“I don’t know,” Leo confessed. “Which brings me back to the change of plans.”
“Hunting,” Bas said.
“Stopping the hyena pack,” Aaron clarified.
“Fine.” Bas huffed. “Capturing them.”
“Then we’ll call Lucifer to come pick them up,” Leo said.
Maybe it was better to accept help from their friends from hell. Plus, Belphegor did have the right to face the pack that was accused of killing his mate’s family. He’d explain things to Carter the best he could. Maybe it was better to disappoint Carter now before things went farther between them. “How are we even going to track down the pack? My dreams are a little clearer, but we still don’t know where they’re hiding at.”
“That’s where I come in!”
Aaron snapped his attention to the door as Stryker strolled in with the strap of his backpack over one shoulder. Stryker’s mischievous grin brightened the mood in the room instantly.
Bas frowned. “Stryker?“
“What are you doing here?” Aaron asked, amused. This just had chaos written all over it. Out of everyone in the family, Stryker still believed there was some secret the council waskeeping. Stryker was certain there were underground facilities or something evil happening. While Aaron didn’t approve of the council’s methods, he also didn’t go along with Stryker’s conspiracy theories. It was fun to hear some of them though.
“You need to find someone. Or a pack of them,” Stryker stated as he placed his backpack on the table. “I’m the best.”
Aaron glanced from Stryker to Leo. This was actually brilliant. He was good at using search engines on the internet. Stryker was better. He was really the best.
“How are you going to find them?” Aspen asked curiously.
“Well, hello there, cutie.” Stryker winked at Aspen before plopping down in the chair across from Aaron and Aspen. He opened his laptop. “I’m Stryker, mate to the amazing and hot as fuck Gavin, Leo’s brother, and wizard behind a keyboard.”
“You’re a wizard!” Aspen started to bounce in his seat. “I’ve never met a wizard before.”
Stryker’s fingers froze on the laptop keyboard as he slowly lifted his head. “You are absolutely precious. Would you like to be adopted?”
“Adopted?” Aspen asked with obvious confusion. “Do wizards usually adopt people?”
“He’s an adult,” Leo growled out. “You can’t go around adopting people.”
“I didn’t mean for me.” Stryker smacked his own chest. “Just think about it though. Bryce would go crazy for that sweet face. And as alpha mate, he would totally take Aspen under his wing and dote on him.”
“He’s not a wizard,” Bas said. “He’s an annoying human.”
“Whatever!” Stryker called cheerfully. “You know that you love me!”
“That’s…” Leo shook his head. “That’s not what I brought you in for. Focus, Stryker.”
“I’m the ultimate multitasker,” Stryker retorted. “And River brought home Hudson’s friend EJ. I want to bring someone home too!”
Bas sighed. “I knew River and EJ becoming friends was going to be…something.”
“EJ’s great!” Stryker told them. His fingers never stopped moving as he spoke.
How Stryker did that Aaron had no clue. There was no way that Aaron could hold a conversation about something utterly nonrelated to what he was working on. Aaron knew that Stryker was a genius when it came to computers, but he had never seen the younger man in action before.
“We’re putting together a camping trip to go with him,” Stryker continued. “He’s totally into the outdoorsy stuff.”
“You need to put that trip off until we find the hyena pack,” Leo said.
“What?” Stryker jerked his hands from his laptop.
“Didn’t Axel talk to you this morning?” Leo questioned. “About not going out alone.”
