When He's an Alpha (The Olympus Pride 2)

“I hope your contacts can help, Tate,” said Havana. “We have to do what we can to stop the next auction before it starts.”

“Why did you ask the cougar where he delivered each of the loners?” Corbin asked her.

“It’s possible that the location of the … auction house, for lack of a better term … is somewhere reasonably close to the drop-off points,” said Havana. “They were all in this city, so it stands to reason that the auction house is also here.”

“In my opinion, Vana, there’s no sense in checking out the abandoned factory where Rupert and his buddy were supposed to dump you,” said Bailey. “There’s no way the jaguars hung around overnight waiting for them.”

“I agree,” said Tate. He looked at Havana. “If there’s a specific reason why each of the loners are selected for auction, someone else may come for you. Be careful. Stay on high alert. Don’t go anywhere alone.”

“I have no plans to make it easy for anyone to grab me,” said Havana.

Tate gave a satisfied nod. “I’ll go make some calls and find out what I can. I’ll pass on whatever I learn.”

Havana inclined her head in thanks. “Appreciate it.”

“I’ll see you out,” Corbin told him.

Tate gave her one last, long look she couldn’t quite decipher. Then he, Luke, and Corbin walked away.

Havana turned to Bailey. “I’m going to call Cesário,” she told her, referring to their ex-boss. “Although I believe Gideon York is behind this, I have to consider that the anti-shifter extremists could be connected to the auction—they would happily traffic shifters. If such a thing has been happening, Cesário will have heard about it.

“While I talk to him, call Dawn at the homeless shelter. Make her aware of the situation so she can warn the loners she’s housing to be careful. Also, give her the names of the loners that Rupert snatched in the past and ask if she’s heard of any of them. I’ll text them to you now.” Havana quickly did so.

“Your message just came through,” said Bailey, tapping the screen of her phone with her thumbs. “If I can’t get through to Dawn, I’ll call one of the volunteers like Madisyn or Makenna. Tell Cessy I said hi.”

Havana sighed. “He hates it when you call him that.”

“I know.” Bailey walked away, putting her cell to her ear.

Havana found her ex-boss’s number in her list of contacts. She’d spoken to him once or twice since she retired. Neither she, Bailey, Aspen, or Camden would have retired so soon if it hadn’t been compulsory.

Some people had originally thought that the Movement would only make matters worse. On the contrary, the group handled the extremists so well that not only had the factions lost a truck load of support from humans, the rate of their attacks had dramatically lowered. Due to that and the work of PR shifter groups, humans and shifters co-existed much more peacefully nowadays. Still, the extremists would never really go away, so there was a chance they were connected to the auctions. Which was why she needed to speak with Cesário.

The phone rang three times before he answered. “Haven’t heard from you in a while, Ramos,” he said, his voice curt and gruff.

She smiled. “Hello to you too, Cesário. I’m well, thanks.”

“Then why’re you bothering me?”

She wasn’t fooled by that put-out tone. He was a big softie deep down where it counted. Deep, deep, deep down. “I just wondered if you’d heard any rumors about anti-shifter extremists selling loners at auction.”

“Extremists? No. But I’ve heard whispers that such auctions occur. Why?”

She told him about good ole Rupert.

“Jesus, Ramos, can you not just live a quiet life? It was kind of the point of you retiring.”

“I felt like spicing things up a little. These auctions could be run by extremists.”

“If so, they’re keeping their connection to the auctions so quiet that even the Movement is unaware of it, which makes it unlikely—we’re on top of their every move.”

“Okay. Tell me about the ‘whispers’ you heard.”

“It’s rumored that someone’s been auctioning off lone shifters every four months for the past year. Some say the auctioneer’s human. Others believe he’s a hybrid. No one wants to believe he’s full shifter, because no one wants to think our own kind would betray us that way. Whoever this person is, they’re as cruel as they come. You know, something similar did happen before with a black bear shifter.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah. He was pissed at being shunned by his clan, so he kidnapped a bunch and auctioned them off. He took bids online, and he made a shit-ton of money before his clan tracked him and shut down the operation. They killed the bastard, so you can be sure he hasn’t gone back to his old ways.”

“But someone could have been inspired by it.”

“They could’ve. His clan mates also managed to find the bears he’d sold at auction. I’d like to say the buyers were all extremists, but our intel made it clear that the extremists weren’t even aware of the auctions.”