Page 9 of Briggs (Paranormal Council Enforcers #16)

Briggs

W ow. Todd was…adorable. I had no other words to describe my mate.

Everything was still sinking in. I had been gifted a mate.

That was…unexpected, but I wasn’t complaining.

The doctor at the clinic seemed really protective of my mate, which I kept telling my wolf was a good thing, but he wasn’t wanting to listen.

He only saw the doctor as competition for our unclaimed mate’s attention.

Thankfully, I had control over my wolf, and he backed down when his initial reaction was to attack the warlock for being near our mate.

But all of that aside, I couldn’t stop thinking about the blue-eyed, adorable cheetah shifter.

When I had first heard his name, I’d been sure it was just a coincidence that my mate happened to be the same Todd we were on assignment for in a roundabout way.

Only, it wasn’t. My mate was the same Todd who was still missing his baby sister.

I had things to do, and now that my plans and, well, life had changed, I knew I’d be making a trip down to Timber Valley to do some shopping. But first, I needed some advice, and I knew where to go.

Everyone in the council knew that we could all go to any of the created ones or their mates when it came to asking for advice of a personal nature.

Basically, when we had questions about mates, go to them.

It was what they were all there for, in part, and they’d all been doing it a very long time.

With the exception of Master Ambrosius, that was.

He’d somehow not received his beloved until recently.

Not that he and his dragon alpha couldn’t answer questions.

I was sure they could. But for this, I was going to Master Edison and his tiger shifter One.

That was, if I could locate the created warlock.

Since I carried my badge with me at all times while on the mountaintop, I didn’t have to go home to retrieve it. That was something I was thankful for at the moment. Not that I was short on time. I had hours before I would need to be back to meet Todd for our run.

I swiped my badge on the keypad, and when the door clicked, I entered. Slater gave me a confused look, which caused me to chuckle.

“Trust me, I get it. I just left.” I handed him my badge, and after he scanned it, he handed it back.

“Yeah. Did you forget something?”

“No. But something came up. Can you tell me if Master Edison is in the building?”

Slater pushed a few keys on his keyboard and nodded. “It doesn’t show him as having left, so I’d say yes.”

“Perfect. I’ll start with his office. If he’s not there, hopefully someone there can tell me where he is.”

“Good luck. I’m not sure just how much he’s actually in his office.”

I waved as I walked away. I had to agree.

It wasn’t as if any of the created ones were often in their offices.

They spent the majority of their days in meetings, going over new information as it came into the council’s database.

There were anonymous reports that came from packs, prides, dens, clowders, all of them.

By now, word had gotten out that a governing council had been formed, and the council and its enforcers were on hand to take care of less-than-ethical paranormals.

I heard talking as I approached Master Edison’s office, but when I stepped into the doorway, it wasn’t the created warlock who was there. Instead, it was Alistair, who was talking to his grandfather, Wallace.

“What can we do for you, Briggs?” Alistair asked.

“I was looking for Master Edison, but maybe you might be a better choice. Can I ask you for some advice of a personal nature?” That had Alistair’s attention.

“Shall I leave ye to talk?” Wallace asked.

“No. I met my mate, and he is one of the omegas that the council has rescued. I want to make sure I don’t rush things.

But I also wanted to ask Master Edison for some more information about Todd because I know very little.

I’m not asking for specifics, because I know he was held captive for a while.

But I was curious about things that I should probably know. ”

Alistair nodded, but it was Wallace who spoke up. “Edison said he’ll be here in a moment. Have a seat, and we can answer questions about the first part, but ye will probably need to talk to Edison about the second.”

I joined Wallace on the couch, and Alistair slid off Master Edison’s desk and sat in one of the chairs in front of the desk.

“I can probably give you a little bit of advice,” Alistair said.

“River had been held captive and had been abused as well.” He paused for a moment before rocking his hand from side to side.

“It’s a wishy-washy situation when it comes to anyone who has been sexually abused. I know of Todd’s rescue. Do you?”

“No. I was actually just on assignment in New Mexico to check out his pride, but we had some issues.”

“Ah, yes,” Alistair said. “I think the entire council has heard about what Damien discovered when down there.”

I wish I knew what Damien knew. He’d not been very open with information, and our assignment had been cut short. But most likely, it was for our own safety.

“What do you know about Todd’s rescue? I was just at the clinic.

I followed his scent.” I smiled and shook my head.

“It’s funny yet frustrating because I now know I’ve been picking up on faint traces of his scent for a couple of months.

It was very faint though, and all I really got from it was that it was interesting to my wolf. ”

Alistair chuckled. “I can’t really relate to scents and those of that nature.”

“But I can. It was different when I met Edison though. Times weren’t what they are now. We had to be secretive about who we were to one another, and it was a lot to accept that a man would carry my children,” Wallace said.

I could understand that. Things were much different when any of the created ones were meeting their forever mates.

“Dr. King told me that Todd had been held captive, but he didn’t say more than that. My assignment was to look into the pride. We weren’t given specifics beyond that we were looking for his youngest sister, who has been missing since she was a newborn.”

Alistair looked like he was about to answer, but just then, Master Edison arrived, and it was obvious he’d heard my comment because he was the one who gave me the answer.

“Todd was held captive for a little over three years after he was sold to traffickers by his uncle,” Master Edison said.

“Wallace has shared that you have discovered that Todd is your mate?” I nodded.

Three years? “Congratulations.” Master Edison sighed.

“I’m not sure what Thomas and Canyon are at with everything lately, but they’re madly in love and are pairing everyone up as quickly as they can. ”

“Isn’t that how mates are supposed to be?” Wallace asked, a hint of teasing in his voice.

“Yes, and you know it. That wasn’t what I meant though.” Master Edison looked back at me. “Tread slowly with him. He sees Dr. Swift regularly still, and although the notes we’ve gotten state that he’s made great progress, there’s a lot to have to deal with after three years of captivity.”

Three years. That was still sinking in. I was thankful he survived. It showed just how strong he was. So much stronger than I would ever be. But I had to wonder if he’d ever want to be mated.

“What do I need to do?” I asked. I didn’t care who answered because I was completely at a loss as to how to go about things with Todd.

“What worked best with me when it came to River was going at his pace. Letting him be the one to move things along.” Alistair cleared his throat before he looked at his grandparents.

“It helped if he was on top. He was completely in control that way, and he could see exactly who was below him during…” Alistair nodded.

I fought it as long as I could, but when Wallace laughed outright, I broke and joined the tiger shifter.

“Alistair, ye and River have four wee ones. We know you have had sex. Just say it.”

I felt bad for the warlock. He gave his grandfather a dry look before he turned back my way.

“Yes, very well. While you and Todd are having sex, just let him be the one in control. That should help ease some issues. It won’t relieve all issues, but it might help some.

That is, once you get to that point. As for getting there, date him, be a gentleman, take things slow. ”

I nodded. “I’d planned on taking things slow. We’re going for a run this afternoon with his younger brother.” I looked to Master Edison. “He said that his brother and sister are staying with Alpha Babak and his mate. Should I be talking to them?”

Master Edison shook his head. “Not unless you want to. Babak and Mina offered to take them because Todd was worried he’d hurt them.”

That grabbed my attention. “How so? Should I be concerned?”

Master Edison shook his head. “I don’t think so.

Todd was often forced to shift. And at times, he was drugged and unable to shift.

He was also forced to fight the others that were being held with him.

It was a sick game to those who had them.

Todd has stated that he sometimes wakes up in the middle of the night in his cheetah form, and he didn’t want to risk hurting his sister, who cannot shift yet. ”

I really wanted to make everyone who had hurt Todd and the others that were with him pay.

I wanted them all to suffer, but I knew that if they’d not been caught yet, chances were they never would be.

The council was trying, but we weren’t completely there yet.

Some of these organizations had been in place for years, decades even.

They had connections; they were able to simply disappear.