rage, was never fun. Her parents, Vinnie, and his sons had all hit the roof on hearing what had happened in the greenroom. But they’d fallen quiet when Dominic and Jesse moved on to the subject of the website.
Her pack mates listened intently. They were all still and watchful, except for Valentina, who was doing more frenzied cleaning—sweeping the hardwood floor, dusting the shelves and mantel, wiping down the black tempered-glass coffee table, and even watering plants.
Dominic had insisted on driving Mila home in his SUV, and she’d been unable to disagree that it made good sense. People hoping to collect on the bounty would be watching out for her car, not his. No one would have expected her to leave the Velvet Lounge with him, and they wouldn’t have spotted her through the darkened windows of his SUV.
She’d thought he’d simply drop her off outside her building and then head home—this wasn’t his problem. Jesse could easily explain the website to her pride mates, and, well, Dominic had always struck her as someone who avoided getting involved in other people’s problems. Apparently, she was wrong.
It was hard not to look at him a little differently now that she knew just how much darkness lived behind the flirtatious perv mask. There’d been a large dose of fearlessness there too. He’d had no compunction about trying to lure a pissed-off pallas cat to him. Had easily sprawled on his side, putting himself at a disadvantage. Hadn’t hesitated to stroke the cat when she came to him. That was ballsy.
Just when Mila thought she had him figured out, he did something unexpected.
Her cat approved of his fearlessness and strength. Even liked the dangerous vibe he insisted on dialing down. Well, the bloodthirsty little thing would.
Finally, both Dominic and Jesse fell silent. No one spoke as everyone took a moment to fully digest what they’d heard.
“Let me get this straight,” Vinnie finally said, propped on a tall stool he’d taken from the breakfast bar. “There’s a website that lists people or groups of shifters that have bounties on their heads; anyone can collect on the bounties, providing they can give proof that the deed was done; but it’s not possible for us to identify whoever took out the hit because the admin of the website withholds the personal details of all ‘clients’?”
Dominic pursed his lips. “Yeah, that’s about it.”
“If this website has existed for years, how has it never been taken down?” asked James.
“People have been working on it for a long time,” replied Jesse, sprawled on an armchair. “It’s not as simple as tracking IP addresses. The site has numerous ‘trip wires’ that insert viruses into any computer trying to hack its way in. Also, those wires continuously change, much like a moving labyrinth—something my Alpha’s contact hasn’t seen before or since. The people working to smash through the protective measures of the website believe they’re finally close to identifying its creator. The problem is that it’s part of the Dark Web. That means it’s not accessible to regular users in the first place, and then the admin has added extra layers of cutting-edge defense and obfuscation on top of that.”
Vinnie’s frown deepened. “How have I never heard of this website?”
“A lot of people haven’t,” said Dominic. “If someone hadn’t issued bounties on both my pack and the Mercury Pack through the website, I doubt we’d have heard of this hit list either.”
Valentina tapped her foot. “Those thugs who turned up outside our building, Mila . . . They warned you that you would regret not cooperating, yes?”
Mila rubbed at her nape. “Yep.”
“Whoever sent them must have put a high price on her head, hoping it would flush Alex out,” said Tate, Vinnie’s Beta and his eldest son. Like his brother, Tate was powerful and dominant enough to run his own pride. Thankfully, more than one natural-born alpha could exist within a pallas cat pride, or both Tate and Luke would have had to leave.
Vinnie nodded, his jaw tight. “I agree. It’s a high bounty, which means people who wouldn’t normally bother our kind might be willing to risk it.”
“We need to find Alex and ask him who he pissed off,” said Tate. “Until we know who they are, we can’t deal with them ourselves.”
“It makes sense that he’d disappear off the face of the earth at a time when someone’s got it in for him,” Jesse commented. “He’s probably lying low, waiting for the trouble to blow over.”