Total pages in book: 143
Estimated words: 135321 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 677(@200wpm)___ 541(@250wpm)___ 451(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135321 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 677(@200wpm)___ 541(@250wpm)___ 451(@300wpm)
Havana rubbed at her chin. “It would be helpful if Sinclair stuck around, but there’s a good chance he’s in the wind. Aspen will let us know soon enough. We need to ID the jaguars, but I don’t see how we can.”
Bailey bit her lower lip. “Someone somewhere has to have heard of these auctions, even if they’re only rumors.”
“I’ll reach out to my allies and contacts,” said Tate. “They might have heard something.”
Havana nodded because, despite that working alongside him wouldn’t be fun, she’d take whatever help she could get. She had a contact from the Movement who she could consult, but she didn’t tell Tate that. “You know what Rupert meant by ‘the family,’ don’t you?”
Tate twisted his mouth. “Possibly. There was a group of half shifters who called themselves that. They were led by a wolf hybrid named Gideon York.”
“I’ve heard of them,” said Corbin. “They’re all dead.”
“Most would agree that you’re right on that,” said Tate. “But some think Gideon is alive.”
“Okay, I haven’t heard of him,” declared Havana. “Who is he?”
Tate folded his arms. “Gideon’s mother was human and his father was a wolf shifter. Gideon didn’t have an easy time in his pack. He couldn’t shift. Many saw him being latent as a weakness, but anyone who hurt him would later suffer in some way. Skinned animals would be dumped in their bedrooms. Their family pets would turn up dead. Their cabins would be set on fire. In one case, a kid got his foot caught in a bear trap that had been taken from the perimeter of pack territory and dumped in his backyard. No one could prove Gideon was responsible, but most believed he was.
“When he turned eighteen, his Alpha asked him to move off of pack territory. He didn’t kick Gideon out of the pack, just asked him to relocate. Fast forward four years, and Gideon began a pack of his own that would welcome any shifter, no matter the breed, so long as they were only half shifter. They called themselves a family, not a pack. They didn’t have pack mates, they had kin. They didn’t have an Alpha, they had a family patriarch—Gideon. And they massacred his pack—including his parents, twelve-year-old brother, and nine-year-old sister. No one was spared.”
“Jesus,” Havana breathed.
“The deceased Alpha’s relatives believed Gideon was to blame, so they went to Gideon’s compound to challenge him,” said Tate. “But the patriarch wouldn’t open the gates, so the pack bypassed the fence and set fire to the compound in the hope of making everyone exit. How the rest plays out often depends on who’s telling the story. The most common version is that Gideon killed his kin and then himself rather than face the wolves. But some believe he murdered the majority of his kin and then escaped with the few he allowed to live.”
“Why would they think that’s a possibility?” asked Havana.
“Because when the fire was put out and the wolves walked through the wreckage, they discovered a bolt hole. The bodies were so badly burned that no one could be sure if Gideon was among the corpses.”
“If he had a bolt hole, why not take everyone with him?”
“Gideon wasn’t really interested in building a ‘family.’ He’d wanted an army that would follow him blindly and aid him in getting revenge on his pack. He’d keep you around while you were of use, but if that changed, he’d eliminate you in an instant. His kin had served their purpose.
“Considering the pack would have hunted him, it would have suited Gideon if people believed he was dead. Some say he went underground; that he now does business via whatever select few people know he’s alive. It’s believed that most of his underlings often don’t even realize who their orders really come from.”
Havana licked the edges of her teeth. “Assuming he is alive, would he be someone who’d auction off loners?”
“I’d say so, yes,” replied Tate. “He hated shifters—not simply because of the trouble he had with his pack, but because he resented them for being able to shift when he couldn’t. It was said that he even detested his inner wolf for never surfacing.”
“Given what he did to his biological family and pack,” Luke began, “I’d say he’d think nothing of trafficking strangers. He was never right in the head. Maybe because of his upbringing, or maybe because his wolf never surfaced—that can make a person and their inner animal unstable.
“Given the terminology the jaguars used, I’d say that he’s alive and running this show. Finding him won’t be easy. Some of the wolves who burned down the compound searched for him for years, wanting to be sure he was dead. They never found him.”
“The two jaguars must be his ‘kin,’” said Bailey. “They’ll know where he is. They’re our ticket to finding him.”