Billionaire Bear Shifters A Paranormal Romance Complete Series Boxset - Brittany White Page 0,138

The sleuth hired a tracker to search for their cubs and their kidnapper and he tracked the kidnapper here, to the Black Bear Lake Lodge. Meanwhile, he reports that the cubs are being held in an abandoned cabin up in the mountain.”

The elder stopped speaking as if to let all that information sink in. The Garner bears were sitting opposite the Strauss brothers at the table, and it did make Cody and his brothers seem like a paltry little group with just the four of them. It made Cody even more edgy than he already felt as he jogged his knee under the table, hoping he wasn’t giving anything away.

“This tracker,” Connor said. “They’d tracked the kidnapper here to the lodge. Is this a guest then? We would certainly turn them over to you-”

“Eh... ” Cody made a small noise of discontent and clamped his mouth shut again, clenching his fists. He saw twelve pairs of eyes immediately on him and he stared down at his hands in his lap. He should bide his time first. See how this shook out. But he wished he could psychically tell Connor that he should be asking more questions. His brothers looked at him and he shook his head. “Nothing.”

“The perpetrator of this heinous crime,” the elder said, narrowing his eyes, “is not a guest. She is on your staff. According to the tracker, she’s a maid and her name is Jessie.”

Cody’s entire face felt hot. It was taking every bit of self-control not to speak up and set the record straight. He tried to catch Connor’s eye again but Connor was watching the elder, squinting as if trying to read his mind. Connor also knew that Cody had a flirtation going with a maid. He couldn’t remember if Connor knew which one. But then Connor glanced at him and Cody read his expression leery. He knew Cody had something to do with this. He didn’t look angry. Just wary. That was a good sign, Cody supposed.

Cody spoke up, unable to help himself anymore and said, “Are you sure they were kidnapped?”

He was actually proud of himself for speaking so calmly while inside, his bear wanted to break out and rip out the sleuths’ throats.

“What?” The female bear shifter sitting next to the Alpha had a voice as cold sounding as she looked. It was crips and low and her icy gaze was trained on Cody. “What do you mean, are we sure?”

“Are you sure they didn’t... run away?” Cody said. He was trying very hard to look like he knew nothing and direly wishing he had, at some point, learned to lie. “Was there any sign that they were hurt or taken against will? How were they taken, by the way?” He shifted around his seat. It was all he could do to keep his voice steady. “From their homes? From their beds?”

“We live in the woods,” the Alpha said, scowling at Cody. “We don’t require human accommodations. The children were taken from a cave.”

Cody couldn’t take it anymore. He jumped to his feet and said, “The children were being abused! They were half-starving and Jessie rescued them because she wasn’t about to leave them there to be mistreated by a brutal sleuth!”

“How dare you!” The woman shifter was on her feet, grimacing at Cody, her eyes wide. If she could have shot lasers from his eyes, Cody thought she would have. He could practically feel her holding her bear back.

Bring it on, he thought. He wanted nothing more than the opportunity to fight the bastards.

“What proof do you have?” That was one of the elders, looking back and forth between them and staying perfectly calm. “What proof do you have of this abuse? And if that is true, why wouldn’t this Jessie approach one of us elders to mediate-”

“What good are you!” Cody practically exploded. It was stupid probably. That elder was potentially on his side, but he was talking nonsense and Cody could only take so much. “Nobody even listens to elders anymore, you barely exist! There was a gangster shifter named Rawley pillaging sleuths all over the Southwest and where were the elders then?”

“This is unacceptable!” Another elder had risen to his feet.

Everyone started yelling.

“EVERYONE, BE QUIET!” Connor’s voice thundered in the room. Cody noticed the other Alpha’s scowl. He obviously hated Connor showing his strength. But when Connor stood, he seemed to loom larger than everyone else and Cody could feel how the others were intimidated.

He got away