Chapter 23
The truck windows were open, and as soon as they turned onto the long driveway, there was no mistaking Lori’s scent. His sister had been there recently. Zev glanced over to Toby to see whether the other man picked up the scent. His nose was in the air, and then he turned his head to Zev, the question in his eyes. Zev nodded, confirming what Toby already knew.
The truck hadn’t even stopped moving before Toby flung the door open and shot out like a rocket. He ran for the front door and growled in frustration when he found it locked. With his fists pounding on the wood, Toby started shouting.
“Open the door, Delgato.” He kicked the bottom of the door with all his strength and continued pounding. “You hear me, Brian? Open the fucking door!”
Zev got out of the truck and smelled the air, recognizing the scents of the four males who’d been to Lori’s house. But those scents were weak and they didn’t emanate from the house. Only Brian’s and Lori’s scents came from inside, letting Zev know they were the only ones still present.
He approached Toby quietly, took hold of the man by the shoulders, and firmly moved that furious body to the side.
“Stay,” Zev said, leaving no room for argument.
He glared at Toby, making it clear to the other shifter that there was no other choice. Toby stopped shouting, but his hands remained clenched into fists and his body vibrated with anger. Zev tilted his head to the side and listened carefully. He could hear whimpering, but it wasn’t coming from Lori.
Suddenly, the door swung open and Lori stood before them. Her wrists were raw, showing signs of being bound, there was blood on the side of her head, and her left eye was sporting the beginnings of what would probably become a pretty decent shiner. With all that damage, his sister still managed a little smirk.
“Oh, thank God, the cavalry’s here,” she said, deadpan. “Come on in, boys.”
Lori stepped aside and Zev walked into the house. He heard Toby’s body make contact with Lori’s and knew the man was checking his wife over, making sure she was okay.
“Where is he, Lori?”
When she didn’t answer right away, Zev turned around and got caught in a misty gaze. Lori walked right up to him and pressed her face to his chest, inhaling deeply. She smiled and gave Zev an approving squeeze, but didn’t verbalize what they both knew she’d smelled: her brother’s scent braided with Jonah’s.
“Brian’s in the kitchen. I just finished getting him…situated.”
Zev nodded, gave Lori a quick hug, and walked toward the kitchen. He almost laughed when he found Brian hunched on the floor. His legs and arms were tied behind his back with a rope that was also wrapped around his neck. Other shifters couldn’t change forms as quickly as Zev. If they tried making the change while clothed, the fabric would tear and the wolf would often find himself tangled in cloth, which wasn’t so much dangerous as it was uncomfortable and embarrassing. But being bound like he was, if Brian shifted, there was a good chance he’d break a limb or choke.
“This your work, Lori?” Zev shouted over his shoulder. “Nice.”
Lori and Toby walked into the kitchen, and Toby gasped at the sight that greeted him.
“Yeah, it’s not bad for a weak, defenseless girl, is it, Brian?” she said sarcastically.
“I swear, Zev, I didn’t have anything to do with this. I refused to help them when they asked. But then they said they had Lori and I didn’t want them to hurt her. That’s the only reason I got involved.” Brian was shaking and pleading. “You have to believe me. Lori, I was just trying to help you.”
“Help me? They came into my house and threatened to hurt my kids if I didn’t go with them! My kids, Brian!” Lori’s voice rolled with anger.
All three men were stunned by that revelation. Shifters didn’t hurt their young. Cubs were treasured and protected by their packs. Brian tried to shake his head in denial, but the rope prevented him from moving. Suddenly Toby sprang forward, going after Brian.
“You bastard! I’m gonna take your head off.”
Zev got his hand on Toby’s shirt and pulled him back, keeping his arm around his brother-in-law’s chest.
“All right. We’re all gonna take a deep breath and calm down.” He gave Toby a small tug. “You hear me, Tobes? Calm your shit down. Your kids are fine. Your wife kicked his ass. It’s all good. Now we just need to figure out what the hell’s going on and get these men away from the rest of our pack before they hurt someone.”
Toby nodded reluctantly and returned to his spot by Lori’s side.
“No. He wouldn’t hurt any shifters. He wouldn’t. He’d never do that, Zev.” Brian was shaking and whimpering, his words running together.
Zev combed his fingers through his hair. Brian was an ass. Zev had never liked the man. But he was part of the Etzgadol pack and that made him Zev’s responsibility.
“All right, Brian. I’m going to untie you now. Then we’ll all sit down and have a nice little talk. But one thing you need to understand is that your kin and his friends have already hurt a shifter. They hurt Lori. And they put four cubs in danger. I can’t let that go, and if you’re loyal to this pack, neither will you.”
By the time Zev was done talking, the ropes were loose and Brian was able to stand. Zev helped him up, knowing the man’s legs would be shaky. Once Brian was sitting down at the kitchen table, Zev sat across from him and appraised the situation.
Brian was looking down, clearly ashamed and scared. He had his head tilted to the side, leaving his neck exposed, showing his submission. Well, at least some things had improved over the years.
“Look at me, Brian,” Zev ordered.
The shifter raised his eyes and looked at his Alpha.
“Did you hear what I said? I need to know where your loyalty lies.”
Brian didn’t hesitate.
“With you, Alpha. My loyalty is to this pack. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. I swear.”
Toby snorted, and Zev turned to glare at him. Toby raised his hands in surrender and sat down quietly. Lori settled on her husband’s lap and watched Zev work.
“That’s good, Brian. That’s real good. You know our pack is only as strong as its weakest member. I need you to tell me what you’ve gotten yourself into here. That’s the only way for me to help you and take care of our pack.”
Brian nodded, twisted his hands together, and bit his lip. He looked at Lori with longing and then moved his gaze down to the table. This sad, meek version of Brian was a far cry from the arrogant loudmouth Zev had grown up with. When he looked at Brian now, Zev felt only pity.
“I got a call from my father’s cousin last night. He said there was a human coming to see Leah Harrison, and he wanted me to keep an eye out for him.”
Toby’s head snapped up as soon as he heard his mother’s name. A growl rumbled in his chest, but he managed to keep his mouth shut.
“Keep an eye out for him? That’s it?” Zev asked carefully.
Brian’s neck heated up.
“Well, he asked me to watch for him, and when I saw him, I was supposed to, uh, get a hold of him and keep him until Jimmy got here.” Brian swallowed hard.
Hearing about a shifter trying to trap a human engaged all of Zev’s protective instincts and made him want to lash out, but he kept his feelings in check for the moment. He needed more information and scaring Brian wouldn’t get him anywhere on that front.
“Jimmy’s your dad’s cousin?”
“Uh-huh.” Brian nodded.
“And what does he want with the human?”
“I don’t know, Alpha. The guy’s a little off. He’s always been kind of an extremist, and he has a real issue with humans. More than usual, I mean.”
For Brian to say those words meant this Jimmy was flat-out dangerous. It wasn’t unusual for shifters to look down on humans or avoid them, but the Etzgadol pack was more tolerant than others, even more so in recent years as a result of Zev’s leadership. Yet, despite being part of their pack, Brian was one of those shifters who clung to the old ways, refusing to engage in any interaction with humans unless it was absolutely necessary. The bottom line was that, in their pack, Brian was an extremist. So if Jimmy was worse, that could mean real trouble.
“Okay, so what happened? He asked you to grab the human and then what?”
“I refused.” Brian looked up at Zev, clearly hoping his leader believed him. “I promise, Alpha, I said I wouldn’t do it. I’m happy here. And even though I’ve never understood it, I know you always want to protect the humans. I remember how pissed you’d get in school whenever we gave them a hard time, and I didn’t want any trouble with you. So when my cousin asked for help going after a human, I said no.”
Zev nodded, letting his pride show in his eyes. Brian needed to know he’d made the right choice, even if things deteriorated at some point. And Zev needed Brian to keep talking so he’d understand exactly what had happened. The shifter seemed to gather courage from his Alpha’s approval, so he kept telling the story.
“When I said no, he got all pissed off at me. Told me I was supposed to help my family. Then when guilt didn’t work, he offered me money, but…” Brian laughed ruefully. “It’s not like I need anything. I mean, look at my house.” He waved his arms around the clean, modern space. “I never imagined living in a place this nice. I know it’s because of you, because of what you’ve done for our pack. And I didn’t want to let you down.”
Brian took a deep breath and then continued. “Then, today, Jimmy called again, and this time he said he had Lori. He…he knows how I feel about her, and he said he’d give her to me unharmed if I did him one favor; all I had to do was get the Harrisons out of their house.”
Brian looked at Zev and then at Lori and Toby, willing them to understand his plight.
“I didn’t think he’d really hurt her, but like I said, he’s not all there, and I couldn’t take the chance, not with Lori. So I said I’d do it. It’s not like it was all that hard anyway, ’cause Jeremiah was already out, so I just called Leah and told her that I ran into Lori in Summerberg and her car was broken down, but I couldn’t fit the kids on my bike so she asked me to let Leah know ’cause she has that big van for carting the kids around. I figured with an hour’s drive each way, Leah would be gone long enough for Jimmy to do whatever he had planned.”
“Damn it, Brian!” Toby finally lost his temper, the combination of his injured wife, the risk to his children, and the manipulation of his mother clearly more than he could take. “You should have called Zev. You can’t just run off half-cocked. If people are making threats, forcing you to lie to your pack, you call your Alpha.”
“I know. I know.” Brian buried his face in his hands. “I get that now, I do. But at the time I just wanted to get Lori away from Jimmy, and I thought that was the fastest way to do it.”
Zev sighed. Brian was an idiot, but he was a well-meaning idiot. Zev would never truly like the guy, but he believed Brian’s story, believed he was a committed member of the pack, and believed that his long-standing crush on Lori combined with his subpar decision-making skills were the only reasons he’d participated in…whatever the hell had gone down that morning.
“I believe you, Brian. It was the wrong decision, and I expect you to come to me first thing if anything like this ever happens again, but I believe you.”
Brian’s posture visibly softened, tension flowing out of his body.
“All right, here’s what we’re going to do,” Zev said as he looked at the three people gathered around him. “Toby and Lori will take my truck and go see Doc Carlson.” Zev held up a hand before he’d even finished the sentence. “I know you’re fine, Lori, but you’re going to humor me here and go see Doc. If nothing else, it’ll help Toby relearn the ability to breathe. The man has been functioning without oxygen since he found you missing, and pretty soon that’ll impact his already frighteningly weak brain. I have real concerns that if he loses any more brain cells, he’ll turn into one of those yahoos who takes pictures of himself pretending to copulate with inanimate objects and then shows them to his friends.” Zev faked a shudder. “Nobody wants that.”
Lori grumbled and frowned, but she didn’t argue. Toby just flipped Zev off, his expression remaining completely unchanged.
“I’ll borrow Brian’s bike and head on over to the Harrisons’ place. I need to see what this Jimmy fool and his goons are up to over there and make sure they don’t hurt anyone else, including that human.” Zev rubbed his palms over his eyes, wondering how a blissful day with his mate had suddenly turned into some sort of made-for-television drama.
“What should I do, Alpha?” Brian asked quietly.
“Well, for right now, I just need you to tell me whatever you know about this human,” Zev answered. “What’s his name? Why was he going to see the Harrisons? And what’d the human do that got your dad’s cousin hot and bothered enough to violate pack law by assaulting a female and endangering her young?”
“I…I don’t know. Jimmy didn’t tell me any of those things.”
“All right,” Zev said, trying not to let his frustration come through in his voice. “What did he say? Come on, Brian, think back to the conversation. Anything you know could help.”
Brian bit his lip and twisted his hands nervously.
“Umm, Jimmy’s from the Miancarem pack, and I got the feeling he knows Leah from there.”
“Yeah, my mom grew up in that pack,” Toby confirmed.
Brian brightened suddenly and sat up straight.
“Oh, I remember now. He said something about not wanting the human to give Leah information about her sister.”
“That can’t be right, Brian,” Lori said, her annoyance clear. “Leah doesn’t have any sisters, only brothers.”
Zev would have let it go, would have just given up the conversation and headed over to the Harrisons’ place, but the terrified look on Toby’s suddenly pale face stopped him.
“Toby? Something you want to share with the rest of the class, man? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
Toby blinked a few times, swallowed hard, and then said in a cracked voice, “My mom had a sister. A twin. But she died thirty years ago. Joan was murdered.”