Grabbing her computer, she did something shesaid she’d never do. Accessing the dark web was tricky, but at thatpoint, she didn’t care. The males had told her what they had found,but she wanted to see it for herself.
A few clicks and a general search forshifters later, she found what she was looking for, only to bescared out of her mind when someone knocked on the front door.
She jumped from her seat and ran toward thedoor where Drake had left one of his extra shotguns. His father hadtaught her long ago how to handle the weapon regardless of her ownabilities. She may not have been the cleanest shot, but she knewhow to aim for the center of a human and make them regret it. Withthe gun in her hand, she peeked through the hole in the door,deflating when she saw it was the sheriff.
“What are you doing here?” Her voice was alittle angrier than he’d probably ever heard from her, and that wasevident when he took a half-step back.
“Checking on you.” He frowned and adjustedhis bulletproof vest behind his uniform shirt. She wanted tochuckle because she doubted the male could be killed with humanweapons. He was already dead, wasn’t he? “What’s going on,Gaia?”
“Nothing,” she blurted as she rememberedhaving the dark web still pulled up on her computer. The last thingshe needed was Garrett seeing her snooping.
“It doesn’t seem like nothing,” Garrettpressed. The male was a cop in his human life. She should knowbetter than to lie to him, but she didn’t want to be caught. “Can Icome in? We can talk about what’s bothering you.”
“I’m fine, really, Garrett,” she said,relaxing her shoulders. “You really did scare me.”
“Everyone is on edge,” he replied and lookedover his shoulder. He narrowed his gaze and tucked his chin, sayingher name like a curse.
“Garrett, wait!” she begged, but it was nouse. The male pushed past her and walked over toward her small deskwhere the computer was sitting. She cursed under her breath andfollowed him inside after closing and locking the door. “I canexplain.”
“You better start explaining then,” hewarned. “I have too many people accessing this website in my town,and if it keeps going, the feds will be here. As you know, I don’thave time for any of that to come my way.”
“I need to know what is going on,” shesighed. The expulsion of breath was one of frustration. “Explainall of this to me.”
Gaia pointed to the screen where a new posthad been made. The person writing it had a fake name that simplymarked him as “Hacker01”.
We are a day away from D-Day. We want tofind them in their animal form, and when you make sure they aren’tbreathing anymore, post pictures of their bodies.
“Why would they want to do that?” she cried,feeling tears prick at her emerald eyes.
“They want fame,” Garrett answered with asoft voice. He placed his hand on her shoulder, and the comfort waswelcomed. “We’ve found several tabloids who are willing to paymillions for images of deceased shifters.”
“Millions?” she gasped as she spun around toface him. The angel grasped her shoulders to steady her when sheswayed. “We can’t let this happen, Garrett. We just can’t let themhurt the bears.”
“We have been keeping an eye on theirlands,” he promised, releasing his hold. She wanted to reach outfor him, but instead, she dropped to the office chair behind her.“Drake and the others are prepared.”
“What can I do?” she begged, needing to dosomething. She’d promised to protect them at all costs, but thiswas something she was unable to stop.
“You need to keep yourself safe,” heordered, kneeling before her. When he took her chin with hiscrooked finger, she stared into his eyes…his real ones. They werecompletely white. The angel was having a hard time with the news,as well. “They already know about you, too. My assumption is theythink you are a shifter.”
“I need to know when exactly they willstrike,” she said through gritted teeth. There was a storm brewinginside her, and she wanted to use that to wipe out thosehunters.
“What are you planning?” he asked, narrowinghis eyes as he searched her face for any information.
“Nothing that will harm the town,” shevowed.
Gunnar’s beast was on edge, scenting everyinch of the forest behind his home. His brother, Drake, and RansomO’Kelly were doing the same several yards away. They’d checked thedenser part of the woods leading to the back of their property lineto find nothing of interest just as the sun was setting two daysbefore the sheriff’s vision was to come for them.
Gunnar turned to the west, planning onchecking the trails, when he heard a branch snap in the directionhe was heading. The others were behind him, and he knew no onewould be as stupid as to be snooping around their property shortlyafter nightfall.
His beast quieted, hoping the other bearshad heard the noise as well. He scented the air and waited for thewind to change, blowing the scent of humans in his face.
There were six male scents, but they were alittle…off. There was some chemical on their clothes, and it onlytook him a second to realize they’d sprayed themselves with thechemical hunters used when tracking deer during their huntingseason.
Gods, he wanted to roll his eyes so bad.Those idiots were going to get themselves killed.
Ransom and Drake were quiet as theyapproached. As large as they were, they’d learned to keep theirsounds to a minimum when hunting for their food. This time, theyweren’t looking for food, they were going to find and eliminate thethreat to the clan.
Gunnar wanted to shift, but he couldn’t riskbeing seen or heard when he told the other males his plan. They’dhave to go off on their own since they couldn’t communicate betweenthemselves other than a few head jerks and huffs to voice theirdispleasure.
They froze at the sound of the humansspeaking. Gunnar calmed his breathing as he listened.
“Stay to the trails,” an older
