Rescued By the Mothman (Monster Bounty Hunters #1)

Chapter 7

Sable

Flying was one of my favorite pastimes. Soaring above the trees and buildings, free. So it seemed fitting that this dickhead had me traipsing through the trees by foot, trying to track him. Branches scraping my wings and cracking underfoot, making lots of noise. I’d done an aerial sweep first to see if I could spot him, but there was no sign of him from up there.

I stopped as yet another branch scraped past my leg and punched a tree with frustration. The tree creaked, and a crack ran up it. I shook my head. I was good at a lot of things. Fighting, flying, fucking. But tracking in dense forest wasn’t one of them. My best bet was to head back to the house to see if he came back for his belongings. He was dumb enough to do it. I wished Kiy was here. He was good at this forest stuff.

My back tingled with the sense of being watched. I turned and froze as I met yellow eyes and a deep, snarling snout. He’d crept up on me better than most could. The wolf was poised, not to attack. But to defend itself if it had to. It was huge, not a standard wolf. Shifter probably. I assessed my surroundings without taking my eyes off him. I couldn’t get into the air from here. The tree canopy was too low and dense. Getting into a fight with an enormous wolf was not going to enhance my day. I’d fought wolves before, but it wasn’t the fun sort of fight. More, how many times do you get chunks pulled out of you before you choke them out?

A wet snarl ripped from the throat of the wolf. If he was a shifter, he’d be able to understand me. I shut out every sound or sight that wasn’t him. I needed to focus carefully and be ready if he lunged for me.

“I’m not looking for a fight. I’m tracking someone involved with a crime, and you aren’t him.”

The wolf nodded its head back to the house. Clarissa’s house. This was likely the shifter uncle I’d seen in the Delaney files. The one who’d said he wasn’t welcome back here.

“I’m looking for your nephew. I have no interest in your niece.”

That wasn’t entirely true. I was very interested in her for reasons I couldn’t explain. I was particularly interested in ripping her clothes off with my teeth. But explaining that wouldn’t go down well with her uncle. The wolf narrowed his eyes. I thought of Clarissa running away. Scared. It was this wolf she’d run straight to. Shit, fuck and balls.

The wolf seemed to pick up on the concern on my face and stepped forward, his lip curling.

“I didn’t mean to scare her. I wanted to apologize, but she tried to run me over and kill me with her car before I could.”

A wicked grin crossed the wolf’s face. I shrugged.

“I guess I deserved it.”

A nod from the wolf.

“Your nephew nearly killed my sister and her friends. Many monsters and humans didn’t make it out of that prison alive because of the chain of events that he started.”

The yellow eyes softened. The wolf considered for a moment and then turned and began walking back toward the house. I paused. He looked back and jerked his head to indicate to follow him. I did, keeping my distance.

When we arrived back at the house, the wolf shimmered for a moment and then shifted back into a human form next to a pile of clothes on the ground. I turned and stared pointedly away from him as he redressed.

“Come on, let's have a proper conversation. My name is Rez.”

“Sable.”

I followed him into the house. As soon as I entered, her smell washed over me. She was here. I shivered and Rez looked at me, one eyebrow raised. I schooled my face into a blank expression. But then I saw her. Sat, anxiously twisting her hands as she watched me like I was a predator. I hated seeing her stressed like this. That fact that I’d been the cause of it was a punch in the gut.

“Clarissa, right?”

She sat up straight and pushed her shoulders back.

“Yes, and you?”

“I’m Sable. Sable Argent.”

She snorted and then put a hand to her mouth in embarrassment.

“Yes, my adoptive parents thought that since their surname was Argent, it would be funny to adopt a mothman and call him Sable. They have a strange sense of humor.”

I meant it lovingly, and I hoped that came across. My parents had been wonderful to me despite my low points. Rez screwed up his face in confusion. Clarissa smiled at her uncle, a wonderful, open, beautiful smile. I wondered if she’d ever look at me like that.

“The argent and sable is a species of moth. They are beautiful.”

Her uncle snorted, not seeming to notice the blush that was creeping up her chest.

“Humans are weird,” he said, slumping into a chair.

Clarissa twitched an eyebrow with a hint of mischievousness.

“Well, at least we don’t lick our own butts.”

He laughed, a deep rumble. The love and ease between them was clear to see. I sat down, sinking into the cozy cushions and blankets on the chair. Her attention turned back to me and her body tensed. I wanted to reach out and massage her shoulders to ease that tension. I’d never massaged anyone in my life, but I wanted to ease every discomfort she could ever have.

“You broke into my house.”

Her tone was icy now. The levity of the last few moments gone. I longed to have them back. To have that warmth and to be in her good graces.

“Yes. I apologize. You’ve gotten caught up in my pursuit of your brother, and I’m sorry for that. I never wanted to frighten you.”

“He says you are chasing the wrong person.”

“I’m not. I was told what happened by my sister, who also worked at the prison. She and her colleagues have been compiling evidence for the authorities. They have dozens of testimonies from humans and monsters. He caused the prison riot. I don’t know if he meant for it to go as far as it did. But he wanted to cause trouble and used a human woman and her minotaur mate to do that. He also behaved abusively towards prisoners over and over again long before the riot.”

I let her process that for as long as she needed to. She and her uncle shared a glance, and he nodded. Her face fell, and she slouched forward. The word devastated didn’t even come close to how she looked. My body ached to hold her. To make it ok. To find her brother and wrap my hands around his neck for causing her this pain. I’d never hated anyone the way I hated John Delaney at that moment.