Caleb took a shortcut, vaulting over the couch and entering the bedroom before she even made it to the door.
Entering, she saw Luke huddled against the headboard while Caleb stood, his entire body bristling, before the window.
The open window.
A cool breeze with hints of bayou filled the room, fluttering the superhero drapes she’d fabricated out of discarded sheets. The moist swamp was a familiar smell, but underlying it was something else, a more pungent scent she couldn’t figure out.
“What is that smell?” she asked as she crossed the room and held out her arms to her son. Luke dove into them, seeking their safety.
Remaining staring at the window, Caleb answered her. “I don’t know what that is. It’s a mixture of a few things, none that make any sense.”
Well, that was vague. “Did you leave the window open when you tucked him in?”
Judging by the tight set of his shoulders and the shake of his head, no. Despite the ambient temperature, a shiver went through her.
Who opened the window? And more disturbing, why?
“I saw something,” Luke sobbed, fear making him a little boy again who clung to his mother.
“What did you see, bug?” She bounced him in her arms, a familiar motion begun when he was just little and needed soothing from a tummy ache or a new tooth.
“The dinosaur found me. It wants to eat me!”
“It was just a bad dream, bug. Dinosaurs don’t exist.”
The right words for a situation like this, and yet she couldn’t deny something had happened. Someone or something had opened that window and left behind a smell that unpleasantly lingered.
Caleb stuck his head and part of his upper body out the window, which she realized, on top of being open, was missing its screen. Could Luke sense the fear in her because he clung tighter, his body seized in terror? He obviously believed something had tried to get in and, more worrisome, given Caleb’s actions, he did too.
Who, though, would come after her son?
The same thing that scared the twins and did something to Melanie. Was something dangerous hiding in the bayou? It wouldn’t be the first time.
“What’s going on, Caleb?” she asked in a voice that sounded too high-pitched, but she couldn’t help it. She held her son’s head cradled to her as she bounced him on her hip.
Turning from the window, Caleb met her gaze. His big shoulders rolled in a shrug. “I don’t know what the hell is going on, but I don’t like it. Something tried to get in here.”
At his words, Luke whimpered and buried his head deeper into her shoulder.
A growl rumbled, and Renny couldn’t help but take a step back as Caleb’s eyes glinted feral green, his inner beast rising for a moment.
She couldn’t help but be frightened—and fascinated. While she knew Caleb was a shifter, she’d never actually gotten to see his other side, almost as if he was ashamed of it.
Or frightened.
Others had no problem letting their beast out to stretch. It wasn’t unusual to see them sometimes roaming at night, although Daryl’s black panther was hard to truly see.
However, Caleb didn’t revel in his otherness like others did. He kept it tucked away, except during times of intense emotion. Then, and only then, did he sometimes slip enough for the croc to rise.
A brief glimpse was all she got before Caleb slammed the door closed and his eyes turned normal again, but his body still bristled.
“You can’t stay here.” Flatly said.
She didn’t disagree, but there was one problem with his assessment. “I have nowhere else to go.” Not entirely true. She could probably crash at Melanie’s place, but given the twins’ fright that afternoon, did she dare dump her own troubles and fear on them?
Determination straightened Caleb’s spine, and his eyes glinted, almost as if he prepared for battle.
Which means I probably won’t like his suggestion.
“You have somewhere to go where I can keep you safe. My place.”
He was right. She didn’t like it at all.
But when it came to the safety of her son, she didn’t have a choice.
Chapter Eleven
It surprised Caleb that Renny didn’t protest much when he told her she was coming with him back to his place. More actually his mother’s home, but he didn’t think Ma would protest, not when he knew she was dying to meet her grandson.
“Give me a minute to grab some things,” was what she murmured instead. Even more amazing, when he held out his arms to take his son, Luke dove at him, arms and legs winding as far as they could go around his body.
It took Renny but a few minutes to pack a bag while Luke lay nestled against Caleb’s chest, the trust his son had in him almost enough to bring a grown man to tears.
A quick scratch of his groin took care of that urge.
Loving his family was all well and good, but he couldn’t let debilitating emotions cloud his senses. I need to be alert and ready because danger lurks.