Chaz (VLG #15)

Chapter Fourteen

Shoni stared in shock at the two strangers sitting at the counter the next morning when she came downstairs. They were both handsome, muscular, and looked… oversized. Both men were tall and thick-bodied. It was their shaggy pitch-black hair, deeply tan skin, and matching sky-blue eyes that really stood out.

Garson suddenly exited her kitchen. “Ah, Shoni. Meet Tymber and Yern. Did we wake you up when they arrived?”

Both intimidating strangers were silently watching her. Fear inched up her spine. Anyone would be frightened of the two men after learning that shifters existed. Shoni would guess they’d probably be bears if they transformed into animals.

Garson came closer. “It’s okay. I’m sorry if we woke you. They finished their last assignment and came to see if I wanted to go on the next one with them. I gave them your address. Sorry I didn’t ask first, but you were still in bed. You’re safe. They won’t hurt you.”

He moved in front of her, blocking Shoni’s view of the two strangers. She looked up at him. “What kind of assignment?”

“It’s best if I don’t answer those kinds of questions. That’s just one more memory that will have to be removed.”

She nodded.

“Has Chaz returned your calls or texts yet?” It was one of the strangers asking.

Garson moved to her side, facing the two men. “No. He’s still doing whatever to help stabilize that pack I told you about.”

“We really need to leave.”

It was the one with slightly longer hair who spoke. Both men looked a lot alike. Shoni guessed they must be brothers. They appeared to be the same age but weren’t identical twins. There were some differences in their features, but their eye color, shape, and long black eyelashes were the same. She also saw a similarity in their generously full lips.

“I know, but I promised Chaz I would stay with this human until he returns.”

“We really need your help,” the other one stated, his sky-blue gaze running up and down Shoni’s body. “Chaz fears the local pack will come after her, right?”

“They already sent a mated pair to kill her.” Garson sighed. “I think that’s why Chaz decided to get involved. She’ll be in less danger when the pack accepts the alpha he decided would be a good leader and after her memories have been wiped.” He stared at the first one. “Sorry, Tymber.”

“Damn.” Tymber had a deep, husky voice. “We really could use your help. Our informant said we’ll be dealing with over three dozen humans. No one else is near enough to reach us until tomorrow. This needs to be dealt with immediately before another Lycan kid gets hurt. It’s pure luck that the hunters going after them are shit shots and only caused non-lethal injuries.”

The other one nodded. “We should be there right now finding those humans and making them stop attacking the youths. We’re already looking at a two-hour drive to reach that area. More of the youths could be found and shot at in that time.”

It sounded serious to Shoni. “Someone is hurting kids?”

All three of the men stared at her.

She tensed at their attention but really wanted an answer. “Is someone hurting kids? Please just answer me that.”

Tymber frowned but gave a sharp nod. “Yes. A small group of Lycan kids decided to run away from their pack in rebellion. The details of what happened are still unclear. Our clan leader received a call for help from one of the parents. Their alpha refuses to allow the youths to return home and, worse, has hired a group of human hunters to go after them. The youths are living in fur. The humans were told they are diseased wolves that need to be put down. They are to shoot them dead but avoid the bodies at all costs.”

“Because they are supposedly diseased, and the humans were told they could die if they touched one of the corpses. It must be shit alpha week or something,” Garson grumbled. “The bastard ordered his pack into lockdown so none of them can help their own children. I’d love five minutes alone with him.”

“We’ll deal with this alpha after the youths are safe and we call off the hunt on them,” Yern stated. “Wendell involved humans in going after members of his own pack and offered money for them to be killed. That’s not something we’ll allow to stand. He’s made a huge mess we need to clean up. Every human and all the others they came into contact with will need their memories wiped. I wish we had more than three of us to handle the situation.”

“I want to kill anyone who harms youths, but the humans don’t know what they are doing since Alpha Wendell lied to them,” Tymber almost growled. “The youths range between ten to fifteen years old.”

Shoni bit her lip, thinking. “I’ll lock the door and not open it for anyone. Plus, I have a shotgun upstairs. You guys need to go help those kids. I’m sure Chaz would agree if he was answering his phone.”

Garson stared at her, his expression thoughtful. “Are you sure he doesn’t want you to become his mate?”

That question threw Shoni and caused a small pain in her chest. “Chaz made it clear he’s not ready for one.” Embarrassment hit, knowing the two other men were listening. “I have a family that matters to me. It’s for the best if we part ways.” She hoped that if she said it enough… it would help.

“We really need to get to those kids.” That was Tymber speaking. “Decide to go with us or not, Garson. Two of us are better than none. We won’t be able to cover as much ground to stop all the humans without you, but time has run out.”

“I know. Damn it.” Garson’s eyes suddenly changed, turning a lighter amber color.

Shoni forgot how to breathe for a few seconds. She wanted to step back, but her body refused to do her bidding. Garson was doing that glowy thing with his eyes from before when he’d forced her to answer his question about whether she had feelings for Chaz.

“Look deeper into my eyes,” he softly ordered. “Don’t be afraid, Shoni. Just think back to when you first met Chaz. I need you to tell me everything.”

A voice that sounded muffled to Shoni could be heard, but for the life of her, she couldn’t remember or care who it was. All she could see were Garson’s strange eyes, and she focused on how unusual they looked. All her fear evaporated.

“Are you sure you want to wipe her without Chaz’s consent first?”

“The Lycan kids are our priority, Tymber. Let Garson do his thing. It’s why Chaz asked him to come here in the first place.”

Garson blinked. “You heard Shoni. Even she agrees that kids should come first. You’re going to need my help since the human hunters have divided into groups to go after those youths. I tried to tell Chaz that Shoni was in love with him, but he didn’t want to hear it.”

Someone loudly sighed. “Chaz is the colder twin, isn’t he? He totally takes after the Gargoyles in his clan. Fray is much more flexible with his mindset.”

“Damn,” a deep voice muttered. “We do need to go. Hurry up if you’re going to change her memories, Garson.”

Garson leaned in closer, gently gripping Shoni’s shoulders. “Pretend you’re dreaming and reliving every moment since you met Chaz. Tell me about it all. We’re not here. You don’t see me anymore. I’m just a voice inside your head.”

* * * * *

Chaz bent on one knee, knowing it would make him look less terrifying to the nine-year-old Lycan male who quivered in fear before him. Scars marred one side of the boy’s face. It was obvious someone had slapped him hard with their claws at some point. The damage was severe enough that no amount of healing would ever remove all traces of them. Whoever had done it had cut all the way down to the bone. The kid was lucky he hadn’t lost an eye.

“Who did this to you?”

The boy kept his gaze on the ground, his body trembling, and fear seeped from him.

“I’m here to help your pack.” Chaz had forced everyone else out of the mated couple’s home. He didn’t want the boy to feel forced to lie. Someone had hurt the kid, and he wanted to know who.

“You’re safe.” Chaz softened his voice. “I’m here to make sure no one else causes you harm.”

The boy darted a look up, meeting his gaze for a few seconds. Hope flashed in his eyes before he stared back at the floor. “Jovi attacked my older sister. He said she was a bad cook and was choking her until she stopped moving. I jumped on his back to make him stop.” His voice broke. “I thought she was dying. He did this to me for trying to protect her. It was my fault. My alpha said so.”

Rage burned through Chaz. He believed the kid. The scout had almost murdered a female over a bad meal. He’d scarred up a young pup for trying to protect his sister. Alpha Keith had blamed the boy instead of punishing the scout. “It is not your fault.” Chaz reached out and gently took the youth’s hand. “What else has Jovi done?”

“He hurts everyone when he gets mad. My parents never want me to go outside because he threatens to kill me every time he sees me.” The boy sniffed. “Saying I’m too ugly to live.”

Chaz believed the boy. “It’s going to be okay. Your scars aren’t ugly. They are proof that you survived being attacked by someone much bigger and stronger than you. Be proud of that. I’m going to make sure Jovi never hurts you or anyone else again.”

He left the cabin. The boy’s parents rushed inside. He hated seeing their distress at just the sight of him and knew they probably feared he’d somehow harm their pup. It seemed like a common theme with the pack. They’d learned distrust under Keith’s reign of terror.

“Do you want to speak to more victims of Jovi’s?” Corlin pointed to another cabin. “The parents of a female live there. Jovi took notice that she was pretty and almost of age. He made his intention clear what he wanted from her and wasn’t about to take no for an answer. They sent her to live with family in another pack to keep her safe. He’s earned a reputation for liking virgins and making sure their first sexual experiences aren’t good ones.”

Chaz fumed. “How in the hell could your father allow this kind of shit to happen?”

“You met him.” Corlin didn’t make any other excuses.

“Take me to this Jovi.”

“My pleasure.”

Ten minutes later, the Lycan was dead. Chaz had gotten a confession from Jovi first about the boy and many more crimes he’d committed against submissives. The idiot had seemed to expect Chaz to be impressed with his cruelty.

“You have one messed-up pack,” Chaz assessed.

“My sisters and I are going to fix everything our father did wrong.”

“It seems like a fifth of your pack needs to be culled.” It left Chaz reeling that so many Lycans had allowed such atrocities to be done on their watch.

“The numbers aren’t that high.”

“Who is next on your list?”

“One of our healers.” Corlin sounded mad.

Chaz wasn’t even sure he wanted to ask what they’d done, but he felt he needed to. “Tell me.”

“There’s a male my father sent to human medical school about twenty years ago. Denty likes to use taskers for experiments.”

A sick feeling pitted inside Chaz. “What kind of experiments?”

Corlin started to tell him. One of the worst stories was how the healer had broken a healthy female’s back to purposely paralyze her to see whether he could fix the injury or not. When he hadn’t been successful, the female had been murdered. The cruelty done to the submissive packmates horrified him. Chaz had heard a lot of terrible things in his lifetime, but it still shocked him.

“You let this shit happen? I would have killed him,” Chaz pointed out.

“My father and brothers would have killed me as punishment. Then, I wouldn’t have been able to secretly help all the ones I have over the years. Do you honestly believe my father allowed the parents to send their daughter away with his permission? I smuggled her out in the trunk of a car, and we all said she ran away so they wouldn’t be punished.”

The pack was a bigger mess than he’d first suspected. Chaz pulled out his cell to check for messages but noticed the battery had died. He hadn’t brought a charger with him. All he wanted to do was return to Shoni, but he wasn’t leaving until he made sure the healer was as evil as he sounded.

It turned out to be true. The males in the Folsom pack liked to brag about all their misdeeds. The healer was no exception. He’d even been excited about how close he’d come to reattaching the fingers he severed if he tried to put them back on in under a minute. Chaz had killed the Lycan for his horrendous crimes.

They made their way back toward the packhouse. Chaz replayed the afternoon before inside his head. Corlin and his sisters had issued a total of seven challenges. Chaz had watched it go down to make sure the fights were fair.

Both advisers had pulled guns when their new alpha had given them the option of stepping down from their positions or fighting him to keep them. Chaz had shelled his body, taking the bullets meant for Corlin until he’d torn the weapons from their hands. Then he’d held onto one of them to wait his turn to fight so both hadn’t tried to attack Corlin at the same time to increase their odds of winning.

Both of Keith’s previous advisers had lost. One refused to yield. Corlin had killed him. The second one had crawled away after admitting defeat. He’d been instantly banished and escorted out of the Folsom territory. Then, Chaz had watched Corlin’s sisters challenge a few scouts.

He’d been impressed by the sisters. It became clear they were highly skilled fighters. Cathra, her brother’s new adviser, took out her opponent quickly. The male died from having his throat torn out.

Dorleen fought with such brutality that Chaz had felt a little alarmed. The female had seemed to enjoy making the male suffer grave injuries before ending his life. She’d toyed with him.

Corlin must have seen the expression on Chaz’s face that showed his displeasure because he’d leaned in close and whispered, “Zono groped her every chance he got and liked to humiliate females by calling them all whores. He did far worse to taskers. They couldn’t defend themselves.”

That was when Chaz decided he didn’t care if the more vicious sister had taken her time in killing the scout. Afterward, Dorleen tried to cozy up to him. It was clear that fighting aroused her. He’d turned her down flat. The only female he wanted in his bed was Shoni.

It was as if Corlin had read his mind by suddenly speaking about his sister as they walked together. “Dorleen would make a strong mate for you if you’re looking for one. She seems very interested in you.”

Drawn out of his thoughts, Chaz told him the truth. “We take all our mates home to live with our clans. You would end up losing your sister and not gaining me in your pack.” Chaz knew that would end the discussion. He was right.

Corlin changed the subject. “Are you ready for lunch? We’ll make a plan to take care of the rest of the troublemakers.”

“Yes.” He normally wouldn’t be hungry after executing Lycans, but they’d mostly gone through Corlin’s list of bad packmates. There were only a few left. He guessed that might only take a few more hours. Chaz hoped he’d be back with Shoni by dinner.

“Great. I can’t thank you enough for helping me.” Corlin reached out and patted his shoulder. “Word has spread through my pack that we’ve become friends. That will help them feel less threatened about your clans coming after us.”

“Touch Moe’s pack or the humans under his protection and all bets are off.” Chaz stopped, holding Corlin’s gaze. “Moe is my uncle. Never forget that. My twin just mated his adopted daughter. Moe’s human mate is her biological mother. Am I clear? They are all off-limits.”

Corlin grimly nodded. “I give you my word that we will leave that pack alone. I never believed Moe was weak for mating with a human. I can see the draw.”

Chaz wanted to believe him. He’d hate to think he’d wasted so much time trying to steady the Folsom pack only to have to wipe most of them out. He’d grown to care for the ones they called taskers. Vulnerable submissives needed to be protected. Especially if they were women and kids.

They reached the packhouse to find lunch ready to be served. Dorleen once again flirted with him. Chaz ignored the suggestive hints she made about wanting to bed him. It didn’t matter that she had once been his type. All he could think about was Shoni.

He made a plan as he ate. He’d send Garson on his way after he had him deal with Marco. He never wanted that human anywhere near Shoni ever again. Then he’d ask Lord Aveoth for some more time to remain in the human world.

It was possible he’d get over his fascination with Shoni if they got to know each other much better. She wasn’t like anyone else he’d ever met. The newness would hopefully fade since he wasn’t ready to take a mate.

She had admitted to being off work for two weeks. The idea of them being together for that long appealed to Chaz. He also concluded that Kelzeb and Lord Aveoth would more than likely allow him to remain with Shoni for as long as he requested. Fray would be moving Lenore to their clan. The mated pair didn’t need his help doing that.

It wasn’t exactly as if Chaz would be sent on other assignments without his twin. Lord Aveoth and Kelzeb couldn’t complain about being a team down. They would have found other GarLycans to take their place as soon as Fray announced that he’d found his mate. Chaz would be bored while he figured out what he could do at the cliffs to occupy his time. Spending a few weeks with Shoni would be much better.

Chaz felt relief once he was certain that was what he wanted to do. He instantly reached for his cell to make the call to his clan but remembered he needed to charge it first. It wasn’t like he’d prepared to stay longer than updating Corlin about what had happened with Noah. Now, he’d been there for over twenty-four hours.

“I’ve heard that GarLycans can fly.” Dorleen smiled at him from across the table. “Is it possible for you to take me up into the sky tonight? I’ve always wanted to know what it would feel like to soar like a bird.” She winked. “I bet it would also be nice for you to hold me in your arms, too.”

Irritation rose. He had turned down her advances half a dozen times. “I don’t fly with others.” That seemed the best answer.

“I’m an exception you should make.” She leaned forward and shoved her chest outward to show off some cleavage. “It would be worth your time.” That was followed by another wink.

“Give it up.” Cathra chuckled. “Haven’t you noticed that a lot of our pack has given him the green light to share their bed? He hasn’t taken anyone up on their offers. I think the GarLycan doesn’t fuck our kind. The women in his clan must be much stronger and more appealing than we are.”

Chaz kept quiet. That excuse would work as long as Dorleen stopped making advances and trying to get him alone. He sure didn’t want her to suspect that a human had caught his attention. He didn’t want Shoni to have yet another target on her back from anyone in the Folsom pack.

“Let’s get to the rest of your problem list of packmates we need to talk to,” he announced, standing from the table. “I need to report to my clan leader and return to the job I was on.”