Page 7 of His Place in the World (Legendary Shifters #9)

“Good morning.”

Angus looked up from his computer screen, blinking at Toby.

It took him a second to understand what the alpha mate had said, and when he did, he grinned.

Toby didn’t seem offended that he hadn’t said good morning back yet.

If anything, he appeared amused as he sipped from his cup of coffee while leaning against the kitchen counter.

“Good morning,” Angus said.

Toby smiled over his cup of coffee. “I wasn’t sure you’d heard me. I’ve been in the kitchen for several minutes, and you haven’t noticed. I even got myself coffee.”

“Sorry about that. I was in the middle of something.”

“You’re always in the middle of something.”

That much was true. Angus had moved in with Cam and Toby and was currently living in one of their guestrooms. When he’d decided to stay with the Rosewood pack for a while to get to know his mate, he hadn’t been sure where he would be staying.

He didn’t think staying with Del was a good idea, especially after discovering Del lived with his father and his younger sister.

He wanted to get to know his mate, but immediately sharing a home with him hadn’t felt like the best idea.

They’d do so eventually, but it was way too soon, especially since Angus wasn’t used to living with the Rosewood pack.

Thankfully, Cam had thought of everything. As soon as Angela had agreed that Angus could stay, he’d offered one of his guestrooms, pointing out that this was why he had them and that Angus would be able to come and go as he pleased as long as he didn’t bother him and Toby too much.

Angus had no intention of bothering them. Between Del and his job, he had more than enough things keeping him busy. He’d barely even seen Cam and Toby since he’d moved in with them, and he’d been here several days.

Toby pushed away from the counter and came to stand behind Angus.

He leaned forward and peered at the screen, and Angus let him.

Toby might as well be an extension of Cam.

He knew everything there was to know about what they were working on, and, like Angus, he was a rare shifter.

He’d been taken from his home when he was young, kept as a healer by a gang, and had only been rescued after the Rosewood pack had found his brother.

Angus had heard all about Toby’s story during his first dinner with him and Cam, and he was still in awe.

Most rare shifters shared stories of pain and fear. Toby’s story wasn’t any different, and it made Angus feel close to him. Maybe he shouldn’t feel like that, but to him, it was one more reason he should move in with the Rosewood pack permanently.

But that wasn’t something he could afford to think about right now.

Angus already knew it was what he wanted.

Things with Del still felt awkward and unsteady, but that was only because they barely knew each other.

One of the conditions Angela had given Angus to stay with the Rosewood pack was that he wouldn’t stop working, and he didn’t want her to call him home, so that was what he’d been doing.

He was with Del every second Del wasn’t involved with college or his family.

The rest of the time, Angus was on his computer, trying to find out more about the auctions.

Unfortunately for him and all the rare shifters involved, the man who’d tried to sell Everly to the auctioneers wasn’t talking.

Doyle, Del’s brother, didn’t know anything more than what he’d already shared, even though Angus had tried talking to him a few times.

He was pretty sure Doyle had only given him the time of day because he was Del’s mate.

Angus had been surprised to find out Del had told him and suspected it was because he’d wanted to know what his brother thought of it.

Doyle was a human and a shifter’s mate, so he’d know better than most what Del was going through.

“What are all these names?” Toby asked.

“Everly gave me access to his rare shifters forum. I’ve been tracking rare shifters, especially the ones who seemingly disappeared without leaving a trace.”

“You think they were found by these people and auctioned off?”

“Probably not all of them.” After all, rare shifters died, too.

For most of them, it wasn’t from old age, unfortunately.

Accidents happened, though, and Angus had even found a few vanished shifters who’d disappeared from the forum because they’d found a safe place to stay and had built a life there.

Those people were always more than happy to tell Angus about their new life.

Most had promised they’d contact him if they learned anything about the auctions.

So far, none of them had.

As frustrating as it was, Angus was glad for that.

Those shifters were out. They were living their life, finally unafraid of being hurt, and he didn’t want to ruin that for them.

He couldn’t bring unwanted attention to them through his research, so as soon as he was sure they were okay, he deleted their names.

Hopefully, the people involved with the auctions wouldn’t find the forum.

As far as Angus knew, they weren’t aware of it, and even if they were, Everly was too good with security and computers to allow them in.

The forum was hackproof, and it would stay that way.

“There are so many names,” Toby whispered.

There were. Angus had been surprised at how many rare shifters were registered on the forum.

Everly tried to keep things as anonymous as possible, but he couldn’t allow just anyone on the forum.

It wouldn’t be unheard of for someone to try to use it to find rare shifters.

There had been several hacking attempts, but Everly seemed to find them amusing rather than worrying.

“There are more rare shifters in the country than I expected,” Angus agreed.

“And how many of these people are missing?”

“Too many of them. The problem is that it’s almost impossible to find them once they’re gone from the forum. Everly keeps it anonymous for a reason, and even with my computer skills and the little info he has, it’s not easy.”

“What have you been doing, then?”

“Well, the first thing I do is take these names and google them.”

Toby snorted. “That’s it?”

“It’s a good start. I find everything I can on these people, and then I start digging.”

He copied and pasted one of the names on the list to show Toby. The google search didn’t seem that interesting at first glance, but Angus narrowed his eyes at the sight of a name several search results down.

He’d seen that name before.

He looked down at his notebook, trying to locate it. It took him a moment, but his heart skipped a beat when he did.

He quickly opened a new window, then searched the name, first on its own, then along with some of the names of the shifters he was looking for.

He didn’t get hits for all of it, but he got enough of them to know it wasn’t a coincidence.

“Who’s Albert McGrath?” Toby asked.

“I don’t know yet,” Angus murmured. “I need more time. He’s connected to several of the shifters who disappeared.”

Finding Albert was easy. He was on all the social media, usually posing with men who looked like him. Angus got an explanation for that when he found out that Albert was the co-owner of a security company.

“How is he connected to the shifters?”

Angus was only half listening to Toby but telling him what he was finding as he worked helped him gather his thoughts.

“On the surface, in no way at all. A few of the vanished shifters have mentioned him in the forum or on social media, though.” Angus searched the forum for Albert’s name.

“A few times, they asked if anyone had heard about Albert. Other times, they say Albert offered to help them.”

“But you don’t think he actually helps them.”

“I don’t know.”

Angus dug deeper into Albert’s life. Albert’s security company had many clients. Angus would have to research all of them, but he didn’t have to go far to know he’d found something.

One of Albert’s clients had apparently hired the security company for several parties. That made sense, and there was nothing strange about it, or at least, there wouldn’t be if Angus didn’t suspect Albert was involved in the vanishing of rare shifters.

“Albert works for many influential and rich people,” he explained. “He provides security for events, from weddings to funerals to parties.”

“What kind of parties?”

Toby’s question was smart.

“I don’t know yet, but I’ll find out.” It was a promise Angus had every intention of keeping.

He only had his instinct to go on, but he was sure he’d found something important. Whether or not it would help them, he wouldn’t know until he was further in his research, but he’d dig up everything he could on Albert, including his favorite brand of underwear and his grandmother’s maiden name.

If Albert was involved in the auctions, Angus would find out.

* * * *

Del was walking around in the forest, taking a break from studying, when he heard the sound of vehicles.

That was strange because most people moved on foot in pack territory, so he decided to take a look.

He wouldn’t be able to do anything if the pack was being attacked, but that was probably not the case.

Or at least, he hoped not.

He followed the sounds toward Cam’s house. It was at the center of pack territory, with others sprinkled around it. They all faced the central bonfire Del had seen used several times already. He’d even spent time sitting there next to the fire, getting to know Angus.

And he had no doubt Angus was involved in whatever was happening.