“Fine,” Dominic rasped. He dropped his hand from Matt’s neck as Tatiana stepped between them and pushed him away. “You’re lucky Tatiana is here. If it weren’t for her, you’d be dead already.”
“Stop it, Dominic.” She shot him a deadly look before turning to face Matt who was shaking like a leaf and looking at them like they were from Mars. Hell, as far as he was concerned, they probably were. “It’s okay, Matt,” she said soothingly. “No one is going to hurt you.”
“Tatiana,” Matt said in a shaking voice as he hugged her and buried his face in her neck. “I didn’t hurt Spirit. I swear to God. I found her like this, and then these guys fucking attacked me.”
A knot formed in Dominic’s gut as he watched Tatiana hold Matt in her arms and comfort him. She released him, turned around, and stood protectively in front of him, her eyes glowing brightly in their clan form.
“Someone tell me what happened.” She looked at Eric, ignoring Dominic. “Matt would never hurt anyone, especially an animal. He’s one of the kindest, gentlest men I’ve ever known and doesn’t have a mean or aggressive bone in his body.” She shot Dominic an accusatory look. “Unlike some people, he’s never killed anyone.”
“I went into town to get coffee because we didn’t have any in the cabin, and I know how much you like hazelnut. I found Spirit like this when I came back,” Matt sputtered, peering over Tatiana’s shoulders. “I freaked out when I saw her like this and dropped the tray of coffee. I went to see if she was still alive, and two seconds later these two tackled me.” He lowered his voice. “What’s wrong with their eyes?”
“Bullshit,” Dominic spat. “There aren’t any other energy signatures on the property except for ours. If another assassin invaded the ranch, we would’ve sensed it, or at the very least, there would be a trail left behind.” He folded his arms over his chest and looked at Richard. “Your Highness, we don’t know this human, and as soon as he shows up, one of the horses is murdered.”
“Yes. That is all true.” Richard looked grim and turned his glowing lion eyes on Matt. “However, I am inclined to believe his proclamation of innocence. Aside from the fact that it’s far too convenient to catch him in the act.” He looked at Eric and Dominic. “Where is the weapon?”
They all looked at each other and then to Matt, who was still cowering behind Tatiana. The horses whinnied and shuffled nervously in their stalls, but Cass trotted up and down the aisle, calming them as he went.
Dominic swore, and his jaw clenched. “He doesn’t have one, and I checked the car too, but nothing. However, that doesn’t mean he couldn’t have ditched it somewhere else.”
Stalking toward the stall, Dominic brushed past Tatiana who moved her body in a protective stance in front of Matt. He scanned the area around the horse and the rest of the stall but didn’t see anything.
“I want to go home,” Matt whispered. “I won’t tell anyone about you guys or this place. Please. Just let me leave.”
Tatiana pushed past Dominic and went directly to Spirit’s body. She said nothing but took several minutes running her hands over the blood-splattered coat of the fallen beast with reverent strokes. She squatted by the animal’s head for a moment with her eyes closed, and Dominic’s gut clenched as he saw her swipe at her eyes. Sadness and anger rippled in her energy waves as she stood and faced the others.
“Matt couldn’t have done this.” She walked over to Richard, and her voice remained strong. “Spirit has been dead for hours, and if I had to guess, I’d say she was killed in the middle of the night. Not this morning. Did anyone hear anything last night?”
Dominic locked eyes with Tatiana briefly as his mind went to the voice they heard in the dream realm. Could that have been the mare trying to connect with Tatiana?
“I didn’t,” Eric said. “It probably happened when I was patrolling the outskirts of the property.”
Before anyone could say anything, Tatiana turned and faced Matt with the glowing eyes of her clan. His jaw dropped, and he stumbled backward, bumping into Dominic.
“You’re one of them,” he yelped and attempted to run away, but Dominic grabbed his arm and held him there. “It’s the fucking pod people.”
“You’re not going anywhere,” Dominic ground out. “Quit squirming, or you’re going to hurt yourself.”
Tatiana stepped closer and put a hand on Dominic’s arm. Her eyes, now shifted back to their human brown, were locked on Matt and rimmed with sympathy. Her energy waves were colored with sadness, and Dominic knew she was torn up over the way Matt was looking at her.
“Please don’t be afraid, Matt.” She placed her hand over Dominic’s and gave him a slanted glance as she urged him to let go. Reluctantly, he dropped his hold on Matt as Tatiana kept her voice calm and sent out soothing waves of reassuring energy, which helped ease the tension. “I promise I’ll explain everything. No one here is going to hurt you. Isn’t that right, Richard?”
“Absolutely.” Richard’s quiet but commanding tone filled the space. “We have many things to discuss, not the least of which is who managed to get onto the property undetected to slaughter my wife’s favorite mare and threaten our mates? I think we should take this discussion to the Council chamber. I’m sure Matt will cooperate. Won’t you, Matt? Besides, we have a friend who can find out if you’re being truthful.”
Matt said nothing but nodded, clearly aware there was little choice in the matter.
“Tatiana, are the other horses well enough to be let out to graze? I’d rather not keep them in here until we’ve had a chance to clean everything up.” Richard cast a somber gaze at Spirit’s broken form. “I had been keeping them inside until you had a chance to tend to them, but I can’t imagine being kept here with Spirit’s body is good for them.”
“Absolutely,” Tatiana answered but kept her attention on Matt. “Spirit was the sickest out of all of them. Based on the tests we ran yesterday, their feed was contaminated, so letting them out to graze would be a good idea. They’re also quite disturbed by what happened to Spirit, and I don’t want to leave them in here.” She flicked a brief glance to Richard. “Once things are settled, I’ll need to purchase new feed for the others.”
“You’re not going anywhere without me. Especially not after this shit storm,” Dominic bit out. He turned his glowing gaze to the others. “Tatiana is my mate.”
“Son of a bitch,” she breathed.
Dominic spun to face Tatiana and found himself staring into a pair of furious, glowing golden eyes. A growl rumbled in her chest as she inched slowly toward him, and for a moment he thought she was going to kiss him, but instead she hauled off and smacked him across the face. Hard.
No one moved—not even Matt—but all eyes were on Tatiana and Dominic.
“I am not your property to claim,” she seethed. Tatiana poked him in the chest and got in his face, but he held his ground. “I’m surprised you didn’t try to piss on me like a dog, and quite frankly, I doubt it could feel any more humiliating. Not to mention the fact that we have slightly larger issues to deal with than your male posturing.”
Tatiana spun around and looked at the others.
“I would like to take a closer look at Spirit’s body to make sure we’re not missing something. There could be evidence left behind that will help us, but in the meantime, I think we should explain this to Matt before he dies of shock.”
“Agreed,” Richard said evenly. His somber gaze wandered over the group. “I must speak with Salinda. We will convene in the Council meeting hall in fifteen minutes. I will be reaching out to some of the others and ask them to join us. Dominic, I want you at the meeting as well. Eric, I would like you to stand guard outside the facility.”