Gabe lingered in the living room a few moments longer, until he could tell Val was safe and sound in her bed. He shifted quietly and crept through the house as her breathing became more rhythmic, until she finally crossed the boundaries of sleep. Then he leapt outside through the open window in the kitchen. He was going to hunt down the boys that had been harassing her in front of his shop; the idiot kids he had thought were just around causing trouble; putting graffiti on his mailbox and practically casing the place. He had originally thought it had been those kids that had broken in and gotten high in the sub-basement, but the smells didn’t match.
And yet, he knew they had to be connected somehow. Val had told him as much. And now that he knew she was safe for the night in his home, he was going to figure out exactly what they knew.
It was disturbing how quickly he caught on to their scent. They were in the woods just a few blocks away from Wayne Avenue, where the stores that had been broken into were located. The wolf was enraged by the discovery and soon, Gabe was trotting full pelt toward the area. He stopped just short of the wolves, carefully calculating which way the wind was blowing so the group of boys wouldn’t catch his scent before he had gathered the information from them he needed.
“God, these rules are stupid! Why can’t we just go in there by force, man?”
“You already know that as long as shifters live on human turf, we have to follow human law as much as we can. And according to those laws, the store doesn’t belong to us.”
“Well, it doesn’t belong to him either! We should have every right to the portal!”
“You’re a frickin’ idiot! You know the magic doesn’t work that way!”
“Well, maybe I don’t, Ren! And don’t call me names, you asshole!”
“The magic isn’t going to work for someone who doesn’t rightfully belong there. You already heard Hacker when he told you about it.”
“Well, what does Hacker know anyway? He’s dead.”
The boys took a moment to laugh at the fact, which Gabe personally found to be in bad taste, and then they continued talking.
“The good news is, we know for sure where it is now. We smelled it even if we couldn’t use it. And the girl heard the humming.”
“It’s no fair,” one of the others said, his voice an annoying whine. “Why can humans hear it when it takes the perfect frickin’ conditions for a shifter to find it? They’re our portals!”
“Because the magic is more natural to us, you dope! Now, shut up. We have to figure out what to tell the boss.”
Gabe perked up. If there was a man in charge and the boys knew who it was, then he was getting somewhere.
“It ain’t our fault, though. Hacker wasn’t careful and that stupid old asshole wrecked him.”
“We were supposed to be standing guard!” Ren shouted. “It’s our asses on the line! He’s going to fucking kill us all! You know how he felt about Hacker.”
“Why would he hurt us? I thought he was your uncle, Ren.”
Ren was silent for a moment, the pain curdling in his breast sharp enough for all of them to sense, even Gabe.
“You don’t know my family, man. The only way to get them to care about you is to do what they want. Why else would they have us doing all their dirty work? It’s not for the glory, I’ll tell you that much.”
As much as the wolf despised the kid for the way he had treated Val, the way his voice broke made Gabriel want to protect him. He knew what it was like to have heavy demands placed on a boy’s shoulders, and how horrible it could feel when one couldn’t measure up, no matter how hard they tried.
“So what do you want us to do then? Run away like we’re just a bunch of cowards?”
“No! We have to figure out a way to get ourselves out of this mess. Something believable. Hacker was one of my uncle’s favorite men. Who knows why but he treated him like a real family member. Nothing like how he treats me. We got him killed. We fucked up. And he won’t think anything of getting rid of me, and probably all of you, too, for doing it.”
“But what about the pack?”
“Yeah! Pack loyalty!”
Ren’s anger radiated through the trees. “Our pack plays by different rules! What the hell is so hard about that for you morons to understand?!”
Everybody grew quiet, and Gabe consulted the wolf, and made a bold decision.
“What if I could help you?”
The boys were startled by the timbre of Gabe’s voice, and turned to him, their eyes wide and growls of fear deep in their throats.
“You can’t help me, old man,” Ren said miserably. “I’m dead meat. You don’t know my family…”
“No,” Gabe said quietly. “You’re right about that. But maybe, if you told me more about them, I’d be able to really hit them where it hurts and protect you at the same time.”
Ren was quiet as he considered this, and for a moment, Gabe was afraid the boy wasn’t going to take the bait. But he was desperate and afraid, and a wave of relief washed over Gabe when Ren met his eyes and gave a small nod.
“All right, old man,” he said. “I’m listening.”