In the Eyes of Crazy(12)

The fur disappeared, limbs lengthened, the tail disappeared, and the head reshaped. It all happened quickly, and in less than a minute, Payson crouched on the floor.

“Oh my god,” Land whispered. “What the fuck is going on?” He didn’t cuss much, but this situation certainly called for it.

Payson gave him the most hang-dog look Land had ever seen on a human. Payson took a step toward him. Land tightened his grip on the chair as his breathing sped up. Payson stopped and hung his head. Looking at Land through his lashes, Payson murmured, “I didn’t mean to. I woke up alone, and when I came down, Adam was leaning over you, and all I could think about was getting him away from you.” Payson shoved his hand through his short red hair and started pacing, muttering under his breath and shaking his head.

The uncertainty and frustration—and was that fear—looked completely out of place on Land’s naked lover. The agitated movements expressed how worked up Payson truly was.

Land knew he was completely out of his league on this one. Yes, he’d seen some True TV footage on the net that showed all sorts of crazy things from vampires to aliens, but he’d always dismissed them as fabricated. What had just happened before his very eyes threw everything he’d ever believed into question.

He grew light-headed and his knees threatened to buckle. Someone, he thought the man with the scar, wrapped an arm around him and helped him to a chair. Land’s head was pushed between his knees and someone kept telling him to breathe. Finally, the spots dancing on the edges of his vision faded.

Lifting his head slowly, Land looked around the room. The tiger was gone. A few men he hadn’t seen yet stood in the doorways watching him with expressions ranging from alarm, to wariness, to compassion.

Payson, now wearing faded blue sweatpants, stood a few feet away. He clenched and unclenched his hands, and stared at him with such longing Land just didn’t understand why. Maybe if he had more experience, he could figure it out, but he didn’t.

“I need…” he paused and swallowed, trying to get moisture to his suddenly dry throat. “I need someone to tell me what the hell is going on.”

The guy who’d shaken the hyena like a rag doll—how could someone be that strong?—rested his hands on the table and leaned forward. “My name is Kontra Belikov. The man who helped you to a seat is Sam Abbott.” He switched his gaze to a tall slender man standing next to Land. “That is Eli Raetz. He’s our resident doctor.”

Blowing out a breath and straightening, Kontra waved a hand to encompass the others peering in at him. “These are my pack. We are shifters. As you saw, Adam turns into a white tiger. Payson shares his spirit with a hyena.” He scowled at the redhead and added, “Usually he has better control, but there seem to be extenuating circumstances.”

Land stared at the man, waiting for the punch line, or the other shoe to drop, or his head to explode. Surely the guy, Kontra, hadn’t said they were shifters. They didn’t really believe they turned into animals, did they? “I want to go home,” he whispered.

“I’m sorry, Land. I can’t let that happen, yet,” Kontra said flatly, as if holding someone against their will was something that happened all the time.

Oh, crap. Maybe it is!

Hugging himself, Land whispered, “Why not? What are you going to do to me?”

“I promise we won’t hurt you.” It was Payson who answered, making Land realize the man had crept a number of feet closer.

“You promise?” Land asked tentatively, latching onto the flimsy words. Wait, what had Payson said about his promises? He always kept them? And hadn’t he kept the one he made last night? And in spectacular fashion, too.

“What about the animals?” Land asked, unable to actually make himself say hyena or tiger. That was just too much of a stretch for his analytical mind.

“We’ll never hurt you,” Payson said again, his brows creasing, as if trying to understand why he needed to repeat himself. By that time, Payson had reached Land’s side and dropped gracefully to his knees next to the chair. “You’re everything to me,” he whispered, touching the pads of his fingers to Land’s lips.

Land gasped at the soft caress, so different from the heated aggression Payson had shown the night before, but he still really liked it. To his embarrassment, Land’s shaft began to fill.

For a second, Payson’s eyes dilated slightly, then he grimaced. “Fucking hell, you can’t smell like that and expect me to focus,” he whined.

“S-smell like what?” Land whispered.

“Aroused,” Payson growled, before leaning forward and crushing their lips together in a bruising kiss.