“But how? And why so many? Most shifters know it’s their life and the human’s if they get caught changing humans without permission. Who would damn someone to that existence?”
Bryson’s jaw clenches, and I brace myself for what is about to come out of his mouth. “We think that maybe whoever took the missing kids is using them to bite the humans.”
Shock hits me like a two by four to the face, and I see Liam flinch. Brodie’s and Hunter’s shoulders sag, so I know this is not the first time they are hearing this, but as the information computes in my mind, it all makes sense.
“Of course. Scared children would lash out and bite if cornered, even though they are taught not to, and without an alpha command, they are stuck in animal form, unable to change back. But why?”
“Are they creating an army? That seems a little shortsighted when ferals are notoriously hard to contain. What could the benefit be? And who?” Liam asks Bryson who looks dejected.
“We don’t know, and we have no leads. This couldn’t come at a more inopportune time. The royals are distracted by the change of leadership. Hell, the new royal hasn’t even been found yet, so I haven’t wanted to add to their worries,” Bryson admits, pulling out a chair and sitting down as well. He picks up a remote and turns on the screen on the wall. It’s a map of Aramis showing all three zones. There are red dots all throughthe shifter zone, and I know they are the locations of the ferals we put down. There are also green and blue dots all over the map as well.
Hunter steps up and points to the green dots. “This shows the three children who are still missing and where they were taken from as well as Archie.” He points to the green dot over the palace. “As you can see, they are all from a densely populated area, which makes it harder to figure out how they were snatched up.”
“You would think there would be more witnesses,” Liam comments, and Brodie shakes his head.
“They were all taken from a busy mall or just when school was let out. There were a lot of people around to add to the confusion.”
“What are the blue dots?” I scan the map. There are a lot more blue dots than green.
“Those are all the missing humans,” Bryson says, and I purse my lips.
“Holy crap, that’s a lot of missing humans. Way more than the amount of ferals we have put down,” I point out, feeling sick to my stomach.
“Yes, it is,” Hunter rumbles his agreement, his dragon close to the surface.
“To answer your question, son, yes, I have teams tracking all the humans as well. They were all visiting the neutral zone when they disappeared.” He presses a button, and more dots appear on the screen in clusters around the neutral zone. I lean forward to get a better look at what they are clustered around.
“These are all hotels or entertainment venues,” Liam says, coming to the same conclusion I do.
“Yes, we think that someone is deliberately targeting them. I’ve scheduled extra round-the-clock patrols in these areas, pulling shifter only teams from the shifter forces. I’m hopingthe extra presence will make it harder for anyone else to be snatched.”
“What about restricting human visitors in the neutral zone until we can get to the bottom of this?” Brodie suggests, and Bryson rubs a hand across his forehead like he’s trying to ease a headache before he nods.
“Yes, that is a last resort. The businesses would suffer, so we would like to avoid that if possible, but it may come down to that.”
“That’s not going to protect the humans who live in the neutral zone though,” Hunter points out.
“No, but it would limit the casualty count.” Bryson sighs and stands up. “But none of you need to worry about that. Keep fielding the royal tip line, and the minute the new royal appears, you stick to their ass like glue. Until they gain their magic, they are at risk. The last thing we need is for whoever is responsible for the ferals to get their hands on the new royal. It would be a disaster if they turned feral before they could gain their crown. It would throw the shifter kingdom into chaos.”
Holy fuck. Bryson’s words bring a rush of dread to my body. I had never even considered that may be the game plan. I can tell by the look on my bond mates’ faces that they are thinking the same thing.
He doesn’t wait for a response, leaving the silent room that’s heavy with the new knowledge.
“Fuck, I don’t know about you guys, but I need to eat.” Brodie pushes his chair back and stands up, stretching.
“How can your stomach be hungry in light of all that?” Liam asks incredulously.
Brodie shrugs. “It isn’t really, but seeing that pretty little human baker is just the thing I need to brighten this miserable day.”
“Brodie,” Hunter growls, and our wolf glares at him.
“Hey, don’t even pretend you didn’t go there yesterday to grab lunch.”
Hunter grimaces, looking slightly chagrined. “The food is good, okay? And my dragon is a pushy fucker and insisted we eat there for some reason. Anyway, she isn’t there. They said she was out on holiday for a couple of days.”
A burst of laughter escapes my mouth before I can help it. He sounds so disappointed, it’s comical. “And you happen to know that how?”
“The shifter girl who works there, Violet, goes to school with my brother and sister. I just happened to strike up a conversation with her, and she’s a chatty little thing,” he admits sheepishly, and I can’t help laughing at his audacity. I never would have thought either of them would be interested in a human, but Brodie is right, she is a pretty little thing. She smelled good too, like cupcakes and frosting. My phoenix most definitely has a sweet tooth and would have happily rolled around in her scent.
