“Well, I still have to deal with this damn Colton butthead, Avi’s cousin who keeps trying to take over the herd.But at least he’s not watching us with drones.How creepy!”
“I think we’re danger magnets.”
“Fate just wanted us to have some great stories to tell about how fierce our mates are.”
Sera chuckled.She was starting to relax, knowing that Fallon was safe and being watched carefully by her mate and the other stallions.They were a protective bunch.
As her daughter told her about the curtains she was making for the baby’s room, Sera sat on the couch and listened intently, thankful to have something to keep her mind off Caesar’s quest and the danger that would surely come with a confrontation.
He’d be victorious.He had to be.
Wolf shifter Alfie Wright moved from foot to foot outside the conference room under the park, trying to suppress the twitchy energy that thrummed through him.The moment Caesar had texted him to join the alphas and security team in the room, he’d known it was time to act against the jaguar alpha who would not leave Caesar’s mate alone.
Caesar opened the door and beckoned him in.“Have a seat, Alfie.”
Caesar moved to the head of the long table and Alfie took a seat between Jupiter and Atticus, quietly greeting both males.
Joss swiveled in the black leather chair and looked at Alfie, then looked around the room.“When it was clear that Otto wasn’t going to back down, I asked Alfie to find him.Caesar came to me and asked if Alfie could track him, and I was happy to share that he’d already been working on it.You’ve got the floor, Alfie.”
He cleared his throat and said, “I’ve been scouting for the last couple days.I picked up the scent of jaguars at the paddocks, but it was faint and I believe it was their scent on the dead rabbits.I tracked around the park’s perimeter in widening circles and eventually picked up a trail that led me through woods and past the old water tower, to an abandoned quarry four miles from the park.There are signs of a camp, including burned trash and discarded gear.”
Joss turned on a tablet on the table and used it to send images to a projector screen on the wall.Several images were of the camp and the quarry, and the last image was of a map of the area that Alfie had scouted to ensure it was accurate.
“Do you think Otto and his people are still there?”Atticus asked.
“The scent at the camp is strong, so it’s recent.I believe it’s an active campsite for them, and I believe they’re living out of their vehicles or setting up and breaking down tents every day to not leave a trace.”
“Do you think they’re trying to throw us off with a fake campsite?”Marcus asked.
“Anything is possible when it comes to deranged shifters.But I found more than just a strong scent of the jaguars.There was warm ash in a firepit, and food wrappers scattered around.And I located a broken drone that looks like the ones on the security footage.It was buried under loose rocks near the firepit.”
Jupiter pulled the tablet over to himself and said, “There’s a trail cam in that area and I’ve accessed it before.Let’s see if it shows anything last night.”
He pulled up the trail cam and scrolled through the footage for the last twenty-four hours.About four a.m., the cam was activated when what appeared to be a group of people walked past the cam and headed to the quarry.They watched more footage, the people seeming to only move around at night and never during the day, but Alfie was certain it was the jaguars.
“That’s good enough for me,” Caesar said.“The footage seems to show they move more at night, at least since they’ve been at the quarry, so they should be there during the day.We’ll disable the trail cam so we’re not caught on public footage and go in and confront him.If he’s not there, we’ll wait.”
“Who do you want with you?”Alistair asked.
“The best fighters.But I don’t want to compromise the safety of the park or our people, so I’ll leave it to Jupiter to decide who comes and who stays among the willing.”
“We’re all willing,” Joss said.“Any shifter’s mate who is in danger is protected by all of us.”
The males all nodded in agreement.
Alfie smiled.The park shifters were fucking amazing.
“I’m in,” Alfie said.“I can track at the quarry if they’re not there and figure out how long it’s been since they were there.”
Caesar nodded.
Jupiter took volunteers, and by the time they were ready to go, a dozen males were with them including Joss and Atticus, leaving alphas Alistair and Marcus behind to keep an eye on the park.
Alfie hadn’t been involved in a situation like this in ages, not since he’d left his former pack and joined up with Joss, disillusioned with his old alpha’s attempts to take over another pack’s territory.
He was a talented tracker, a gift handed down to him by his father and grandfather, and he could track the hell out of anyone or anything.He’d been utilized over the years by Joss when necessary, but not like he’d been used by his old alpha.The bastard had him tracking shifters to abduct and try to force the other alpha’s hand in giving up his territory.
Which was why Alfie left.He wasn’t interested in being used by anyone.
