Claiming the Hunter Read online

  Maelgwn had led a number of other gargoyles and shifters, plus the doctors, to the holding pens. They’d only found one captive, a brown and white horse shifter. Currently, he’d been moved to the facility’s infirmary.

  “This is Grateman,” he stated into his com. “I need directions to the medical clinic. I need medical attention for one human with a stab to the arm, a hard knock to the head, and unknown internal injuries.”

  “A human?” Tobias responded. “Did you find him held captive somewhere?”

  “No, Sir,” Grateman responded. “This human is a hunter.”

  “Why the hell are you bringing in a hunter?” Vane snarled. “Just leave him to die.”

  Grateman grimaced. He knew the enforcer’s opinion would be shared by many. “Because he is my mate,” he responded, just managing to keep the snarl out of his own voice. No sense in pissing off the volatile red gargoyle. The male was already on edge due to being pulled away from his own mate, Matthew, who was due to give birth to their first egg in less than a week.

  “Damn it,” Maelgwn grumbled. “Bring him in.”

  Unable to describe the relief that flooded him, Grateman mumbled, “Thanks. Directions to a doc?” After learning where to go, he responded, “Got it.”

  Readjusting his hold on his mate, Grateman resumed his flight to the facility. He carefully maneuvered through the dock, noting the other human had been removed. The blood sprayed over the wall and the gun, nearly bent in half, remained as a testament to what went down.

  Note to self... warn my human to never shoot at Vane.

  Grateman landed near a half-full pallet of boxes, then swiftly followed Raymond’s directions. Evidently, the gargoyle had pulled up a schematic of the building. Grateman figured he should try to learn more about computers.

  One of these centuries.

  Grateman served his clutch as a tracker. He could have followed the human in his arms even without his unique scent calling to him. His smell just made it that much easier.

  Just shy of jogging, Grateman hustled down first one hallway, then another. He found the stairs and eased down them, trying to be as gentle as possible to the burden in his arms. Grateman mentally cursed whoever designed the damn building.

  Why was it so difficult to get to the infirmary? It was as if the place was an afterthought.

  When Grateman walked into the room, he realized that notion probably wasn’t too far off the mark. The place wasn’t nearly large enough to accommodate the four beds and medical equipment filling the space. Three of the beds were already full.

  A growling Sapian lay on one bed, the golden gargoyle’s clawed hands wrapped around the sides of the bed. Maelgwn stood at the head of the bed, holding down his shoulders. Doctor Perseus stood over him telling him just hold still. Grateman cringed, realizing the gargoyle must have run into someone with armor piercing rounds.

  The second bed held a too-skinny male. His dark brown hair was shaggy and his skin appeared sallow. Several IVs were hooked up to him, disappearing in his arm and under the sheet covering his body.

  On the final bed lay the blond haired man from the loading dock. While Grateman couldn’t imagine living after feeling the rake of Vane’s impressive claws, it seemed the human had. For now, at least. Nurse Leroy stood over him, carefully stitching the deep-looking gashes.

  Grateman settled his human on the only empty bed. Knowing the docs were busy, he glanced between them. “What do I begin with?” He needed to do something to get started. The amount of blood-loss really concerned him, as did the fact that his human still hadn’t woken.

  “Remove his shirt,” Perseus instructed. “Then clean any wounds you see and tell me what they are.”

  Using a claw, Grateman carefully cut the long-sleeved shirt from his human’s chest. “Holy shit,” he whispered, shock flooding him. Unfortunately, it wasn’t from the sight of the oozing stab wound on his arm. Thick ropes of scars marred his right hip as well as the right side of his stomach. “Damn, handsome,” Grateman mumbled. “What happened to you?” As he spoke, he threaded the claws on his clean hand through his human’s auburn locks. Even sweaty, the man’s hair felt surprisingly soft.

  “Stop dinking about, Grate,” Maelgwn ordered. “Go get hot water.”

  Grateman nodded, pulling his head out of his ass. He crossed to the sink Maelgwn pointed at and filled a bowl with water. Returning to his mate, he saw that his chieftain had already begun wiping the blood from his chest. Grateman hurried to do the same.

  After Grateman dipped a cloth in the warm water, he swiped it over the human’s broad shoulders and chest. He just about swallowed his tongue when removing the blood revealed something small and black. The human had a small barbell embedded in his nipple.

  “Damn.” The word escaped Grateman before he could control himself. His cock, which had softened on his trek through the facility, firmed right back up. “That’s so—”

  Maelgwn smacked him upside the head. “Concentrate, damn it,” he snapped. “Or you’ll not have a mate to convince to change his ways and shit.”

  Grateman grimaced. “Right.”

  Evidently, it’d been way too damn long since he’d had sex... or the smell of the man’s blood was getting to him. As he set about cleaning up the human’s chest, then down his arm, he fought the urge to lick the blood clean and use his saliva to help aid the healing.

  Clearing his throat, Grateman asked, “How’s Sapian?”

  “Sapian will be fine,” Perseus told him, stepping up next to him and beginning to examine the human. “Especially now that the sedative has taken effect.” He began running his hands over the human’s torso. “Now, let’s see if I can’t figure out if he has any serious internal injuries with this shitty equipment.”

  Grateman glanced around the space again. “They sure didn’t care about their hunters, did they?”

  “About as much as they cared about the shifters they caught,” Perseus grumbled. “That poor guy probably hasn’t had food in three days.”

  “And yet you saved my mate’s friend?” Grateman pointed out, jerking his chin toward the other human. “Can’t believe Vane agreed to that.”

  “Actually, Vane brought him in,” Perseus revealed.

  Gaping, Grateman couldn’t believe what he heard. “What? Why?”

  Perseus shrugged. “Couldn’t say. You’ll have to ask him.”

  Grateman scoffed. “Yeah, that’s a conversation I wanna have with him.” Vane wasn’t known for being the friendliest gargoyle.

  “Remove the rest of his clothes while I maneuver the X-ray machine over,” Perseus ordered.

  Nodding, Grateman began to carefully slice through the man’s jeans. When Maelgwn moved to help, he couldn’t help but growl at his leader. His chieftain just held up his hands even as he lifted one brow.

  “Sorry,” Grateman grumbled.

  “At least there’s no doubt he’s your mate,” Maelgwn responded, sounding amused. His mirth quickly faded. “There will be a number of rules once we stabilize him and get him back to the estate. You realize that, right?”

  Grateman nodded. “I figured as much. What did you have in mind?”

  Watching Perseus roll a device over, Grateman didn’t notice Maelgwn round the table. He did feel his chieftain’s hand on his arm as he urged him to stand back. Doing as he’d silently been instructed, Grateman stepped backward.

  “There will be security posted outside his room at the infirmary,” Maelgwn told him. “You will be responsible for explaining our ways and discovering why he chose to become a hunter.”

  “Think all these scars have anything to do with it?” Perseus asked, cutting into his conversation. “There’s more on his back.”

  Grateman hissed, seeing the impressive lines that could only have come from some animal’s claws. The thick scars bisected his back, running from his left shoulder to his right hipbone. They looked like they’d been damn deep.

  “How
the hell did he survive?” Grateman whispered.

  “Good doctors,” Perseus guessed. “Doctors that are a far cry better than these guys would have been. These are old. Maybe three or more years.”

  “I’ll get answers,” Grateman declared. “I’ll find out what his deal is.” He knew he had to, or there was no chance for their future.

  “Chieftain,” Raymond said, his voice over the com interrupting their conversation. “We have everything we can get from these systems.”

  “Not much there?” Maelgwn asked, frowning. “How can that be?”

  “Most of their shit is on paper,” Vane said through the communication system. “We’re going to have boxes and boxes of records to go through.”

  “Damn,” Maelgwn grumbled. “These guys are even more old-school than we are.” He scowled at Grateman. “I sure hope you can bring your mate around fast. I want to know who the leader of this organization is.”

  Grateman sighed, nodding. “I’ll do my best.”

  “You guys could exchange blood,” Perseus offered. “That will start the bonding process and should make him more likely to share information with you.”

  Growling, Grateman shook his head. As much as he wanted that, because it would cause his mate to accept him more quickly, he refused to manipulate the man that way. “No,” he stated firmly, rejecting the idea. “I won’t force him that way.”

  Maelgwn’s eyes narrowed, but he jerked a nod. “Just remember, he doesn’t go anywhere without an escort, no matter what,” he ordered. “We have hatchlings at home, and I will not put them at risk.”

  Grateman nodded. “Yes, Chieftain.”

  He sure as hell would never put any of his friend’s hatchlings at risk either. After being almost stagnant for a century, his clutch was finally expanding... finding mates and laying eggs. Not only was Vane’s mate pregnant, but so was the chieftain’s. Death would come swiftly to any person, gargoyle, shifter, or human, that put any little one at risk.

  “Then, let’s clear out of here,” Maelgwn ordered. “I don’t want to be here if they come back with reinforcements.”

  “Are we going to blow the building?” Vane asked.

  Grateman couldn’t help but think the gargoyle sounded hopeful at the prospect.

  “Negative,” Maelgwn responded. “I want you to mount surveillance cameras in every sensitive area. I want Raymond to implant a code so we can track if their computers are used, so no trashing anything.”

  Vane growled through the line, but agreed.

  “This man is not safe to move,” Perseus stated. “He has a broken rib that is damn close to his lung. I need to operate.”

  “You’ve got to be fucking me,” Sapian snarled. “What the hell did you give me, Doc?”

  For just an instant, Grateman thought the enforcer had been cussing about operating on his mate. He’d seen red, anger stronger than anything he’d ever felt before coursing through him. Sucking in a harsh breath, he let it out as slowly as possible.

  “Just relax,” Maelgwn rumbled as he watched Perseus cross to Sapian. “We won’t leave your mate like this. You know that.”

  Grateman nodded, peering at his chieftain through his lashes. “Thank you,” he murmured, knowing the tightness of his voice betrayed his concern.

  Maelgwn nodded once, then crossed to Leroy. “How’s it coming with him?”

  Leroy sighed. “Vane did a number on him, but he’ll heal.”

  “Good,” Maelgwn rumbled. “Almost done?”

  “Another thirty minutes, maybe,” Leroy told him, as he rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck. “These claw wounds need a lot of stitches.”

  “Keep at it,” Maelgwn encouraged. “We need to prove we’re better than these damn hunters at everything, including healing the wounded.”

  “You think that will help?” Leroy asked curiously.

  “It certainly can’t hurt,” their chieftain replied. “Just remember to never be alone in the room with either of these hunters. I don’t want to see you hurt.”

  Leroy snickered. “No worries, Chieftain.” He glanced up at the big man, a grin on his face. “I’ll always have a syringe of knock-out juice handy.”

  Maelgwn chuckled. “See that you do.”

  “I’m gonna clean and stitch up Grateman’s human’s arm while you finish this up,” Perseus stated, having since settled Sapian with a glass of water and a couple of paranormal grade aspirin. “Then I need your help fixing the man’s rib.”

  Leroy nodded. “You got it, Doc.”

  “In the meantime,” Maelgwn stated, “We’ll get Sapian and the horse shifter out of here. Maybe free up a little room.”

  Grateman stood beside his mate, cleaning his legs and helping Perseus with whatever he could as he inspected his human’s bruises... waiting. It was the longest thirty minutes of his life.

  Chapter Three

  Jeremiah’s head felt fuzzy. He struggled to figure out why. Had he had a night out? He had definitely been due one. It’d been ages since he cut loose.

  Still, the uncomfortable fog clouding his mind didn’t feel like a hangover. It wasn’t that kind of pain. Instead, he felt as if he had medicine head... maybe taken too much medicine coupled with a flu.

  Images flashed through his mind. A demon. Quinn. Fleeing on a dirt bike. The wreck.

  Shit!

  Had the black winged beast caught him? How could it not have? He’d totally fucked up, not paying attention to his landing, and had wiped out big time.

  Prying open one eyelid took a hell of an effort, let alone the second one. Still, Jeremiah did it. He blinked and blinked again, trying to get his eyes to focus.

  “Hey, I’m so glad to see you awake, handsome,” a clearly masculine voice stated. Rounding where Jeremiah lay, a slender, dirty-blond-haired guy came into view. He smiled, the move reaching his brown eyes. “You’ve been out for a couple of days. You had a bit of an accident on a dirt bike and broke your rib. We had to operate.”

  Touching Jeremiah’s forehead, the man continued, “I’m Nurse Leroy Wilde. Everyone just calls me Leroy. Feel free to do the same.” He shone a penlight into Jeremiah’s eyes, making him blink. “Looks like the concussion has cleared.” He removed the light. “What do you remember?”

  Licking his lips, then swallowing, Jeremiah tried to get a bit of moisture into his throat. He glanced around the room, again. Now he was able to make out textured, light tan walls with nature pictures hanging on them. He spotted what looked like a sideboard table, but on it rested a lit lamp, a towel, a basin, a pitcher, and a number of plastic wrapped, plastic cups.

  “W-Water,” Jeremiah managed to murmur.

  “Only a few sips,” Leroy cautioned, even as he moved to the sideboard. “We don’t want to upset your stomach.”

  Jeremiah watched as the nurse opened a packaged cup, then used the pitcher to fill it about a third of the way. “Where am I?” he asked, meeting Leroy’s friendly brown eyes.

  Leroy cupped his head, then brought the cup to his lips. “You’re safe,” he told him. “I’m glad Grateman found you before you woke,” he added. “If you’d woken and started moving, you could have punctured a lung.” He chuckled softly. “Of course, the same could be said for him moving you and flying you to us, but you made it none-the-less.”

  Jeremiah took a sip of the water, trying to make sense of the man’s words. Flying? Plus, he hadn’t really answered his question about where he was. This was obviously not a hospital, but the guy called himself a nurse. A private clinic, maybe? He managed to take a second sip of water before Leroy pulled the cup away.

  Licking his lips again, Jeremiah decided his throat felt so much better. “Was chased,” he blurted. “By a demon.” Oh, shit. Had he blurted that out? Now the nurse was going to send the guys in the white coats.

  To Jeremiah’s surprise, Leroy chuckled softly and shook his head. “I admit, some of them definitely have that look to them, don’t they?” He s
traightened, crossing his arms over his chest as he grinned down at him. His brown eyes actually twinkled. “They’re not demons, though. They’re gargoyles... and they’re really not that bad.” He shrugged, the right side of his mouth curving up. “They just want to be left alone. Find love. Raise kids. Live their life. Same as humans.”

  Jeremiah blinked. He reached up and grabbed Leroy’s wrist. “You think they’re the same as humans?” He’d never met a human who felt that way before.

  Leroy glanced from his wrist to Jeremiah’s face, then stepped backward, severing the connection. “Yeah,” he snapped. “I do. And don’t grab me,” he warned. “My mate doesn’t like it.”

  When Leroy pointed to the right, Jeremiah looked that way. He spotted a tall, toned, black man standing near the door. With his arms crossed and the scowl on his face, he made an imposing figure.

  Jeremiah returned his focus to Leroy. “Mate? Are you a shifter?” He blurted out the question, unable to help himself as panic flooded his system. At the same moment, a machine began to beep, attesting to his elevated heart rate.

  “Shit,” Leroy hissed. “Calm down, buddy,” he urged, stepping closer. “I told you that you’re safe.”

  Yeah. Like he believed that!

  “Listen to my voice,” Leroy urged, resting his hands on his shoulders and pushing him flat to the bed. “I am a human. You have nothing to fear from me. I offer my healing services to all creatures that need me, from human to shifter to gargoyle. I won’t let any harm come to you.”

  Jeremiah scoffed. Struggling, he tried to sit up. “How the hell could you stop them?”

  “You’d be surprised,” Leroy stated, pushing him down again. “Now, just relax. Along with those rib problems, you don’t want to pull the stitches in your arm. Grateman tells me you slammed into a tree and skewed your arm on a broken branch.” He gave him what could only be called a doctor’s look of disapproval as he added, “You do know those things are horribly dangerous. Don’t you?”