“Yes, there was one name we’ve heard before that popped up. A guy named Crypto.” Baron cursed beside me and Thayne’s entire body went rigid. Thayne’s mind was a jumble of pain and sorrow. There were memories he was accessing that were confusing to me.
“That fucker has been the bane on the existence of shifters for fucking years. The things he has done or had done in his name are just despicable. Tell me where he is and I’ll personally go have a talky talk with him.” Baron was seething, his teeth were elongated and he looked close to shifting right at the table. The last time I’d seen him this pissed was in the warehouse of the restaurant.
“We don’t have a location for him yet.” Baron cursed, slamming his fist down on the table, shaking the dishes.
“Calm down Baron, we all want this guy captured, Thayne probably more than all of us here. It was someone working for Crypto that murdered his family. We’ll find him. He’s been a slippery little bastard for too long.” That’s what all the memories were about, that’s what all the sadness and pain was about. This man had a hand in the murder of Thayne’s family.
“What information do we have? There were hundreds of us in that warehouse. The kind of resources someone like that has isn’t going to be easy to find. He has access to suppressants, hired guns, and a network of people that are ready to buy shifters. This man has powerful friends and knows how to hide his tracks.” I gripped Thayne’s hand tighter. This man sounded like the boogieman; the one who sneaks into children’s bedrooms and steals them from their beds in the middle of the night. What could we do against someone like that?
“This time we got a description of the man himself. We got a hold of one of his allies, or what used to be one of his allies. Thanks to some digging, in large part to Raiden and Savi, we got a decent description of the man. He’s a short, fat, bald fucker who wears tacky suits. Those are Raiden’s words, not mine. I know it’s not much but it’s more than we’ve had in the past.” Colton was right it wasn’t much but a description was better than nothing. I had a feeling Thayne would be doing some searching of his own once we got to the ranch.
Baron doesn’t seem too happy with the minimal information, not that I can really blame him. The bastard had us locked up, drugged up on shifter suppressants, and planned to sell us to the highest bidder. I was pretty sure he’d done something else to Baron long before he was locked up in that warehouse. Based on the amount of pain that crossed his face before he hid it behind his cocky grin again I’d say it was not something he was willing to share with the rest of the class. I’m just about to ask him when Thayne gets my attention.
Now look who wants to poke the bear. Leave it, he’ll tell us when he’s ready.He tells me while giving Baron a knowing nod in his direction. Thayne knew something, but he wasn’t giving anything away to me. There was a part of me that was angry at that, but then I realized that Baron’s story wasn’t his to tell me and it wasn’t for me to take without Baron’s permission.
“Nosey little fox, one day I’ll give up my secrets. Until then please keep me in the loop and I will do the same in the search for Crypto.” Baron got up to leave, nodding to both Colton and Thayne before walking out the door. His words sounded kind of final, did that mean he was leaving for good.
“Is he leaving? Like leaving, leaving, or just going outside?” I asked both Colton and Thayne. Katia looked as confused as I did.
“Don’t worry he’s not going far, just far enough that his bear won’t feel the need to challenge me every second of the day. He’s been fighting with himself since you got here to keep him under control.” Colton explained. I looked over at Thayne and he agreed with Colton’s assessment.
He’s a pure alpha. I’ve seen in his mind he’s probably the original bear alpha. Meaning he’s been around since the beginning of shifters.Holy shit sticks! My mouth formed an ‘O’ of shock as I looked at Colton who was explaining the same thing to Katia.
“You’re talking about a myth, a legend, like King Arthur and the Round Table kind of stuff. There’s no way that Baron…” I don’t finish my sentence as I think back to all of his scars that looked like they weren’t made by claws or guns. They looked like they were made by blades, long blades, like a sword. His tattoos that covered most of his chest looked like tribal tattoos but they didn’t look like the kind made by a tattoo gun. Then the way he talked like he knew things that he shouldn’t know, like he could see into our very souls.
“Holy shit.” I breathed out.
Holy shit.Thayne agreed, followed by Colton and Katia’s own holy shits.
“We’re going to keep that little tidbit to ourselves, at least for a little while. He hasn’t confirmed nor denied it, and right now it’s just our speculation. Now when do you two lovebirds plan to leave the nest? Not that we don’t love having you with us, but frankly the ear canceling headphones are getting old for the rest of us.” I swear I turned thirty shades of red and buried my face in Thayne’s chest.
“Relax Scarlett; we can’t hear anything that comes out of that room. It’s soundproof for a reason, we’ve hosted enough newly mated couples to be prepared. I’m just giving you shit.” Flipping him the bird I watch as Thayne explains we will be leaving after breakfast. He’s ready to get back to his ranch and I’m ready to have him all to myself. Katia and I hugged each other tightly promising we would keep in touch and see each other again soon. For once, it didn’t seem like they were merely kind words said to someone to make them feel better. We would see each other again and often.
“You’re family now Scarlett.” Colton said before he pulled me in for a hug. I could hear the truth behind his words just like I had with Katia’s. Thayne had given me the one thing I’d been missing my whole life, a family. There was a part of me that didn’t want to leave them, but I was ready to have Thayne all to myself, at least for a little while. Katia and Colton followed us out to Thayne’s truck, giving us both hugs before wishing us a safe trip.
“All right hot-stuff, time to take me home to your love shack.” I said once we got into the cab of his truck. He grinned over at me before grabbing my thigh and yanking me across the bench seat so that I was practically sitting on his lap. We waved to Colton and Katia as we backed out of the drive and headed to Nebraska.
The End
