Billionaire Bear Shifters A Paranormal Romance Complete Series Boxset - Brittany White Page 0,147

seemed fine, if a little riled up on the adrenaline rush, his eyes wide as he led them out through the small jail and outside.

The jail was an old fashioned sheriff's station in a little ghost town about thirty miles outside of Black Bear Lake. It was occasionally visited by exceptionally curious tourists and sometimes considered as a spot for development for up and coming real estate moguls but was otherwise ignored; the perfect spot for the shenanigans of shifter folk.

“I thought Alanna was gonna kick my ass,” Nathan said, as they climbed into the van that Connor had appropriated for their use from the sleuth’s guards. “But she just told me to kick ass. The fates really picked me out the perfect mate.” He tossed Jessie a wink that made Cody smile. “Look like they picked a good one for you too.”

“One thing I don’t understand,” Jessie said, as Cody stretched an around her shoulders in the van’s backseat. “How’d you guys get the cell key? I assume that was a diversion to give Connor time to attack. It was clever,” she said, nodding at Nathan and Eric in the row of seats in front of them, “to bring those two in as a sort of Trojan horse. But you must have stolen the keys beforehand?”

“Exactamundo!” Nathan said, and Eric cackled beside him. “Good eye. Eric, how did we steal the keys?”

Eric turned around in his seat, looking very proud. “One of the guards came back to the lodge. My mate Lydia heard him talking about keeping you guys prisoner. She saw the keys hanging off his belt, lifted em’ no problem. Just as she walked by! She batted her eyes at him and he didn’t even notice they were gone.”

“Woooow.” Cody nodded. “Fantastic.”

“It was easy to tell which ones were for those old fashioned cells,” Connor said, as he started up the van. “We came up with the rest of the plan around it. Nathan and Eric started a fight, made a big fuss about defending your and Jessie’s honor and made sure to get taken in and Alanna drove me out here and dropped me off far enough away so I could keep an eye and catch their arrival. Timing worked out perfectly.”

Jessie cleared her throat and Cody squeezed her shoulder. Now that all that was explained, he could practically feel her anxiety over the cubs as if it were his own and he was already plenty anxious himself. “What about the cubs? Has the sleuth taken them away? Do we know where they are?”

“We do... ” Connor didn’t sound quite as upbeat about revealing that. He was facing front, his eyes on the road and his big hands clutching the steering wheel. “A couple of the elders turned out to be on our side. They think the cubs were mistreated and the sleuth shouldn’t have custody of the children. Obviously, it’s all shifter law which doesn’t really exist unless the elders decide it does. So if we win, whatever that turns out to mean, they’re yours. It’s not like there’s paperwork.”

“The two elders who came around came and found me,” Eric said. “Not long after they took you in, Cody. They told us where the sleuth was going to take the cubs. Just for the next couple of days before they decide what to do with the rest of us. That gives us a window of attack. We just have to hurry before the sleuth figures out we’ve all escaped. Anyway, they’re being held at a house way outside town on the other side of the mountain. That’s where we’re heading now. Just hoping we get a chance to do some recon before we have to go full throttle. I texted the two elders on our side to see if they can come help but I don’t think we should wait for them.”

“I’m fighting with you,” Jessie said. Cody was about to argue, until he saw the look in her eyes, and he nodded, reaching over to squeeze her hand as Connor sped down the road.

55

Cody

The last time Cody had been in a serious fight, he’d nearly died. He couldn’t help but think of it now as the van barrelled down the highway and then up and around the twisty neighborhood to make the long drive to the house where the sleuth was holding the cubs. He didn’t necessarily fear death. Or at least, he’d never feared it before. Now he feared it, not because of