I thought I'd gone through the same two bushes Wyatt had exited out through, but when I emerged on the other side, I couldn't see Phineas or the children. I did spot a garbage can, though, and trotted toward it, wiping my hands together once I'd relieved myself of the wet wipes.
"And here I thought this town was going to be boring."
I craned my neck to look into the face of the man standing behind me. Well over six feet, the man was broad like a football player, with a bulbous nose and a deep cut along his chin that had recently scabbed over. His clothes were dirty and his hair short but unkempt. Instantly, I sensed him for what he was—shifter. My heart pounded in my throat. Was this one of the pack shifters coming to start the war? Why did he look so amused? I tucked my hair behind my ear and stepped back around so the garbage can was between us.
It was a useless motion, considering the pack of men that waited behind him. If they wanted to take me, hurt me, it wouldn't be very difficult. Normally, I'd just pull from them and face the overload, but I'd promised Wyatt I wouldn't, and besides, each of these men were like mini Hulks. If there was anything worse than an overload that could happen to me when I took too much, I'd find out pulling from these guys.
"Kansas!"
I always enjoyed hearing Wyatt speak my name, but never as much as I did right then. My relief quickly ebbed as I became aware of how angry Wyatt sounded. His feet pounded over the grass and then cement walkway. I must have come out on the other side of the bushes somehow, but Wyatt was here now, snarling in front of me.
"Who are you?" he asked in a defensive crouch.
So these weren't shifters from the other side of the bay. They were definitely shifters, though.
The man who'd spoken to me looked Wyatt up and down. "You must be the troublemakers," he grunted.
What the heck did that mean?
"I'll show you trouble if you don't back off." Wyatt added enough of a deep growl to make it clear that was a warning he had no trouble backing up.
I knew better than to doubt Wyatt. I could taste how strong he was, but I still didn't want him fighting when it was so uneven, and while the group of men, and a few women, standing behind the leader didn't all look interested in our conversation, they were there, standing behind him.
"Jeb! Jesus, you've been here less than an hour!" Paul snarled, sprinting between Wyatt and the stranger. He didn't seem afraid but annoyed. Really annoyed. "This is a fucking shit show already! What the elders think this will do, I have no idea."
"What is this, Paul? Who are these people?" As he spoke, he backed up so that he was closer to me. He reached back without looking and squeezed my hand, I assumed so I wouldn't be as afraid.
"This is Jeb," Paul said, pointing to the shifter in front. "I don't know the others. I just picked them up from the docks, and in an hour I've only managed to wrangle them this far. We'll get back to pack lands in a week at this rate."
"What are they doing here?" Wyatt asked very slowly, forming each word carefully. He clearly didn't care how hard the group was to manage.
Paul scowled and looked at his feet. "You know why," he muttered.
"If this is the enemy, Paulie, I'm positive you shouldn't be filling them in," Jeb said with a thick drawl I hadn't noticed until then.
"They aren't the enemy," Paul replied with a familiarity that made me confident Paul hadn't just picked Jeb up at the docks. Maybe the others behind him were strangers, but not Jeb.
How did shifters know and meet one another? I'd assumed everything was pack-focused. But I also remembered Paul having come from a different pack to join this one.
"If there is no enemy, then what are we doing here?" another of the shifters asked. When I looked up to notice him, I wondered how I'd ever missed him.
A couple of times, while hunting for horrible men to steal from, I'd come across someone who was worse than horrible. A person whose sins ran deeper than cheating on their spouses or being an inconsiderate prick. Their energy tasted like sawdust, and I didn't make a habit of consuming from them because I was always too afraid I'd be tainted by their evil. This was one of those men. As fluid as a shadow, he stepped even with Jeb like oil pouring from an ocean tanker.
"I asked a question," he said quietly.
"You're here because your Alpha saw fit to send you as representative," Paul replied without any of the fear that would've colored my tone.
"This is the backup," Wyatt said with recognition in his tone. "To help protect them from us."
Paul didn't confirm with words, nodding jerkily instead. He stomped forward, grabbing Wyatt's arm so that the three of us stood in a huddle. "They got here this morning. Several packs answered the call, more than I think Delia was expecting."
"I don't like the look of the guy in front," Wyatt said. He was talking about Jeb, but I was still more worried about the guy next to him.
"Believe me, I don't either. Jeb is from my old pack, back in Texas. He's my—let's just say I'm sure he leapt at the chance to come here. It seems most the packs who received the call were more curious about what was going on here that would force Alpha Walker to ask for outside help than they were eager to assist a fellow shifter pack. It's a shit show, Wyatt, an utter shit show."
Hearing the desperation in his tone made me wonder just what was happening on pack lands.
"Phineas and the children are in the car," Aver growled.
I wasn't sure when he'd joined us or when he'd noticed our situation for that matter, but he was there now, like a shadow as well, but the good kind.
"Take Kansas," Wyatt said.
I dug my feet in the ground. "I'm not leaving you." It may explode my brain if I had to drain them, but I wouldn't leave Wyatt with these people. Maybe they weren't all bad. Some of them looked mostly curious.
"Dammit, Kansas," Wyatt cursed.
I'd take his anger if it meant his safety. "Come with us. You too, Paul. I don't like these guys," I said.
Paul's eyes opened wide when I said his name. "I can handle them. They look scary, but they know they can't do anything until they've been given direct orders from Alpha Walker and the elders. They're here as auxiliary support to the Walker pack. Jeb was just being a dick." That last part, he said over his shoulder, making Jeb growl while the evil shadow-looking one next to him stared on. His dark gaze looked from me to Wyatt. I wanted to cringe but settled for lifting my shoulder a little instead.
"We'll all go," Aver decided loudly. He hooked his arm in mine and led me away a few steps.
That was all it took for Wyatt to see what Aver was doing and rush to my side, replacing his arm with Aver's.
"See you later," Jeb called out as we walked away.
Wyatt's shoulders tensed, and he growled low.
"Forget it. Forget him," I urged. "Is Paul going to be okay with them?"
Wyatt sighed.
I spotted our SUV ahead. Phin was in the driver's seat watching us approach with a round, worried gaze.
"He was right. Those shifters are here to hurt us, not him or his pack." Wyatt opened the door and lifted me inside instead of waiting for me to climb in. It wasn't that high up, but I guessed he was too impatient to wait. He slid me into the middle seat.