Taze flashed his canines.
“No, God, no!” he begged, struggling against the hold Taze had on his collar.
“No, there isn’t anyone here, or no, please don’t let me be a cat toy?” Taze pressed. His beast wanted to play, but the human side knew better. If this had been a few years ago, he could’ve gotten away with making the guy piss his pants from fear, but there were new rules in the new age of fighting the rogues.
“No!” the man screamed. “No to all of it!”
“You’re no fun.” Taze pretended to pout as Agent Tabor came over with a set of handcuffs, securing the suspect.
It took an hour for the authorities to come by and gather all of the drugs and evidence they needed. The guy had been taken downtown to be questioned about where he’d obtained the drugs, but so far, he wasn’t giving enough information to have a solid lead on Holden Manzelli or the Amburo family.
Evie entered the living room and hooked a thumb over her shoulder. “Don’t look now, but Murdock just arrived. Sounds like he’s pissed he didn’t get an invite to the party.”
“You guys get out of here,” Agent Tabor suggested. “I can handle him.”
“You sure?” Storm asked, narrowing his eyes at the other agent as he stomped into the house.
“Why wasn’t I notified of this bust?” Murdock bellowed as he entered.
“Go on,” Tabor replied.
Taze used his enhanced hearing to listen in on Murdock’s string of profanities. Agent Tabor explained how they’d observed a guy selling Khat to a rogue. They followed the male until he wound up at the house, and he and the shifters took it upon themselves to investigate.
Good boy, Tabor.
Taze nodded to Storm and the others. Agent Tabor was one of the good guys. At least, he had their backs. Unlike Murdock, who’d been sending them on wild goose chases the first few weeks on patrol.
Now, after all the training and new laws put on them by the government, the Guardians and Protectors had gotten into a routine when busting the Gadaí. So far, they’d sent close to twenty male and female wolves to Gabriel Jackson in Colorado. His reports had come back with a lot of good news. Most of the rogues were doing well and thriving, bringing life back to the abandoned mining town in the western part of the state. Thank fuck for that, because Taze knew they were asking a lot of the alpha to take on a pride of misfits.
By the time they arrived back at the pride, the sun was already up. Several members were milling about, coming out of the alpha’s home. Evie’s mother was on the back porch, sweeping as they drove past.
“Let me out here,” she told Storm. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”
“Have a good night off.”
“We should probably stop by Noah’s and see if he’s awake,” Taze announced as they continued up the road to the cabins. “He’ll want to know what happened tonight while he was away.”
They parked on the side the road, noting an unfamiliar vehicle in the driveway. Storm froze as they approached. “Do you know whose car this is?”
“I don’t,” Taze replied with a shake of his head, but kept walking. They’d find out who it was soon enough.
Noah was awake and answered the door. “I have a feeling this isn’t a social call.”
“No, it’s not,” Taze replied. “Got a minute?”
“We can use the back patio,” he hedged. “One of Landon’s nurses stopped by and they’re catching up over coffee.”
“We can always come back,” Taze began, but Storm’s words cut him off.
“We will stay,” the more seasoned Guardian blurted as his nostrils flared. The big ass blond shifter pushed his way into Noah’s house, and immediately approached the kitchen table where a beautiful, dark-haired female was sitting with her arms wrapped protectively around her body.
“Let’s go out back,” Noah suggested, nudging Storm to get his attention. The male grunted and turned away before saying anything to Landon or the human female.
“Everything okay?” Taze asked, noting a change in Storm’s behavior.
“Fine,” he stated.
“Okay then,” Taze replied with wide eyes. Lucky shrugged and took a seat in one of the chairs around a glass table.
“So, what happened?” Noah asked.
Amaya Bradley had worked for Landon Bryant ever since he’d opened the practice. She’d finally found a place she could work away from people. Animals got her. With one last pat on the head to the sick poodle, she climbed to her feet. How could anyone poison such a sweet