Page 54 of Tempest
“Wait… Why are there two cars?”
Robbie’s question drew Cash’s attention, and he frowned across the room at where Liam was sitting in a chair, one ankle propped up on the opposite knee. They hadn’t wanted Ore’s parents to feel overwhelmed or threatened, so they’d decided to keep the group small. Liam didn’t look worried, but there was a small furrow between his brows.
“Did your parents say they were going to bring anyone else with them?” Robbie asked, glancing back at Ore.
“No,” Ore assured him quickly, shifting on the couch next to him. “I didn’t even remember about my sisters until late last night, but even if they brought them, they wouldn’t have put them in a separate car.”
Robbie looked out of the window once more, holding the curtain out of the way enough to give himself a gap to peer through.
“Why don’t you just go open the door? You’d have a better view,” Cash said, pushing to his feet. Ore stared up at him with wide eyes, hands twisting in his lap, and he tried to give him a reassuring smile.
Robbie waved a hand at him but didn’t look away. “It’s just one guy in the other car. He’s kind of big and beefy for a bird shifter. The other twohaveto be your parents,” Robbie said, throwing a grin at Ore. “Your mom might be even tinier than you are.”
“Pot, kettle,” Liam muttered, studying his nails.
Robbie stuck his tongue out at him, which made Ore’s half-hearted smile turn genuine.
Cash appreciated that not only was Robbie there for his mate, but he was also doing his best to remain upbeat and keep Ore from spiraling.
Striding across the formal sitting room, he headed toward the front door. He took a deep breath, straightened his shoulders, and then pulled it open before the people on the other side could knock. He pasted a polite smile on his face that didn’t show any teeth.
The couple that Robbie had identified as Ore’s parents looked a lot like him. His mother was small, just like him, but they also had the same olive skin, and Ore’s dark eyes that Cashloved to gaze into so much clearly came from his father, along with his unruly hair.
Cash held out a hand. “You must be Debbie and Harold Whitlock.”
They each took his extended hand and gave it a loose shake, pulling away quickly.
“Are you Alpha Amato?” Debbie asked tentatively.
He shook his head and stepped back, gesturing to his right. “I’m Cash Lawson. I’m an Enforcer and a… friend of your son’s.”
He stumbled over the word, but he didn’t want to make some big proclamation before Ore even had a chance to talk to them. They slipped past and headed toward the sitting room, but Cash didn’t follow, instead turning toward the man lingering on the front porch.
He could tell immediately that this was an Enforcer from Ore’s family’s pack, and he wondered if they’d felt unsafe coming to a pack full of feline shifters on their own. Avians weren’t exactly helpless, but he knew there was a lot of misinformation spread among their tight-knit packs about canine and feline shifters being highly predatory and uncontrollable.
“Enforcer Lawson,” the man said politely, inclining his head. “I’m Louie Gladstone, an Enforcer in the Barney Pack.”
Cash had been a little surprised to learn that Ore’s pack was the decently sized one in northern California he’d heard about. He’d assumed he was from one of the small, tight-knit ones, maybe near some mountains.
Gladstone didn’t extend a hand, and neither did Cash, getting a weird vibe from the guy as he unsubtly tried to peer around him to look into the house. Maybe he was just curious, but Cash’s instincts were telling him it was something else, that he was looking for Ore.
“Welcome to Silver Oak,” Cash offered blandly and forced himself to let the man into the house as well, though it went against his panther’s drive to bare his teeth and keep him out.
He shut the door and followed Gladstone into the sitting room, where Ore’s parents still had him wrapped in a tight embrace between them. No one was really saying anything, though Debbie was crying quietly, one of her hands stroking over Ore’s hair. Robbie, leaning against his uncle’s chair, sniffled and wiped at his eyes subtly.
“Isn’t that sweet,” Gladstone said with a sneer.
Ore’s head jerked up, and all the color drained from his face as he stared at the Enforcer half a dozen feet in front of him. “You,” he breathed out, fingers clutching at his parents as they moved to either side of him. “I remember you.”
Cash looked between his mate and the Enforcer, not waiting for an explanation before stepping between them. His hackles were raised, a low growl building in his chest. He should have trusted his panther and slammed the door in the man’s face.
“I’m glad you remember me, mate. It’s time you come back home.”
Cash couldn’t hold back his snarl, flashing his fangs. Like. Fucking. Hell.
“I’m not your mate,” Ore said, voice high-pitched and frantic. “I made that very clear the last time I saw you.”
Gladstone eyed Cash warily but then turned his focus back to Ore, running his tongue between his teeth and lip. He eyed Ore’s slender form from top to bottom.