Pack Hunter (4 page)

The only reason Todd hadn’t been injured was that another shifter, Mike Jackson, had witnessed it. Clint had been with the shifters when they had rescued Todd. Todd hadn’t been injured, thank goodness, and the humans had been arrested. He and Kurt had brought the two shifters to the Council to answer for their part in the kidnapping of another of their kind.

Now at least he knew why the strangers were so interested in him.

“I would hate to have to contact the authorities about this. I believe this is a matter best discussed in private. You have my number. I urge you to let whoever is in charge know that I won’t be going anywhere. I will speak to them one way or another.”

“That sounds suspiciously like a threat,” Clint commented calmly with a raised eyebrow.

Inside he was fuming, but he would not let the man in front of him know that.

“If you truly believed we kidnapped anyone, you would have already called the cops.” Kurt put his cup down. “And threatening a Pack of shifters? That’s not the smartest move to make.”

“You have no idea who you are dealing with,” Perry responded. “I hope you will take my warning seriously. Although I don’t mind staying in town—great coffee, by the way—I would hate to have these nice people’s lives interrupted by this mess.”

Clint barely bit back a growl at the mention of the coffee and the town folk. That was a direct challenge to him. His wolf wanted to tear these men from limb to limb.

He swallowed back a growl.

Perry rotated on his heel and made his way to the door. The other men followed quickly behind him. Once they were out of the door, Kurt walked over to the window and watched them. Clint turned to Sara.

“You okay?” he asked quietly.

She scooted closer. He smelt the strong coffee scent that seemed to be always with her and wanted to lean over and sniff her neck. He resisted, barely.

“Yes,” she nodded. “It was so weird. They came in right after I opened. Every time another customer came in, they would start asking all these questions, like if they’d seen any shifters and if they knew who was in charge. No one told them anything so those men… They kept getting more aggressive.”

Clint laid his hand on the counter and was thrilled when she placed hers in his hold. “It’ll be okay.”

“I knew they were waiting on you and I didn’t know if I should warn you or not. I didn’t like them being in here.”

Clint rubbed his thumb over her wrist. “You did good.”

Kurt coughed to get his attention.

Clint hated to leave Sara, but he knew Kurt was right and they needed to get back to the Council compound. But no matter what happened he would be back later to check on her.

Chapter Four

Stepping inside the compound, he heard laughter and glanced at Kurt. Very rarely did anyone come to visit. Plus most of the Council Alphas were so busy they didn’t sit around laughing.

Kurt grinned and waved him farther into the house. They walked down the halls and entered the great room, where two Council Alphas sat with three other men.

Kurt whooped and hugged one of the men when he stood. There was a lot of back slapping before Kurt threw his arm around Clint’s shoulder and pulled him over.

“Clint, these are some of the most badass Alphas I’ve ever met,” Kurt informed him. “Gage Wolf from West Texas, Austin Winters from Colorado and this guy…” Kurt laughed. “This is Tony. You’ve probably seen his pretty mug all over the television.”

Clint did recognise Tony. He also knew about the two other men. They were highly respected Alphas in the shifter world.

He’d always wanted to meet Tony too. Tony was the one wolf shifter who had become the face for the shifter world. There had been five men total who had stood in place of the all shifters species, taking the attention during the announcement of the shifters’ existence. All were different species, and Tony had represented the wolves.

Tony had been the perfect choice. He was intelligent, well-spoken and just a little bit crafty. His father was also one of the most powerful Alphas in the States and his brother, Cain, was a well-known and highly respected enforcer.

Tony had been instrumental in bringing the other shifter species together. The success of the shifters going public was a result of his hard work.

Clint offered his hand to Tony. “Very pleased to meet you,” he said sincerely.

“Same here. I have heard wonderful things about you and what you’ve done keeping the Packs safe. We appreciate it.”

Clint turned to the two Alphas and shook hands while keeping his eyes low in respect.

Gage Wolf was an Alpha that all shifters knew about. Talk was that he was already being groomed to join the Alpha Council as soon as he felt his Pack had a good replacement Alpha.

He was also mated to a non-shifter—a woman who had the wolf inside her but could not change forms. Before Gage had mated Marisa, there had not been a lot known about non-shifters. In fact, many, like Marisa herself, had been shunned and kicked out of Packs. Some even killed.

Marisa had started an online support group for non-shifters after meeting with a teenaged girl from another Pack who was having difficulty dealing with the problems that came from not being able to shift.

The Council had encouraged the Packs to embrace the non-shifters, and Gage had opened his Pack to accept any non-shifter that was not comfortable in their own Packs.

Clint hadn’t met a non-shifter himself but really believed in what Gage and Marisa had accomplished.

Gage shook his hand firmly and patted his back. “I met your father several years ago. You take after him.”

Clint met the man’s gaze and saw the approval. He nodded. “Thank you.”

His dad had been an enforcer for the Council for many years before finally retiring. Clint was very proud of his old man and hoped to follow in his footsteps.

The other Alpha, Austin Winters, was an Alpha of a Pack in Colorado that had decided not to go public. Many of his members had not felt safe with their secret being revealed and Austin had taken that into consideration for his Pack.

He’d also opened up his family and accepted shifters from territories that were going public. Clint had heard that he’d got almost a dozen new members in only a couple of months.

Austin might not have led one of the Packs that was out in the open, but he remained very supportive of the others that had.

Clint’s wolf wasn’t comfortable in the room with such dominant men. The animal wanted to bare his fangs and show his power. It was a good thing that Clint could control the wolf, though. For once he wanted to spend time in the Alphas’ company.

“Let’s sit and talk about what is going on,” Council Alpha Babcock requested.

The men all took their seats before Kurt spoke. “Yes, we have more to add.”

While Kurt told them about the morning at the coffee shop, Gage pulled out several manila folders and passed them around.

Clint opened the file to the first page, which was a colourful brochure for ‘The Church for Humanity’ led by Reverend Dan Carter.

“You’re kidding,” Kurt said, looking disgusted by the name.

Tony shook his head. “Sadly, no. Since the mess down in Riverwood, Dan Carter and his followers have been busy. They have opened three chapters of the Church already, inviting humans to band together to oppose the rights given to the shifters. They are even trying to get a law passed banning any shifter from holding a public office, including any position in law enforcement.”

Clint sucked in a breath. He knew several shifters who were in law enforcement.

“He also wants them banned from joining the military,” Gage added.

Clint shook his head. Not only had he been in the Army, he had just met another group of shifters that had formed one of the most elite units in the military. That unit had been made up of several different species and had shown how the shifter communities could work side by side with one another.

“They are hitting a lot of resistance. Not only has the government already thought about all of this, some of the officials in charge are shifters themselves,” Alpha Conrad said.

“So why are they here?” Clint asked.

“I think they are trying to cover their asses. Dan Carter got ahead of himself and messed up in Riverwood. He has two witnesses who know he’s directly involved in kidnapping and arson,” Alpha Babcock answered.

“So he wants them back,” Kurt stated. “And even though they aren’t talking, he doesn’t know that.”

“Yes, and Carter hasn’t been seen. There have been a few sightings but nothing confirmed. He’s laying low, but I don’t expect him to stay that way,” Gage informed them.

“That’s not all we have to worry about, though,” Austin spoke up. “I had one of my men join the Church. He’s been working undercover for a couple of weeks now. While most of the preaching is about protecting their families and children, Colt’s told me that’s just the public view. He got in with some of the younger crowd and while the attacks against Riverwood were considered a failure, Dan Carter rewarded the members involved. Promoted them through the program and paid them richly.”

“So it’s not over?” Kurt questioned.

Gage sighed. “No, and it’s going to get worse before it gets better. Dan Carter is organised and has enough followers that he could cause us a lot of problems.”

“Colt and his new friends have been offered a reward if they can capture a shifter,” Austin told them. “We’ve been able to warn the shifters in the area, but that might not be enough. The Church members are getting bolder, travelling farther in their search for a shifter. We can warn the shifters around the areas where the Church is, but if they branch out? We’re still a step behind.”

“We are trying to get some shifters inside all of the Church’s chapters, but that takes time and we have to be careful. Dan Carter is also paranoid and is checking out all the new members,” Alpha Babcock supplied.

“Who’s this Perry Costa?” Clint asked.

Gage flipped through his file. “He’s Carter’s number one guy. He does the dirty work. If he’s here then they’re planning something.”

“Damn,” Kurt muttered and Clint had to agree.

“I’ll find out where they are staying in town. We’ll get a couple of men to follow them, see if we can figure out what their next move will be,” Alpha Conrad said.

“Kurt, I would like you and Clint to talk to the sheriff. He knows what and who we are. Let him know there might be some activity in town. He knows who to trust,” Alpha Babcock ordered.

They both nodded.

“We’ll take this to the rest of the Council and see what else they think we should do. Gage, Tony and Austin will be staying here while we sort this out,” Alpha Babcock said as he stood. “I would like the two of you to take point in town. Let the residents see you, know we are watching out for them. If you need help just give me a call and I can get some of the guards to go down.”

After being dismissed, Clint rose and nodded to each man. He was glad he’d been assigned to town. He would be able to keep an eye out for Sara.

* * * *

Sara juggled the pastry box and cup holder as she pushed open the door to the sheriff’s office. She was greeted with a loud holler and the box and carrier were taken from her hands.

“Food!” Deputy Gibson cried.

A few years younger than her, Bobby Gibson was the newest member of the sheriff’s department. He’d grown up in town and had gone to the university to get his degree before heading back home to the job that Sheriff Webb had for him.

Sara had always enjoyed Bobby’s excited and friendly personality. Bobby started towards the break table, popping open one of the boxes.

“Oh, man! Muffins!”

She laughed and saw her dad come out of his office looking good in his sheriff’s uniform, grinning ear to ear.

“Hey, baby.” He hugged her.

“Dad,” she laughed. “Do you not feed him?”

Bobby was stuffing his face, waving the other two deputies over who couldn’t move because they were laughing so hard.

Her dad shook his head. “I had to call Bobby in early and he didn’t get breakfast. Or lunch. He’s been moaning over the last two hours that he was wasting away. I was just about to send him to the diner.”

“Why did you have to call him in?”

It wasn’t like they had many crimes in the small town. Every now and then there might be a small conflict between neighbours or something like that, but since there were always two deputies on duty, they never called for backup.

Her dad patted her back. “Nothing for you to worry about.”

Sara tilted her head and scowled at her father until he sighed and gave in.

“There are a lot of strangers in town. I wanted to be able to keep an eye out on what was going on,” he explained.

She nodded.

“You don’t seem surprised,” he stated, placing his hands on his hips, giving her the same scowl.

Sara was well aware they shared that look.

She explained what had taken place at the coffee shop earlier and watched his expression grow darker. Of course she left out a few key things. He didn’t need to know about Clint’s visits or her feelings for him.

He was muttering under his breath when she finished.

“You need to be careful. I got a call from the shifters and they are coming down to speak with me, so until we know for sure what is going on, you need to be on guard,” he told her.

“I will,” she promised. “That’s why I stopped by. I wanted to tell you about this morning.”

Her dad smiled. “That’s my girl.” He headed over and stole a muffin from Bobby and picked up one of the cups of coffee.

Sara had learned long ago that being the daughter of the town sheriff came with certain responsibilities. Others looked at her to follow the rules and her dad always worried about his job affecting her.

She’d never had any issues.

“So you want to tell me about this new man that has been coming into your shop?” he asked as he returned to her side.

Well, damn, there really were no secrets in a small community.

“I don’t—” she hedged.

“Sara Marie,” he warned.

She blew her bangs out of her face. “There may be someone who has caught my attention,” she revealed.