Chapter Five
Tap sat at the kitchen table in Wilfred’s house with a blanket wrapped around his naked body. Matt, Rio, and Levi stood in the kitchen while Dr. Ethan Whitfield worked on Hennessey. The brother had taken a bullet to the chest, just missing his heart. When the doctor removed the bullet, Hennessey would be able to shift and heal.
Stephen had been taken to the hospital by ambulance. The sheriff stood by the counter, leaning against it as he glared at each man in turn. "A fucking lion." He shook his head. "I knew there was something going on in Mercury."
"And if you breathe a word of this to—"
"Don’t you threaten me," Braxton snapped at Matt. "This is my town to protect and I have feral shifters running amok and you want me to keep this shit to myself? How in the hell am I supposed to go up against a man who can shift into a predatory animal?"
"That’s where we come in," Rio said.
"Missing persons my ass." Braxton shoved away from the counter. "What exactly does your agency do?"
Tap listened as Matt explained.
The cop cut his glare at Tap. "You’re a fucking bounty hunter and you let that lion get away?"
Tap shot to his feet, the blanket falling to the floor. None of the shifters blinked an eye, but Braxton curled his lip. Tap ignored the look of disgust at his nudity. "Have you ever chased down a feral shifter?" He nearly shouted the question. "Have you ever gone up against one?"
"You’re a goddamn wolf," Braxton shot back. "Aren’t you supposed to be faster?"
"Sorry, but watching National Geographic isn’t going to clue you in. Not when it comes to shape shifters."
"Two men were beaten, one stabbed, one robbed, and Hennessey was shot!" Braxton moved a step closer and Tap had to stop himself from attacking the sheriff. "It’s your job to catch your kind, yet you failed."
"Are you saying this is somehow my fault?" Tap asked. The tension in the room was thick and emotions were running high. Tap vibrated with rage, seconds away from showing the cop how truly lethal he was.
"I’m saying if you did your job better, the lion wouldn’t have gotten to Stephen!"
"We go after the worst our world has to offer. And sometimes," Tap yelled, jabbing a finger at the chair Stephen had been tied to, "those bastards come after us. I don’t know why he targeted Stephen, but you can bet your ass he’s not done and more than likely he’s gonna be coming after me for interfering. Can you do a job like this? Can you live with the fact you’re always a target even though all you’re trying to do is take the worst off the streets?"
"I’m the fucking sheriff," Braxton said heatedly. "I may go after humans, but trust me, some of them are just as dark and depraved."
"And do you always catch them?" Tap glared at him. "Do you?" he shouted.
"Enough!" Matt stepped between them. Tap hadn’t even noticed he’d moved closer or that his canines were bared. Tap's chest rose and fell heavily as he stared into the sheriff’s eyes. The guy was an older human, laugh lines around his eyes and mouth. But his eyes were what grabbed Tap’s attention. They were filled with a wealth of knowledge and understanding. They were sharp, full of intelligence.
Tap snatched the blanket from the floor and sat, placing the fabric over his lap. "Talk that kind of shit to me again and I’ll forget you’re the sheriff in Mercury."
"Threaten me again and I’ll shoot your mangy ass."
Tap was out of his seat, swinging his fist at Braxton. But Matt caught him around the waist and shoved Tap into the wall. He pointed a finger in Tap’s face, warning Tap with his dark gray eyes.
Matt turned to Braxton. "We’re ten times stronger and faster than you and more lethal than you can imagine. I’d suggest keeping your insults to yourself or I won’t hold Tap back the next time."
"Let him go," Braxton said with narrowed eyes. "I can hold my own."
"Your bravery will only get your throat torn out," Matt said.
Braxton was definitely an alpha-type male. He looked as if he’d rather chew off his own arm than back down. His spine was straight, resolution in his eyes while his hand rested on the butt of his gun.
Tap sneered at the cop. "I can shift, attack, and kill you before you get that gun from your side holster."
"You could try," Braxton challenged. "You might get your doggy teeth into me, but I’ll get a fucking bullet into you."
Tap growled.
Braxton smirked.
Matt rolled his eyes.
"This is entertaining," Rio said to Levi. "All I need is popcorn. I already have a ringside seat."
"Shut up," Tap and Braxton said in unison.
"I’m putting my money on the cop," Levi said, "only because I’m still pissed at Tap."
Tap cut his eyes to Levi and then looked away. He was ready to get out of there, but didn’t want to leave until he knew that Hennessey was okay. But if he stayed in the kitchen much longer, blood would be shed. He just didn’t know who’s because both Braxton and Levi were pissing him off.
"Go get Tap’s spare clothes from my Hummer," Matt told Levi. "And don’t let them get soaking wet."
"I'll try not to drop them in a huge puddle," Levi mumbled as he walked out.
Tap headed out of the kitchen and sat on the living room couch. As soon as he knew that Hennessey was fine, he was going to the hospital to check on Stephen. Images of Adam were still surfacing and for some reason, his brain had connected his dead parent with the abused human.
They’re not the same person. He kept telling himself that, but his brain wouldn’t listen. He kept seeing Adam’s broken and bruised body. He kept seeing the blood that had covered the walls and floors the night John had killed Adam. Stephen’s bruised face morphed into Adam’s. The two men became one.
They are not the same people.
Yet they were. They’d both been abused, both suffered at the hands of a sadistic son of a bitch. Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! He was losing it.
Tap dropped his head into his hands and rubbed his eyes. He had a massive migraine and his night wasn’t over yet. He still had to track Wilfred down. He wouldn’t be able to sleep until he caught the bastard.
And Wilfred isn’t John, so stop thinking about shooting him on sight.
God, Tap was a fucking mess. He sat back and leaned his head on the back cushion. Wilfred had left a path of destruction, and all Tap wanted to do was bury the lion six feet under.
"You’re too close to this."
Tap turned to see Matt standing in the doorway. "I’m fine."
"You’re sweating profusely even though it’s a bit chilly in here, your body is slightly jerking, and I can smell your thirst for revenge. It’s your decision, but I think you need to hand the warrant off to someone else."
"Who?" Tap stood and faced him. "Almost every man in our pack has been abused in some form or another. You tell me who qualifies to execute the warrant and I’ll hand it over."
Matt studied him for a moment. "Just remember Wilfred is a warrant, not John Matthews."
It would be best if he handed the warrant off to someone else, but Tap wanted Wilfred too badly. He could practically taste the kill.
* * * *
It had started out as payback, but for the life of Dustin, he couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened in Tap’s truck. All night he’d tossed and turned as Tap’s scent lingered on his skin. He could still feel Tap touching him, still feel those soft lips hungering for him. Every time Dustin thought of the way Tap looked at him with those soulful eyes, he got hard.
"Are you all right?" Shane asked as he stared at Dustin from the kitchen table. "You look like you’re a million miles away. Should I trust you around fire?"
Dustin looked down at the eggs he’d been cooking to see they were turning a little too brown. He cut the fire off and scraped them onto his plate. "I’m fine. Just remembering the nice dream I had."
"Nice?" Shane scoffed. "Dude, you moaned half the night. I thought you had someone in bed with you."
Dustin felt the color rush over his face. Had he called out Tap’s name? He didn’t think so. If he had, Shane would be teasing him right now. Instead, his roommate appeared eager to hear what he’d dreamed about.
There was no way he was telling Shane he’d had a wet dream. Dustin hadn’t had one of those since puberty. Besides, it was just revenge. He had no intention of sleeping with Tap. None whatsoever.
Dustin pointed the spatula at him. "You shouldn’t be listening to me anyway."
"My room is right next to yours. The walls are so thin that you can’t not hear it." He waved his hands. "And I don’t want to know what went on while you were by yourself."
"You’re such a perv."
"That’s what I keep hearing." Shane got up and put his mug in the sink. "Gotta get to work and scrub my mind of your romantic night with your hand."
Dustin quickly ate and headed out the door. He’d been ducking work for two days, but if he didn’t get back to Grizzly’s, not only would he lack money to pay his half of the bills, he’d be fired. Devin was nice, but he wouldn’t hang on to someone who didn’t show up.
He needed to save up for a car. There was no public transportation in Mercury, and although walking back and forth to work kept him fit, it took forever. He zipped up his jacket and made the journey. That was exactly what he called it. A journey.
By the time he stepped into the tavern, his legs were wobbly. Dustin clocked in and noticed someone new behind the bar. Dustin glanced at Darius. "Who’s the new guy?"
"Pa hired him this morning to replace Jason." Darius looked the guy over. "Name's Coral."
Coral? Wasn’t that a girl’s name? Dustin didn’t care. Just as long as Coral knew what he was doing and he didn’t have to pick up the guy’s slack, things would be fine.
"Hi," Coral said when Dustin grabbed a tray from the counter. "I’m Coral."
"Dustin." He smiled. Coral really was a good-looking guy. Sandy-blond hair, big gray-green eyes, and about as short as Dustin was. Coral looked young, too. "How old are you?"
"Twenty-one."
Coral looked more like seventeen and that was being generous. Some people were just blessed with good genes. And judging by his scent, the guy was human. "Where you from?"
"Earth," Coral said and then…giggled. The guy giggled. Men didn’t giggle. They laughed. Wasn’t Coral just too adorable? He looked like an excited puppy ready to please everyone.
"Hey, Coral," Darius said from behind Dustin. "Why don’t you come over here and I’ll teach you how to mix drinks."
Dustin turned to him and rolled his eyes. "No sleeping with coworkers."
Darius winked at Dustin. "Just showing Coral the ropes."
"Just as long as you don’t show him your rope," Dustin grumbled and then turned back to Coral. "Don’t fall for his charm. He uses that line on everyone."
"Hey!" Darius glared at Dustin. "Tend to your own, cat."
Coral looked between them. "He calls you pet names?"
Dustin nearly choked on his breath. "Uh, no. Trust me. There’s nothing going on between us. Never has and never will."
Dustin walked away as he shook his head. The thought of sleeping with Darius made him shiver. No thanks. Darius was gorgeous as all get-out, but he wasn’t Dustin’s type. The guy was a straight-up manwhore. He had more notches on his bedpost than Jesse James had on his gun belt. Besides, there was only one man who stalked Dustin’s thoughts.
"Did you hear what happened last night?" Darius sauntered over to where Dustin was clearing a table. "Some lion shifter kidnapped Stephen."
Dustin’s eyes widened as he looked up at Darius. "Stephen who works at Spotos?"
Darius nodded. "Lion had a warrant out for him. Tap and Hennessey tracked him to his house, where they found Stephen tied and beaten up. I heard someone got shot, but not sure who."
Dustin’s heart plunged into his shoes. He felt himself pale as he gazed at Darius. "D-did anyone die?"
Darius shrugged. "Not sure. But Stephen was rescued and the sheriff was there." The bartender glanced around before lowering his voice. "Sheriff knows about us now. He doesn’t know who is preternatural and who is human, but he knows about Matt, Rio, Tap, and Hennessey. Watch your back, Dustin. They didn’t catch the lion they were after, and from what I hear, he's one sick motherfucker."
Dustin nodded as Darius strode away. “Someone got shot, but not sure who.” He didn’t have Tap’s phone number. Dustin hurried to the bathroom and dialed Mercury Rising.
"Mercury Rising Investigative Services," someone said when they answered the phone. It sounded like Landon, but Dustin couldn’t be sure. The bounty hunters came in here all the time to eat, but he didn’t know all of them personally.
Dustin froze. He wasn’t sure what to say. Would the wolf tell him about Tap? What if Tap didn’t want his fellow pack members to know about them? There wasn’t anything to tell, though. They weren’t secretly seeing each other. They’d had a one-off in the truck. But Landon might misinterpret Dustin’s concern.
He hung up without speaking.
His cell phone rang.
Dustin looked at the screen and grimaced. It was Mercury Rising. Damn caller ID. He pressed the green button and pressed the phone to his ear. "Yeah?"
"Are you calling about Tap?"
"Sorry, no speaky English." Dustin hung up.
The phone rang again. He groaned and answered it. "Mighty Joe’s Pizzeria."
"Stop playing games, Dustin. Are you calling about Tap or not?"
"Yes?" Dustin bit his lower lip and waited for teasing or even a snide remark.
"He’s at Mercury Memorial."
Dustin’s heart plummeted for the second time. "He’s at the hospital?"
"Yep, now stop playing games so I can go back to playing games on my phone." Landon hung up.
Dustin shot out of the bathroom and headed straight for the door. He refused to believe that Tap had been the one who’d been shot. No. Not Tap. He was there for some other reason. He had to be.
Dustin came to a skidding stop in the dirt parking lot when he spotted Chance walking his way. Talk about the worst timing ever. He tried to rush around Chance, but the guy blocked his way.
"Move!"
Chance glared at him. "Vane sent me to fetch you."
Vane. How had Dustin forgotten about his alpha? "I’ll go, but I have to take care of something first."
Chance snorted. "What, that wolf? I don’t think so."
Coral came outside and glanced between them. "Darius wants me to see why you rushed out," he said to Dustin.
Chance’s blue eyes filled with lust as he stared at Coral.
"Go back inside Coral."
The human spun and hurried away.
"I think I’m hungry." Chance stepped around Dustin and headed for the door. Dustin was torn between going to check on Tap and saving Coral from a sadistic pervert.
He hurried inside and scanned the room. When he spotted Darius behind the bar, Dustin raced to the bear. He grabbed Darius shirtsleeve and yanked him down.
"Wanting a kiss?" Darius bounced his brows. If the bear wasn't such a complete manwhore, he'd be a great catch. For someone else. He wasn’t Tap, so Dustin had no interest.
"You’re hopeless," Dustin said. "No, I wanted to warn you about Chance. His radar is on Coral and—"
Darius yanked his arm free and stormed across the room. He extracted Coral from Chance’s table and sent him behind the bar.
Now that he'd taken care of that disastrous situation, Dustin rushed out and hurried toward the hospital.
* * * *
Devin stood at the end of the bar, watching as his idiot son tried to make a pass at the new waiter. Coral had smiled innocently at Darius, and Darius had taken that as a sign the little human wanted him.
"Darius," Devin said in a low and threatening tone, "just because he smiles doesn’t mean he wants you. Don’t you know the difference between flirting and just being polite?"
"What?" Darius's eyes widened slightly. "I was just being polite, too."
"By asking if he wanted to find out how soft your leather seats are?" Devin had a fucking migraine. "Stop sexually harassing him before I put my foot up your ass."
Darius scowled. "Fine. I'll leave him alone."
Devin seriously doubted that. His boy had been born a horndog, and probably would remain that way until he took his last breath. Which would be soon if he didn’t leave Coral alone.
Devin's eyes narrowed when Matt walked into the tavern. He was still livid at the wolf shifter for not telling him where North was when Devin had been looking for him.
If he was being honest with himself, Devin was more crushed than angry. How could North have hidden a drug habit from him? They were a close-knit family and would have helped him through it. But North had gone to the wolves, and that betrayal tore Devin apart.
"You got some nerve showing your face around here." Devin turned and headed into the kitchen. His office was located in the back of the tavern, and the kitchen workers watched as Matt followed him.
That was the reason he was heading to his office. Devin didn’t want an audience.
Matt closed the door as soon as he entered. "I wanted to hash things out with you. We got enough bad blood in this town. I don’t want tension between you and me."
"Tension?" Devin spat. "You should've thought of that before you lied to me. I asked if you knew where North was and you told me you didn't. You knew about his drug problem and you kept that from me."
"That wasn’t my place to tell you," Matt argued. "I told North a while ago he needed to come to you, to tell you the truth."
Devin slammed his fist on his desk, making everything on it jump and then jabbed a finger at Matt. "Don’t you dare use semantics with me! I thought we were friends. Had I known the truth, I never would have sent North to Black Dragon. He could've fucking died!"
Anger rolled through Devin. What really cut him deep was his mate's reaction when she’d found out about North. Teresa was a hard-nosed woman who'd managed to keep ten sons in line while raising them—though she'd had help from Devin's two daughters. But after seeing Teresa break down and weep when he told her about North, Devin wanted to murder someone. He hated to see her cry, and Matt could've prevented all this by stepping up and telling him the truth.
"If you ever keep something like this from me again, I'll fucking kill you, Matt."
The wolf shifter flexed his jaw. He was an alpha, and threatening him wasn't a wise move. But Devin didn't give a shit. This was one of his sons they were talking about. He'd kill everyone in Mercury to keep them safe, including someone he'd considered a dear friend.
"I'll own that"—Matt brushed his hand over his head—"only because the threat is coming from you." He narrowed his eyes. "But don’t ever issue one to me again. You know damn well the truth should've come from North."
Devin was too pissed to acknowledge that Matt might be right. But the alpha had a hand in this, had kept the secret from Devin, so Devin had a right to be angry. "How's Jason?"
Matt looked relieved to have the subject changed. "Due any day now. He misses working here."
"Miss having him here," Devin said. "Hated to hire someone else, but I had to."
"What about your other sons?" Matt took a seat, so Devin did the same.
"Off pursuing other career choices, though they help out when things get busy on the weekends." Except the triplets. Devin was sure they were giving the Dupree brothers a run for their money. He wasn’t comfortable with three of his sons doing mercenary work, but they were grown, damn good at what they did, and Devin wasn't about to stand in their way. His daughters, Larissa and Katelyn, lived and worked in Baton Rouge, but they always managed to come down at least twice a month to see the family.
Two of Devin's sons were off to college, while one was a firefighter with Mercury's fire department. The last two were still trying to find themselves, whatever the fuck that meant. If they didn’t get jobs soon, they would find themselves on the receiving end of Devin's size-thirteen boot.
Fuck if Devin would tolerate laziness in his family. The LaSalles were hard-working bears and Devin was getting tired of hearing Dawson and Ryland's excuses.
One of Matt's brows arched. "We square?"
Devin sighed. "Yeah, we're square, but I meant my threat."
Matt gave a slight nod. "Duly noted."
They shook and Matt left the office. Devin went into the main area of the tavern to see Darius smiling at Coral as they talked behind the bar.
With a roll of his eyes, Devin headed out the door. Their home was located behind Grizzly's, and if he didn’t get away from his horndog son, he just might call Dr. Whitfield and have Darius neutered.