Billionaire Bear Shifters A Paranormal Romance Complete Series Boxset - Brittany White Page 0,137

wasn’t wrong but he was always a little indignant about going to his brothers for help. “Alright. So this sleuth is most likely looking for six missing cubs. And they’re with Jessie.”

“All six?” Nathan’s eyebrows shot up. “Cody, what the hell-”

“Their sleuth was abusing them!” Cody said, throwing up his hands. “They were starving and they’d been beaten. She found them trapped in a cave, the sleuth just kept them there all day. Rough woods bears, I guess. Jessie stumbled onto them one day. And she couldn’t just leave them like that so... she just kind of adopted them. They’re living in a cabin up in the mountains.”

“Adopted?” Nathan snorted. “You mean kidnapped?”

“Would you have done anything different?”

“Yeah, I would have called you guys and we would have kicked the sleuth’s asses and then adopted the kids.” Nathan shrugged, stroking his chin. “But if I were Jessie, no I probably wouldn’t have done anything different. Interesting woman you’ve found there.”

“I know.” Cody couldn’t help but beam. It made him proud to hear his brother talk about his mate that way. “She’s the one,” Cody said softly. “I felt it in my chest, like you said. She’s my mate.”

“You have to tell Connor.” Nathan clapped him on the back. “But I’ll leave that to you, bro. Just be careful. Elders are involved with this now. Could get seriously messy.”

Nathan left him and Cody sat down just to catch his breath. If it was time to fight, he was ready for it, and so was his bear.

50

Cody

Cody expected something more like a brawl than a meeting. But he couldn’t have been more wrong, apparently. Connor shook the hand of the sleuth’s Alpha as everyone filed into the Rosewood Conference Room, one of the many rooms set aside for business meetings and events put on by guests. There was even coffee and tea ready for everyone on the table, as if they were about to discuss some quarterly projections rather than the fate of several bear cubs up in the woods.

The sleuth came from the Garner Forest, several towns away. It was a rough area from what Cody had heard. Apparently, he had been right in thinking these were rough woods bears. They kept mostly to themselves and lived as brutal bears except when they went down into the small town at the foot of their mountain to raise hell. Their Alpha was a bit taller and broader than Connor, but he was also much older, with a graying beard and a mess of curly grey hair. When he grinned at Connor as they shook hands, he bared his teeth in a disingenuous version of a grin. He was making the threat clear, albeit subtly.

Everyone sat down around the table and several members of the sleuth snickered and made cracks about the fancy napkins and fancy water pitcher. They were taking some little shots at the Strauss brothers’ way of life, being this assimilated into the human world. Cody didn’t mind that. But their entire attitude put him on edge. There was a woman around the Alpha’s age sitting next to him with about the iciest pair of dark eyes he’d ever seen and they kept whispering to each other. Cody had a feeling that they were the only members of the sleuth who really needed to be there, along with the six elders from different sleuths around Colorado. The others were just to show some muscle in case a fight broke out.

Connor was quiet. He didn’t do any of that covert whispering, which Cody took as a sign of strength. He didn’t need to consult with his brothers, at least not in front of anyone. He was the Alpha and that was all this sleuth needed to know.

It was one of the elders who spoke first.

“I want to thank the Strauss brothers for agreeing to meet with us today.” The elder stood up and pressed his hands to the table as he spoke. He was the oldest of all the others with wavy white hair that touched his shoulders and a thick white beard. He looked at each of the Strauss brothers as he spoke but he did not smile. “The Garner Forest sleuth contacted us recently about a grave very manner. Six of their young cubs went missing a few months ago. They range in age from two to twelve. They were abducted from their home. We know little except that we believe it was the work of a single shifter.