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Chapter One
Steve hummed a little tune as he waited on the Brink side of the portal in the South Side of Chicago He would get the rare opportunity of shepherding in the new guys Roger had sent to join Devon’s pack Rough and fierce, these three shifters were called in when things got hairy Given Charity was getting strong erous wilds to the Flush, a place in the Realet aid fro to need experience in his numbers
Speaking of Devon—Steve checked his watch—he and his pack were supposed to be there ten ht from Santa Cruz must’ve been delayed
It wasn’t like Roger to trust Steve with authoritative duties Hell, it wasn’t like Roger to trust Steve with anything besides fighting The alpha liked to keep Steve on a tight leash where he could Then again, ue Natural would be leading the to sneak around the elves ere patrolling in large nuer and slower route than most other ways, but that hy there wouldn’t be elves standing in the way He knew the wilds of the Reale er a little nervous
Erown man to tears One of those chicks, a fire-starter with a joy of killing things, was shacking up with an elder vampire Vlad’s buddy, to be precise If they didn’t need his expertise so badly, no ould Roger use him
Roger apparently didn’t realize that Emery wasn’t one to follow orders any better than Steve He was supposed to be here too, but the e had decided to wait in Seattle until the last ical fast tracks, so elves to do so, and rendezvous with Devon’s pack at the agreed-upon time and place It was dicey, Emery’s plan, especially since he’d expressly forbidden those types of patrolled ical roads when Charity was in tow, but it wasn’t Steve’s place to say boo Given that Eer couldn’t do dick about his decision, which was how Steve had gotten the solo role of fucking with the new guys
Roger should’ve known better
Steve looked around the deserted warehouse parking lot This place was a real dump Trash littered the streets, shos were boarded up or broken, and a couple of used condo bump five feet away A fixer-upper, but the people here sure kne to party
He hoped so him
The portal shied slice in the sky Although Steve didn’t know these shifters personally, he’d seen all three of the and heard plenty of stories Steve combined with these three would equal ten decent shifters on the battlefield—they were that good
The first to step through was Dale, co mustache and a bu tobacco He trained his s the out the area
“This place is a shithole,” Dale said, taking a wide stance with his hands on his hips “This where that chick’s father lives?”
“The broken-doarehouse, yes” Steve pointed at the condoms “This is her boudoir where she entertains ot after it themselves Too bad you missed the action”
Dale shook his head, his gaze barely flicking toward the ot duct tape for that mouth?”
“My,that way”
Dale’s eyebrows pinched together “My name is Dale, and I wanted that tape to shut you up, dipshit”
Steve grinned Nothing irritated self-i
They were here to do what Alder, the beta of the North Ao—talk to Charity’s father and try to get some proof of Charity’s ancestry They wanted to uardian—a subset of fae known to their people as protectors Back before the elves took the Real it order and decency, the custodes watched over the fae, using their superior strength and speed to keep the beasties away It was because of this efficiency and brutality in battle that they earned a nicknaical world They weren’t called protectors—they were called warriors
Steve didn’t often listen to Alder’s history lessons, but this one had had him in rapt attention He remembered Charity at what he now referred to as Vlad’s ih va He wanted to know more of her people