Liam nodded, and Connor hated the conflict he saw on his brother’s face. “After the burial tonight I’ll send one of the guys over to December’s to shadow her.”

“Send Aiden.” Liam’s request was immediate and Connor understood why. Aiden was practically a saint where women were concerned.

“I will.” They both knew none of the pack would make a move on a woman Liam had claimed, but Connor understood that his brother’s inner wolf didn’t care about that. Connor hated putting his brother in a position to choose family over his possible future mate but he needed him now more than ever. His men were all well trained and capable, but he and his brother had been living and fighting together for over a century. He didn’t trust anyone the way he did Liam. “Once we’ve found whoever’s poisoning the pack, you can—”

Liam clapped him lightly on the shoulder. “I know. We’re brothers and I … shit, Connor. I’m sorry I haven’t been here for you. For us.”

Taggart gripped the steering wheel as he and Vince headed back to their ranch. “We never should have gone there.”

Vince cleared his throat nervously and a slight trace of fear rolled off him. Taggart savored the smell of it. “We couldn’t have known Connor had already contacted the Council.”

We. He gritted his teeth at Vince’s use of the word. As Alpha, Taggart should have trusted his gut and ignored Vince’s request. Lately Vince had seemed bothered by some of the requests Taggart had made of him. It was hard to find loyal wolves who weren’t waiting to attack and kill him. He’d wanted to appease whatever bullshit the other wolf was dealing with by approaching Connor and his pack this way.

He should have stuck to the original plan and killed the males of the Armstrong-Cordona pack. It might have caused a stir among the local humans, but when shifters died, they didn’t get all up in arms like they would if humans were targeted. And most of the locals wouldn’t even know of the new males’ existence anyway. They’d just arrived at Fontana Mountain. Hell, the humans would probably rejoice in the death of shifters.

“We’ll go after them tonight. Since Connor has contacted the Council it’ll only be a matter of time before they send an investigative team or the enforcer to check on us.” He fought off a shudder even thinking about the enforcer. He’d met that hulking, scarred bastard once and it was one time too many. Shoving the thought away, he continued. “If we dispose of Connor before then, we don’t have a problem.”

“What about Ana? If you kill her mate she won’t keep her mouth shut.”

“I have a plan to keep her in line. If it fails …” His shoulders lifted casually. He’d kill her too. He didn’t want to but if he couldn’t keep her compliant, then she’d become too much of a burden and a liability. Still, he’d get a taste of her before he killed her. After years of watching and imagining her in his bed, writhing underneath him, he’d take what he wanted. Maybe after she experienced what he could offer she’d change her mind about being with him.

Hell, the females of his pack fought to sleep with him. He frowned as he turned down the road toward his place. Yes, once she realized how much he could offer her, Ana would be no different than his females. Hopefully he wouldn’t have to kill her after all.

Chapter 15

Even though he hadn’t felt it buzz in his pocket Connor glanced at his cell phone to see if Ana had called. After checking on the rest of the females, he’d instructed Noel to keep an eye on her, but he didn’t like leaving her. He’d never questioned his role as an Alpha before, but on a day like this he wished he was simply Ana’s mate. With no responsibility other than her safety and well-being.

He shoved those thoughts aside when Liam strode into the barn and joined the circle of the rest of the men. His brother nodded once at Connor to let him know the cubs were safe with the women.

“Those humans need to pay for what they did to Ana,” Ryan growled before Connor could speak. The anger that rolled off him was potent but unsurprising. Hurting any female went against everything ingrained into all shifters. Well, except psychopaths like Taggart, but he was the exception.

A burst of adrenaline exploded through the enclosed space, emanating from all of the males. The nearby horses sensed a shift in the air and whinnied nervously.

Connor thought of the promise Ana had tried to get him to make. He couldn’t stand back and do nothing after his mate had been attacked. Not to mention that sweet little Vivian had been with her. The cub had already been through so much in her short life and he hated how terrified she’d been. His biology demanded retribution. Looking pointedly at Noah, he said, “What else did you find out about the two humans?”

“Felix Carr and Bennett Harrison. Both twenty-nine, both spoiled rich kids. They grew up together and, according to their records, they’ve both been brought up on charges of sexual assault on more than one occasion. Looks like they work together in that aspect. Real douches, these two.”

Connor fought the images playing in his mind. Ana was strong enough to take care of herself against humans, but if they’d gone after her with the intention of injuring her so they could rape her … He actually had to shake himself. “Why aren’t they in jail?” he asked.

Noah shrugged. “From what I can tell, the parents paid off two victims and there wasn’t enough evidence for the third.” He cleared his throat and looked at the circle of men. “The last victim was barely eighteen and mentally disabled.”

More anger popped into the air like a cluster of fireworks. The scent that permeated was like a rancid mold. Connor’s rage was the strongest. “You get pictures of these two?”

Noah grinned. “And addresses.”

“As soon as they’re released on bail Liam and I will go after them. They’ll never hurt anyone else again.” The cops would never find their bodies. Sure, they’d speculate that Connor’s pack had something to do with it, but they wouldn’t be able to prove shit. Something told him the investigation would be closed quickly anyway. His inner wolf and the laws of his kind demanded retribution. There wasn’t much worse than going after an unarmed woman and child.

The other men murmured their agreement. While tempers were still high, some of the anger in the room died down.

“There’s still the problem of Taggart.” As a rule Connor didn’t like to attack other packs, but Taggart’s was threatening their entire existence. If the humans found out about the meth house and God knew what else Taggart had going on, it would be bad for their kind.

Noah spoke up again. “We don’t know that he’s behind the attacks in town or that he has anything to do with the poisoning. He’s an asshole, but that’s no crime.”

Connor nodded. “I don’t think he’s behind the poisoning. That’s much too subtle for him. But he is running a meth house on his land. If the Council doesn’t take care of it, sooner or later the humans will find out and it will reflect on all of us.”

“And he tried to attack Ana our first night here. Did you forget that?” Liam spoke up, his voice heated.

Noah growled deep in his throat. “I didn’t forget. I just want to make sure this isn’t about revenge.”

“What did the Council say?” Ryan asked, interrupting them.

Connor shrugged. “They’re not going to do anything about it now. They want to see how it plays out.”

“Typical political bullshit. They’re just hoping the problem goes away. Or they want us to take care of it,” Liam muttered.

Connor didn’t want to defend the Council but he also understood how short on manpower they were. They preferred their packs to self-govern if possible. Even with their investigators, they had only one enforcer in the States and he was expected to deal with all the problems across the country. Ridiculous, but that’s the way it was. Enforcers trained hard, but they were also born into that role. They were alpha in nature, but they weren’t Alphas. They were more or less lone wolves and wouldn’t want the responsibility of their own pack. They looked out for the greater good of all their kind. Like warriors, they were skilled fighters but unlike warriors, they were much more lethal as fighters in human form. Or at least that was Connor’s understanding. The enforcer was more than capable of taking care of Taggart, but he was probably working on something more important than a meth lab right now. “So we’ll make the problem go away. After the burial ceremony tonight, Liam and Ryan, you two come with me and we’ll destroy it. Not a long-term solution but it’ll send a message. And it will stop Taggart’s money flow for a while.”

If they could get the other wolf to leave Fontana Mountain without bloodshed, it would be ideal.

“Taggart will retaliate.” Liam’s voice was quiet, thoughtful.

“You’re probably right. He’s already shown he had no problem attacking the Cordona women while they were unprotected. Now that we’re here, it’s time to make a statement to him that our land is off-limits and we won’t tolerate drugs.” Considering they’d found a feral wolf on their property, Taggart shouldn’t be too surprised when they retaliated.

The others murmured in agreement, but he wanted it to be official. “Let’s take a vote, then. Who’s in favor of going after Taggart?”

They all nodded.

Just to be safe, he asked, “Any opposed?”

When he was greeted with silence, his inner wolf sighed in relief. He needed his men united in this.

After the men dispersed, Ryan hung back and waited until everyone had cleared out of the barn. He glanced toward the open door and lowered his voice. “I looked up that stuff you wanted.”

“And?”

For a moment he looked uncomfortable and Connor didn’t blame him. He’d asked Ryan to check up on Liam’s mate. “It took some digging but I found out that Sheriff McIntyre had a younger brother. Died a little over a decade ago. Murdered.”