Chapter Two
Hugh
"What the hell are you doing?" the slim man shouted, getting to his feet. "What are any of you doing?"
Julian disarmed the man and placed him in a hold that made it difficult for him to move without causing himself pain.
It wasn't the least bit difficult for him, but Hugh still thought Julian wasn't getting the credit he deserved. Not from the red-headed man or the shouting bartender.
Normally, Hugh kept Julian cool, but in this case, he had acted exactly as Hugh would have.
"Mi esposa, mi esposa," the man muttered. He pulled from Julian, attempting to reach the other man.
Hugh stepped between them, blocking the once armed man from his target. His inner bear roared so loudly he thought the other people in that room had to hear it.
As was his habit, he looked for Julian's face and found that he was just as transfixed by the slim man as Hugh was.
He smelled like fresh flowers and cinnamon rolls, except, the type of cinnamon rolls Hugh wanted to sink his dick into.
"He was attacking you," Hugh explained slowly. "Julian saved you."
"Hardly, you idiots. Mi esposa, means my wife. I'm a doctor, he clearly needs my help."
"Then why was he waving a machete around?" Julian barked.
"Because he just got out of work! Who sent you back here anyway?" He turned his anger to the bartender. "Pablo? Did you send them back here? I told you, your grandfather was dehydrated with the beginning signs of heat stroke as well as an infection in his foot. I am doing all I can and sending muscle back here won't make me go any faster!" he yelled at them, and the bartender shuffled back, mumbling as he walked down the hallway. The man's face softened when neither Julian or Hugh moved. "Do you know Senor Ramirez?"
"No." Hugh scanned the sleeping old man again. His skin was ashy, and his heartbeat slow. "Is he dying?" Hugh asked.
The doctor tilt his head to the side in a move that was almost bird-like. "We all die. But he doesn't have to today. I was about to tell his son that before things got chaotic." He stood, wiping his hands together and then down the legs of his pants. "Donde vives?" he asked the man Julian restrained. "Can you let him go?" he snapped to Julian as the man gave him a rapid answer, none of which Hugh understood except for maybe the guy's name, Roberto.
"He was trying to hurt you," Julian replied, his response monotone. Hugh thought Julian was having as much trouble as he was coming to terms with what they were sensing.
This man, this doctor, had been the smell he'd scented earlier, the one that had twisted his body up and turned him on in seconds flat. Now that Julian was near enough to scent him--his sense of smell was always a little worse than Hugh's--his eyes dilated, and he flexed his biceps. Though he probably didn't realize.
Hugh gave Julian a look, one that he had never given the man who might as well be the other half of his heart, but one he knew Julian would understand instantly. Is this man our mate?
In typical Julian fashion, he grunted out a growl and shrugged.
"He isn't trying to hurt me," came the doctor's exasperated reply. He reached forward to grab Julian's bicep, probably to make him let go, but the moment he did, he pulled his hand back as if Julian had shocked him.
Hugh wondered what the touch had felt like with something that seemed like jealousy. Except, he was never jealous of Julian. That would be like being jealous of his own leg.
He stepped as close as he dared to the doctor. "I think we're missing some vital information here. You are a doctor in this area? You don't look Mexican."
"What gave it away? My violently pale skin and red hair?" the doctor quipped.
When Hugh did not reply, the doctor sighed and continued speaking at a calmer level. "My name is Logan. I am a doctor, but I'm just here for a few weeks. It's what I do."
"Travel and help people?" Julian offered.
"I don't stay in one place for long. Permanence isn't my thing. Also, I enjoy long walks in the forest, and my sign is Capricorn on the cusp of Aquarius. Now that you know my life story will you release that man so I can go help his wife?"
Hugh nodded, and Julian released the man.
"Is he like your bodyguard or something?" Logan asked, jerking his head to Julian.
"Or something," Hugh replied, crossing his arms over his chest. He didn't have to look over to know Julian was doing the same thing. They were like one body.
Logan peered at the two of them. He was shorter than them by at least a foot. The top of his red head came up to their shoulders. His thinness didn't translate into weakness though. His forearms were toned, if just a little small and when he bent down to retrieve a black bag with a shoulder strap, he showcased a firm but petite ass.
Hugh lurched forward, his body reacting to the man bent over before his brain had a chance to tell him to do anything. Julian stopped him silently with a hand on his elbow.
"Show me the way, Roberto," Logan said, leaving through the doorway without another look at the two huge men who had literally burst into his life.
They followed behind in time to see Logan drop one unlabeled white bottle on the bar. "Give him one twice a day until they are gone," he said before indicating for the other man to lead the way.
Julian surged forward as Hugh glowered at the bartender. "You could have told me you spoke English," he grumbled, hurrying to catch up to his brother.
Outside the bar, the sun was setting, giving the quiet Mexican streets an orange glow. Logan followed the man closely, asking him questions in rapid Spanish. While they pushed through the people, Julian and Hugh followed easily in their wake.
"What are you guys doing?" Logan asked, suddenly stopping to spin around and put his hands on his hips. "Why are you following me?"
Hugh looked around as he tried to come up with an answer that would make sense. Because you smell like something I want to put my dick in, probably wasn't what he should say. He glanced over at Julian.
"We're keeping you safe," Julian said simply.
"There is no danger here," Logan replied, gesturing to Roberto.
On the surface, the street they were on looked like any other street with distracted commuters and street vendors, but Hugh noticed the extra glances his doctor got from the people on the fringes. "Not from him maybe, but this isn't the safest part of town."
Logan folded his arms over his chest and swayed forward. Hugh figured he was attempting to look intimidating and found it all adorable. "I've been here for two weeks without an issue."
"Then you're lucky," Julian grunted. "That luck could run out."
"Por favor, apurense," Roberto said, reaching forward to tug on Logan's sleeve before catching Hugh's gaze and dropping his hand.
"Si, si, vamonos." Logan waivered with indecision. The urge to stay and press the issue warred with the need to go and help the man's wife. "Ugh, fine, follow if you want. But don't get in my way."
Hugh smirked as Julian sidled up next to him. "Kind of angry, isn't he?" he said as they waited for Logan and Roberto to get a few feet ahead of them before following behind.
"Can you hear his heartbeat?" Hugh asked, watching Logan's pert little ass sway.
"It's beating like an over-caffeinated drummer," Julian replied.
"I don't think that is all adrenaline," Hugh quipped, frowning as Roberto led Logan down a narrow side street. "What I want to know is what our mate is doing making house and bar calls in Mexico."
"Something about this guy tells me we should be quiet about the whole mate business. At least for a while."
"He must be our mate if he is making you cautious," Hugh joked.
Ahead, Logan and Roberto were outside a row of houses. The walls were crumbling a little on the edges, but flowers bloomed in planter-boxes on the windowsills. When they disappeared inside, Julian and Hugh rushed forward, entering through the door Logan had left open.
Hugh couldn't help a smile. Logan could have closed the door if he didn't want them following after.
Inside, the home was bright but quiet. They stepped into a living room and found it full of people circled around a dark-skinned woman with long black hair. She was flat on her back with a towel over her forehead and eyes. Logan approached her slowly. His eyes scanned her body as he stepped through the people circled around her. He asked Roberto questions which the man answered far quicker than Hugh's ability to understand Spanish.
As Julian and Hugh pushed their way into the room, people began to take notice. They looked back at them, elbowing those next to them. One by one, the people stood, shuffling out the front door while never taking their eyes off either of the two shifters.
Logan looked away from the woman for a moment and did a double take at the room. He glanced back at Julian and Hugh. "I guess you two are good for something," he joked.
"We're good for a lot of things," Hugh said as Julian smirked.