Page 25 of Grizzly's Bear

“They’re all dead,” Slade assured everyone. “Every hunter there, except for the one you all have here.”

Rissa edged closer to Slade, but she had a hand on Jensen, as well. Both Holloways were vibrating with fury. She’d expected it from Slade. He was her mate, after all. But Jensen surprised her. He always seemed calm and collected.

“Were you injured?” Rissa asked Ariel.

Ariel tensed but shook it off quickly. “Not really. They must have started with you while they waited for me to come around.”

Rissa shook her head at the guilty expression on Ariel’s face. “I’m glad they didn’t get a chance to get to you. If I could have held them off longer, I would have.” She absently patted Slade’s chest when he growled. “They have other shifters. Talbot has them, and we need to find out where.”

“Do you remember something about others?” Tah asked, sitting forward, elbows braced on the table as he leaned toward them.

“He said he didn’t need another female bear. He had plenty of them.” She glanced toward Slade then continued when he didn’t say anything to stop her. “I think it might be some of the missing females from the Holloway den. The Holloways thought they were dead, but it looks like some may have been taken by hunters and given to Talbot for his sick experiments. We need to find them, and Talbot knows where they are.”

“He’s not talking,” Reno said softly. It was the first time the other man had spoken aloud since they’d sat down. “Not yet.”

“Maybe, he doesn’t have the right incentive,” Slade snarled.

“Trust me, we’ve given him plenty of incentive. He’s the one who created the damn torture chamber they used to terrify my wife.”

“Reno.” His mate touched his arm, drawing his attention to her and giving a slight shake of her head.

He paused briefly as he met his mate’s gaze then slowly turned back to the rest of them. “No one wants that bastard dead more than I do. No one.”

Then he turned and left the room, Amia moving quickly after him.

“We need him alive, for now,” Rissa said softly into the silence. “Until we find the others.”

“We have someone missing also. Someone we believe might have been captured and hidden somewhere by Talbot. He’s not admitting anything yet. Yet,” Tah emphasized. “We’re not giving up.”

“We’d like the opportunity to speak with him, as well,” Jensen stated, and Rissa wasn’t surprised when Tah nodded.

“I expected that when Laramie said you were coming.”

Rissa doubted much got past the alpha of the cat pride.

“We appreciate you agreeing to our visit, knowing we’d want to see him,” Slade said, surprising Rissa.

“Truth is, I don’t mind someone else trying to get him to tell us what he knows. I don’t care who makes him talk, as long as he talks.” Frustration rolled off Tah as he spoke, and Rissa bet some of it had to do with Reno’s earlier explosion before he’d left the room. She’d heard the two men were as close as brothers.

“It’s hard for a lot of people here that he’s alive.” Abby sighed as Tah ran his hand down her back. “So many have been hurt by Talbot, directly or indirectly. Or one of their family or friends. The list is never ending. The man is a monster. I shudder to think of what he’d do to my daughter or any of the children here if he could get his hands on them. I know the evil he’s capable of. But like it or not, we need him alive. Until we find Murphy. Until we get the location of the missing members of your den. Until we find everyone he’s held hostage. We need him alive.”

“And then?” Rissa asked softly and almost flinched at the pain she saw in Abby’s gaze.

“Then I don’t care what happens to the son-of-a-bitch.”

Chapter Eleven

Slade wasn’t completely comfortable leaving Rissa, but when Adam called and said he needed to meet him, Rissa had been the one to shove him out the door, saying she liked the idea of spending time with Ariel and a few of the other mates.

After gaining her promise not to leave the main house until he got back, he’d kissed her until they were both panting then headed out with Jensen to find out what Adam had discovered. They both figured it was something to do with Talbot. Adam didn’t mince words when they found him. He was talking as soon as they shut off the ATVs they’d borrowed.

“They have more than Talbot. I’ve been hanging out with some of the guys around Tony’s house. They’re mostly humans who work to infiltrate hunter groups and rescue any shifters they have. Great guys, “Adam added.

“Who else do they have?” Jensen asked before Slade could.

“I’m not sure on number, but I overheard a few of them talking about capturing a couple of hunters, who tried to rescue Talbot.”

“What else did you hear?” Slade prompted.

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