Gavin (Northern Ohio Shifters #3)

Chapter 10

Chapter

Ten

Brent Foley sat at the kitchen table in the headquarters for Humans Against Shifters and stared at the monitor. It was the full moon, and he’d requested emails from the team leads to share their plans to drive shifters out of whatever city they were responsible for.

Brent had a dozen people handling some of the larger cities around the country where the official stance of their organization was to get shifters out of human cities to make them safer, but really he just wanted all shifters dead.

He’d come to Northern Ohio not too long ago and opted to go after the tigers at the behest of an old friend who’d asked him to take out the king. Easier said than done, unfortunately. The king and his witch mate were still around despite Brent’s bombing of their job site and an abduction to boot, and he’d also lost his best spy, who’d been brainwashed by the tigers to believe she was a mate to one of them.

Every time he thought about what had happened with the tigers, he got pissed all over again. After losing about half his people, he’d bailed on Whisper Creek and the hard-to-kill beasts.

It wasn’t that they were his friends. They were mostly hired mercenaries willing to fight for whatever cause paid them the most.

But he’d lost his number-two, Buck, and that burned the most.

His phone buzzed and it was a private number. He wasn’t really in the mood to talk to anyone, but the private number could be one of the new people in HAS so he decided to take a chance.

“Foley.”

There was the sound of an engine revving, then a man said, “Hello, Brent. My name is Victor Hawthorne. Perhaps you’ve heard of me?”

Victor Hawthorne? It took a moment, but Brent recognized the name.

“Hawthorne? The shifter hunter?”

“Yes.”

Interesting. He wanted to ask how he got Brent’s private number, but instead asked what he could do for him.

“I heard that you don’t like the tiger shifters.”

Brent snorted. Anyone with an internet connection and access to any number of online articles about him as well as his very popular HAS website would know that. “I don’t like any shifters. Why?”

Victor explained that he was watching the wolf pack and had seen a unique looking wolf head into the tiger’s territory. He then asked if Brent was interested in teaming up for a special project.

What the hell was a wolf doing with the tigers?

Brent hummed. “What sort of special project?”

“You make your resources available to me to hunt this special wolf and I’ll help you take out as many tigers as you’d like.”

Hawthorne was widely known to be a shifter hunter and very good at his job. He hunted shifters for upscale clients who did who-the-hell-knows-what to the shifters once they were caught. Brent had never met the man though. As Victor shared his plan to capture the wolf who was hanging out with the tigers, utilizing Brent’s resources, Brent had only one thing to say about the tigers.

“They’re tricky.”

“I’m trickier.”

And cocky, apparently. But if anyone could infiltrate the tigers to hunt a unique shifter, it would be this guy. “Okay. I’ll help you. I’ll text you a location to meet up.”

“Perfect. See you soon.”

When the call ended, Brent tapped his foot a few times as he thought over the conversation. If Victor was right and the wolf went into the tiger territory because it had a mate among the striped beasts, then working with him was a chance for Brent to get some revenge on the ones who’d caused him so much trouble.

He sent Victor a location away from the headquarters and suggested meeting at seven a.m.

“Paul!” he bellowed.

There was the sound of movement in the other room of the abandoned pizza shop they’d taken over as their headquarters in Redcliff, a small town in Northern Ohio. Old Mill Pizza had been empty for years, seemingly since the actual mill in town had closed and most of the town’s inhabitants had left for greener pastures. So much of the tiny downtown area was abandoned and so few people remained that no one had noticed when his people moved into several of the shops off the main street. He didn’t need anyone snooping around, and if they did, he’d take care of them.

Paul Duggins appeared. “Yeah, boss?”

“Get everyone together. We’ve got a meeting to prep for.”

Paul nodded and hustled off and Brent settled back in the chair. The shifter hunter needed Brent’s help. This may just be the collaboration he needed to strike a blow to the tigers. He hadn’t been able to get to them on his own and hated tucking his proverbial tail and leaving them alone. But maybe now he didn’t have to.

Maybe now he’d be able to take the tigers out once and for all.

Gavin and Sadie slept in until nearly ten and it was by far the best night’s sleep he’d ever had. Not only was she snuggly as hell and smelled like a dream, but his tiger was radiating contentment and it made everything feel right in his world.

They fixed breakfast together after a romp in the shower that had lasted long enough for the hot water to run out, and then he’d driven her to his folks’ house, even though it was within walking distance, because they were heading to Midas and Maya’s place afterward.

“Mom? Dad?” he called as he opened the front door.

“On the back porch, honey,” his mom replied.

He took Sadie’s hand and led her through the house, pushing open the screen door and stepping onto the paver patio. His parents, Theo and Iris, were seated on the outdoor sectional sofa with coffee mugs and tablets, which he knew would be opened to an internet page of local news for his dad and recipes for his mom.

“Well, hello,” his mom said, putting down her mug and tablet. She rose to her feet and smiled.

“Mom, Dad, this is my truemate, Sadie. Sweetheart, these are my parents, Theo and Iris.”

His dad stood and smiled broadly. “What wonderful news! Hello, Sadie. It’s nice to meet you.” He extended his hand and she shook it.

“It’s nice to meet you too.”

His mom said, “Are you okay with a hug? Aeryn told me I’m not allowed to just hug people without asking anymore.”

“I’m great with hugs,” Sadie said. She glanced at Gavin with a smile and then hugged his mom.

“Oh, hi there,” his mom said softly. “Welcome to our home and family.” She pushed her gently to arm’s length and said, “You’re so lovely! And what a pretty name. Sit you two, please. Can I get you anything? I’ve got cut fruit and fresh sourdough bread for toast if you’re hungry, and coffee too.”

“We just ate, Mom, but thanks,” he said. He and Sadie sat on the sofa and his parents took their seats.

“Tell us everything,” his mom said. “We went straight home after the hunt and Aeryn called to say you talked to Merrix at Midas’s house. I wanted to go right over to your house and meet her, but your dad said I needed to wait for you to come visit.”

“Thanks for waiting,” Gavin said, glad his parents hadn’t rang the bell when he and Sadie had been twisting up the sheets for most of the night.

His dad gave him a knowing look. “So, tell us about yourself, Sadie.”

He could feel Sadie get tense, but he’d already told her that she only needed to share what she was comfortable sharing with them this first time, that the full story could come later. He couldn’t imagine what it was like to spend the last couple decades being told she was a curse and not worthy of having a mate when she was just as deserving as everyone else.

If he ever met her alpha, he’d give him a swift kick in the balls.

Sadie had explained some of her past, including being pushed away by her mom to protect her and winding up with Adam and Cinder’s wolf pack.

“Which brought me here,” she said, taking Gavin’s hand and giving it a squeeze. “I can’t believe what felt like the worst thing to ever happen to me turned out to be the best.”

“That’s so sweet,” his mom said. “I’m really sorry you were treated so badly. We have a couple of white tigers in our pride. Melo, his brother Tahlon, and a couple of their children are also white-furred. Their mate is a witch who has purple eyes and is really sweet. But anyway, I guess what I was saying is that no one cares about fur color. Differences are actually celebrated in the tiger prides. There are some very rare colors like black with white stripes and even gold with brown stripes, and prides are considered lucky when they have people with those rare genetics among them.”

“That’s really neat,” Sadie said. “It’s nice not to be judged for something I can’t change.”

They spent some more time with his parents, talking about the pride and the town, and then they left so that Sadie could meet the leaders.

“We’d love to have you over for dinner,” his mom said as they walked out the front door. “Not tonight, I’m sure you have plans, but maybe tomorrow night?”

Sadie smiled with a nod at Gavin and he said, “Sure, Mom, that would be great.”

“We’ll eat around six. See you two later.”

He walked Sadie to his truck and opened the door for her.

“What did you think?”

“They’re awesome.”

“I think so too.”

When they were on the way to Midas’s, she asked, “Do we have plans tonight?”

“Well, I was thinking I should take you out on a date since you’re my mate and everything. What would you think about that?”

“I’d love to.”

“I’ll plan something really amazing for us.”

“I can’t wait.”

Now he just had to figure out an awesome first date for his mate, something memorable and perfect for them. He had all day to figure it out, but he might talk to the queen and see if she had any ideas.

After they met with Midas and Maya, and he’d managed to speak privately to the queen while Sadie talked to Midas about joining the pride during the July full moon, he took his mate back to the house so she could unpack her things.

“First things first,” he said, looking at the few belongings she had. “We need to take you shopping.”

She turned to him and held out a wad of cash. “This is all I have.”

He gently folded her fingers over the cash. “Don’t worry about that. I have money. Everything I have is yours. When you’re ready, when things are settled and you get to know the town and pride, you can find a job if you want. There’s no rush, you had a big upset to your life and anyone would need time to adjust.”

She blinked suddenly glistening eyes at him. “You’re so sweet.”

He held her while she cried, tears that she said were a mixture of sadness for what she’d lost but happiness for what she’d gained.

He vowed then to make sure she never wanted for anything, least of all love and support.

“I promise to give you the best life, Sadie,” he said.

“Oh, Gavin. I think I’d be lost without you.”

“You don’t have to worry about that, I’m not going anywhere.”

She hugged him a little tighter. “Good.”