Seeing the correlation between Landon and Evie was easy. They put on a good face, but there was fear in their eyes when bad news came. It was hard to spot unless you were paying attention. Their PTSD was going to stick with them for a long time…maybe their entire lives.
It was nearing midnight and the time for him to leave for his shift. The last thing he wanted to do was slide quietly out of the bed and leave the male alone. By the time Noah returned home from hunting Gadaí, Landon would already be at his office. With Kye working the security room and having cameras at the office where Landon worked, he felt a little bit easier knowing his mate was safe.
Noah ran his hand over Landon’s soft, dark hair and traced his sharp jawline with the back of his finger. His mate mumbled something in his sleep and pulled the covers over his body, settling himself before his breathing evened out. Noah smiled to himself and kissed his cheek.
Taze showed up a few minutes later and waited in his truck while Noah closed up his cabin. The cold air blew across his neck and he shivered from the sensation. As he headed toward the truck, he noticed a few snowflakes in the beam of Taze’s headlights. He called on his panther for warmth and climbed in the cab of the truck to find Evie in the backseat.
“You ready to do this?” Noah asked her.
“Actually, I am,” she replied and straightened her shoulders. The female was covered from her chin down. Around her neck, she had a black bandana she would use to cover half of her face should she need to be close to any rogue males. “I’m more than ready to get these females the help they’ll need.”
“We appreciate you doing this,” Taze offered as he glanced in the rearview mirror. Storm had vowed to protect the female to Kye at the Guardian and Protector meeting in Talon’s office, but he’d also talked to the male privately after everyone had been released for the night.
As they drove, Noah briefed Evie on what they had seen so far. “The female we captured was panicked. She didn’t understand why she was fighting for mind space with her wolf.”
“I have to remember they’re not like those of us who were born a shifter,” Evie replied. “They have to be terrified.”
The inside of the truck fell silent as they reflected on what these females were most likely experiencing. Not only were they being changed, they were being mind-controlled into criminal activity, and from the crazed male they’d found, probably drugged.
A call from Agent Murdock sent them to the south side of Memphis where several gas stations had been targeted earlier in the day. They would go over video footage and get descriptions of the rogues and head out to track them down.
When they arrived, Agent Murdock was just pulling in as well. The male climbed out of his car as Noah flipped the seat up for Evie to climb out of the backseat of Taze’s truck. The human agent approached and nodded toward Evie. “You brought help.”
“We did,” Noah nodded, but felt his panther bristle when the agent turned toward Taze to address him instead of Evie.
“She needs to know what she’s dealing with out here on the streets,” Murdock stated, but paused when a deadly growl sounded from the female.
“She is right here, and you can address your questions directly to me,” Evie ordered, stepping around Noah so she could be in the agent’s line of sight. “I am quite aware of what’s going on right now. I am qualified, too. Got a diploma and everything.” Evie’s sharp tongue got a chuckle out of Taze.
“Very well, then,” Murdock grumbled. “Let’s go in and get the camera footage from the robbery.”
Noah shook his head when Evie mumbled something about a pompous asshole under her breath. His baby brother had mated himself a firecracker. Noah was proud to call her his sister-in-law.
“Save your anger for the Gadaí,” Noah reminded her.
“Oh, I have enough for both,” she smirked and walked in ahead of him.
The owner of the gas station handed over a small thumb drive with the video contents and three printed screen captures of the suspects. As Noah guessed, one of the three was a female. Evie studied the images for a long time before passing them on to Taze. Once Noah got a better look at the rogues, he lifted his nose to the air and tried to find scents, but there were just too many there to distinguish one over the other.
“We are trying to identify them, and we will let you know if we can get an address for you,” Murdock offered. “In the meantime, see what you can find out on the streets. Klein and I will be taking the south side of this area if you three will take the north.”
“The time stamp says this happened over four hours ago,” Noah noted. “Why are we just now looking?”
“There’s only so many of us and you,” Murdock grunted. Noah’s panther raised its hackles at the human male’s attitude. Talon was right. There was something about the agent that just wasn’t right.
“Call us if you get any information,” Taze blurted and jerked his head to the side, telling Evie and Noah to head on out. From the glowing amber specks in both of their eyes, Noah was sure they had sensed something, too.
“There’s something familiar about that male,” Evie shivered. They were in the truck now, searching for abandoned homes or businesses that might be good hiding places for the three rogues they were after. “I can’t put my finger on it, though.”
“Talon doesn’t trust that agent,” Noah advised, looking at the map on his phone. “Taze, turn here.”
Taze made a quick lane change and took a right at the street Noah had indicated. The road behind the gas station was darkened, and it looked like most of the homes were abandoned. Only two houses had their porch lights on. Everything else was either boarded up or covered in dead weeds and missing windows.
“I get a bad vibe from him,” Taze admitted as he pulled to the curb in front of a boarded-up home and killed the engine and lights. “We need to be extra cautious.”
They set out on foot, checking the first house. There were no signs of anyone living there or using it recently. Two houses down, they found evidence of a homeless camp, and Noah felt sorry for whoever it was. They shouldn’t be out there in the cold and alone. He knew the shelters were always full, and the ones who couldn’t get in would resort to breaking into these forgotten homes to give themselves a bit of shelter from the elements.
The next hour was a bust. They didn’t find anything that would lead them to believe the rogues were staying close to the area they’d just robbed. A call placed to the agents was returned with the same.
“Let’s grab some coffee at this twenty-four hour diner,” Noah offered. “We can regroup and check somewhere else.”
The three of them drank their coffee outside the diner, then decided to go downtown to look for more Gadaí there. It was becoming a hotbed of activity, and Noah was sure they could find more rogues there and get them off the streets. He just hoped they could capture them all before anyone else was hurt.
Chapter Twelve
Landon entered the house, listening for Noah. He wasn’t in the living room like usual when he arrived home from work. A quick peek through the bedroom door and he found his mate fast asleep.
Noah had been exhausted the last few days, rounding up the Gadaí. So far, they’d found four and shipped them off to the alpha in Colorado. Word had been good on their transitions, and they’d all chosen to stay with Gabriel in Cimarron. With their ring leader still at large, it was probably for the best.
Gabriel would not be coming back to Memphis now that his pride of misfits was growing. He’d received three from Fairbanks, three from the swamps of Louisiana, and four from California. Gabriel and Odin had their hands full preparing the town in the mountains.
Landon set out to make a quick dinner so he could share it with Noah before he left for his rotation. They had a few hours before his mate would have to leave.
Mate…wow. Landon would’ve never thought his life would change like it had. Although he and Noah were still in the dating phase, he knew Noah would never leave him. The shifte
rs always talked about how the mating was for life, and that excited Landon. “He’s mine.”
Landon’s whispered words went unheard, and a little blush painted the tops of his cheeks when he remembered how Noah would be able to hear him if he whispered from across the house. He walked over to the hallway leading to the bedroom and saw the door was still slightly ajar. The shifter was fast asleep, and had rolled over onto his stomach.
Returning to the kitchen, he set out making Noah a large breakfast even though it was dinnertime for Landon. It was more bacon and sausage than anything else, because of his need for protein, but it didn’t matter to Landon. He just wanted to make things at home as normal as possible while Noah was off work. The male was too stressed as it was, and home should be the place where he could decompress from the violence on the streets.
Plating the food, he put it in the oven to keep warm and made his way back to the bedroom, pushing the door open quietly. Noah was now on his back, his bare chest visible since the sheets had either been pushed down to his waist or they’d fallen there from rolling over. Either way, Landon liked what he saw.
He wasn’t one to usually initiate an intimate moment, but he needed to care for Noah in more ways than just feeding him a home cooked meal. No, Landon wanted to submit to his mate and give him everything his heart desired.
As he climbed up the bed, Noah’s eyes blinked, opening when he woke. “Good morning,” Noah mumbled. It was his mate’s morning time even though, to the rest of the world, it was late afternoon. “Whatever you have planned, I want in on it.”
Noah’s teasing voice pushed Landon to reach for the sheet and pull it away from the shifter’s body. God, he’d never tire of seeing the male’s perfectly sculpted abs and tanned skin. The little happy trail that led from his navel ended at the perfect sized cock. “Thought I’d wake you up before dinner was done.”
“And how are you going to do…oh!” Noah sucked in a breath as Landon wrapped his fingers around the male’s cock. He dipped his head, tasting Noah. “Dear gods, let my mate wake me up this way every morning.”
Landon playfully smirked and opened his mouth, taking the male all the way to the back of his throat. The shifter’s eyes glowed bright amber, and Landon felt desire hit him hard when Noah’s head rolled back and his mouth opened, revealing his thickened canines.
By the time Noah had returned the favor and taken a shower, their dinner was almost forgotten. The rest of the short evening with Noah was spent with them talking and getting to know each other better before Noah had to go out on the streets and search for the rogues.
Noah couldn’t even express how much being at home calmed him and his beast. After dealing with the FBI and the Gadaí, he was thankful for having a mate that cared for him like Landon did. It was refreshing to know he was content and safe when he was locked away in his mated cabin.
“Get some sleep,” Noah ordered his mate. “I have to see Talon before we head out.”
“Please, be careful,” Landon begged, pulling Noah down for another heated kiss. He pushed aside the desire to just call off his shift to stay home in the male’s arms, but he locked down that thought and gently pulled away.
“I’ll be home soon,” he promised, sliding out of the bed as Landon nestled in for the night. Noah turned off his bedside lamp and left his room, shutting the door quietly as not to wake his mate.
He grabbed his jacket and took off for his brother’s house, walking in the back door to find Taze, Lucky, Storm, and Evie there waiting for him. They were at the kitchen table with Kye, eating leftover hamburgers one of the elder females had put in the alpha’s community kitchen for anyone who wanted them.
“Sorry, I’m late,” Noah said, motioning for everyone to follow him. “Let’s get this meeting started.”
Noah knocked on his brother’s office door and pushed it open wide when he heard a reply from Talon.
“You wanted to see us?” Noah asked as they entered the office. Sheriff Lynch was there, standing next to Talon as they both leaned over an open file. “What’s going on?”
“The report came back on the substance the male was taking,” the sheriff reported, picking up the file. “It was definitely cocaine, but it was laced with a dried plant from East Africa called Khat. It’s a strong stimulant, but added to the cocaine, it could be deadly for humans.”
“Where are they getting this plant then?” Evie asked as she held out her hand for the file. Garrett handed it over without hesitation when he noticed the female was already wearing gloves to protect her skin.
Noah frowned as he looked over Evie’s shoulder at the report. He couldn’t understand half of the medical terminology, but he saw the note attached, stating the plant was mixed with the cocaine. “So, we have a drug war, too?”
“If it gets in the hands of humans, this could be worse than the heroin epidemic,” Garrett snarled. Lucky and Storm shared a glance, but otherwise kept quiet.
“We will do what we can, and hope like hell when we find the alpha, we can stop the spread of the drug,” Taze said, dropping the file on Talon’s desk after Noah had passed it off to him.
“Also,” Talon said, pausing them before they left. “We captured two females this afternoon. They are being transported to Colorado as we speak. They were in bad shape…really bad shape.”
“How bad?” Evie blurted, her eyes sparking amber.
“They hurt them in some of the worst ways,” Talon replied, not keeping anything from the female. He respected the hell out of his brother for being upfront and forthcoming with information when needed. Granted, he had to keep some things to himself, but he knew the right time to tell his people. It made Noah miss his father even more. He’d done so much to prepare Talon for the role of alpha before he passed away unexpectedly.
“Are they healing?” she continued. “Did Harold see them?”
“Yes and yes,” Talon confirmed. He didn’t send out any calming magic to the female this time. He wanted Evie on alert and relaxing her would definitely make her useless. “I need you to find all the females and get them to safety.”
“I have a real problem with some of the bullshit Agent Murdock is having us do overnight,” Taze admitted. Evie and Noah exchanged a look.
Storm, the usually quiet one, growled low in his throat. “Same for us.”
Taze notified Talon of the search after the gas station robbery, and his brother leaned against his desk, rubbing his chin in deep thought. “I don’t trust that agent.”
“He’s supposed to be one of the best,” Garrett interrupted, frowning. “He’s been with the FBI for a long time.”
“Have you had any visions?” Evie asked. Noah was hoping the sheriff had seen something they could use to help them find this alpha. “Any at all?”
“None,” Garrett promised. The angel looked defeated. “He’s human, and if he was going to be up to something, I would know about it.”
“I want to find them our way,” Noah advised, giving his brother a smirk. “I’m tired of the regulations and stupid laws they have put on us. I’m not going to check in with them tonight. I want a few hours to ourselves to see what we can dig up.”
“Garrett, can you get the agents off my Guardians and Protector’s trail tonight?” Talon asked.
“I can let them know there was a problem here on the land and they will be a little late,” he offered, pulling his phone from his pocket. “I’ll give you a three-hour window, but that’s it. Get out of here while I make the call.”
The three of them nodded in acceptance of the angel’s promise, but Noah knew they better watch out for the agents, anyway. Talon’s voice in his mind told him the alpha thought the same.
Watch that Murdock guy. He’s up to something.
With a nod to his brother, he motioned for everyone to leave. Noah, Taze, and Evie jumped in the truck and headed for the city to see if they could get their hands on some rogue shifters. Lucky and Storm would be in the area, too. Unless the agents had an active sce
ne, the shifters were going on a hunt tonight…the old-fashioned way.
Once they were on the streets, Evie came across a scent and pointed toward the next alley. Noah lifted his nose to the air and caught the scent as well. Taze called for Storm and Lucky to get to their location, but Noah knew something wasn’t right. A tingling in his panther’s fur was a warning.
“Proceed with caution,” he warned the others.
They stuck to the shadows, keeping an ear and eye out for the agents who were also working the streets. Tabor was undercover as a homeless man, hoping word on the streets would filter through him since he wasn’t a cop.
“Blood,” Evie whispered as low as she could. With the rogues around, they could be heard. It was even more important to call on their skills as Guardians and Protectors. They would be fighting evenly matched opponents, and some, if not all, of them were possibly on a new drug to hype them up enough to do something stupid. “Shifter blood.”
“And it stinks of wolf,” Taze growled, his eyes glowing bright. Noah’s nose tingled from the stench.
Noah felt Lucky and Storm at his back as they approached the alley; each one of them covering their noses from the scent. The moment they turned the corner, Evie gasped.
They were going to need more help than they thought.
“What the fuck?” Storm snarled.
Noah didn’t have time to assess too much of the carnage before his panther ripped from his skin, jumping for the nearest shifter. The male was holding a female down with his enormous body, his bleeding wrist at her mouth.
As he knocked the male loose, his panther registered eleven more shifters in the same position as the male he was after. Twelve human females were being forced blood, and from the sudden screams, they’d succeeded in getting enough blood into their systems to initiate the change.
He wasn’t allowed to kill the male, but he had to get some control over the situation. His beast called out for Talon, knowing the rules set forth by the government were not going to apply when they began to fight back. His alpha’s voice in his panther’s head made the animal lick his teeth in anticipation.
Noah (Rise of the Pride, Book 10) Page 12
