Targeted By Love (Between the Greys #1)

16. Maynard

16

MAYNARD

“Maynard!”

Alpha didn’t scare me. Yeah, he could hurt me real bad if he chose, but if he asked me to do something, I did it. I was pack, he was the boss. Whether a shifter pack, mafia, or a shifter mafia organization that blended in with the pack, Alpha’s word was law.

Our Crescent Moon shifter council members sat on one side of the conference table while the Alphas from the other shifter mafia organizations sat opposite them. Alpha was at one end. There were no welcoming glances and the tension was tangible, I could almost see it shimmering in the air.

Boaz stood at the back of the room. He couldn’t extend me any favors, not that I expected it.

I bobbed my head at Alpha before lifting my head high and strode to the other end of the table, my spine straight, though my belly was revolting.

I sensed many of them were about to take their fur, skin, feathers, or scales. My wolf was primed for a battle. But he couldn’t take them all on; besides, there were bears, lions, and a dragon present.

Bah, dragons. Flying lizards .

Shush . If we’d been anywhere else, meeting under different circumstances, I would have reminded my beast that shifters were inclusive and didn’t discriminate.

“Speak, Maynard.”

I didn’t want to admit to my extracurricular activities. Not even Alpha was aware, as Boaz had summarized the situation, without giving specifics.

“I fear someone is trying to start a mafia war.”

Alphas who headed their packs, clans, and dens weren’t easily scared or shocked, but that one sentence resulted in an audible inhale of breath.

I had their attention, but I had to navigate this without giving away that I was the hitman. But my Alpha wasn’t so easily spooked.

His even tone wasn’t any different that his usual gruffness, though his wolf was in his gaze.

“And why do you think that?”

I gripped the edge of the table. “It has come to my attention that a hit was arranged on an old school friend, but he wasn’t the real target. This was payback to his brother who I suspect had been messing around on the fringes of various criminal organizations.”

Germaine, the Alpha of the largest bear den in the city, responded. “And what does that have to do with us?”

Heads bobbed, and there were murmured agreements. Some of the Alphas were probably thinking I was talking out of my ass.

How does that ? —?

Not now, I snapped at my beast, aware I’d have to apologize later.

Severus, the only dragon present, shrugged. “Low-life criminals offing one another is not our concern. My beast singed a guy who disobeyed me. The pain he’s experiencing will teach him a lesson.”

I warned my wolf not to react but goosebumps paraded over me, their pointed heads erupting on my skin. This wasn’t because of the men in the room. It was Rhodes. I was sensing something happening to him. Our bond was stronger than I anticipated. It wasn’t unusual for shifter mates to experience this sensation, but I hadn’t expected it with Rhodes being human. He was unwell or scared. Not that the latter was surprising because his life was in turmoil. But us mating should have eased some of his fears.

“The hit wasn’t carried out.”

“Why not?” Alpha pushed his chair back. “Hitmen who don’t follow through become a target themselves.”

I grimaced, as I experienced a sharp pain. “The target was human, and his brother’s car was blown up!”

Now the room was in an uproar. Everyone was demanding why they’d been dragged here when it wasn’t a shifter concern.

“You know more than you’re saying, Maynard,” Alpha growled. He wasn’t known for his patience, and whatever was left was growing thin. His steely gaze would have had me trembling but my focus was on Rhodes.

“A shifter’s scent was combined with the accelerant.” I glanced around the table. “I couldn’t identify it..”

“A war. Someone is trying to start a war. But why?” Alpha stood.

My beast was paying attention to each Alpha, noting who was objecting and who was wringing their hands. Many of them were exhibiting traits linked to their beasts.

The dragon’s fiery temper was on display as he slammed his fist on the table and his face grew red, while the eagle Alpha’s eyes darted from face to face, and the snake shifter glided around the room, saying little.

The bear!

My gaze followed my beast’s, though the pain wracking my body was so intense I wanted to curl into a ball. The bear shifter, Germaine, was checking his watch and fidgeting with his cufflinks. Bear shifters, like their wild cousins, were usually patient. I’d encountered the guy at mafia functions over the years and his behavior today wasn’t typical.

His demeanor wasn’t proof he was involved, but it gave me enough reason to investigate.

But nothing more could be done now without exposing myself and showing that I suspected him.

“I have to go! I’ll keep you informed, but please keep tabs on what your members are saying, if they have any grievances, and ensure that no resentment boils over.”

What I was offering was a band-aid when war might be on the horizon. They were right to be dissatisfied, as if I had whipped a rug from under their feet. I ducked low as I raced out of the room, fearing the dragon’s wrath.

As I got in my car, Boaz bounded in front of the vehicle, his expression not one of brotherly love.

“What the fuck was that, Maynard? Alpha will have my ass. You didn’t tell him about your extracurricular activities. And you didn’t take him aside and say you’d mated a human!”

Ignoring the mating aspect of his question because that was something to be said to Alpha only, I asked, “Think back to what happened in there. Did you observe anyone who was acting out of character?”

He grabbed the door handle. “Stop fucking around and spill, Bro.”

“Gotta go.”

He leaped back as I edged the car out of the parking space and drove off, my body spasming with worry.

Rhodes was at my place, which would become ours because his own apartment in the next city over was too small for the two of us and my business, both the legit and the other one.

Thiago was with him and he was a fighter. His knife skills couldn’t be bettered, though he was handy with a bow and arrow and a gun. We were all skilled marksmen, which was a given considering we were mafia, though our beasts would come to our rescue if needed.

Flinging open the door of the apartment, I stood still, sniffing the air. There were traces of Rhodes’s scent, but he wasn’t present. Had he convinced my brother to go out for coffee? A foolhardy task that Thiago would never agree to. Lake, maybe, if it involved food.

“Rhodes? Thiago?” I rampaged through the place, checking every room, closet, and cupboard. Thiago was shoved under the kitchen sink, his knees up to his chin. He was drooling and his pulse was thready, but he was groaning. There was an aroma of chloroform around his body, suggesting he’d been drugged.

I dragged my brother out of the tight space and laid him on one sofa. But after slapping his cheeks, he was no closer to consciousness, and I yelled in frustration.

The bond Rhodes and I shared was so strong, so intense, I thought maybe… possibly… I might be able to communicate with him. That wasn’t happening.

My wolf shook his head, saying love and fear was masking my ability to reason. Perhaps, but after racing out to the corridor and going down in the elevator and scouring the underground parking garage, I lost his scent, or whoever had taken him had masked it. What in the hell happened to the security guys?

My wolf implored me to find him but driving aimlessly around the city was a waste of time. I needed to assemble any remaining clues and use logic to locate my mate, starting with what Thiago could remember.

My brother was stirring and trying to sit up when I returned.

“Ugh, my head.”

We shifters were unused to experiencing the pain humans endured when they got sick. But we were susceptible to various drugs, including chloroform.

“What the fuck happened?” he groaned as I offered him water.

“You tell me.”

He guzzled the liquid, and looking around, he asked where my mate was.

“Gone. Someone took him.”

“You mean… I didn’t… Gods, I suck.” He put his head in his hands. “Are you going to kill me? If you don’t, Boaz will do it or kick my ass.”

I was concentrating on Rhodes and not willing to go easy on Thiago and say it wasn’t his fault. But my intention wasn’t to off him; he was my brother.

“Think. Can you recall a scent or sound, did you see anyone?” I examined his nails in case he’d scratched the guy. That was what they did in detective shows.

“A sweetish aroma. Rhodes was in the kitchen, making us sandwiches.”

The fragrance of honey always clung to bears, whether they were in human or beast form. But again, it wasn’t proof Germaine was involved. I marched into the kitchen and stared in the fridge.

He’s not there.

I know, but I’m thinking .

Rhodes had been making a snack, and there was a loaf of bread on the counter, a bread knife, a slab of butter, and the fixings for a sandwich. I put them away, but as I did, a bracelet slid onto the floor.

Picking it up, I studied the familiar insignia. The assailant would never have removed this willingly, would he? Either my mate put up a heck of a fight or they wanted us to find this. I wasn’t sure which was better.