Page 3 of The Alpha Grizzly’s Mate (Omegas of the Shifter Mafia #8)

Levi

“Is that my Nixon?” I called out once I saw Sutton emerge from the largest farmhouse I’d ever seen. Sutton had made it sound like a simple house, but this place was massive.

“Nixon? What about me? Shouldn’t you be saying, Is that my brother? I missed him so .”

“Is that my brother? I missed him so.” I stuck out my tongue. “Now, hand me the baby.”

He laughed and passed the sweetie over.

“Look at you,” I cooed to the baby. “You look just as handsome as your uncle.” His bright brown eyes stared at me and then back to Sutton. We looked a lot alike, and the cub couldn’t fail to notice. My bear instantly bonded with him, knowing he was part of our family.

“I’m side-eyeing you, just so you know.” Sutton chuckled but through our brother bond, I knew he was bursting with pride and happiness.

It was so good to see him more like himself. After his stint in the military, it had felt like he was gone. Seeing the spark in his eyes again was amazing.

“Come on in. It’s a pretty great place.”

There were already people painting in the front room. We didn’t disturb them, but I did get a couple of half waves. Little Nixon even opened and closed his hands, with his tongue stuck out, trying his damnedest to mimic our waving. Cutest baby ever. Well, maybe until I had one of my own.

“I’ll give you the tour,” Sutton said. “Then I’ll introduce you to my mate—or the other way around. We’ll see how it works out.”

“I have already met Raven on video chat.”

Sutton chuckled. “Not the same thing.”

He was so giddy, so excited that it had me feeling the same.

We moved from room to room until we found his mate in the kitchen. Nixon no longer wanted to stay with the best uncle ever once Raven was in sight.

As glowing as Sutton had been, his joy amplified the moment he saw his mate. Raven was his world. And I couldn’t have been happier for him.

“I’m going to feed this little one,” Raven said, holding Nixon. “Then I want to get to know you better. I need to hear all about this guy when he was little. I need to know what to expect.”

“I’ve got you.”

Sutton rolled his eyes. “Let’s go. I’ll show you the second floor.”

We went upstairs. The house was nice. It needed work, sure, but I could see why they had chosen it. There were lots of bedrooms, plenty of bathrooms, and so much sunlight.

But when we reached the third floor, my bear started acting weird.

I didn’t get it. It wasn’t like I was tuned into ghosts or whatever might haunt an old house like this, but something had him on edge. He’d never been like this before.

When we walked into the main room on the third floor—a space that looked like it had been repurposed as an office—there was just one piece of furniture in it: an armchair.

I couldn’t help but approach it.

Ours. Ours. Ours. My bear was claiming a chair?

When I bent down and scented the chair, realization hit me.

“My mate,” I whispered.

“What did you just call that old chair? Your mate?” Sutton asked, confused.

“Not the chair,” I said quickly. “But my mate…he was here. I can scent him.”

It was old and faint, but it was there. My mate had been here.

“This house was bought at auction by the team. We don’t know who lived in it before. I’m not sure about that chair, but there was a lot of furniture left behind. Maybe I could ask Tyrus to track the previous owner down?”

I quelled my bear as much as I could. He foamed at the mouth and was downright feral at the thought of his mate being in the chair but wasn’t here any longer. Still, I was here to get my uncle back and help my brother, not mate hunt, though I wouldn’t fight him on the info-getting. “I might be mistaken,” I lied through my teeth. “What do you need me to start on first?”

“Tyrus and Hammer have some info for you about Raph and that shit he’s gotten into. They’re on their way now. Every room has a can of paint in it and all the supplies. We can start this one together. Let’s move all of this furniture and get started.”

It had been a while since my brother and I worked together like this. We’d always bonded over this type of simple task—painting rooms was perfect. I felt silly, glancing at that chair every once in a while, but my bear wanted what he wanted, even if the only proof of my mate was the ghost of a scent. “Can you tell me now what all of this is about? What do you and your team actually do?”

He started a large wall, stroking paint in a W-pattern. “There’s a lot of omega trafficking going on this world, Levi. This team, not my team, but Hammer’s if it belongs to anyone, is trying to stop as much as we can. There’s a huge ring, and it’s like the more omegas we rescue, the more we find in need of help.”

“Trafficking?” I gasped. “I mean, I’m not naive enough to think it doesn’t happen, but it’s that extensive?” Goddess, the omegas in here were all… I shook my head at the thought of the disgusting alphas who’d done this to him.

He nodded, and I almost threw up in my mouth at the thought. “It’s good work,” I said, meaning it. “Saving people. Saving lives.”

“It is. When I was in the military, they told us we were doing good work, but there was always that worm of doubt in the back of my head. We didn’t see the outcome all the time. But this? We rescue the victims and their babies and make sure they’re taken care of. It’s a whole other kind of pride. You’re actually changing the world here—at least, we hope so.”

“We absolutely are.” We both turned to see two men at the door. One taller and broader than the other, though the smaller-statured one was clearly the alpha here. It was the alpha who had spoken.

“Hammer, Tyrus, this is Levi, my brother.”

We put down our rollers and all shook hands.

“Thank you for looking into our uncle.”

“Yeah. You’re welcome but your aunt was right. He’s gotten himself into some wild shit. Your uncle is basically in the middle of a hive of criminal bees. They have their hands in everything, and I mean everything bad. Their latest venture is child and omega trafficking. We’ve been hunting these fuckers for a while.”

My face heated with embarrassment. “My uncle is involved in it?”

The big bear, Tyrus, shrugged. “Not sure. He may have bought into one of their smaller schemes, but that’s where our intel runs cold. He may have seen something he wasn’t supposed to, or he’s gone way over the edge and is in the business with them. It’s one of those things that we’ll have to discover in person.”

“You up for this, Levi?” Hammer asked, folding his arms over his chest.

“What exactly are you asking?” I replied. My bear reared up inside me, offended at the accusation that I wasn’t alpha or man enough to handle the same things they could. I wasn’t military like my brother or some underground omega-saving mafia man like they were, but I could hold my own. I had weapons training from my brother. Tactical training, as well. Being the alpha of a pack with rivals and enemies meant you had to be ready for anything.

“He’s up for it. I wouldn’t have asked him to come here if he wasn’t.”

Hammer nodded, seemingly accepting the approval of Sutton.

“Then let’s meet up at the warehouse tonight. Family dinner. We’ll make the plans to get in and get your uncle.”

After a long day of painting rooms, I thought I would pass out from the exertion but, instead, I lay awake thinking about a chair of all things. Where had it come from? How long ago had my fated mate sat in that very chair or maybe in this very house. The faint scent lingered in my senses, driving my bear and me to near insanity.

Perhaps Tyrus would be able to find out something.

Maybe then I could finally have a chance at my fated mate.