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“Hey, Mav,” I said, surprised by how hoarse my voice sounded.
“Morning, Eli,” he replied, watching me carefully.
I didn’t like that he looked at me like he couldn’t read me. We hadn’t parted on the best of terms, but we had been best friends once, and…shit.
Before I could stop myself, I stepped onto the porch and wrapped my arms around him. “It’s really good to see you, mate.”
I could feel him tense beneath me, and for a moment, I feared he might push me away. It took him another moment, but I felt Mav close his arms around me, returning the embrace with a low rumble. “Good to see you too,” he muttered.
“I missed you,” I admitted. I had no idea what compelled me to say as much, but it was true.
“Yeah…yeah. Missed you, too,” Mav replied, finally stepping back.
I did the same, brushing out my clothing. “Are you alright? You look like shit.”
My friend snorted loudly, shaking his head. “Good to see you, too, Eli. Just as blunt as ever.” He raised a brow as I smirked. “Besides, I look better than you. Don’t even need to brush my hair to do that. Missing a mate, huh?”
I rolled my eyes, but let the first comment slide. “I don’t have a mate, Mav. Iris and I aren’t fated.”
“Uh huh,” Mav replied, rolling his eyes right back.
“So, why are we meeting here?” I asked, not interested in continuing with that topic.
Mav shrugged a shoulder. “Was honorably discharged a few months ago. Took me a bit to figure out what I wanted to do, but I’ve been looking at properties for sale.” He nodded toward the house. “Like this one.”
I raised my brows. “You left the army?”
“Mm.” That he didn’t go into any further detail told me at once that it was either a long story or an unhappy story — or maybe both. Given we’d only just reunited, I decided not to press my luck.
“So…why Texas?” I asked, raising my brows. “The weather here kinda sucks in the summer.”
He snorted. “Way better in the winter, though. A man gets tired of constant clouds.” He shrugged. “Besides, I wanted land. Wasn’t something I was going to be able to afford in London, that’s for sure.”
“But Texas?”
“When you think horses, where do you think, Eli?”
I paused and shrugged. “Fair enough, I guess.” Mav had always liked animals, more than most shifters. He also seemed to have an easier time with them than most shifters. Horses weren’t foolish, after all. We might look human, but we still smelled like predators. “So this is the one?”
Mav shrugged. “Maybe. Like the look of it. Still gotta meet with the bank and go through all that nonsense. But you didn’t come to check out the house, huh? I have a file for you.” He motioned for me to follow him inside.
I made a mental note regarding the bank and stepped into the ranch. It was empty, but given it was for sale, that didn’t surprise me much. He led us into the kitchen, pulling a folder off the island and handing it to me. “This is for you.”
As I began to flick through the files, Mav started to explain. “The gunmen, they’re all ex-military. They call themselves the Raven Brothers. They all have a bird here.” He pointed to his wrist, in the exact place I’d seen the tattoo on the first gunman. “Well, all the important members. They’ve got a lot of hired guns. Only dedicated, long-standing members get the tattoo. You have to earn it. And only shifters get it. Specifically, alphas. Packless alphas. There’s a point system.” He wrinkled his nose.
I growled softly. “A point system?”
“Mm. You get one for each human mark you eliminate. Two for every shifter. And this was before they started working with Project Night Moon, mind you. I’m not certain, but I’m pretty sure they hire human gunmen at this point.”
I scowled. “Project Night Moon allows them to do that, huh?”
He nodded, still scowling. “They’ve got some technology. Best I can describe it is it’s like a scanner, which allows humans to detect shifters. I have no idea how it works. This is just research, so I didn’t see any of this personally.”
Just the implication of something like a shifter scanner sent a shiver running down my spine. That wasn’t dangerous just for warfare — that would put each and every werewolf across the globe in danger if Project Night Moon was allowed to continue. “If they can do that, why would they bother with fronts like the blood donation van or the fake businesses?”
Maverick shrugged, shaking his head. “Don’t know. I could only dig so much, but as far as I could tell, this project was officially sanctioned by the government. That means they have to keep themselves under the radar, so I can’t imagine they’re using too many scanners or they’ll get caught by their own government.”
“Alright,” I said, nodding slowly. That was one thing we had working in our favor, at least. “Do you know how many people are in this Raven Brothers organization?”
