At least she brought coffee, Kenzie thought. Otherwise, I'd have to kill her.
* * *
"A griffin," Cade said, heavily skeptical.
"Seriously?" Ryan asked. "Awesome."
They sat around the kitchen table at home, Cade's elbows on the table while he sipped coffee. Bowman lounged in a chair next to Cade's, looking relaxed while keeping an eye on everyone in the house.
Gil and Dr. Pat both had to return to their day jobs, each disappointed they couldn't stay for the discussion. Gil had placed a friendly hand on Kenzie's shoulder before he left, smiling into her eyes. He made Kenzie feel warm, safe-an odd sensation from a human.
Bowman had observed all, eyes glittering. Kenzie thought he'd retaliate by kissing Dr. Pat on the cheek or something, but Bowman only told her good-bye and thanked her for her help.
Anyone would think he'd kissed her, though, from Dr. Pat's flush and little smile. She'd go all groupie on him any moment now.
Bowman caught Kenzie's eye as she sat down with more coffee, the heat in his glance unmistakable. Kenzie pretended to ignore him.
Jamie was cooking a mess of eggs, bacon, potatoes, and some kind of sauce, all mixed together. Kenzie hadn't had any yet, but it smelled wonderful. She was enjoying the clean scents of food, coffee, her home, and her mate and cub, all the more precious after the horrible stench of the creature.
"The problem is," Cade said, his huge hands around his coffee mug, "griffins don't exist."
"So everyone keeps telling me," Bowman said.
"Do we have to burn it?" Ryan asked. "Can I see it?"
"No!" Kenzie and Bowman said at the same time.
Ryan gave a small wolf growl, but he subsided.
Bowman had left trusted Shifters to guard the fallen creature and start piling fuel around it, and then summoned Cade and Jamie to this meeting. Ryan had insisted on joining in, and Kenzie hadn't stopped him. Ryan had a right to know what was going on. That didn't mean she wanted Ryan standing next to the creature from hell and sucking in its sickening odor.
Jamie shoveled things onto plates and carried two over. Bowman got served first, because he was leader. Instead of eating, Bowman picked up the plate Jamie gave him and passed it to Kenzie. He lifted the second one Jamie put in front of him and slid it to his son.
Ryan, used to the ritual, grabbed his fork and dug in.
Jamie brought more plates, putting yet another one in front of Bowman. It was Bowman's choice, in his house, who got the food first. Bowman handed the plate to Cade, and finally took one for himself.
"I take it you think that thing wasn't natural-born?" Jamie asked, returning to the stove for his share.
"How could it be?" Kenzie asked. She forked up a mouthful of Jamie's cooking, savoring the myriad flavors. "What would naturally be a mishmash of three and more animals? All of them giant-sized?"
"Shifter," Cade said in his rumbling voice. "A screwed-up one."
Bowman swallowed the large amount of food he'd shoved into his mouth. "The knowledge of how to make Shifters is a secret known only to the Fae. The humans tried it, remember? They came up with Tiger, but it didn't work right. Besides, all that research got blown up."
"And Tiger's a little different from most Shifters," Kenzie said. "When he's on rescue missions, he can sometimes see numbers in front of his eyes, coordinates that tell him where to go. Somehow."
Bowman fixed her with a look. "How the hell do you know that?"
Kenzie shrugged, lifting her coffee. "I talk to people. They tell me things."
Bowman growled softly, but let it go. "This thing wasn't anything like Tiger. Whoever came up with it wasn't trying to create a Shifter; they were creating something to destroy Shifters."
"Because it attacked us?" Kenzie traced the letters on her coffee mug-"World's Greatest Mom." "How do you know it was targeting Shifters, in particular? There were plenty of humans at the roadhouse that night."
Cade broke in. "But half of Shiftertown was there too. Everyone knows we like the place. And they took the thing back to where we hold the fight club."
"True," Kenzie said thoughtfully. "Or maybe it was a test run, to see if it could stand against Shifters."
"Or if Shifters could stand against it," Bowman finished. "Notice which residents of Shiftertown weren't there that night?"
"Dimitru pack," Jamie said at once. "Bastards. No offense, Kenzie."
"None taken," Kenzie said mildly. As she'd told Uncle Cristian, she didn't consider herself Dimitru pack anymore. Bowman and Ryan were her pack now, all she wanted.
Jamie finally sat down and started eating. "So, Bowman, are you thinking Kenzie's uncle Cristian found a way to breed a crazy animal strong enough to kill off half the Shifters? Would he do that?"
"Are you kidding?" Kenzie asked. "He would totally do that. The question isn't would he, but could he?"
"One way to find out," Bowman said, pushing aside his empty plate and rising.
Kenzie jumped up in alarm and went to him. "Don't even think about charging over to Uncle Cristian's and challenging him this morning."
Bowman turned a cold gaze on her. "I'm not going to think about it. I'm just going to do it."
Kenzie put herself in front of him as he started for the door. "You don't have any evidence. If you take him out without proof he did anything, you violate pack law. The others won't let you get away with that."
Bowman faced her. "I'll have the evidence when I beat it out of him." His eyes were crystalline in the morning light, white gray and unyielding. "I'm not going to rush in and kill him, Kenz. I'll ask him first."
"He's not a pushover. He'll use any excuse to topple you."
Bowman's eyes went whiter still. "You think he can beat me?"
"I think he's treacherous enough to find a way."
Bowman held her gaze, his fury burning her. She wanted to latch on to him, tell him to stay home and be safe, to wrap her arms around him and hold him close.
"Come with me then," Bowman said. "Keep an eye on your uncle for me while I'm beating the crap out of him."
Before Kenzie could answer, Ryan got up and came to them. He was half his father's height now, and while he was still on the slim side, he had plenty of wiry strength.
"You need me to come with you too," Ryan declared. "Before you yell at me and say no, you know it's true. I can butter up Uncle Cristian to tell us what he knows. I'm not only his bloodline-I'm also a very cute little cub."
Cade roared a sudden laugh that rattled the pots hanging in the kitchen, and Jamie chuckled. "He's got you there, Bowman," Cade said in his booming voice. "Kid, you're going to make one hell of a pack leader someday."
Bowman agreed, Kenzie could tell. He cast his glare all around, but Kenzie saw the flash of pride in his eyes before he slammed out of the house. Kenzie and Ryan snatched their coats from the hooks in the hall and followed.
* * *
Cristian Dimitru made his accent extra thick as he faced Bowman. "What you saying? I make . . . what? Griffin-what does this mean?"
Asshole, Bowman growled to himself. Cristian, the shithead, spoke perfect English. But he liked to mess with Bowman, especially when he didn't want to answer questions.
"It's a cool animal from mythology, Uncle Cris," Ryan said. He sounded more childlike than usual, and Bowman narrowed his eyes. Ryan's cunning came directly from his Dimitru blood. "Dad would only let me see a photo of it, but it was humongous."
Cristian's gaze sharpened as he looked at Bowman. "You let your cub see it?"
Kenzie broke in smoothly. "He deserves to know about any threat to Shifters." She was tense, Bowman saw, though she stood easily and looked Cristian in the eye.
"Show it to me," Cristian said.
Kenzie put her hand into her coat pocket and removed the photos she'd printed. Gil had e-mailed them to Bowman as promised, the e-mails arriving as Jamie cooked, and Kenzie had printed them out. She didn't have any photo paper, only plain, so they were gray scale and not very good. But there was enough detail to prove the creature had existed.
Cristian flipped through them. "Where is this thing now?" His accent had mostly gone.
"On a pyre," Bowman answered. "Ready to be sent to the Goddess."
"I want to see it first."
"Why?" Bowman resisted jerking the pages out of Cristian's hands. "So you can make sure it's dead? Make sure I can never tie it to you?"