Merrily Mated(27)

Layna hid a smirk.

Ryan stalked to the door and swung it open, letting Magic and Gash through. But they both stopped short upon entering.

“Fuck,” Gash hissed, glancing down at his waist.

“Oh hell,” Magic said, rolling his eyes. “This is what you get when you’re dealing with a human. Open a window for fuck’s sake, before Gash has to start humping a chair.”

Layna covered her face. How could she have forgotten. “The arousal,” she explained. “They scent the arousal.”

She peeked through her fingers to watch Ryan’s face as realization set in. His jaw went tight as he glared daggers at Gash.

“Don’t breathe,” he growled, and then rushed to throw open the window.

“Oh. Yeah,” the cat sneered, the scar on his face twisting. “‘Cause I don’t need air or anything.” But he was careful to keep his distance and gaze away from Layna.

“Let’s just get this over with quickly,” Magic grumbled. He looked back and forth between Layna and Ryan. “Gash has been investigating the source of the trap to try and give us an indication as to who set it. In the race to patch Layna up, I don’t think anyone really grasped how odd it was for hunters to be in the woods this time of year. Hunting season is over for anything legal. So that means we’re either dealing with poachers…” He eyed Gash. “Or something else.”

“Something else?” Ryan crossed his arms in that way that made Layna notice all the fine details of his body. There were so many ridges she wanted to lick and bite.

Gash nodded gravely.

“Go on,” Magic urged. “Time to go all in with your clan. We’ll have your back, man.”

Gash’s expression was troubled. Deep grooves marred his brow and his eyes flashed with the evidence of his Beast. “I would just leave, and spare the clan the trouble, if it wasn’t for…” He shook his head, clearly not ready to explain further. “It’s dangerous if I go, and dangerous if I stay.”

“You’ll stay,” Magic said, his hands hooking on his hips. “You’re an asset to us, and even if you weren’t, you belong here. You’re one of us. Now tell them what’s going down so we can alert the others.”

Gash nodded, the troubled look still firmly on his face. “I have a bounty on my head,” he said darkly. “I thought I’d laid low long enough, but it looks like they’ve found me.”

“A bounty.” Layna frowned. “What the hell. It isn’t like we live in the wild west. What’d you do, skip out on some credit card payments or something? Are we talking a Dog The Bounty Hunter situation here, or what?”

Gash shook his head. “A shadow clan. I used to belong to them. Did a lot of shitty things I’m not proud of. I didn’t like it, being shitty. It’s just all I’d ever known. I was born into it. But I started having these… dreams. Not like, hopes, but real dreams that happen when you sleep. And in them, I saw my mate. To cut a long story short, there were two versions of this dream. One where she lives.” He squeezed his eyes closed, his head lowering to the floor. “And one where she dies.”

“Shit,” Ryan murmured.

“They felt prophetic. Like fate was telling me this was my chance to change my future. To clean up my act and find a way to make sure my mate lived. So I decided to do just that. But like any gang, a shadow clan isn’t easy to break free of. Especially when they’re family.”

“What’s a shadow clan?” Ryan asked. “I’ve never heard you guys talk about one.”

“It’s a lawless clan,” Layna explained. “The one-percenters of the shifter world. There aren’t any in Arkansas, but other places around the country they thrive. Not all shifters are friendly. Some like to use humans as chew toys.”

Ryan raised an eyebrow.

“And not in a sexy way,” she added.

Magic scrunched up his face. “God. You guys really need to fuck already.”

“Tell me about it,” Ryan muttered.

Layna shushed them with a wave of her hand. “So, how do you know the trap was set by them?”

“The clan I ran with was out of Memphis. We worked in conjunction with a wolf pack, mostly supporting a small time mob boss who wanted to make Tunica his bitch. As long as we did his dirty work and left the casino alone, we owned the city and half of the state of Tennessee along with it. There was a lot of money to be had, besides the power trip. But the clan and the pack owned businesses, a cover. To seem legal. The initials of one of those businesses was etched into the teeth of the trap you found in the woods. ACWM.”