by Crissy Smith
“Dawson,” the man greeted and jumped down, landing gracefully on his feet.
Dawson had once again gone tense beside Gray. “Casey.”
Gray watched the interaction. Casey moved slowly towards them and Gray didn’t like the way Dawson started to shake.
He shuffled his feet and tried to make himself bigger and block Dawson.
The man coming towards them put up his hands. “Dawson…”
Gray was unprepared for Dawson to come around him and punch the man. His head snapped back. Before he recovered, Dawson hit him again. Gray grabbed Dawson’s arms and pulled him back as the other two men started forward. But the man he’d assaulted held up a hand.
“It’s okay.”
Dawson didn’t even try to break free of Gray’s hold. Instead he stood there, breathing hard, and glaring daggers at the other man.
“I know what you must think…”
“Save it, Case,” Dawson snapped. “I’m all right, Gray. You can let go.”
Gray still wasn’t sure but he dropped his hold anyway. Maybe they could get some answers.
Dawson straightened. “You all have just assaulted an officer of this county and his consultant. I would like an explanation before I haul all your asses in to jail.”
The two wolves bristled before they were waved off. “RJ, Mike—please meet my brother, Dawson.” Then he walked towards Gray and held out a hand. “Casey Williams.”
Gray cut his eyes to Dawson, who barely nodded his confirmation. Gray shook hands, noticing the power of the cat close to the surface. “Gray Mason.”
“Ah, the Wolf Council’s representative,” Casey said with a smile. “Didn’t think you’d get here so quick.”
Gray stiffened but Casey just grinned.
“Follow us. I think we have some explaining to do.”
Casey led the way back up into the canyon. Dawson and Gray walked side by side, with the two wolves bringing up the rear. Gray didn’t like strange wolves at his back and he stayed on alert. He needed to know what was going on. They obviously knew who he was.
The path was well hidden. He and Dawson probably would have found it but only in shifted form and by scent. Casey called out as they approached a cave entrance. A small but sturdy man edged out.
Dawson and Gray both took fighting stance and prepared to shift.
“Stop.” The power behind that voice had everyone freezing. “We are not enemies.”
Gray gasped when the person belonging to the voice walked out of the darkness. After months of searching, he now stood face to face with Prince Zachary, the leader of the felines.
“What the hell!” Gray growled. He had been away from home for months in hopes that they would be able to rescue the Prince and stop a war between the two species.
“Grayson.” Prince Zachary bowed his head in respect. “We have much to speak about. Please come sit with us.”
Gray’s feet started to move before he had even realised it. It was a shock just how much pull the Prince had. He felt a little better with Dawson at his back.
The Prince motioned them to the pallets of bedding on the cave floor. Gray sat warily and noted the Prince eyeing Dawson. “Dawson Williams.” He held out a hand.
Dawson looked uncomfortable but grasped the Prince’s hand. He let out a small unmanly squeak when he was pulled into the arms of the Prince.
“I have wanted to meet you for so long. Your brother has told me stories of this canyon and your family for many years. Forgive me, but I feel like I already know you.”
Dawson cut his gaze to his brother. Casey shifted a little on his feet. It was interesting, this family dynamic, but Gray was getting impatient. He wanted to know what was going on and he wanted to know why.
Prince Zachary released Dawson, who sat down quickly next to Gray. Gray gripped his shoulder to show support while the others nodded. Dawson nodded back in thanks.
“Before you is RJ Cross, Mike Jackson”—he motioned to the two wolves—“and Jesse Grimes.” He waved his hand at the small feline shifter who was still eyeing them.
“Also let me convey my great appreciation to the Wolf Council for everything they have done for me and my people over the last few months,” Prince Zachary started.
Gray bit back mentioning just how much they had done only to have the Prince found just fine.
“Until last week I was under imprisonment by a few of my trusted advisors,” Prince Zachary told them. “They would discuss the wolves’ involvement in the search. Even had pictures of all of you. That was how I knew who you were.”
“We were tracking Zach also and almost ran into one of your other teams. It seemed like we were getting much of the same information,” Casey added.
“If you were going after the Prince, why didn’t you let the team you saw know? Don’t you think that would have helped with the search instead of everyone covering the same ground?” Dawson questioned.
Casey shook his head. “We didn’t know who to trust. We kept getting close but they would pull out and move before we got there.”
Gray could understand that—he really could—but that didn’t help him feel less frustrated. “So instead of letting us know you had the Prince safe, you continued to run and lead us here?”
“We weren’t trying to draw you in. When we went in for Zach, there were only a few guards. We want everyone responsible.”
“Okay.” Gray agreed with that strategy. “Why tell us now?”
“You’re good,” Casey complimented. “And I know I can trust Dawson.”
Dawson snorted. “You don’t know anything about me, Case. You left. We haven’t heard from you in years.”
Casey frowned and scooted closer to his brother. “I’ve kept an eye on you and Beth as best I could. My unit does a lot of work out of the country, and the rest of the time we protect Zach. I had people watching.”
“Oh, that makes me feel so much better,” Dawson drawled bitterly. “You’ve had people spying on me.”
Casey tried to respond but the Prince cut him off. “It’s one of the reasons we’re here. Anyone who knows I’ve been rescued will have no doubt your brother was involved. He wanted to make sure you and your sister were safe—that they didn’t try to get me through you.”
“Why would anyone come after us?” Dawson asked suspiciously.
Casey linked his fingers with the Prince’s. “Because we’re mates.”
Chapter Five
Gray knew he was staring but he couldn’t help it. Dawson’s brother was mates with the feline Prince. He hadn’t seen that one coming.
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Dawson jumped to his feet.
Casey rose and crossed his arms over his chest. “He’s my mate.”
Dawson shook his head and looked over at Gray. “This is nuts.”
Gray climbed up. “Makes sense, though.” He glanced over at Casey. “That’s why you kept getting close. You could feel him through your bond.”
Casey nodded. “I was on a mission when he was taken. Only a few people knew that we”—he waved indicating the group around him—“weren’t in the residence. I knew it had to be someone we trusted behind the kidnapping.”
“Who was it?”
It was the Prince that answered. “My cousin Raphael. He was one of my advisors.”
“Dawson, come on, man. We need to hear the rest of this.” Gray tugged Dawson back to sitting down. He noticed, when Casey sat, it was closer to the Prince.
“I mean no disrespect to you, Prince Zachary, but this is just a lot to take in. If you’re mated to Casey that means my sister and son really are in danger.”
“They are being protected. I have an old major that used to be in the unit looking out for them,” Casey assured his brother.
“What…? Who?”
Casey smiled. “Claude.”
“From the inn?” Gray had to ask. He’d felt the power and strength from the man. “He’s not a wolf or a feline.” He glanced at Dawson for confirmation.
The tattooed wolf, who had until then remained quiet, chuckled.
Gray glared at him.
“Hey, it’s okay, man. I never could figure it out. Finally, right before our last tour together, I asked him.”
“Well…?” Gray prompted when the man didn’t continue. He found both he and Dawson were leaning forward.
RJ smiled in return.
“RJ!” Casey snapped.
The wolf RJ laughed again. “He’s a hawk shifter.”
“Hawk, like a bird?” Dawson scoffed. “No way.”
RJ nodded. “I swear.”
“Huh, that’s interesting,” Dawson noted but waved a hand at his brother. “But it’s still beside the point. You put your family in danger. It might not matter to you, but I do have Beth and Toby to protect, whether you sent someone to watch over them or not.”
“I care. I’ve always cared,” Casey told him quietly.
Dawson obviously wasn’t buying it.
“If I followed your trail here, what’s to say the others won’t? Why not just come out in the open and tell everyone what happened?” Gray questioned, trying to get them back on track. Maybe it was a good thing he’d never had any siblings.
“You were closer to finding Zach than anyone else. We left the maps, hoping someone on our side would pick up on them. But we didn’t want it to be so obvious. Just didn’t think you’d be so damn quick,” Casey told them.
“We’ve been keeping watch. We think the cats will come in through the canyon,” RJ added.
“That means they have to go through the tourists and park rangers.” Dawson shook his head. “That would be stupid.”
“The alternative is going through Coyote Bluff where you are. And if they are following the wolves, they know Grayson is there, too,” Prince Zachary reasoned.
Gray thought about it. They really were right. Anyone going back after the Prince would fare better going through humans than an entire town of shifters. “What’s the plan?”
The smaller man that had been guarding the Prince grinned. “Lay in wait.”
“That’s it?” Dawson practically yelled. “That’s your great plan?”
“This is the best military unit in the world. Every one of us is a shifter and specialises in some kind of warfare. I’m pretty sure we can take care of a few untrained cats,” RJ snapped.
All of the felines around the cave growled.
“You know what I mean!” RJ insisted but Gray noticed he leaned away from them all.
“An entire unit of shifters?” Gray asked, curious. “Was that done on purpose?”
The men all shared a meaningful look before Casey answered, “Yes. You know the Alpha Council and the Prince’s advisors have spoken to government officials about the shifters going public?”
Gray and Dawson nodded.
“They had to have found out about us some way. Shifters have been serving in the military for hundreds of years. It doesn’t take much brainpower to figure out some of us are harder to kill.”
“Yeah, but…” Gray had a thousand questions. He wondered if his Alpha or their friends knew.
“There were many bad years back fifty years or so. Shifter soldiers were taken and experimented on. Zach’s family was a huge part of stopping that,” Casey told them proudly. “Instead, the royal family worked out a deal with the government. The shifters would continue to join the military, with the government guaranteeing their identities would remain secret. They would be able to take on missions that were not safe for the regular humans. Ones that were guaranteed to kill humans, the shifters could take and survive. The government recruited specific species with the approval of the royal family.”
Gray sat in shocked silence, trying to take it all in. “If they already know all about us, then why are we even planning on going public?” Gray questioned.
“While the governments, here and in many other countries, are aware of our existence, that does not protect shifters from those who don’t know about us. We can have laws to control hunting, but I still lose thousands of my species a year. In some states, if you see a cougar or even a bobcat, it is lawful to shoot right away. There must be something done about this. I’m losing too many children all too often,” Prince Zachary informed him.
Gray nodded. It was the same thing Tony had always told him. Before he had become their Alpha, Tyler had lost his best friend back in college to hunters.
“So if you’re already involved with the government and okay with being in the public, why did your cousin kidnap you?” Dawson wondered.
“When this all comes out, there is a good chance that the military missions will also be exposed. The credit to end the torture of the shifters will go to the royal family,” Prince Zachary informed them. “My cousin wants that credit.”
“You don’t?” Dawson asked with a raised brow in disbelief.
“No.” The Prince stroked a hand down Casey’s back. “I would prefer to keep the military missions a secret. To protect the ones I love.”
Dawson looked away from the Prince and his brother, but Gray kind of thought it was nice. Man or woman, a mate was a mate. Wolves mated for life, so it was very sacred for them. He knew not all felines did the same, but he could almost feel it in his bones that Prince Zachary and Casey would be together for life.
“What can we do to help? I’m sorry, but I do need to tell my Alpha and the other teams to stop looking. They are away from their Pack and families. It is starting to take a toll on everyone.”
“I understand but I have to ask you to tell only your Alpha for now, if you are sure you can trust him,” Prince Zachary requested. “I believe he can be trusted, but my cousin is working with some wolves. We need to capture them all this time.”
Gray nodded. “I can do that. As long as I can speak with Tyler about it, I agree to keep all of this under wraps.”
“What about the sheriff?” Dawson enquired.
“One of the reasons I picked the canyon was because of Jim. If this went wrong, I was going to contact him,” Casey admitted.
“I think we should bring in the sheriff,” Dawson told his brother. “In the long run it will be better to have his support. I know you all think you can handle this but just being able to get to the Prince speaks volumes on how organised these guys are.”
The military men all exchanged looks before they eventually nodded.
“We’ll head into town and talk with Jim. See if we can get any reports from the rangers,” Dawson said.
“We have no way to communicate with you, though,” Gray mentioned.
RJ stood and walked over to his backpack. He pulled out a handheld radio and passed it over to Gray. “Use channel eight. It’s as secure as we can make it with the technology we brought with us.”
Gray accepted the radio and nodded. “We’ll head back into town and meet with the sheriff. Find out what we can. We won’t contact you unless we encounter any problems. But how about we take a run tonight and meet back up about midnight?”
RJ nodded. “Two wolves won’t cause too much suspicion even if we are being watched.”
Gray stood. “Then we have a busy night ahead of us.”
The other men dipped their heads in goodbye as Casey stood to walk them to the front of the cave.
“I’ll give you a minute,” Gray told Dawson, clipping him on the shoulder.
He strolled back into the sunlight, glad to get out in the open. He didn’t like the closed-in feeling. Natural wolves might make a den in a cave like that, but he preferred the freedom to be able to run.
Dawson and Casey spoke in low but urgent tones and Gray did his best to ignore them. Not easy with his sharpened senses so he ambled farther away, humming low to himself.
Dawson followed behind him a couple of minutes later. He was shaking his head and mumbling.
“You okay?” Gray asked his new friend.
Dawson glanced up and offered a small smile. “On one hand, I’m relieved to see him again. I know Beth will
be thrilled beyond words. But, on the other hand, he was close by and didn’t contact me, put my family in danger, and has a whole other life I know nothing about. I’m angry…and just a little impressed by him.”
“I bet that punch felt good, though.”
Dawson laughed like Gray had intended. “It did. Really good. But he better watch out—Beth has quite a left hook herself.”
The mention of the pretty feline had Gray’s body responding. He hadn’t got over the strong feeling from the night before or even the quick appearance she’d made at the inn. He wasn’t sure what to do about his feelings. He knew what he wanted to do but the entire situation was complicated.
“You want to talk about it?” Dawson enquired as they jumped down an opening in the canyon.
“About?” Gray asked, distracted by his thoughts of Beth.
“Look, Gray.” Dawson stopped walking. “I know my sister. That little display of nerves this morning at the inn is not like her. She’s confident, smart, and at ease with everyone. Something about you made her nervous.”
Gray exhaled. “She makes me nervous too.”
Dawson threw his head back and cackled.
“Not funny,” Gray grumbled and started to walk again.
Dawson caught up with him and threw an arm over his shoulder. “Come on, man, it’s funny. The big bad detective wolf is nervous about the little bobcat?”
“It’s not her animal that makes me uneasy and you know it. One of my best friends just found her mate. I didn’t think Kiley would ever mate with anyone. We’d… We’d spent some time together but it just never felt destined…” Gray tried to explain.
“You couldn’t force it because it just wasn’t there. There was someone else for her,” Dawson finished.
Gray shrugged. “Pretty much. But it had me wondering if there was someone waiting for me too. I thought about it a lot while I was on my own these last few months. Now I’m not sure if these feelings I have…” Gray hesitated. “If I just want it so bad, I’m reading more into the attraction than I should. And it’s weird discussing this with her brother.”