Gavin (Northern Ohio Shifters #3)

Chapter 22

Chapter

Twenty-Two

Brick Beaumont, second in command of the Thorn Hollow Pack, settled in the booth at Lykos and rested his arm along the back of the vinyl seat. A beer slowly went flat in front of him. He wasn’t much in the mood for a drink and had only come out because he’d been tasked by his cousin, the alpha, to watch over a few females celebrating one of their twenty-first birthdays.

Next to him, his best friend Solan nursed a beer and doom scrolled on his phone.

As he was about to suggest that they encourage the females to finish their partying back at the pack’s territory, his phone buzzed and he saw that it was the tiger, Gavin. Over the last couple of weeks, they’d stayed in touch to share information on not only the anti-shifter group, Humans Against Shifters, but also a dangerous shifter hunter named Hawthorne.

“Hey, Gavin,” Brick said, plugging his ear with his finger so he could hear over the thumping music.

“Hey, bad time?”

“Nope, just on duty watching some pack females.”

“Ah, gotcha. I wanted to share some information I just got about the shifter poacher and Brent Foley. I know your pack computer guys were working on finding where they’ve been hiding out, but one of our guys stumbled onto a dark web chat room. I’m sending you screenshots.”

“Everything okay on your end?” he asked as he waited for the images to appear.

“Yeah, actually. I’m also sending you information on some protective measures you can implement around your town, including some magical stuff. I know you have your witch-wolf alpha female, but things are getting dangerous for shifters on a level they haven’t been before.”

“I appreciate you reaching out,” Brick said as a knot formed in his gut. He hated thinking that his people might be in danger. There were people all over the world who hated shifters for one reason or another, but Brent Foley hated shifters on a kill-them-all level, and Hawthorne was the sort of guy that made Foley look like a toddler playing dress up.

“Sure thing,” Gavin said. “Take care. I’ll let you know if I hear anything else about these assholes.”

“You too.”

The call ended and Brick looked at the images as they pinged his phone. They were screenshots of a chat room on the dark web, which explained that Humans Against Shifters were looking for members to join their team. The post promised moving expenses if they were outside of the Northern Ohio area, competitive wages, and the ability to promote within the ranks of the organization.

Brick snorted. “This Foley guy is a piece of work.” He showed the images to Solan, who let out a low growl of agreement.

Then something caught Brick’s eye in the last of the images about recruitment to the HAS organization and their focus on particular shifters.

Admin: We’ve recently switched tactics from one beast group that has proven to be adept at learning to avoid our intentions to drive them away from their locale. Going forward, we will be focusing on the other groups in the area, specifically those who worship the moon. Five figure signing bonus with proof of hatred of the beasts and ideas for wiping their species off the face of the earth.

“Son of a bitch,” Brick snarled. “Solan, we need to go. Now.”

Solan didn’t ask any questions, simply rose to his feet and headed into the crowd of bodies to find the females.

“Everything okay?” Paris, the fallen angel manager of the bar asked as he cleared the empties from the next booth.

“Yes and no,” Brick said. He handed Paris cash to cover the tab. “I think the shit is about to hit the fan in Thorn Hollow and I need to talk to Adam.”

“Good luck,” he said. “It’s scary as hell to be a supernatural creature sometimes.”

Brick nodded.

He followed Solan and the females outside, stopping long enough to check that the SUV they’d brought hadn’t been tampered with, and then he called them to get in.

“Why did we have to leave?” Harper asked. “I’m not done partying for my birthday.”

“You can party at home,” Solan said. “Things are about to get dicey in Cleveland if you have claws and fangs.”

“I have some interesting news,” Vaughn said as he stared at the bank of monitors in the temporary security office. They were using one of the bedrooms in Maya and Midas’s home until a security building could be built, with supplies arriving in the next several weeks. Gavin, while still being part of the security team, was going to help with the build and so was Sadie. She said she’d swung a hammer from time to time and was happy to help wherever, and Gavin just wanted to keep her close.

Because even though two days had passed since her abduction and return home, his tiger still was on high alert, and maybe always would be when it came to her safety.

“What’s that?” Gavin asked.

“Remember when Tess found that dark web chat room that was recruiting for the anti-shifter group?”

“How could I forget?” he asked dryly.

Vaughn looked chagrined. “Right. Anyway, she’s been monitoring it for us, and she found something that we thought you and Sadie would appreciate knowing.”

He punched a few keys on the keyboard and pointed to the screen, which showed a dark web chatroom that was called the Bounty Trade Network, and mentioned Victor Hawthorne, with the chat log detailing a discussion about how he’d lost several clients because he failed to bring in a certain bounty and had lost a lot of money as well as the lives of several people helping him. One commenter said, “He’s lost his touch, he’s been too long in the game and needs to retire.” Another added, “That won’t happen, but I heard he’s walking away from that group and helping HAS work on another group. I doubt he’ll ever get the money he was getting for bounties before though since he fucked up so badly.”

Gavin read more of the chat logs and then rocked back on his heels. “It sure as hell sounds like Hawthorne’s circling the drain.”

“Yeah, that’s what we thought too,” Vaughn said. “We already had word that Foley’s group was going to target the wolves and that as far as we can tell, Hawthorne is still working with him. But now it looks like word is spreading in the underground that he messed up and is losing clients. It’s not as good as finding out he’s been sent to prison for the rest of his life, but Tess wanted me to be sure to let you know so you can tell Sadie.”

Gavin grinned. “It’s great news, Vaughn. Thanks for letting me know.”

“You bet. We’ll keep monitoring the channels and we won’t let down our guard, but it sure seems like a bit of sunshine after some damn fucking dark clouds.”

“One hundred percent.”

Gavin thanked his friend and hurried out of the room, making his way home where Sadie was working with his mom in setting up a container garden on the back porch.

He greeted his mom and hugged his mate, telling her the great news.

“Oh wow, that’s awesome,” Sadie said. “I’m glad it seems like he’s given up on capturing me, but I don’t know if I’ll ever trust that he’ll let go of that entirely.”

“Yeah, I know how you feel. I’m cautiously optimistic about the whole situation. I don’t want him or Foley to hurt any shifters, but you’re my priority. Knowing the word on the street is that he’s moved on to another target is comforting to me, even though it’s unsettling too.”

“It’s like good and bad news,” she said with a nod. “Good for us but bad for others.”

He kissed her, thankful she was in his life and safe. “The containers look good, gorgeous.”

“Thanks, your mom has been so helpful.”

“Aeryn wants us to come hang out at the club downtown this weekend. What do you think? Wanna dance with some vampires?”

“You sure we’ll be safe?” she asked.

“I wouldn’t take you there if I didn’t think it would be safe. Aeryn said we can stay in one of the apartments so we don’t have to go home in the middle of the night. I mentioned it to Midas, and he said that he wanted to talk to Mishka, the head of the coven anyway, so we’re going to caravan with some others and have plenty of people watching our backs. They’ll return for us the next night.”

“Sounds perfect. What do people wear to vampire dance clubs?”

Gavin’s mom said, “Short skirts and skin-tight tops, at least that’s what I’ve seen when we’ve been there. I’m sure Aeryn has clothes you can wear. You should send her a message.”

“That’s a great idea, I will.”

Gavin smiled at his mom and mouthed thank you to her, and she nodded with a smile. Sadie had reached out to her mom the day after she’d been abducted and her mom hadn’t answered the call. She’d sent her a text and email, letting her know about her ordeal and that she was safe now, and inviting her to their mating ceremony in July even though she knew she wouldn’t be allowed to come. Her mom hadn’t responded yet, and Sadie had been sad about it, wondering if she would hear from her or if the alpha had stepped in and said no one could talk to her, even her mom.

He knew his family wasn’t the same as the relationship she’d had with her mom, but his mom was eager to be her friend and helpful to them as they started out their mated lives together, and Sadie was eating up the attention like a sunlight-starved flower.

“I’m going to head out on my rounds,” he said giving her another kiss. He lowered his voice. “Can I see you for lunch, sweetheart?”

“Definitely.” Her eyes darkened slightly and her arousal was like a sweet perfume in the air between them.

“Until then, gorgeous.”

He said goodbye to his mom and left, even though the last thing he wanted to do was walk away from his beautiful mate. He’d see her in a couple hours and they’d celebrate the feeling of safety they had with the Witch Glass spell and the security monitors on the house, and the doors and windows that would be installed in a few days.

And they’d definitely celebrate each other because finding her was the best thing that ever happened to him. It was hard to believe that in just a couple weeks they’d be fully mated and part of the pride as a couple, when before the June full moon he’d been wondering if he’d ever find his other half.

Here she’d been on the way to find him herself, and just in time. He might have saved her when she’d been abducted, but she’d really saved him from a life without her beautiful smile and her sweet laugh and the way they just fit together. He couldn’t imagine his life without her in it, and he was glad he’d never have to.