Shit!
"Is everyone okay?"
"A few minor scrapes and scratches, nothing a shift won't cure."
I threaded my fingers through my hair, frustrated and worried. "Did they say what they wanted?"
"No, but they kept asking if anyone else was here, which makes me suspect that they knew Ajag and Sy were staying here, but here's the thing. These guys were dressed in camo gear right down to their military style boots. They looked like weekend warriors on a training mission, but I swear I've seen a couple of them before."
"Where?"
"The council guards that came and took Brass away."
That wasn't good.
"One of them looked like a council guard?"
"A couple of them actually," Ze'ev replied. "And that's what concerns me. They tried to break in as if they were just local thugs, but if these were council guards, it makes me wonder what they are trying to hide."
"Are you sure they were looking for Ajag? Could they have been looking for me or Gunny?"
"I mean, anything is possible, but that's not what my gut is telling me. It's telling me that this has to do with Ajag."
I was afraid of that.
"Okay, I'll send Gunny back your way and steer Ajag away from there if he starts heading that way. As far as I know, he still doesn't know we're following him. I'd like to keep it that way until I can't."
"If things do go haywire there, call me and then head home. Even if the council is sending guards after him, we have a better chance of protecting him and Sy here at the ranch rather than out on the road."
"Will do."
I sighed as I hung up with Ze'ev and then turned to Gunny. "You've been recalled."
Gunny raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
I gave him a quick rundown of everything Ze'ev had told me before stating, "Call me when you get there and let me know if anything has changed. I'm going to put in a call to a few of my friends and see if anyone knows anything."
"Just be careful mentioning Ajag's name. If someone is after him, it's best to not let them know we've even had any association with him. Right now, we can play stupid. Once Ajag's name is attached to anyone from the ranch, we can't."
I nodded. "I'll be careful."
"I'll put out a few feelers of my own and I'm sure Ze'ev and Lu already have. One way or another, we'll figure out who is after Ajag and why."
I hoped so because it wasn't looking good, especially if council soldiers were involved. They had to be sent by someone on the council. If that was true, this was a bigger mess than we had previously thought.
"Any way this could be Jackson's idiot cousins?" I asked.
I could hope.
"Anything is possible, I suppose. Did Ze'ev say whether these were shifters or humans?"
I shook my head, already dialing Ze'ev's number. "Hey," I said as soon as the line connected. "These guys in camo that came to the house. Were they shifters or humans?"
"Wolves as far as I could tell," Ze'ev replied. "Why?"
"Gunny and I were wondering if they could have been sent by Jackson's cousins."
"Only if they knew about shifters."
