When He's Ruthless (The Olympus Pride 4)

It wasn’t long before the couple showed up. Both looked ready to tear Chester’s limbs right off his body—especially Aspen. Well, if it had been Luke who’d been targeted by poachers Blair would be just as eager for blood.

A nod from Tate had Alex ripping away the gag. Chester flexed his jaw, his gaze still restless and glimmering with apprehension.

Stood in front of him, Tate folded his arms. “I’d imagine you’ve spent some time thinking up pretty lies in your own defense. You probably mean to convince us that we have the wrong person, but here’s the thing, Chester—we know that isn’t the case. We know that you’re the man we’re looking for. And we have no problem torturing answers out of you, so it’s in your best interests to answer our questions honestly.”

Camden sidled up to the Alpha, his eyes cold as they pinned the human in place. “I’m pretty sure I don’t need to introduce myself, given you recently shot me with tranqs before then attempting to kidnap me with the help of your friends.”

“I didn’t …” Chester trailed off at a warning growl from the tiger. “It wasn’t personal.”

“No, it was poaching.” Camden nodded as surprise flickered across the human’s face. “Yes, we know about that.”

Chester’s Adam’s apple bobbed hard.

Aspen cocked her head. “So how does it work?” she asked, her voice clipped. “You snatch the shifter, force them to change into their animal form somehow, and then kill them before stripping them of parts like they’re a stolen car? Or do you do it while they’re alive?”

Chester trained his gaze on the metal bar. “We use a drug to force the shift,” he reluctantly admitted. “Then we inject them with another drug to … put them down.”

Blair stilled. “Put them down? Like they’re ill animals?”

“It’s humane,” Chester weakly insisted.

Luke gave a snort of derision. Like this piece of shit cared what was humane. “Be honest, you kill them with drugs because you want to cause minimal physical damage to their bodies. Damaged parts don’t sell well, I’d imagine.”

Chester’s eyes again bounced from person to person. “You’re all shifters, aren’t you?” It was a shakily spoken realization.

“Your buddy Davis didn’t pick up on that straight away,” Camden told him. “He didn’t want to give us your name at first but, well, it turned out that he didn’t have a high tolerance for pain, so …”

Chester grimaced. “Is he dead?”

“Of course,” said Havana. “In making his little reports to you, he condemned shifters to death. That’s not something we’d ever overlook.”

Bailey leaned over the back of the Ferris wheel car and put her mouth to the human’s ear, making him jump. “I’m awful interested to know who hired you to take Camden’s head and fur,” she said. “Perhaps you could help us with that.”

Chester stiffened, his gaze darting to the side.

“Before you think to lie, remember Tate’s warning,” said Alex.

The human sighed. “I don’t have their name. The deal was done through a broker.”

Luke felt a muscle in his cheek tick. “Well I’m sure you at least have the broker’s name.”

“Myra York,” said Chester.

“And where will we find Myra?” asked Luke.

“She runs a broker firm. Selfridge House Ltd. I don’t know where she lives.”

Blair tipped her head to the side. “And your fellow poachers? Where are they?”

Good question. But the human clamped his lips shut.

Camden took a step closer to him. “I’ll bet you don’t think highly of shifters, do you? There’s no way you could otherwise do the things you do. I know one thing that most humans don’t like about us. It’s that we don’t answer to your laws; that we have our own system of justice. And they really don’t like that that system can be somewhat brutal.

“Here’s just how brutal I can be. I have no problem whatsoever with returning to your home and lying in wait for your wife and child. I have no problem slaughtering them in lieu of the friends you seem intent on protecting.”

Chester’s nostrils flared. “Bastard,” he spat.

“Indeed,” said Camden. “Now choose. Your family, or your friends.”

Luke didn’t for one second believe that the tiger would go after Chester’s wife and child. Camden wasn’t the most ethical of people, but he wouldn’t target innocents. Still, Chester thankfully didn’t seem inclined to call his bluff, because he squeezed his eyes shut and rattled off an address that wasn’t far from the theme park.

“It’s the duplex me and my co-workers use when we’re on jobs,” Chester added. “You’ll find them there.”

“That had better be the truth, Chester,” said Tate. “I’m about to send my Head Enforcer to check the place out. If it turns out you lied, your family will pay for that with their lives.”

Again, it was a false threat. Again, Chester didn’t sense it.

“No lie, you’ll find the other three poachers I work with at the duplex,” he told Tate.