The Alpha turned to Farrell. “Confirm that for me.”
Once the Head Enforcer had disappeared in his avian form, Blair pulled out her cell phone. “I’ll call River and ask him to find out as much as he can about Myra York and Selfridge House.”
Tate dipped his chin in thanks. “Appreciated.”
As she walked away to make the call, he crossed to Luke. “While we wait for Farrell to get in touch,” Tate began, his voice low, “you can tell me why you look ready to burn shit down.”
Luke rolled back his shoulders. He thought about once more blowing his brother off, but Tate wasn’t so easy to sidetrack. And just maybe spitting the words out would help Luke calm the hell down. “We made a trip to her old territory to grab her stuff. We discovered a little something. Whoever’s obsessed with her left claw marks in every room of her old cabin.”
Tate’s jaw hardened, and a growl vibrated in his chest. A growl that Luke’s cat echoed.
“He hid them well, but they’re there,” Luke added. “No scent, though. He clearly wasn’t taking any chances.”
“Can you tell what type of shifter caused the marks?”
“Definitely a bush dog.” Luke flexed his fingers. “More, while Blair was unpacking, she found a letter from him.” He gave his brother a brief summary of it. “The prick truly has convinced himself that she wants him and that my claim to her means nothing. Then again, Noelle holds the latter opinion as well. She felt the need to make it clear that Blair made a mistake in letting me claim her so early.”
Tate frowned. “When?”
“Earlier. And now my cat is pitching an unholy fit—not only because her old cabin was marked and she received that damn letter, but because she’s hurting due to the things Noelle said. He’s showing no signs of calming, and I know that’s because my own anger is fueling his, but I can’t shake it off.”
“No one could simply shake off that their mate is hurting and in danger.” Tate rested his hand on Luke’s shoulder. “He won’t get to Blair. As for Noelle … she’ll back down eventually.”
“That’s what I always thought. I held that belief for six long years. I’m beginning to wonder if it was merely wishful thinking.” He quieted as he noticed his mate heading back to him.
Tucking her phone in her pocket, she looked at Tate, “River said he’ll get straight on it first thing in the morning when he starts his shift.”
Luke gave the back of her neck a squeeze, proud of her for owning her role without hesitation. She no doubt felt that pride through their bond, because her mouth curved slightly. The shadows didn’t clear from her eyes, though.
Feeling driven to comfort and soothe, Luke barely resisted the urge to haul her against him and rain soft kisses all over her face. He wanted to take her home. Feed her. Coddle her. Pet her pain out of her. Wanted to put her to bed and hold her close; remind her that she was loved and cherished. He hated that his attention couldn’t be fully on her right now.
While Bailey and Aspen taunted and poked at Chester merely for something to do, the others waited in silence for Farrell’s call. It eventually came, after which Tate said to Chester, “You were telling the truth. Good. Killing an innocent woman and a child wouldn’t have sat well with us.”
Bailey fisted the human’s hair and wrenched back his head. “What happens next is for all the shifters you’ve killed and butchered over the years so you could sell them to sick fucks who’d likely use them as trophies.”
Havana gave him a pitying smile. “Sadly for you, we don’t have any lethal drugs lying around. We’re not really into ‘humane’ methods of death when it comes to people like you who’ve earned a much worse fate. As such, yeah, this is gonna hurt.”
It turned out that Chester’s tolerance for pain wasn’t much stronger than Davis’s. The poacher mentally checked out at one point, so Luke then swiftly executed him.
“What do we do with what’s left of the body?” asked JP.
“My uncles will be happy to take him off our hands,” said Alex.
Isaiah grunted. “Figured as much.”
Tate twisted his mouth. “We’ll pay Myra York a visit some time tomorrow. I want a little info on her from River first. As for Chester’s friends … they need dealing with now or they’ll get spooked when they realize he’s MIA.”
“I can handle that,” Camden volunteered, evidently wanting vengeance.
“We’ll handle that,” Aspen corrected.
Tate nodded and assigned a few people to go with them. Everyone then began making their way out of the park. Other than Bailey, who was staring into space.
Luke was about to get her attention, but then Deke nudged her and said, “Unless you want to wait for Alex’s uncles and watch them devour the body, get moving.”