Page 22 of Pleasantly Undead in Dark River

“I have brought you a gift.”

I automatically looked at the ground. I couldn’t see any heads with love notes stuffed in the mouth, and nothing seemed to be oozing. But there was a box with a big pink bow on top. “Lucius, we talked about decapitated bodies, right? There's not a head, or foot, or dick or anything like that in there?”

He grinned wide. He looked so damn proud of himself as he shook his head. “Nope. I meant what I said. I want to woo you, Raine Baxter. When you said you didn’t like my previous gifts, I listened.”

He picked the box up off the ground and handed it to me. It was heavy, about the size of a microwave. I highly doubted it was an electrical appliance. That would be way too easy.

I pulled the lid off the box with trepidation.

I nearly dropped the box when I saw what was inside.

“What the hell?” I screeched, and Lucius’ face went from pleased to confused in the space of a second.

A puppy sat in the bottom of the box, looking up at me with eyes that were so fearful there was no way it was a domestic dog. It was a shifter pup. There was a human being in wolf form in the bottom of a box in my arms. My brain nearly exploded all over the stoop.

“Lucius is this…”

“A wolf shifter pup? Yes! An omega at that. Super rare. I got it from one of those black markets in the New York City underground. I don’t normally frequent those places because the people who do are…” he trailed off and lifted his lip in disgust. “But you didn’t like heads, so I watched one of those human film clips and the women always squeal when they get a pet. And I thought as you and your Alpha will never be able to breed, that maybe a wolf shifter pup would be even better. Her littermate was an alpha, which was tempting, because they are also rare, but I thought that might cause issues for your Alpha later down the track.”

My brain was whirling as I tried to decipher everything he said. They were selling kids in an underground marketplace like persian rugs and stolen art. That she had littermates, siblings, still stuck in that hell hole where they could be sold off to god knows who.

“You say she had, uh, littermates? Were there any other young shifters there?”

His face fell a little. “You don’t like her either?”

Hell, what did I say to that? “No, that's not it at all. I’m glad you brought her to me, Lucius. Thank you.” I leaned forward and kissed him softly on the lips, and he froze. “But I need you to bring me her litter mates as well. How many were there?”

“Only the Alpha and a Beta. There was much interest in the Alpha. They like to train them to fight from a young age.”

Fucking hell. “Lucius! I need you to get me her littermates. I, uh, I’d like the whole set? And any other shifter young that are there. Can you do that?”

Lucius raised an eyebrow. “I am crazy, Raine. Not a simpleton. You don’t like that they are selling the young. You want me to rescue them.”

I nodded. “Very much so.”

“Would you like her seller to die also?”

This time I grinned. “Yes. In the most painful way possible.” This time, when he kissed me, he slid his tongue past my lips. I flicked my own tongue over his fang, letting a hint of my blood swirl around his mouth. He moaned softly. “When you get back, we should talk. Lay down some ground rules.”

His eyes lit with fire. “They said yes.”

I nodded, and his smile was so wide and devoid of the craziness that usually permeated his expression, I felt my heart thump in my chest. “I shall return by this time tomorrow.”

Then he was gone.

I looked down at the pup in the box. She was scared and shaking so bad that my heart broke into a thousand pieces. I turned and rushed back into the house. “Brody!” I screeched, and I must have sounded crazy because Tex, Judge and Brody all appeared in an instant.

“Raine what's…” his nose twitched. I put the box on the ground and pulled out the wolf pup. “Holy shit,” he breathed.

Yeah, you could say that again.

Chapter Twelve

The pup took one look at Brody and burrowed into my body like she was trying to dig her way into my chest. Brody stepped back, as the scent of her fear flooded the room. I held her closer, securing her in my arms like I could wrap her up and keep her safe.

“How?” Brody asked from the opposite side of the room. “My alpha energy should calm her, not make her panic more.” His face looked stricken at the thought he was distressing her.

“Hey, hey. It's okay. You’re okay. You’re free of that place now, okay. You’re safe,” I cooed to the pup, and then looked back at Brody. “Lucius. He gave me her as a, um, gift. Bought her from the black market in NYC.”

---