Page 17 of The Alpha Grizzly's Mate

He pressed a sweet kiss on the top of my head. “I will always come home to you.” Levi kissed a path to my ear. “Besides, we have some unfinished business to attend to.” He nipped my earlobe. “Can’t have that.”

“Nope. Can’t have that.”

We kissed far too briefly, and I went to find the cubs as he went to protect the den and so many others.

I’d never been all about kids. Not once growing up did I think I might want to be a teacher or work someplace like a zoo that was always filled with children. And I never planned on having any of my own because who would bring a child into the mess of my crime family, but walking into that room and grabbing a book, sitting down, and reading to those kids…there was something magical about it.

Maybe one day, when this was all over, maybe I could start a family with my mate. Or I was just daydreaming and setting myself up for heartache. It wasn’t like my past would simply vanish and all would be right in the world for our little one. It would always be there. The goal was to make it never catch up to me.

Chapter Eleven

Levi

I hated leaving Colson behind. He didn’t look like he wanted that either, but I had no choice. My uncle had run away, back to where we’d just rescued him from, and now we had to hunt him down again. Once we found him, I was tempted to bring him back to the bear lands and handcuff him to my aunt for safekeeping. Then again, she never could keep him out of trouble, sweet, overly trusting female that she was.

“I can’t believe we’re going here again. If you don’t knock some sense into that uncle of yours, we will.” Hammer had a point. We shouldn’t be returning to the place we rescued him, as well as my mate, but here we were. I didn’t know what secrets he would spill now that he’d seen some of Hammer’s operation. He’d also seen my mate and knew that we’d taken him back to the farmhouse. Neither of those things needed to leave his mouth.

“Oh, trust me. I might make it where he can never leave again.”

Tyrus chuckled in the front seat. “I can cut him off at the legs. That would work.”

Honestly, I was considering all options at this point. “Let’s find him before we decide what appendages to cut off. So, what’s the plan going in?” Tyrus was looking a little too bloodthirsty for me, but I knew he did good with that part of him.

“Mind if I fly over first? Get a lay of the land. I know we just raided this place, so they may have upped the security or changed things around. We might not be walking into the same place as before.”

“That’s fine with me. I don’t think any of us want to get caught and not go home to our mates. I certainly don’t want togive the news to any of your omegas that you got kidnapped, or worse.”

“You won’t be.” Hammer’s gaze met mine in the rearview.

“Yeah.”

“So, Colson? He’s your mate?” the dragon asked me, turning around in his seat.

“He is. Not mated yet, but we know.”

Maverick nodded. His eyes flashed gold. His dragon was already near the surface. “He seems like a good one.”

“We’re getting to know each other, but I think so too.”

“We all have amazing omegas, so let’s get in here. Get the rat bastard of an uncle you have and get home.”

We arrived a few hours later at the compound where I’d found my mate. Colson and the other cubs were the two positives about going there.

We parked on the outskirts of the property and, in no time, Maverick spread his wings and took flight. He swept in a circle, out of harm’s way in case he was discovered but close enough to see what was going on. He darted in and out of clouds, not making a sound despite his size. If no one was looking up, they would never know a dragon was flying above them.

“I’m not looking forward to going in there again.” I chuckled. “You think there are more kids in there?”

Hammer shrugged. “You never can tell. We’ve rescued kids from the best and the worst places. Mansions that looked like perfection on the outside and were hell on the inside and, sometimes, cabins that looked shady as fuck. No one really knows what happens behind closed doors, but it makes you wonder.”

“How long have you been doing this?” I asked all of them.

“Sometimes, it feels like a lifetime and some days, we realize we’ve barely put a dent in the missing omegas and kids. Along time.” Hammer looked into the distance and watched as Maverick landed in front of us. “What’s it look like, Mav?”

I reeled back. Something was in Mav’s claws.

A body. Covered in blood and mangled almost beyond recognition. Maverick shifted back into his human form and turned the person over.

My uncle.

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