just the simplest things. He wanted to give Sean everything, to show him the world, to teach him what being alive meant. Getting the damned collar off would be the first start. He headed downstairs to find Victor, anxious to hear what they had found earlier in the day. Victor waited for him in the living room, a somber expression on his face. Declan gestured for Victor have a seat and Victor shook his head. “Tell me,” Declan commanded after he’d sat in his own high back chair near the fireplace.

“It is almost beyond words, Alpha,” Victor began, pacing back and forth. He stopped near the hearth, placing a hand on the mantel. “We searched the house first. I have never seen such filthy and horrid living conditions. The basement where the children were kept was only part of it. But what we found behind the house… Alpha, there were… graves.”

Victor ran a hand over his face, rubbing at his eyes. Declan could see they were reddening as though Victor were on the edge of tears. “About a dozen or so.”

Declan caught his breath and he shoved forward to the edge of his seat. “Are you certain?”

Victor nodded. “Y-yes, Alpha. They had markers. Stones. Each marked with a name.”

Acidic bile rose to the back of Declan’s throat, burning, threatening to bring up the dinner he’d consumed a mere hour ago. Somehow he knew without a shred of doubt the person who’d buried those bodies wasn’t the bastard whose throat he’d torn out, but the very shifter who lay in Declan’s own bed upstairs. He wanted nothing more than to go to Sean and gather him into his arms. Another crack formed in Declan’s heart for Sean and he found his claws were out and sheathed in the arms of the chair in which he sat.

They would have to try and locate the clan of each child. The only way to do that would be to unbury them and try to identify them. Declan knew they would have to question Sean, to see if he could reveal anything about the children, whatever they could use to find their homes and give their parents closure. The idea of causing his