Page 16 of Grumpy Special Ops Bear: Ep. 3
“Yes. Multiple top secret units that work across the world to hunt down criminal shifters.”
I didn’t go into the fact that the number of dangerous shifters in the world the government was tracking was growing every day and that our special missions were to hunt down feral and outlaw shifters and either quietly dispose of them or bring them in.
“Josh Price is your special mission,” she whispered as she pressed herself closer to my body.
“He is one shifter I will gladly kill when the time comes.”
“He must have done some pretty fucked-up things.”
I didn’t want her to know how horrible my kind could be, but I would not lie to her about this. “The Hunt has been going on within Price’s pack for a very long time. My superior has a team currently digging up bodies on Price’s land. Over fifty bodies. Of all ages.”
Trinity glanced over at me. I knew she could see the anger building in my eyes.
“He’s killed children?”
“His pack has killed children. That’s why I have to kill him. He can’t keep doing this. If he starts a war, the casualties against other shifters and humans will be worse than anything you can imagine.” I hoped she couldn’t hear the sadness in my voice, pain I’d tried to keep hidden for many years. I looked away from her intense gaze.
She scrambled onto my lap, facing me, with one knee draped on either side of my waist. “Fergus, why do you hate him so much?” She placed her small hands against my cheeks. “What did he do to you?”
I glanced down at her, feeling my heart tear just a little more at the loss I’d suffered. “It’s not him I hate. It’s shifters like him who think they can do whatever they want without repercussions.” I swallowed around the lump in my throat. “My younger sister. A rogue wolf-shifter killed her,” I whispered. “She was young, barely eighteen, when he kidnapped and murdered her.”
Trinity rested her hand on my chest. “I’m so sorry.”
“After he committed the crime, he hid in the human world, and I followed him. That’s why I wasn’t home when my parents died. I was tracking him and refused to give up the quest until I got the bastard, and I did, but ever since… there’s been a gnawing anger inside me I can’t get rid of. That’s why I continue to take special missions. No matter how many shifters I bring down, the anger remains.”Unless I’m around you, I wanted to say.
Ever since Trinity had come into my life, I’d noticed the usual burning rage diminishing. It was still there, but it didn’t distract me as much, which made me able to focus.
“I’ll help you stop Price,” she gritted out fiercely. “Let me help you.”
“I can’t do that,” I growled. “I won’t risk losing you, not now.”
Her face scrunched in confusion. “What do you mean, not now?” She gently grabbed my face. “Fergus?”
I tried to come up with something to say, but then I scented Grant and Cutter making their way back toward us, just in time to save me from myself.
Chapter 10
Grant
Cutterand I had picked up on Price’s scent, but he and the rest of the mangy mutts seemed to be a few miles away.
“We’ll be safe for another night, but we’ll have to move come morning or risk being surprised,” I announced to Cutter.
“Exactly.” He nudged me. “Do you think Fergus has told her everything?”
I shrugged. “I’m sure he’s telling her what she needs to know.”
I knew Fergus didn’t want to admit the truth yet, but he wouldn’t be able to ignore it forever. Trinity was our alpha’s mate. Cutter and I could see it plain as day.
“Well, the sooner he says it, the sooner I can get back to being the lone bear on the prowl.” Cutter puffed out his chest and grinned. “You could always try to find another mate too, you know.”
I growled, reaching around and grabbing Cutter by the collar.
I opened my mouth to snarl at him and then stopped. I forced myself to calm down as I released him. “Sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
Cutter readjusted his shirt and then rested a warm hand on my shoulder. “I know, Grant. I know.”
No, he didn’t know. No one knew the emotional pain I lived with every day. A piece of me would be missing forever.
