Porpoiseful Intent [Placida Pod 2] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove) (5 page)

“Is he hurt?” she called out.

One of the larger dolphins chattered back at her.

When they reached the swim step at the back of the boat, all three shifted into human form. The two larger dolphins were a man and a woman. The third was a young boy.

“A damn bull shark,” the man said. “Came out of nowhere and broadsided him. Knocked the wind out of him. Denby and Emery chased it away. Thank the Goddess they were right there.”

Louise helped Sean lift the winded boy into the boat.

“I’m okay,” the boy said. “If you want me to go back and swim, I will.”

He didn’t sound very convincing to Sean. Louise grabbed a towel for Sean to wrap around him. Sean saw a large, ugly bruise on the boy’s right side, from his armpit to his hip.

“No!” the woman yelled from the water. “You’re done for the night. You stay in this boat with Ms. Nadel.”

“Kim,” the man said, “he’s okay.”

She wheeled on him in the water. “I told you to wait for another hunt or two to be his first, but oooh no.” She smacked his shoulder, hard, splashing water everywhere. “I told you I had a bad feeling, but nooo. You just had to parade him out there.”

“Mom,” the kid weakly protested, “I’m okay—”

“You stay out of this, Billy.” She turned on her husband again. “Just because your brother’s kid was out for his first hunt at twelve doesn’t mean Billy needed to be out here tonight at only eleven. You’re always too damn willing to compete with that blowhard—”

Louise cleared her throat. “Kim, Carey, do you two want to ride with us, or rejoin the pod and finish the hunt with them?”

Kim glared at her abashed-looking husband. “We parked over on Gasparilla. Genius here didn’t want to spring for a boat rental. Wanted Billy to swim out for his first hunt.”

Sean helped the still-shaky kid to his feet and maneuvered him to the seat in front of the console. “Ma’am,” Sean said, “I don’t mind him riding in with us. I keep my boat over at Thatcher’s in Englewood.”

The man finally found his voice again. “You mean the one near the Tom Adams Bridge?”

“Right. When we go back in, we’ll be happy to stay there with him and wait until you get there, if you want to continue the hunt.” He really hoped they’d go back to the pod. He suspected the guy would get his balls handed to him later by his wife, but he didn’t think it was good for the kid to have to sit there and listen to them bicker any longer than necessary.

When Louise chimed in, Sean wondered if she had pull as wife of the pod’s Alpha. “It’s really okay,” she said. “Go enjoy yourselves. Everything’s okay now. It was just a little scare.”

From what he could see of Louise’s expression by his running lights, she didn’t look convinced of that, but he gave her credit for trying to put on a brave face.

“Thanks, Louise,” Kim said. After throwing a last glare at her husband, Kim sank into the water, shifted, and swam back to the pod.

“I’m sorry, Billy,” the man said. He, too, sank and shifted before swimming away.

Sean shared a glance with Louise. He didn’t have to read her mind to understand the silent words she mouthed to him.

“See? I knew there would be trouble.”

She went to check on Billy. “Oh, honey, you’re shaking.” Sean dug up another towel for him, and the T-shirt Emery had been wearing. It was big on the boy, but at least it was something. He hoped Billy wasn’t close to going into shock.

Louise sat facing Billy. “Are you okay, sweetie?”

That’s when Sean realized the boy was crying. “I didn’t want to come tonight,” he whispered. “Dad told me to man up. That my cousin Jason did it as soon as he first shifted and so could I.” He looked at her. “I’ve never been on a night swim before. I’ve only swam shifted in salt water once. In the daytime, and just off the beach. I didn’t want to come tonight. I begged Dad not to make me, but he told me to stop whining.” He looked up at Louise. “Please don’t tell him or Mom I said that. I don’t want them fighting more. She’s already mad enough at him.”

Louise slid over to sit next to him and put her arm around him. “It’s okay, honey. But would it be all right if the Alpha tells them he thinks you should become a stronger swimmer before your next hunt? And that he’ll decide when your next hunt will be?” She gently nudged him. “That way, you can tell Mr. Nadel when you want to go out for a hunt.”

He sniffled a few times as he apparently mulled it over. “Yes, ma’am. That would be okay. Thank you.”

She hugged him. “Then that’s settled. You know, there’s a McDonald’s right down the street from the marina. When we get back, would you like a shake or a sundae or something? My treat.”

He nodded. “Yes, please.”

Sean ruffled the kid’s hair and exchanged another glance with Louise over the kid’s head. He hadn’t thought about shifter parents not being any different than human parents. Competitive with their own siblings, eager to show each other up by using their kids.

Another reason to be glad I’m an only child.

He stepped to the bow and watched the pod. Either the boat had drifted, or the pod had moved, or both. They were about thirty yards away now, off his port bow.

After a few more minutes, the pod broke away and headed south and east, toward shore. Near Boca Grande Pass, where the waters were a little deeper and the current swift, they found another school of fish and tore into them. Billy’s shaking had subsided, and they’d coaxed a bottle of water and a sandwich into him. Then he was content to cuddle up with Louise again.

After a few minutes, Sean realized the boy was asleep.

She sadly sighed. “Carey and Coarman are a couple of assholes,” she whispered to Sean. “They’re always trying to one-up each other. I’m surprised their wives haven’t killed them both yet. But I expected better from Carey than this.”

“I think his wife is about to put her fluke up his ass from what I saw,” Sean whispered.

Louise pressed her lips together in an attempt not to laugh and wake Billy. She finally managed to smile without laughing. “Good one,” she whispered back. “You catch on quick.”

The rest of the hunt passed without incident. Billy’s mom stopped by the boat to check on her still-sleeping son before heading back to shore. Her silent husband followed in her wake. Emery rejoined them and climbed in.

“Thanks,” he said as Sean handed him a towel. He nodded toward the boy. “How is he?”

Sean nodded. “We’ll talk later, babe.”

His eyebrows lifted. “Ah. I’m tracking. But physically, he’s okay?”

“Yeah, just tired.” Sean found Emery’s shorts and handed them to him. Once Emery had pulled them on, Sean turned the boat around and carefully navigated toward the channel leading back to Lemon Bay. He wasn’t fond of going out on such a dark night, but Emery stood in the bow and gave him directions with hand signals so he could follow the channel markers.

They safely reached the marina before Billy’s parents. Billy woke up as they bumped against the dock. Emery found his car keys and handed them to his mom. “Here, you take him. I’ll help Sean get unloaded.”

“Okay. Come on, kiddo. Let’s go get ourselves shakes.” She grabbed her purse and led the boy by the hand down the dock to the parking lot.

Emery watched them go before turning to Sean with a dark look on his face. “Let me guess. His father made him come to the hunt?”

“Yeah, how’d you know?”

“Because the poor kid was scared shitless out there. You could tell he was terrified. Every little thing spooked him. His father practically pushed him into the first fish ball. Asshole. That kid had no business being out there tonight. Some kids are good to go on their first hunt right after they start shifting, and some need to get comfortable in the water at night first. He’s lucky it was a small bull shark and not a big one. Poor kid could have been seriously hurt. Or worse.”

“He made your mom promise not to say anything to his parents because he doesn’t want them fighting.”

“Fuck that. I’m going to—”

“Em, it’s okay. She asked him what about having your dad make the call when he’s ready to hunt, that he needed to become a stronger swimmer first or something. That he could tell your dad when he’s ready.”

Emery laughed. “That sounds like Mom.” He scrubbed his face with his hands. “Well, let’s get unloaded.”

They were waiting in the parking lot for Louise and Billy to return when a Toyota raced into the parking lot. The car had barely slid to a stop before Kim flew out the passenger door and raced to them. “Where’s Billy? Is he okay?”

“He’s fine,” Emery assured her. “Mom promised him a shake earlier.” He glanced over her shoulder. “There they are now.” Emery’s car was turning into the parking lot.

Louise pulled up and shut the car off. Kim ran around to the passenger side and engulfed her son in a tearful hug when he got out.

“I’m so sorry, baby,” Sean heard her murmur over and over to him. “I’m so sorry I let him make you go. I love you so much.”

“It’s okay, Mom. I love you, too.”

Carey got out and stood by his car. He stared down at the ground with his hands jammed in his pockets.

Louise walked over to him and stood there, staring at him. He finally glanced at her before looking down again. “I know, I screwed up. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize to
me
,” she quietly said, her tone sounding steely. “Your son is the one who almost paid the ultimate price for your pride and your childish ego. It’s time you and your brother start thinking of your children instead of yourselves. If my husband has to step in to settle this, it won’t be pretty.”

Kim had helped the boy don his clothes. With her arm protectively around him, she led him over to Louise and handed back the loaned towels and T-shirt. “Thank you so much,” Kim said gratefully, sounding near tears. “Thank you for taking care of him.” She choked out a laugh. “And the shake.” She squeezed her son’s shoulders. “Did you tell her thank you?”

Louise reached out and hugged her. “Yes, he did. It’s all right,” she softly said. “He’s okay. But I believe Joseph, as he is wont to do in these situations, will want to make the decision as to when he should go on his next hunt.” She caressed Billy’s cheek. “If that’s okay with you, honey?”

Billy nodded.

Kim let go of Billy to give Emery a huge hug. “Thank you,” Sean heard her say. “You and Denby saved his life.”

“It’s okay. It’s what the pod does. We stick together.”

She also hugged Sean. “Thanks for helping take care of him. I really appreciate it.” She returned to her son, bundled him and his shake into the backseat, then got into the front passenger seat with deadly glares shot at, but not a word spoken to, her husband.

Sean stood next to Emery and watched them leave. “That is a man,” Sean said, “who is sooo not getting laid for a long, long time.”

Louise shook her head. “He’ll be lucky if she doesn’t divorce him.”

“Screw that,” Emery said. “He’ll be lucky if he wakes up and she hasn’t neutered him in his sleep. That is one pissed-off momma.”

* * * *

Erik Chait held the knife’s hilt in his teeth as he dragged his victim by the tail into the shallows of the mangrove swamp near the Placida trestle fishing pier. The incoming tide would push the body farther up into the shallows, making it harder to discover.

It hadn’t been difficult to pick him off from the others in the fast-moving, deep Boca Grande channel. He’d gotten away from the pod, downstream from them. Erik saw his chance, swam up behind him where he’d shifted, driving the knife into the other shifter’s throat before he had time to react.

Perfect.

He stared down at the shifter. He barely knew the guy, Barry something or other. A youngling. He’d never fooled around with them for fuck tag.

He did know Barry was loyal to Joseph.

He rolled the dead shifter onto his back and grabbed the knife. “Emery thinks he’s better than me. You all think you’re sooo much better than me,” he muttered as he plunged the knife into the dolphin’s belly. “I’ll fucking show all of you. By the time I’m done, Emery will wish he’d never met that fucking human.”

* * * *

They took Louise home with them to wait for Joseph to pick her up on his way home.

“Can I get you anything to drink, or eat?” Sean asked her while Emery went to take a quick shower.

“No thanks, Sean. I’m okay.” She looked at her phone with a worried frown.

“What’s wrong?”

“I haven’t heard from Joseph or Christopher yet. They should be back at their cars by now. They weren’t that far behind us.”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

He leaned against the counter. “You said Carey would be lucky if Kim doesn’t divorce him. How can that be if they’re mated?” Sean couldn’t imagine ever leaving Emery.

She smiled. “It’s unusual, but not unheard of. I suspect they don’t have the mate-bond you and Emery do.” She glanced at the hallway to ensure Emery wasn’t there. “I have to admit I’ve thought it once or twice about Joseph. Especially after he first retired. That man really got on my nerves.”