Page 25 of Fury

He shrugged. “Well, I don’t have a lot of experience with this.”

His friend laughed. “Are you kidding me? I’ve never seen anyone get laid more than you. You’ve been buried in women for as long as I can remember. So what happened with this one? She turn you down and that throw you for a loop?”

Anger surged through Sawyer’s veins. “What the fuck, man? I tell you I’ve found my mate and you want to make jokes about my past?”

“What the hell am I supposed to think? You were given a simple but important job here. All you had to do was turn on the trademark charm and convince this chick there wasn’t anything new to be found out here. We just needed her to let it go.”

“You sound like the three D’s. You kissing up to them now?”

It wasn’t his intention to be an asshole to his best friend, but fuck, of all people he had hoped for a little serious support.

“Damien, Diego and Dante are our alphas. You forget that already? This chick really must have you all twisted up.”

“Fuck you, dude. I thought you’d understand. You have a mate and she’s human too.”

“Yeah, but she ain’t the FBI chick who’s come sniffing around our island. Do you know how much trouble this could cause?”

Some of the wind blew out of Sawyer’s outrage. While Creed’s disapproval sucked, it wasn’t exactly misplaced. Getting involved with an FBI agent during an active investigation, or hell, any time really did have trouble written all over it. Eventually, he’d have to tell her the truth and that would put the entire pack at risk. More than that, it could risk their entire species.

Although realistically, how long could they keep their secret. Forever? He internally scoffed. Not friggin likely. Especially with those hunters always butting in their business. The holier than though zealots were getting worse. Some of them seemed downright unhinged. That didn’t bode well for anyone.

“This really is the worst timing,” Creed said. “The Deception Falls ambassador arrived today.”

Sawyer looked up. “Ambassador? What the hell? Since when do those backwoods bears start using fucking titles?”

Creed bent double with laughter. “Right?! That’s exactly what I said. About got myself in hot water since I’m pretty sure that big brute overheard me.”

“Oh shit!” Sawyer grabbed his stomach he was laughing so hard.

A few moments later their laughter died and they both sobered.

Creed looked him in the eye. “This mating with an FBI agent isn’t going to fly right now. We’ve got to catch these hunters and we can’t do that until we get the Feds off the island. And now the bears are getting involved.”

“Yeah, why are they here?” If there was one thing Sawyer understood above all else, it was that their pack liked to keep to themselves. Getting involved with other shifters was a sure-fire way of drawing way too much attention.

“This faction of hunters is growing more than we thought. They’re more organized than ever and they’ve got groups all over the state. The ambassador says that a couple of their bears have gone missing and are presumed dead. It’s getting ugly. So they’re here to help us handle our situation in the hopes that if or when they need us, we’ll reciprocate.”

“And our alphas are okay with this?”

Creed shrugged. “It remains to be seen. Although Diego encouraged our visitor to return home and keep watch over his family, I think there is some concern.”

“We need to take these asshole hunters down. They’ve come too close. And they’ve caused a lot of damage.”

“Preaching to the choir, brother. I’m ready. But if the Feds are here then our hands are tied. We can’t have witnesses like that.”

Of course Creed was right. Having Penelope here poking her cute nose into pack business in the middle of a war was a recipe for disaster. Hunters had been coming after them for as long as he could remember, but never in these numbers or on this scale of success. The destruction of Club Diablo had left them shocked. But they needed to strike back before the hunters struck again.

“You think the increased activity has anything to do with Alison and Brody?” Ever since Brody, a former hunter, had been bitten and Alison, his sister, sent here to find him things had escalated. The fact they’d both since become part of their pack had not gone unnoticed.

“Probably. Losing family, even family you no longer wanted, is a powerful motivator.”

“Bastards should have learned by now not to mess with us. I think it’s time to send them another message.” He’d been barely holding onto his sanity since the explosion when it came to hunting down those responsible. Diego and Dante had kept him on a short leash until the time was right. Well, the time was never going to be right. Something else would always come up.

“I know what you’re thinking.”

Sawyer turned to Creed. “Maybe you do. Doesn’t change anything.”

“It does if you think that Fed is your mate. That sure as hell changes everything. A mate is always the priority. So don’t let that need for revenge cloud your judgement. You’ve spent a lot of time focused on making the hunters pay, but when fate steps in she steps in. I just hope you’re damned sure about this. She could be dangerous.”

Sawyer stared out in the direction Penelope had disappeared into the night. He didn’t think he was wrong. But having clung to the idea of payback for so long, he wasn’t sure he could walk away from that either. His pain he could live with. What they did to his parents not so much. He had a lot to think about.

Time to come up with a plan.

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