Pack Community (Were Chronicles) (6 page)

RJ smiled in return.

“RJ!” Casey snapped.

The wolf RJ laughed again. “He’s a hawk shifter.”

“Hawk, like a bird?” Dawson scoffed. “No way.”

RJ nodded. “I swear.”

“Huh, that’s interesting,” Dawson noted but waved a hand at his brother. “But it’s still beside the point. You put your family in danger. It might not matter to
you
, but
I
do have Beth and Toby to protect, whether you sent someone to watch over them or not.”

“I care. I’ve always cared,” Casey told him quietly.

Dawson obviously wasn’t buying it.

“If I followed your trail here, what’s to say the others won’t? Why not just come out in the open and tell everyone what happened?” Gray questioned, trying to get them back on track. Maybe it was a good thing he’d never had any siblings.

“You were closer to finding Zach than anyone else. We left the maps, hoping someone on our side would pick up on them. But we didn’t want it to be so obvious. Just didn’t think you’d be so damn quick,” Casey told them.

“We’ve been keeping watch. We think the cats will come in through the canyon,” RJ added.

“That means they have to go through the tourists and park rangers.” Dawson shook his head. “That would be stupid.”

“The alternative is going through Coyote Bluff where you are. And if they are following the wolves, they know Grayson is there, too,” Prince Zachary reasoned.

Gray thought about it. They really were right. Anyone going back after the Prince would fare better going through humans than an entire town of shifters. “What’s the plan?”

The smaller man that had been guarding the Prince grinned. “Lay in wait.”

“That’s it?” Dawson practically yelled. “That’s your great plan?”

“This is the best military unit in the world. Every one of us is a shifter and specialises in some kind of warfare. I’m pretty sure we can take care of a few untrained cats,” RJ snapped.

All of the felines around the cave growled.

“You know what I mean!” RJ insisted but Gray noticed he leaned away from them all.

“An entire unit of shifters?” Gray asked, curious. “Was that done on purpose?”

The men all shared a meaningful look before Casey answered, “Yes. You know the Alpha Council and the Prince’s advisors have spoken to government officials about the shifters going public?”

Gray and Dawson nodded.

“They had to have found out about us some way. Shifters have been serving in the military for hundreds of years. It doesn’t take much brainpower to figure out some of us are harder to kill.”

“Yeah, but…” Gray had a thousand questions. He wondered if his Alpha or their friends knew.

“There were many bad years back fifty years or so. Shifter soldiers were taken and experimented on. Zach’s family was a huge part of stopping that,” Casey told them proudly. “Instead, the royal family worked out a deal with the government. The shifters would continue to join the military, with the government guaranteeing their identities would remain secret. They would be able to take on missions that were not safe for the regular humans. Ones that were guaranteed to kill humans, the shifters could take and survive. The government recruited specific species with the approval of the royal family.”

Gray sat in shocked silence, trying to take it all in. “If they already know all about us, then why are we even planning on going public?” Gray questioned.

“While the governments, here and in many other countries, are aware of our existence, that does not protect shifters from those who don’t know about us. We can have laws to control hunting, but I still lose thousands of my species a year. In some states, if you see a cougar or even a bobcat, it is lawful to shoot right away. There must be something done about this. I’m losing too many children all too often,” Prince Zachary informed him.

Gray nodded. It was the same thing Tony had always told him. Before he had become their Alpha, Tyler had lost his best friend back in college to hunters.

“So if you’re already involved with the government and okay with being in the public, why did your cousin kidnap you?” Dawson wondered.

“When this all comes out, there is a good chance that the military missions will also be exposed. The credit to end the torture of the shifters will go to the royal family,” Prince Zachary informed them. “My cousin wants that credit.”

“You don’t?” Dawson asked with a raised brow in disbelief.

“No.” The Prince stroked a hand down Casey’s back. “I would prefer to keep the military missions a secret. To protect the ones I love.”

Dawson looked away from the Prince and his brother, but Gray kind of thought it was nice. Man or woman, a mate was a mate. Wolves mated for life, so it was very sacred for them. He knew not all felines did the same, but he could almost feel it in his bones that Prince Zachary and Casey would be together for life.

“What can we do to help? I’m sorry, but I do need to tell my Alpha and the other teams to stop looking. They are away from their Pack and families. It is starting to take a toll on everyone.”

“I understand but I have to ask you to tell only your Alpha for now, if you are sure you can trust him,” Prince Zachary requested. “I believe he can be trusted, but my cousin is working with some wolves. We need to capture them all this time.”

Gray nodded. “I can do that. As long as I can speak with Tyler about it, I agree to keep all of this under wraps.”

“What about the sheriff?” Dawson enquired.

“One of the reasons I picked the canyon was because of Jim. If this went wrong, I was going to contact him,” Casey admitted.

“I think we should bring in the sheriff,” Dawson told his brother. “In the long run it will be better to have his support. I know you all think you can handle this but just being able to get to the Prince speaks volumes on how organised these guys are.”

The military men all exchanged looks before they eventually nodded.

“We’ll head into town and talk with Jim. See if we can get any reports from the rangers,” Dawson said.

“We have no way to communicate with you, though,” Gray mentioned.

RJ stood and walked over to his backpack. He pulled out a handheld radio and passed it over to Gray. “Use channel eight. It’s as secure as we can make it with the technology we brought with us.”

Gray accepted the radio and nodded. “We’ll head back into town and meet with the sheriff. Find out what we can. We won’t contact you unless we encounter any problems. But how about we take a run tonight and meet back up about midnight?”

RJ nodded. “Two wolves won’t cause too much suspicion even if we are being watched.”

Gray stood. “Then we have a busy night ahead of us.”

The other men dipped their heads in goodbye as Casey stood to walk them to the front of the cave.

“I’ll give you a minute,” Gray told Dawson, clipping him on the shoulder.

He strolled back into the sunlight, glad to get out in the open. He didn’t like the closed-in feeling. Natural wolves might make a den in a cave like that, but he preferred the freedom to be able to run.

Dawson and Casey spoke in low but urgent tones and Gray did his best to ignore them. Not easy with his sharpened senses so he ambled farther away, humming low to himself.

Dawson followed behind him a couple of minutes later. He was shaking his head and mumbling.

“You okay?” Gray asked his new friend.

Dawson glanced up and offered a small smile. “On one hand, I’m relieved to see him again. I know Beth will be thrilled beyond words. But, on the other hand, he was close by and didn’t contact me, put my family in danger, and has a whole other life I know nothing about. I’m angry…and just a little impressed by him.”

“I bet that punch felt good, though.”

Dawson laughed like Gray had intended. “It did. Really good. But he better watch out—Beth has quite a left hook herself.”

The mention of the pretty feline had Gray’s body responding. He hadn’t got over the strong feeling from the night before or even the quick appearance she’d made at the inn. He wasn’t sure what to do about his feelings. He knew what he
wanted
to do but the entire situation was complicated.

“You want to talk about it?” Dawson enquired as they jumped down an opening in the canyon.

“About?” Gray asked, distracted by his thoughts of Beth.

“Look, Gray.” Dawson stopped walking. “I know my sister. That little display of nerves this morning at the inn is not like her. She’s confident, smart, and at ease with everyone. Something about you made her nervous.”

Gray exhaled. “She makes me nervous too.”

Dawson threw his head back and cackled.

“Not funny,” Gray grumbled and started to walk again.

Dawson caught up with him and threw an arm over his shoulder. “Come on, man, it’s funny. The big bad detective wolf is nervous about the little bobcat?”

“It’s not her animal that makes me uneasy and you know it. One of my best friends just found her mate. I didn’t think Kiley would ever mate with anyone. We’d… We’d spent some time together but it just never felt destined…” Gray tried to explain.

“You couldn’t force it because it just wasn’t there. There was someone else for her,” Dawson finished.

Gray shrugged. “Pretty much. But it had me wondering if there was someone waiting for me too. I thought about it a lot while I was on my own these last few months. Now I’m not sure if these feelings I have…” Gray hesitated. “If I just want it so bad, I’m reading more into the attraction than I should. And it’s weird discussing this with her brother.”

Dawson pulled him to a stop. “Just be honest with her. Like I said, Beth is smart. I have to believe it will work out. One way or the other. Just take things slow and see. I don’t want her hurt. It would kill me.” Dawson glared. “Remember that. But I want her happy.”

Gray patted his shoulder. “We have time to figure it out.”

“Good.” Dawson motioned ahead. “Then let’s hit the road. I think you have a date tonight. With two chaperones.”

Gray groaned good-naturedly but trailed after the other man.

Chapter Six

Beth watched Toby as he played in the front yard. She’d seen her brother and Gray pull up earlier. The wolf shifter had waved before heading into the den. She’d asked how it had gone when Dawson had passed her going into the house, but he’d shaken his head and told her it was complicated.

She wasn’t sure what that meant but she hoped the two men had got along. She’d spent the day thinking about what had happened the night before. She could admit that the strong feelings she’d had for Gray from the beginning meant something. And she was determined to see where they might lead. Gray might only be there for a little while, but they owed it to themselves to explore what was going on between them.

“Don’t climb on the dog house,” she called to Toby.

The little boy grinned and waved, heading towards the swing set Dawson had built.

“I swear, he’s a monkey instead of a bobcat,” Dawson voiced behind her.

She chuckled. “I agree.” She felt him come up beside her and leaned a little into him.

“There is something I need to talk to you about,” her brother announced softly.

Beth turned to give him her attention.

He motioned to the porch and they both sat on the swing. “We found more today than we thought.”

“About the Prince?”

Dawson took her hand in his. “We
found
the Prince.”

Beth gasped. “That’s wonderful!”

“Yes and no. He’d already been rescued. The trail they left was supposed to bring the kidnappers into a trap. Gray just beat them there.”

“You don’t think Gray’s involved, do you?” She didn’t want to think that way about the other man.

“No, no way,” Dawson said adamantly. “But, with them hiding in the canyon, I’m worried about the repercussions for the town.”

Beth could see where he was coming from.

“But more. You and Toby are in danger.”

“Us? I doubt anyone will bother us,” Beth tried to assure her brother.

“They might if they know a member of the rescue team is your brother,” Dawson told her quietly.

Beth frowned. “How would…?”

“Crap, Beth! Casey was there!” he finally blurted out.

She inhaled sharply. “Casey is here?”

“Yeah.” Dawson wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “He said he’s been keeping an eye on us.”

Beth bit her lip, not sure exactly what she was feeling. “Maybe you should start from the beginning.”

* * * *

Thirty minutes later Beth stepped into the inn dining room ahead of Dawson and Toby, still reeling from what her brother had told her. Military units, kidnapping, mates… It was all so much to take in.

She spotted Gray already seated at a table set for four. He noticed her and stood, smiling. She gulped. Wow, he was an attractive man.

Everything she had learnt about him spoke to how dedicated he’d been to finding the Prince. Not many people would have done that for a stranger. She didn’t know any other shifters who would have sacrificed so much for another species.