Payson’s eyes glittered in the darkness, but he was looking at the ceiling, not at Kontra. “Sam and Adam should be here in the morning. The rest are closing up the cabin and heading out at first light. They should be here sometime late afternoon or early evening.”
Kontra tried to decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing, then figured he didn’t care. Shifters did better in groups, needing the camaraderie and sense of belonging. And right now, Kontra needed his pack, and Payson knew it.
“Thank you,” he whispered.
“Sure, boss. You’re always helping us, it’s time we returned the favor,” he said, this time flashing a grin his way before returning his focus to the ceiling. “You, uh, you mind if I ask a question?”
Even through the slight fog still clouding his mind, Kontra could hear the hesitancy in Payson’s tone. He frowned. Kontra couldn’t remember ever hearing that in the hyena’s voice before. “You can ask anything, Payson, but I do reserve the right not to answer,” he replied, trying to encourage while instilling that he had alpha’s prerogative.
It took so long for Payson to start talking, Kontra had started to doze.
“You’ve always been so sure about finding a mate. How’d you know Tim was out there?”
Kontra let out a slow breath. He really should have told this story to his pack mates already. It would have given them hope that mates were out there for them, even though it opened up a wound in Kontra’s chest every time he thought of his failings.
“I’d met him before,” Kontra admitted. “It was before Tim was of age, so he didn’t recognize me as his mate, but I still scented him.”
“How old were ya’ll?”
“I was thirty-seven and still coming to grips with the fact that I preferred men to women,” Kontra admitted. “Once I scented Tim, though, all the fight went out of me. All I wanted was him. Then I discovered he was only fifteen and still hadn’t shifted yet.”
Although the feeling of frustration had ebbed over time, he still grimaced.
“That sucks, boss. What did you do?” Payson prodded.
“Nothing,” Kontra admitted. “Not a damn thing. After I found out who it was, I went home.” Tears formed at the corners of his eyes. “I knew I couldn’t have him until he’d come of age, so I waited. The year Tim turned eighteen, I came out to my folks.” He snorted. “At least the Fates were kind to me in that regard. Once I explained about Tim, removing any doubt to the question of whether or not I was sure, they accepted it.”
“Then how come you didn’t go after him?”
“I wanted to, so bad,” Kontra muttered. “Don’t get me wrong. It’s not like I was celibate, but sex with anyone else was just a way to get my rocks off and I made sure my partners were on the same page.” He rolled his head on his pillow and popped his neck. “Then my father pointed out that at eighteen, there was no way Tim would be ready to settle down. He recommended we contact the flock, ask after him, keep an eye on him discreetly, then after he’d had a few years to mature a bit, I could begin the courting process.” Kontra huffed out a breath. “Two years later, we got a report that Tim’s father hadn’t taken Tim’s coming out well and Tim had run away to the United States. The flock beta couldn’t tell us where he’d gone.”
There was silence from Payson for a few seconds, then the bed creaked as he turned on his side and faced him. “And that’s why you came over here, and have been searching ever since.”
“Yes,” Kontra whispered. He threw his arm over his forehead and covered his eyes as he remembered the feeling of helplessness he fought every time his faith that he’d find his mate flagged. “And now I’ve found him and he doesn’t want to be claimed.” He scowled, turned and looked at Payson. “Tim said he’s not a shifter. Why would he say that? I know who his father is, and bigoted asshole he may be, but he’s an owl shifter, so why wouldn’t his son be?”
“I don’t know, boss,” Payson responded softly. “If his mother was a human, could he be human, too?”
Kontra immediately shook his head. “Not a chance. I’ve never heard of human genes trumping shifter genes so they can’t shift.”
“Well, maybe there’s some other explanation,” Payson mused. “Emmett wasn’t able to shift to human form ‘cause of drugs,” he said, mentioning one of their pack mates that they’d rescued from a zoo.
Growling, Kontra snarled, “You think my mate takes drugs?” He would have scented that. “You’re wrong.”