Hunting Season: Werewolf Bodyguard Romance (Guarded by the Shifter Book 1) by Kate Rudolph (new reading TXT) 📗

"Come on. We've got some decisions to make."

"Decisions?" She didn't like the sound of that. She wanted to know what had happened. But Owen was going to tell her and she just had to follow him for now.

She was surprised to see Vega and Andre sitting at the table in her kitchen eating her food. And suddenly she was ravenous. Before Owen could say anything she went to the refrigerator and dug through for anything she could shove in her mouth. Three cheese sticks, great. Good enough. It would barely take the edge off, but at least it was something.

"Make her some food, kid," Andre told Vega.

The young werewolf jumped to his feet without any backtalk and started digging through her cupboards with an almost unnerving familiarity.

Stasia put the cheese stick wrappers down and looked at the other two men. "Anyone want to tell me what's going on? Besides me turning into a werewolf."

Before either could answer, she heard a pained groan from the other room.

She turned her head and looked through the door and caught sight of a bound form sitting against the wall. He wasn't alone.

"Somebody better start talking."

"We were attacked last night," said Owen. "Six men came for you. Armed with stun guns. Gibson sent Vega and Andre to cover us and we fought them off. They're tied up in there. I thought you would want to decide what to do with them."

Six men. Her father had said she was supposed to be safe. Her brother had said she was supposed to be safe. She was supposed to be safe. So how did six men break into her house, cause tons of damage, and nearly kill her, all without the protection her father and brother were supposed to be providing?

Had AR lied to her? Had he used her as bait? Or had he merely been wrong?

It was only a little after five in the morning and it was too early to be caught up with these questions, but she couldn't ignore them.

Owen put his arm around her shoulders and she leaned into his strength. A moment later Vega set a large plate of eggs in front of her.

Her stomach growled again, and before she could make a decision she needed to eat.

She ate. It didn't take long. And then Vega sat more food down in front of her and she ate some more.

She pushed the second plate of eggs away once she was done. "Is this what my new appetite is going to be like?" She liked food, but a normal amount. Not half a dozen eggs in one sitting. Was it only half? She had a feeling Vega had made even more.

"Your body burned a lot of calories last night," and Andre. "When we changed we all ate like pigs for about a week, but it eventually normalized. You'll need to eat a lot. Three to five thousand calories a day or thereabouts. But not so much that it will seem outlandish. We're not talking an Olympic athlete's intake."

That was probably twice what she normally ate now, but Stasia would deal with that when the time came. Vega set more food down in front of her and she ate again.

But finally once the dozen eggs were digested along with a couple pieces of toast and, thankfully, about a gallon of coffee, she could start to think about the men who had attacked her and what needed to be done.

"My brother," she decided. The police were useless. And they would ask questions that Stasia didn't want to answer. Besides, if these men had been hired by someone with power, they would be back on the street in no time. AR would make sure the men had to pay for what they did.

It felt more vindictive than she normally was and she wondered if that was part of being a werewolf, but maybe it was just part of being a Selby.

"Are you sure?" Owen asked. "Are you sure you can trust your family?"

"I trust them enough," she said. It was way too complicated of a relationship to leave to simple trust. Would AR sell her out for the right opportunity? Probably. Would he screw her over if he needed to? Absolutely. Would he do something that would get her killed? Probably not. And would he make someone pay if they hurt her? Yes.

"Can you give us a minute?" Owen asked the other guys, and both of them left.

He waited several seconds, probably waiting until they were far enough away to not overhear what he was about to say.

"What is it?" Stasia asked. Owen looked troubled and she didn't like that look on his face.

"There's something I haven't told you. I haven't told anyone." He was barely talking above a whisper and he kept looking out the entrance to the kitchen as if he expected Vega or Andre to walk in at any moment.

"I thought we said no more secrets." Stasia would have been angry, but he was telling her now and apparently this was a big one.

"It's not like that," he promised. "Or maybe it is. I just needed time to think about it. One of the guys who was working on your security team, I think he was there the night that the ritual was performed on all of us. I'm not absolutely certain, but the faces of those men are burned into my memory. Could be a coincidence. It could have just been a simple job and your family doesn't know. But before you turn anyone over to them I want you to understand that."

So her father might've hired a man who was engaging in occult rituals and the kidnapping of military officials from the US military base in Germany. It sounded possible. But did that mean her father had something to do with it?

"My family is very…" She didn't know how to explain it. "My dad doesn't believe in magic. Neither does my brother. I'm not saying this guy