couldn’t resist teasing a little more.
“You’re right, yes. Cass and Wes mentioned that – the fact you only send them in to help innocent paranormals who’ve got themselves into situations they can’t handle. Those with innocent souls,” Ra glanced at Paulie, “those who don’t have the strength or power to deal with abusive or painful situations.”
“It’s important work,” Paulie’s voice was only slightly muffled by Zeus’s chest. “Not to mention it gave Wes and Cass a chance to explore the world – which Cass had never had the opportunity to do before, and Wes has a purpose now that means something to him.”
Paulie wasn’t wrong. Ra knew that, even if he didn’t know the full details of why Wes didn’t want to return to the Cloverleah pack. He turned his focus to Zeus. “Can you think of any reason why Cass and Wes wanted to meet you in one of the roughest dives I’ve ever had the misfortune to walk into?”
“Dives? Like in the ocean?” Zeus looked puzzled. “We might be gods, but the only ones who can swim under water are Poseidon and his sons.”
“I don’t mean dives like that.” Ra chuckled. “Dives, as in you have to have sunk pretty low in life to go into one. Honestly, the stink in that place was indescribable and how Wes stood it, being the only decently dressed person in there until I came along, I don’t know. They were very disappointed when I turned up instead of you.”
“But you did see them, though?” Paulie asked. “You helped Wes and Cass with their little problem?”
Ra shook his head. “And see, this is where you’ve been naughty. Cass and Wes couldn’t work out why they were even sent to the area, and I agreed it was a mystery. You have a captive coven master on one hand…”
“Captive?” Paulie looked up at Zeus, his eyes wide.
“Captive coven master on one hand,” Ra carried on as though Paulie hadn’t interrupted him. “An alpha wolf being tailed by other wolves on the other. All in the same little town, but no apparent interaction between the two events. As Cass put it, they don’t have anything to do with territory disputes and it’s not like a coven master and an alpha wolf can’t sort out their issues on their own – they’re hardly helpless.”
Ra leaned forward in his chair, resting his elbows on his knees, his coffee cup still in one hand. “I agreed with them - it was a real conundrum.” He watched Paulie closely. “Surely, there’d be so many other shifters, who were weaker and less capable, who would benefit from Cass and Wes’s assistance more. But Wes said that you, Paulie, was most insistent they stay on the case and get the alpha wolf and the coven master together. They just didn’t know why. What did you see when you were peeking over Zeus’s shoulder as he studied his computer screens?”
“I don’t peek,” Paulie mumbled. “I was sitting on my mate’s lap. Egan was sleeping…”
“He does a lot of that.” Ra gave the youngster a quick glance. The innocent faced angel had barely moved, but he had a tiny smile, almost as though he was listening.
“Not at night, he doesn’t,” Zeus grumbled. “And Paulie likes to sit on my lap when things are quiet. It’s not as though I have anything to hide when I keep an eye on mortal affairs.”
“No, only from the Fates. What did you see, Paulie?” Ra ran his finger around the top of his cup, reheating the coffee, before taking a sip. “What connections made you send your dynamic duo in to lend a hand to the situation?”
“They’re Fated,” Paulie whispered, looking up at his mate, who took over the conversation.
“I caught sight of the alpha in my screens before he got into town. Didn’t think anything of it,” Zeus said crisply. “Then, the day Paulie was with me, my ‘sight’ kept catching the alpha, and at other times the vamp. It was Paulie who told me they were fated, but it looked like neither of them knew about it. Paulie wanted me to give them a nudge, but I told him that was the Fates job.”
“But then Arvyn got hit by that car and I was sure the vamp did it on purpose.” Paulie swiped under his eye with his finger. “Then the car came back, and the alpha was gone, but the coven master, Kirill, his face when he touched that drop of blood left by