by Shea Balik
A Grizzly’s Justice
Miracle 10
Jazz has lived with unimaginable guilt his entire life. Why the gods had allowed him to even be born was something he struggled with every day. When he met a man who treated him as Jazz always knew he deserved, instead of telling anyone, he endured. What he didn’t expected was for the residents of Miracle to step in and save his life.
Wilder loved his job, especially now that the new Council didn’t use him to get rid of the shifters that didn’t agree with them. He imagined helping shifters around the world for years to come. But all of that changed when he met his mate, who has been terrorized by the man Wilder had been charged to bring before the Council for sentencing.
Jazz’s fear that no one, not even his mate, would ever really want him seemed to be coming true when Wilder told him he’d need to leave whenever the Council required him to do a job. Wilder’s job means everything to him, but having a mate may require changes he is not ready for.
Will the two find a compromise? Or will one of them have to give up everything for the other?
Warning: This book contains details of child neglect as well as abuse as an adult.
Copyright ©2019 Shea Balik
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Smashwords Edition
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This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Cover by: Harris Channing
Edited by: Avril Stepowski
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Epilogue
CHAPTER 1
“Wild Man, is that you?”
Wilder Frost glanced toward the bar, surprised to see Trygg Snow pouring drinks. “Trygg? What the hell are you doing working at a bar?”
It was the last place he’d expected to find the man who had inspired him to become a Council enforcer after they’d met nearly twenty-five years ago. Trygg had come to the Yukon on Council business when Wilder’s former Alpha, Zeno Sobol of the Bear Lake Den, had lodged a complaint against a skulk of artic foxes poaching in their territory.
Thankfully, the evidence had been pretty damning and Trygg had been able to take care of the situation relatively quickly. Of course, things were never that simple. It wasn’t until much later that Wilder learned the truth.
He often wondered if he had known about the devious dealings his alpha had with the Council, would he have sought out a position as an enforcer for the conniving group? Wilder would like to think not, but the fact was, at the time, he’d been at loose ends with what to do with his life.
He’d been a Den enforcer for more than fifty years and he was getting tired of it. Wilder had wanted a chance to explore, see the world. But his Alpha refused to give him any assignments that would allow him to do that. Which was why, when he’d met Trygg, it was as if all the answers to Wilder’s dreams had come true.
The man was an enforcer for the Council. He got to travel the world and meet all kinds of people. Not even his alpha could refuse him a chance at such an important position, especially since it would mean even more prestige for the den.
Little did he know that everything Wilder had assumed the world to be, would turn out completely wrong. More importantly, he learned what true evil was. He’d just wished it hadn’t been the former Council Leader, Refugio Costa, his employer for the past twenty-five years.
When he’d heard Trygg quit the Council, Wilder had nearly put in his resignation, too. Thankfully, he’d stuck it out long enough to see the old Council removed and a new one, that didn’t think they were above the law, took its place.
The grin on Trygg’s face as Wilder went to give the man a hug told Wilder his friend hadn’t regretted his decision. Of course, part of that might have something to do with the fact that he lived in the same town the Council Leader had taken up residence, even moving the Council meetings to Miracle.
“Either take your hands off my mate, or prepare to have you balls removed,” a not so happy voice said from the other end of the bar where a much smaller, very pretty man glared at them.
Then again, Trygg finding his mate in this tiny little town might also have something to do with his happiness. Trygg laughed at his mate’s warning even as he moved away from Wilder to give the man a kiss.
“Come over, pretty kitty, and meet Wilder.” Trygg tugged on his mate’s hand, keeping him close to his side, although considering they were behind the bar, there wasn’t a lot of room to be anything but touching.
“Wilder, this is my mate, Kellach Alder. Pretty kitty, this is Wilder Frost. He worked with me as a Council Enforcer.”
Kellach didn’t look impressed but he did, albeit reluctantly, shake Wilder’s hand.
“Nice to meet you,” Wilder told Kellach, but he didn’t miss the fact that Kellach didn’t say it in return. Nor the fact that he was still glaring at Wilder.
Trygg rolled his eyes at his mate, faced him and pulled him in for a long, sensuous kiss that had everyone in the bar hooting and hollering. When they pulled back, both of them wore what Wilder could only call dreamy smiles. It was obvious the two were very much in love.
A pang had Wilder reaching his hand to his chest as if that would stop the ache. If only he could find his mate. It was one of the reasons why he’d been so determined to leave his den. Since no one there had been his mate, logically, Wilder knew he’d have to go into the world and hope to find the man meant to be his.
Or, at least, he hoped it was a man. Wilder was gay and he honestly wasn’t sure what he’d do with girly parts if his mate ended up being a woman. Sure, he trusted fate, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have his preferences.
“What brings you to Miracle, Wild Man?” Trygg asked while popping off the cap of Wilder’s favorite beer and sliding it before an
empty seat.
Taking his friend’s cue, Wilder sat. He also had to force himself to not make a big deal of the stupid nickname the other Council Enforcers had given him. Wilder might have deserved it after some of the stupid things he’d done shortly after joining their ranks, but he’d thought he’d matured enough to lose the moniker. Guess that was too much to ask.
“Delivering a man accused of abuse for the Council to pass judgment on.” Relieved that he hadn’t been asked to just kill the guy, like Refugio would have demanded, Wilder had been all too happy to bring the accused man to Miracle to be tried for his alleged crime. “According to the orders, the guy abused someone.”
Technically, Wilder probably shouldn’t have talked about it. Then again, this wasn’t a human trial. Only the Council would hear the testimony and decide if the man was guilty or not. It wasn’t perfect, but it was better than the way the old Council had pretty much executed anyone they felt like.
For the first time since meeting Trygg’s mate, Kellach actually smiled at him. “You’re the one who captured Kingston Huges.” The pretty man dipped his head toward Wilder’s beer. “That, along with anything else you want, is on the house.”
“You know about Huges?” Wilder wasn’t entirely sure why he was surprised. Huges was accused of harming someone who lived in Miracle. With it being such a small town, it was doubtful there was anyone who didn’t know.
Trygg’s proud grin alluded to something else, though. “My mate is one of the founders of Miracle.”
Wilder felt his jaw drop as he stared at Kellach, sure Trygg had to be pulling his leg. “You’re one of Alpha Edrick Rapp’s inner circle?” At least it made sense why Kellach would know about Huges. As one of the owners of Miracle, Wilder would imagine nothing happened in this town without the inner circle knowing about it.
The rumors had been flying through shifter communities throughout the world about how five guys had bought the abandoned ghost town to create a place where all shifters were accepted. According to rumors, Edrick and his inner circle had been hunted by their former pack because they were gay.
Kellach scowled at Wilder and pointed a finger at his beer. “Don’t make me take back my offer by saying stupid shit.”
Trygg’s grin widened even further. “That’s my mate,” he boasted as Kellach went to serve some customers at the far end of the bar. “He may look small, but believe me, he’s deadly.”
That stab of jealousy at the love he heard in Trygg’s voice had Wilder rubbing his chest again. He’d searched the world over many times, yet still hadn’t managed to come across his mate. Then again, Trygg had been an enforcer far longer than Wilder and only recently found his mate. He just needed to be patient.
“It’s good to see you so happy, Trygg.” Wilder may have a case of the green-eyed monster but that didn’t mean he wasn’t happy for his friend. They both had to hide that they were gay while working for the old Council or risk being hunted and executed. In many ways, it made the thought of finding their mates terrifying. But Wilder would have risked it, taken his mate and found a way to hide from the world.
“Are you planning on staying in Miracle for a while?” Trygg asked.
Wilder tried not to grimace at the prospect. By the way Trygg laughed, he hadn’t done a great job of hiding his feelings on the matter.
“I know it’s still a work in progress,” Trygg told him. “But Miracle is unlike any town I’ve ever been to.” That was saying a lot, as Trygg had been just about everywhere in his previous job. “The people here are generous and kind. What is even more amazing, no matter how long they’ve been forced to sleep in tents during snow, rain, and brutally hot weather, they’re happy. They know, in Miracle, they can be themselves without worrying about who might try to kill them for being who they are.”
“Really?” he asked with a healthy dose of skepticism considering the reason he was there in the first place. “Then how do you explain Huges?”
Trygg waved away his point. “First of all, there are always a few rotten bananas in a bunch, but Huges didn’t actually live in Miracle. It was why he got away with abusing Jazz for so long.”
“It was also how he was able to flee before we caught up to that rat bastard,” Kellach said as he sidled up to his mate. Trygg didn’t even hesitate to put an arm around the smaller man and give him a quick peck on the lips. “If it hadn’t of been for that asshole, Alpha Vitus Milano, giving Huges shelter we would have captured him a lot sooner.”
Wilder didn’t doubt that. In fact, he was fairly certain the only reason Huges had managed to run as far as he had, was because he’d used the war that erupted between Miracle and Alpha Vitus Milano’s pack, as well as two other shifter groups, as cover.
“As for staying,” Wilder said. “Council Leader Saber asked that I stick around. He claimed since he was moving the Council’s headquarters it would make more sense to have the enforcers living close by.”
“Stop trying to get my enforcers to quit,” Saber growled as he walked into the bar. “If we’re going to block bigots from executing anyone they claim is different, then I’m going to need as many good people as possible to stop them.”
Trygg grinned at the big ape shifter. “Hey, if you aren’t able to keep your people happy, don’t blame me,” Trygg teased. “The least you could do when forcing someone to stay in Miracle is give them a real bed to sleep in.”
Saber growled out, “I did.” Then he flicked his gaze to Kellach. “Your inner circle drew straws and you apparently drew the short one. Your nice comfy tent is already set up for you.”
Kellach shrugged a shoulder. “So long as he doesn’t mind the fact that we came all over the bedding just this morning…”
“And afternoon,” Trygg added.
“Then he’s welcome to sleep there,” Kellach finished. Then the slim man glanced around the bar with a twinkle in his eye. “Actually, Trygg, it’s been ages since we’ve christened this bar.” He turned to his mate and leaned up to kiss him. “I bet we could beat our last record of fucking on each table in the place.”
Two shifters nearby sprayed the beer they had just sipped. “Fuck, Kellach,” the closest one said as he pulled his hands and beer away from the surface of the bar. “You better have sanitized everything.”
“Fuck that,” the other groused, his own hands now in the air as if he were afraid of suddenly getting cooties. “You need to tent this place and have it professionally decontaminated.”
Another man, this one shorter than the others with lots of curves, snorted. “Please, Pryor, I’ve seen you pee outside and not bother washing your hands.”
The one with his hands held up as if he was terrified of catching something, scowled at the little guy. “Where am I supposed to wash my hands?” Pryor asked. “I’m outside. It’s not like there are any sinks.”
The little guy handed him a small bottle of hand sanitizer. “Try using this once in a while. If you need more, Iniko has a whole shelf dedicated to the stuff in his store.”
Saber chuckled but then ignored the squabbling as he turned to Wilder. “I’m going to need you at Alpha Edrick’s tomorrow for the hearing.”
“Anything wrong?” It wasn’t exactly an unusual request, but at the same time, usually his job was done as soon as he turned the criminal over to the Council.
Saber nodded. “We’re going to try and get Jazz to face Huges. Everyone in this town is foaming at the mouth at what Huges did to the sweet deer shifter. I need you there to protect Huges in case things go sideways.”
That was something Wilder could understand. If he’d lived here when that happened, he probably would be ready to tear the guy apart for hurting someone weaker than him. “Just tell me what time and I’ll be there.”
CHAPTER 2
“How have you been feeling after going back to work?” It was the same question Greyson had been asking for the past several weeks. Well, that and about a dozen other questions that all basically boiled down to the same thing.
Jazz nearly rolled his eyes at his own destructive thoughts. It was something he and Greyson had been working on since the day he’d finally broken down and shared his burden with someone.
Greyson wasn’t exactly trained as a therapist, although he was now taking classes to become one. Yet, trained or not, Jazz trusted Greyson. According to Greyson’s best friends, Ward, Elton, Kylo, and Teddy, most everyone did. As a black panther shifter, Greyson tended to keep to himself, yet, he still had a way of drawing others out and getting them to tell him their deepest, darkest secrets.
Like Jazz. His whole life he kept getting involved with men who liked to push him around. Many had hit him through the years. To Jazz, it was normal. What he deserved for being a screw up.
“Good,” he answered like always even though it was far from the truth.
“You do know I’m a shifter too, right?” Greyson pointed to his nose, reminding Jazz lies were easy for their kind to scent out.
He hadn’t forgotten, but he also hadn’t known what else to say. “What do you want me to say?” he blurted out in frustration.
“How about we start with the truth,” Greyson told him. “Do you like working in construction?”
“I don’t dislike it.” Jazz knew it wasn’t exactly an answer, but it was all he had.
“Okay.” There was a look of determination in Greyson’s eyes. “Give me three reasons you like it.”
Damn. He understood that Greyson and everyone else in Miracle were trying to help, but Jazz wasn’t so sure he wanted it. He’d been doing fine with the losers he’d dated. Okay, so maybe fine was too strong of a word, considering he’d nearly died at the hands of Kingston Huges, the last boyfriend who’d bothered to give Jazz the time of day.
“I like that I’m helping to build homes for everyone in Miracle.” For Jazz, that had meant everything to him. He’d been given a place to live, acceptance by the residents, and a clean slate, even after bringing a man like Kingston into their lives. Or, not exactly into, since the man had never stepped foot in Miracle, but he’d told Kingston many things about the people living there.
