(MxM) Tales Of A Shifter (P1) - The Meeting

Chapter 41 - Final Outcome

Mantilo returned from the horse ranch feeling decidedly heavy with possibilities and a fledgling plan of action for the coming morning.

This time when he neared the house, his Mate was nowhere to be seen, until he had climbed the winding steps of their home, up past the second floor where the scent of the intruder lingers slightly on the air. A new scent and so its presence seemed like a blaring sigh to the beast inside that he needed to go and investigate, but Mantilo ignored it, he was far too tired to do anything more but climb to the third floor.

The leopard embossed wooden doors that stood like wooden gates before him, the beautifully carved twin leopards in the wood laying down and mirrored in a back to back pose always managed to make him feel a pinch of pride. Not only because it was Mantilo's great grandfather who had carved the beautiful door, but because it was Mantilo himself that had restored it after a fire nearly took its magnificence from the world.

The doors opened softly with a rush of air and solid weight beneath his palms as he pushed into the room beyond.
The familiar settings about him, from the large bed that dominated the center of his room, with all of the curtains pulled back. And there was his Mate, sitting, curled up on her side and staring down into a book.

She was dressed in a slimming pitch black gown that stood at a clear contrast to her sandy blond hair and bright green eyes. She was so small, sitting in the middle of their large room and mattress and in comparison to him, that Mantilo often and foolishly feared that he would squash her, but he felt a dual appreciation for her mind and her inner strength.

The moment he steeped closer she turned and sat the book she was reading on the floor. Shinning beautiful green eyes that he could get lost in for days glanced him over and she smiled. All signs of her earlier anger gone. "Come here." She urged him, putting out a slender hand.

Mantilo walked over to the bed, he wouldn't have turned form her If her could.

"Welcome back...." she said first, pulling him closer.

He expected her to jump right into the talk about the mortal, but she surprised him by raising his hand and placing a kiss to his slightly red wrists. The irritation and swelling that the bug bites had created had begun healing on the run over and now all that remained were the bright red marks that would soon fade all together. She rubbed her cool palms over the healing skin in a compassionate way that only a healer of her caliber could manage, then she looked up at Mantilo. A new question hanging on her lips.

Once again his mate surprised him, took his other hand and pulled him towards the bed. "So what happened at the Martians Farm?" She questioned him softly.

"They were attacked, but the Martins themselves are fine. " He clarified as he placed a peck to her temple. "Unfortunately they lost a few horses tonight."

"Oh no...." She tisked angrily. "The Martins adored those animals. I hope they weren't too broken up over their loss."
The Martins had appeared more upset about the damage done to the farm then they murder of their livestock, but Mantilo decided to keep that to himself.

He took a seat on the bed beside her, groaning softly as the weight being removed from his feet allowed him to realize how sore he really was. The soles of his feet throbbed in time with his heart beat in the back of his head as he continued to fill her in.

"So far we've been two steps behind this thing." He began looking at her lovely face in the candle light and smoothing a hand down one of her arms so that he could take her hand. "We need to route this menace as soon as possible, and keep everyone as safe as we possibly can. It's attacking indiscriminately....it's only a matter of time before someone gets seriously hurt..."