Haven 1: Caution: Contents Under Pressure

by Gabrielle Evans

  Haven 1

  Caution: Contents Under Pressure

  No good deed goes unpunished. Stavion had only been doing his job as an Enforcer, but now he finds himself the leader of his enemy’s old coven. And the position comes with a whole mess of responsibility and stress.

  Jory can’t believe he’s finally free of his prison. He has friends, clean clothes, and a warm bed at night. He also has a very big, very intimidating vampire claiming to be his mate. Not only does the man scare the hell out of him, but Jory’s not everything he appears to be, and keeping the secret is harder than he imagined.

  One obstacle after another is thrown in their path to keep them apart. Even Jory seems to be fighting it every step of the way.

  Stavion isn’t about to give up, though. Jory is everything he ever knew he wanted, and he’s determined to have the last word.

  Genre: Alternative (M/M or F/F), Paranormal, Vampires/Werewolves

  Length: 38,543 words

  CAUTION: CONTENTS UNDER

  PRESSURE

  Haven 1

  Gabrielle Evans

  EVERLASTING CLASSIC

  MANLOVE

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

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  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  IMPRINT: Everlasting Classic ManLove CAUTION: CONTENTS UNDER PRESSURE

  Copyright © 2011 by Gabrielle Evans

  E-book ISBN: 1-61034-939-3

  First E-book Publication: October 2011

  Cover design by Jinger Heaston

  All art and logo copyright © 2011 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

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  www.SirenPublishing.com

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  CAUTION: CONTENTS UNDER PRESSURE

  Haven 1

  GABRIELLE EVANS

  Copyright © 2011

  Chapter One

  “Stavion, I need your help.”

  Stavion Shogard pressed his cell phone between ear and shoulder, looked down at the stack of paperwork on his desk, and wrinkled his nose. “What’s up?”

  “I don’t really have time to explain it all. Cole is missing, Willow is leading us there, and I’ve got the entire damn Moonlight pack from Georgia here. We think Cole’s mother is behind it. Can you start at the house and follow our trail?” Blaise Taylor, the new alpha of the Cloud Peak Pack, spoke quickly, his voice tense and strained as it drifted over the line.

  Sitting up straighter in his chair, Stavion’s heart pumped with excitement. This was what he was born to do. Not sit behind a desk and pretend to rule a coven. “I’m assuming you’re going to shift.”

  “Yeah, we’re heading out now. I could really use the backup.”

  “We’re on our way.” Stavion disconnected, jumped up from his chair, and hurried around the desk. Now, he just had to find his Enforcers. He hated the new estate they lived on—hated the big creaking house. It felt like compound, or a prison. Most of all, he hated being in charge.

  He hadn’t asked for any of this. It wasn’t that he regretted the death of Elder Cyrus Redway, the former coven leader of the Redway Clan. He’d done what he had to do to protect Blaise and the alpha’s mates. He’d done his job. Why the elders had chosen him to take over the coven and clean up Cyrus’s mess, he’d never know.

  Jogging down the corridor, he was once again reminded of an old, creepy castle, complete with towers, dungeons, and suits of armor lining the passageways. Once he finished sorting through the books and paperwork, his first order of business was to redecorate. The place just gave him the damn willies.

  Navigating the hallways, he emerged into the west wing corridor and breathed a silent sigh of relief. He’d found it. Even after months in his new home, he was forever getting lost. Hell, he’d yet to even explore the obscene amount of acreage surrounding the main house other than the silos Blaise had asked him to check.

  Cyrus Redway had been somewhat of a collector. Unfortunately, instead of bobble heads, spoons, or painting, he had collected people.

  He used them as bartering chips, selling, buying, and trading in whatever sick way would be most useful to him.

  When Cole’s father died and Blaise took over the pack, the big wolf shifter had immediately launched into finding all the missing paranormals. It was slow work, and they hadn’t had much luck in locating most of the different captives scattered about the country.

  The trading network had been large, and Stavion imagined it would take months, maybe even years, to find and rescue all the slaves and bring the different packs and covens to justice.

  Banging his fist against the first door he came to, he started shouting out names. “Raven! Varik! Everyone get your asses out here! Cassius! Demos!”

  Three doors immediately opened and four large vampires barreled out of the rooms, crouched low and looking for trouble. “What?” Raven asked. If vampires had a ranking system, Raven would be the beta. Since they didn’t, he was more just a pain in the ass who was occasionally left in charge.

  “What’s going on?” Malakai stepped out of his room, looking tired and miserable. It seemed to be his new permanent state of being since his mate had refused him. Stavion needed to find a way to either beat some sense into Boston or snap Malakai out of his funk.

  “Blaise
called, and he needs backup. They’re going after Cole.” Varik stood from his defensive crouch and cocked his head to the side. “Where’s Cole?”

  Stavion shrugged. “Not sure. We’re going to follow Blaise’s trail from his house.”

  “Didn’t we just rescue Cole?” Demos scratched the back of his neck and frowned. “As in pretty damn recently.”

  “Well, it seems trouble finds him. So, are we going, or are we just going to stand around with our thumbs up our butts?”

  “I vote for the thumb.” With that said, Malakai plodded back into his room and closed the door quietly.

  “He’s depressing as hell these days,” Cassius mumbled. “He really needs to get laid.”

  “He’ll be fine.” Stavion spoke with conviction. Malakai had been his friend for years, and he’d do whatever he had to do to make everything okay for the smaller man. “Are we ready?” Demos looked down at his bare chest and cotton boxers.

  “Really?”

  Stavion rolled his eyes. “Get your asses dressed and meet me in the entrance hall in ten minutes.” He didn’t wait for confirmation that his command had been heard or would be followed. Turning on his heels, he marched back down the hallway.

  He only got lost once.

  * * * *

  “Around the back,” Stavion ordered, leading the way and keeping close to the side of the house. “I hear voices.”

  “Basement.” Raven jerked his head toward the open cellar door as they rounded the corner into the backyard. “Who the hell hangs clothes out on the line in the middle of winter?” Stavion glanced to the left, shaking his head at the assorted garments flapping in the cold wind. Shifters were a strange lot.

  Obviously the ones who lived in this house weren’t very intelligent either.

  “The Council became suspicious of your father’s experiments. Cyrus arranged for the former alpha of the Cloud Peak Pack to disappear, and Roan took over as leader. He set up a clinic so that he could continue his work under the guise of treating the pack. We knew we were being watched, so we married, had children, and presented ourselves as a normal, happy family.”

  Stavion didn’t recognize the feminine voice floating up from the basement. He could only assume it was Cole’s mother. He’d heard rumors about Cyrus Redway’s mistress, but he’d never actually met the woman. Unfortunately, he’d had the displeasure of meeting their offspring, however. They were nothing more than a couple of lying, cheating, cruel, and manipulative bastards.

  “You have got to be kidding me,” a masculine voice mumbled, but Stavion had no problem hearing it. He thought it was Blaise, but he couldn’t be sure.

  “So, why did you leave?” The cool, crisp voice definitely belonged to Blaise’s mate, Cole. Stavion breathed a sigh of relief that the man was unharmed. He’d only spoken with Cole a handful of times, but he liked the scrappy little shifter.

  The silence stretched on until it became apparent that Glenna Cunningham wasn’t going to answer her son. Stavion didn’t know all the details or particulars, but from what he’d learned since taking over Cyrus’s clan, he knew enough to piece together the important parts.

  “Because Cyrus needed someone to take care of his children while he tried to overthrow The Council,” Stavion answered Cole’s question as he led his Enforcers down the cement stairs and into the dank basement. “Isn’t that right, Glenna? He needed a keeper for disobedient children.”

  “Glad you could make it, Stavion.” Cole crossed his arms over his chest, never taking his eyes from his mother as he spoke.

  “Well, we heard there was a party, and we were invited,” Demos joked from behind Stavion. “You know how we like a good party.” Stavion surveyed the scene, his eyes darting around the basement.

  Everyone appeared unharmed except for the Redway brothers. One was flat on his back, staring up at the ceiling and muttering under his breath. It was damn creepy to witness.

  The other one looked like he’d come out on the bad end of a bear attack. Catching sight of the blood marring Talon’s naked chest, Stavion figured he was pretty close to the mark. The big leopard shifter looked relaxed, but his eyes were locked on the white wolf that stalked Glenna.

  That had to be Talon’s mate and Cole’s brother Jackson. Stavion had never seen the kid shift, but it was the only explanation for Talon’s tense gaze. He didn’t know what the shifters were up to, so he kept his mouth closed and waited.

  “Who is that?” Glenna squeaked, both hands covering her face as she continued to back away from the group.

  Cole huffed and took a step closer to his mother. “Your story breaks my heart, it really does.” Stavion smirked at the sarcasm dripping from his voice. “I don’t really give a shit about why you left or how this all began. I just want to know where Willow’s friends are.”

  Ah, so there was a reason behind all this madness. They were still looking for the missing preternaturals, and Cole seemed to believe his mother knew where to find at least some of them. They already searched the silos on the back of Redway estate for Willow’s missing friends. They’d come up empty-handed, though. It had been a hard blow, and Stavion was still frustrated over their lack of progress.

  The white wolf padded closer to the woman, bumping into her legs and nudging her sideways. Glenna yelped, almost jumping out of her skin as she scrambled away from the touch. “The Redway Clan,” she blurted as her entire body began to tremble.

  “Did you check the silos?” Blaise asked.

  “Yeah,” Raven answered before Stavion could open his mouth to respond. “Nothing, man.”

  “Where are they?” Cole repeated his question in a hard, cold tone, and Jackson butted his head against their mother’s thigh.

  “There’s a little cabin on the edge of the property. Please, that’s all I know.”

  “Fuck,” Cassius breathed.

  Stavion shared the sentiment. He’d seen the cabin of course, but he’d never entered it, never thought to search it. “We’ll check it out,” he assured the alpha. “What do you want us to do with these three?” He pointed between Glenna and her two sons.

  “Take them to the ICPJ.” Blaise’s tone held steel without even a trace of sympathy.

  “What? No!” Glenna dropped her hands from her face and blinked her eyes several times before adopting a look of sheer indignation.

  “You can’t arrest me! I didn’t do anything wrong!”

  “Maybe not,” Cole muttered. “But you did nothing to stop it either.”

  “This sucks.” Stavion glanced over his shoulder to see Varik kick the concrete floor with the toe of his boot like a disappointed little boy. “We get here late. Miss all of the fun stuff. Now we have to take some crazy bitch to those old fools at the International Council for Preternatural Justice.”

  Stavion grimaced. He wasn’t looking forward to it, either, but it was their job. With a heavy sigh, he jerked his head toward Glenna.

  “We don’t have much time. Raven and Cassius, you two head back and check out that cabin on the edge of the property. Call me if you find anything. The rest of you…Let’s take out the garbage.”

  * * * *

  His cell phone began to vibrate in his pocket as he stepped out of the meeting hall after delivering his prisoners to The Council. Pulling it out hurriedly, Stavion’s hands shook a little as he stared at Raven’s name on the display screen. Had they found the missing captives? Or was it just another wild-goose chase that ended in disappointment?

  “Give me good news, man.”

  “We found them.”

  Stavion was struck speechless. While he’d hoped they would, he’d never expected to find the missing men hidden right under their noses.

  “Stavion, you still there?”

  “Uh, yeah.” Stavion coughed to clear the gravel from his voice.

  “How many did you find?”

  “Thirty-five total.” Raven sounded like he was going to throw up.

  “They were hidden under the cabin in a small crawl spac
e. We walked right over them a dozen times and almost left. One of them finally got the balls to call out to us. I thought we were going to have to rip up the damn floor until we found a trapdoor in the kitchen pantry.”

  Stavion rubbed a hand over his face wearily. “How bad is it?”

  “Bad,” Raven growled. “They’re nothing but skin and bones. They’re scared, tired, hungry, cold—you name it.” His voice dropped lower, and there was a little catch in it when he spoke again. “They’ve been eating bugs and rats, Stavion. This is seriously fucked-up.”

  “Just get them to the estate and do the best you can. Ask Malakai for help. He’s small and less intimidating. They might respond to him. I’m on my way.”

  Before he headed off for the Redway estate, he turned and strolled back in through the double doors, his heart sinking when he found the room empty. He led his Enforcers, but he didn’t want to be in charge of an entire coven. With so few members left of the Redway Clan, perhaps he could petition the elders to let them join the Snake River Coven.

  “Ah, Leader Shogard, can I help you with something?” Elder Winters entered from the far side of the room with a bright smile. “You look troubled.”

  “I want to petition The Council to have the Redway Clan join the Snake River Coven.” There was no sense in beating around the bush.

  Besides, he didn’t have a lot of time to spare. The sun would be up soon, and there were still things he needed to do before he retired for the day.

  “Are you sure that’s what you want?” The elder linked his hands together in front of him and tilted his head to the side. “You’re a great leader, Stavion. I think your people will need you now more than ever. Can you honestly say that your old coven leader has a vested interest in these men’s welfare?”