it meant when they heard the words Shifter Patrol Corps.
But first, he’d have to make sure whoever they were didn’t slip through his fingers – and find out what they were up to, and if it was really no good.
His hippogriff hissed, shaking its head. Beau had long since learned how to control its suspicious, animalistic nature, but in this instance, it was insisting there was danger here, and he was inclined to listen to it.
Especially with his mate so close by.
He glanced at Annie, motioning for her to stay by the car. She seemed to understand him, and returned his nod.
Beau gritted his teeth. He’d only have one chance at this.
Tensing his muscles, he spun, shooting down the alley faster than any human would ever have been able to move. The hippogriff was at the forefront of his mind, its instincts guiding his movements as he threw himself forward.
He just had time to see the shocked expression on the man’s face as he turned, an unlit match in his hand as it hovered over the kerosene-soaked cloth.
Beau reached out his hand to grab the man’s clothes, but even as he did so the man had already begun to shift, his body melting away, becoming the writhing, twisting form of a large, shaggy wolf.
The wolf snapped its jaws at him, growling viciously, as the kerosene tank fell to the ground, rolling away from him.
Just like he hadn’t known until this moment what shifter form this man had, the wolf wouldn’t be able to tell Beau was a hippogriff – but it would be able to sense that his shifted form was far, far more powerful than its own.
The wolf flattened its ears along the back of its head, snarling, clearly not too keen to abandon whatever it had been doing – but then its instinct to flee got the better of it, and it turned tail and ran, heading for the far side of the alley.
Oh no you don’t, Beau thought, following it. He couldn’t shift here in the close confines of the alley, but the moment he got out from between the buildings, there was no way the wolf could hope to escape.
I’ll just have to hope everyone’s inside, Beau thought, though on a cold night like tonight, he doubted there’d be too many people out and about in the backstreets.
Finally reaching the end of the alley, Beau shifted, sweeping upwards into the air with one mighty beat of his wings. The wolf couldn’t hope to hide, not even in the maze of small streets and laneways that wove between the backs of the shops here. Beau could see it as it desperately tried to dodge out of his sight, until finally it took a wrong turn, emerging into an open space that led onto a park. Without hesitation, Beau swooped.
He didn’t want to injure the wolf, but still, it let out a sharp, high-pitched squeal when he buried his talons into its pelt, not deep enough to draw blood, but certainly more than enough to hold it still.
It struggled, but Beau’s grip was firm, and he pressed his weight down until there was no possible way of escaping. Beau let out a command in the form of an eagle’s screech, but the meaning was completely clear: Shift. Now.
The wolf let out a low whine, paws scrabbling in the snow, but then it complied, returning to the form of the man Beau had seen in the alley. He was blond haired and blue eyed, and a lot younger than Beau had initially thought.
As the man shifted, Beau shifted too – though he kept a steady grip on the man’s clothes as he did so.
“What the hell, man,” the blond kid said, scowling. “Didn’t we have an agreement? Why the hell are you here?”
Beau hesitated. Had this kid mistaken him for someone else?
“Maybe we did,” he said, deciding he might have more chance of finding out what happened if he played along. “But I don’t remember anything about this in our agreement. What’re you doing out here?”
The kid shook his head. “No, that’s what it was. That Scott whatever-his-name-is missed his payment, third time in a row. He was warned. The boss says he’s had enough chances. You know that. Honestly, I’d rather not get humans mixed up in this stuff either, but when the boss says do something, are you going to be the one to argue about it?”
Mixed up with this stuff?
Beau narrowed his eyes. Clearly, somehow, that