Jack Davidson sat behind the enormous desk in the office of the Hollow Wood Packhouse. He’d given them a day to clean up the mess Russell made when he died here not a day ago. Bloody fool wasn’t careful with anything in his life. He’d had power because he used people to get it. It didn’t matter how he got the power, but he got what he wanted at whatever price other people could pay. Well, payback was a killer. Jack laughed at his little joke. He’d bided his time, and someone took Russell out for him. He’d thank them if he knew who did it. But here he was with his own pack, and he didn’t have to lift a finger to do it. But the kid had a claim on this, which meant he had to go one way or another. If he hadn’t been the pup of the alpha before Russell, he’d have a claim through that stupid twat Rose, Russell’s daughter. Jack wasn’t stupid. Getting to Tyler wouldn’t be easy. The fool had friends around him all the time. They guarded his current territory like Fort Knox.

Rose watched the things play out from the far corner of the town hall meeting room as the room went from stunned silence to erupting in anger. How could Tyler stand there and claim to work for the council? Why has he not done something about her father? The hunters? Anything that must be dealt with here? They’d been here almost a month now. She’d give him that, at least. But the look of Alpha Higgins’ face he was blindsided by this information. Was it that much of a secret Ty couldn’t tell his uncle? “Alright everyone. The council sent us in because no one would think to tie us to the investigation of the hunters. We could look for ties to the community that led back to the hunters. That, ladies and gentlemen, was none other than the Hollow Wood Pack alpha and we believe the beta. They betrayed their people and their community. For this, they will not recognize the pack. Wait. Now I have been struggling to build the Shadow Pack into a stable entity here. There’s not

Jules lay beside Ben, unsure now of who lay there. Had her brain warned her he was a lying jerk? How could she trust him now? Was he really her mate? Or was that a lie, too? “This isn’t good.” Ben said from beside her. “What isn’t good?” Jules asked. “You’re silent. Which means we aren’t sleeping until we hash this out between us. So let’s have it. What’s the bug in your ear now?” “Bug in my ear? Ew. No, it’s not a bug in my ear. It’s a questionable mate in my bed. So, tell me again and this time make me believe we’re actually mates and not your plan to screw over my pack for some hidden agenda.” “Babes, you had me at, ‘hey, stud want to play hide the pickle with me?’ Your sweet innocent smile and that smutty invitation had me ready, willing, and able. Gods, even now I think of the word pickle, and I just want to dive into you until we’re too exhausted to move.” “So you like me because I’m a slut.” “I love you because you are my

Rose sat up in bed as Ty dressed. “You’ll be careful? You’re sure you’re going into this with enough back up?” He was heading out to hunt the hunters with several of their pack. This time, she knew no one would go missing. “Rose, love, I’ve been hunting the hunters for years. I know one thing about these monsters. They are desperate to come out on top, but they don’t want to work for anything. These people want it all handed to them like a reward for existing or being special. Though I’m not sure how they are special.” He was snapping things into place. His gear looked like what many security people would wear, but this gear was shifter safe. These clothes were tear away or stretched with their shifting forms. She hated the feel of the material and would rather not wear anything. But she didn’t fight, so it wasn’t a thing she needed. “That doesn’t make any sense. But you sound like you’re talking about my father.” Rose had to admit that her father didn’t

Ty prowled the border of the town with his pack’s hunting party spread out around them. Making slow progress on to wood edges of town. They barely made a noise as progressed. They fanned these hunters out, making it easy to pick them off but difficult to find each one. What these fools didn’t get was that Ty and his pack fought differently. Many older shifters would claim they were they were dishonourable for learning tricks to fighting in human and wolf forms that included weapons or extensions to their bodies. Ty currently had a set of metal claws held in his very human hands. This way, if questions arose with human authorities, they could explain the claw attacks at least. Currently, there were no dead yet. Only a few injured who decided they’d shot rather than ask questions. The fools actually shot each other. Ty’s man was sitting comfortably in a tree, relaying what he saw so others could step in and pick them up. What Ty didn’t like was these