Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
Brent Foley sat in his truck outside of the beasts’ town of Thorn Hollow, simmering in his fury.
He had no idea how many people he’d lost in the battle, but it had been significant.
He’d been on the periphery of the wolves’ territory before the battle started because he wanted to watch the wolves burn.
He knew that all he had to do was catch one or two in the fire trap he’d set, utilizing a thick accelerant dropped from nearly silent drones. What he hadn’t expected was to see damn bird-lion mixes flying around, or a white lion with one of the wolves, but he hadn’t cared.
Watching the fire trap the wolf had made his black heart sing.
He’d watched as his army went after the wolf and the others, figuring they’d be cut off from the rest of their pack members, but the beasts had subverted his plans and gotten to their stranded members far earlier than he’d hoped.
When Brent’s number two fell, throat torn out as he tried to wield a knife against one of the bird-lions, he’d known it was the end.
Heading for safety, he planned to rendezvous with his people at their new safehouse.
But he didn’t leave just yet.
He had a call to make.
Still furious that he’d lost so many mercenaries that he’d already paid, he waited for the call to connect.
“Hawthorne.”
“It’s Foley.”
There was a pause, and then the famous shifter poacher said, “You must have some good news for me. Since I told you not to call me until you found a unique shifter for me to hunt.”
Brent was pissed.
About so much stuff.
But mostly that he needed Hawthorne even more now, since he’d lost so many in the battle. He’d have to recruit again.
“I do,” he said. “Where are you?”
“I’m in Utah, dealing with an issue for the sale of a rare rust-colored wolf. What do you have for me?”
“What do you know about bird-lion mixes?”
“Like a hybrid? Or do you mean a gryphon?” Brent could tell he was intrigued.
“I’ll send you a picture. There are several, plus an eagle and a white lion. I don’t know where this group is staying, but I know one of them is living with the wolves.” He sent Hawthorne an image he’d snapped of the bird-lion with the wolf.
He’d be impressed with the creature if he didn’t hate shifters so much.
“Oh, my,” Hawthorne said.
He sounded like he was salivating.
Brent rolled his eyes.
“So?” he prompted after several moments of Hawthorne just breathing.
“Yes, I’ll be there as soon as I can, and I’ll help you.”
“Help me take out the wolves?”
“Yes. And I’ll take every single one of the gryphons as trophies. This is perfect, the rust-colored wolf got away before the sale went through so I need some trophies immediately.”
Brent didn’t care at all what Hawthorne was going through, he only cared if he was able to help. “I need men. I lost a lot tonight.”
“I can call in some favors. In the meantime, send me a pin to your home base and I’ll be there as fast as I’m able.”
“With reinforcements?”
“Yes.”
“Until then.”
Brent ended the call and put the truck into gear. He wasn’t smiling much, but he was smiling a little because things were starting to look up.
Brent was fully tapped out in the favor department and had scraped the dregs of society for what he’d lost in the battle tonight. He needed all the help he could get.
He’d take one more run at the wolves with Hawthorne’s help, and he’d see every damn last wolf dead if it was the very last thing he ever did.
* * *
Mira couldn’t stop shaking. She could have lost Leo in the fire set by the anti-shifter radicals.
Or her dads, brother, or uncles.
Not to mention the pack that had come to their aid.
She could still smell smoke and blood, and her beast was pacing in her mind, filled with worry.
“Hey, it’s okay,” Leo said as he sat next to her on the couch in Adam and Cinder’s house.
She gave him a look, too tired and also too wired to say anything.
“I know it’s not okay, but it will be. We’re alive and safe, and that’s what we should focus on. We took out those who came against us, and we didn’t lose a soul. Plus, you’re a badass gryphon, sweetheart. You saved me from that asshole with the rifle.”
She sat up a little straighter. “I am a badass.”
“Hell, yes. And sexy to boot.”
She giggled, her cheeks heating. “You’re pretty sexy yourself. Thank you for saving me when that guy tried to take me out with the pipe. That hurt like hell.”
“I wish I could have gotten to him before he hit you. But I’ll always protect you to the best of my ability. It’s what mates do for each other. You’re mine and I’m yours, to keep safe and love forever.”
She closed her eyes and settled back against him. “You’re very sweet, and I love that about you.”
He kissed the top of her head, his wolf humming in his chest. “I’m only sweet for you.”
Her family walked in with Adam and Brick, and a few other high-ranked males. Her mom and sister sat on her other side, and the males in her family stood nearby.
Adam clapped his hands together and smiled at the group.
“We were battered but not beaten, burned but not destroyed. I’m only smiling because we didn’t lose anyone. The territory will recover from the fire. Nothing was lost that can’t be replaced, thank freaking goodness.”
Clapping and cheering came from the group.
Adam continued, “Cinder and I can’t thank the gryphons enough for their help. You’ve proven yourselves valuable allies. We’re just sorry that your first hunt and shift in Thorn Hollow was almost a deadly one.”
“We’re glad we were there to help,” Auron said. “Mira and Leo are mated, and that makes the pack family for us through Leo. We’ll always answer the call.”
The gryphons all nodded.
Mira was so proud of her family. And the pack. Her family had fought by Leo’s side, and the pack had shown up in spades.
The group discussed security around the territory, utilizing several of the gryphons who could patrol from above as well as on foot with the pack.
They were still a few weeks out from being able to fully reopen the car dealership as they waited for tire shipments, but things were slowly getting back to the way they were before Foley’s people tampered with them.
Mira was going to work at the dealership’s front desk several days a week when Leo was there.
Her mom and Selene were going to join a small group of wolves who took care of those in the pack who needed help.
Her brother was joining the security team, as were both her fathers.
Her uncle Acastan had enough knowledge of vehicles to replace tires and do small repairs and was going to join Leo at the dealership, and her other uncle was going to work as a custodian, including cleaning the vehicles for customers and keeping the shop and dealership sparkling.
After the meeting, she and Leo walked her parents out to the two trucks.
They were staying in their RVs at the dealership for the night and returning to Thorn Hollow in the morning to check out the two homes.
Her parents were going to stay in one with Selene, and her uncles and brother were going to stay in the other.
She was just so happy they were sticking around.
She’d talked to her adopted family earlier in the day to tell them about the shift and hunt. They were enjoying their travels, and she missed them. She couldn’t wait to tell them about the second time she shifted into her gryphon!
They waved goodbye to her family and watched them leave, then walked home.
And it was home. It wasn’t Leo’s place; it was theirs. It might need a bit of a freshening-up when it came to the décor, which was very masculine, but Leo was game for whatever she wanted to do.
Mainly? She wanted to make it a home for both of them.
Leo hadn’t had his family in his life since his grandmother passed away.
The pack had kept him close, and he’d developed friendships with Brick, Adam, and Solan.
But now they were making a family of their own.
And her biological family had scooped him right up into their arms and treated him as if he’d been with them all along.
Just like they’d done for her.
She hadn’t known she’d missed out on so much with them. The spell had robbed her of decades of time spent with her family. But she wasn’t going to dwell on the past. She had a future to get to.
And it was looking pretty damn good.
“You know what?” she said as they walked, hand in hand, down the road.
“What’s that baby?”
“I love Thorn Hollow. And I love you. We’ve had a pretty exciting week since we’ve known each other. I can’t wait to see what happens next week.”
“As long as nothing catches on fire, I think we’ll be doing pretty good.”
“That’s quite a low bar you’re setting.”
He grinned down at her. “I’ll set a high bar in the bedroom. Only the best for my favorite person in the world.”
She smiled, and then she took off, racing down the road and taking the corner. “Race ya!” she shouted behind her.
He chased her with a playful growl.
Under the stars. Safe within Thorn Hollow.