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

wasn't there. But I have trouble believing that they have something to do with what happened to you and your people. But we definitely need to tell Gibson."

Owen nodded in agreement. "And the guys out there?"

"We're still turning them over to my father. He'll take care of them."

"You know what take care of them means, don't you?"

There was a vicious part in her that wanted to smile, but Stasia held back. She'd made her decision, there was no need to gloat. "I absolutely do. Maybe they should have thought twice before attacking me."

Chapter Thirty-Three

Gibson wasn't in the city. Owen was kind of glad for that. It meant he could take Stasia out to the farm and show her where they would run as wolves whenever they wanted.

It had taken a little while to get a team of Stasia's father's men to come out and pick up the would be kidnappers, but once they were gone, he and Stasia took off for Pennsylvania.

Stasia seemed full of nervous energy and Owen tried to remember back to the day after his first shift. The whole world seemed new and different, full of opportunities he had never expected.

He reached over and laced their hands together and gave her hand a squeeze. He didn't have reassuring words to give her. He couldn't say that everything would be all right as long as they were together, even if he sort of believed it. The world was changing around them. They were changing. But maybe that was okay.

"Do you think he's going to be angry?" Stasia asked, hitting on a thought that Owen had been avoiding for a while.

"He's not the type to get angry. He gets disappointed." Gibson wasn't quite as good at acting disappointed as Owen's mother was, but the man was pretty damn good. And thinking of his mother, Owen wondered if he should be getting ready to introduce Stasia to her. He kept that thought to himself. They would deal with that later.

They ended up at the farm after about a two hour drive. Gibson's car was parked in the garage. No one else was there, and Owen was glad for that.

He didn't want to see the angry looks on his packmates' faces when they found out he had kept this information from them. But had he really? What could he have said? He knew what some of their abductors looked like? It was just as possible that everyone else knew the same thing. Now he just had more information.

"I'll back you up if you want to run away," Stasia offered with a gentle smile.

"I love you." The words tipped out without a thought, but they were real, true. She was here with him even after going through one of the most traumatic experiences a person could go through. One they had absolutely no preparation for. And yet she was comforting him.

Stasia smiled and raised their clasped hands to kiss the back of his hand. "Let's go do this."

It was okay that she didn't say it back. It was still new. Way too new. People had called Owen impulsive before, but this was impulsive even for him. He didn't care. He knew that Stasia was the one for him and there was no reason to ignore that.

Besides, she had already called herself his mate. That had to mean something.

They headed inside the cabin and Owen found Gibson in his office. He wasn't surprised to see Owen and Stasia; he had known they were coming.

"You look well," he told Stasia, looking her up and down as if checking to see if any of her werewolf traits were peeking out through her human skin. Gibson knew how it worked, at least as well as the rest of them knew, but Stasia was the first new addition to their pack, the first one added through a bite and not through a ritual. They would have to see if that changed things.

"I am well," Stasia agreed. "Not well rested, but not likely to lose control of my wolf and terrorize the city."

Gibson laughed. "If you want to run, you're welcome. We have plenty of land here and the neighbors are not nosy."

It was very true, and Owen looked forward to the day when he could go on a run in his other skin with Stasia at his side. Would she want to go today? He supposed it all depended on how well Gibson reacted to what he was about to say.

"We didn't come here because of Stasia's shift," said Owen as he took a seat. Stasia sat down in the chair next to him.

"Really?" asked Gibson. "Then why are you here?"

There was no sense wasting time. "It's about what happened in Germany."

Gibson looked confused. "I know what happened in Germany. I was there. Unless you've been holding out on me."

Owen winced. He had been holding out. "I remember the faces of some of the men who kidnapped us. Or at least the ones who held us before the ritual started. And a few days ago, I'm almost certain I saw one of them working on the security detail that Stasia's brother hired. His name is Russ Hill and I saw personnel files for all of the security team, but there was no mention of a trip to Germany. He was supposed to just be regular security. But I think he was there." The more Owen spoke, the more sure he became.

Russ Hill had been there that night in the Black Forest. He'd been holding a gun and standing on the periphery, determined to keep Owen and his pack members in the magic circle. He didn't know how Hill had come to be there or if he knew about werewolves and magic, but it was the first real lead they had on the people who had hurt them.

Gibson didn't look shocked. He didn't even look surprised. "Russ Hill," he said, like he was testing out the syllables. "Can't say I've heard of him. Do you still have