Bailey Bradford - Southwestern Shifters 08 - Revenge by Bailey Bradford Page A

to bring us coffee while Nathan and I clean up in the shower and get dressed.”
“Yes, sir,” Keegan said. He took out a different phone then hesitated. “Should I get it myself? Maybe we shouldn’t let on that anything is going on.”
Marcus shook his head. “No, there is no pretending. I’m sure the sender knows you’ve gotten the texts. Anyone here won’t question you if you tell them it’s for us. They wouldn’t dare. Besides, we have the kitchens staffed at all hours since we have our guards on duty around the clock. It won’t be the first time Nathan and I have asked for coffee in the middle of the night.”
“Yes, sir.” Keegan resumed what he’d been doing. He let out an odd sound that had Nathan and Marcus both turning back to him when they’d been heading to the bathroom.
“Problem?” Marcus asked.
Keegan huffed and nibbled his lower lip before speaking again. “No, not a problem, but I did intend to make sure you were informed of the latest pairing of mates since you keep track of all the pack members. It’s just, this one has got to be the weirdest mating of, well, ever.”
Nathan frowned, trying to think of who Keegan could mean. There was really only one possibility—“Maarten?”
“Ryder?” Marcus said at the same time.
“Yes, to both,” Keegan answered. “Poor Sissy was a little let down when she told me about it. She’d been waiting to have a go at Ryder.”
“Huh.” Marcus idly scratched his chest. “I’m not sure that combination won’t get on my nerves quick.”
Nathan nudged his shoulder. “Don’t be a negative Ned. Mates are paired up by Fate and you know it. I doubt the two will be bouncing off the walls. More than likely, this will centre them.”
Marcus grunted and led them to the bathroom. Nathan hoped to hell he was right, and even more, he hoped whoever had done that to Little Joe would die a slow, painful death before ever coming around to make good on his threats.
He was afraid all the hoping in the world wouldn’t make a goddamned difference in this case.
Inside the bathroom, Marcus turned on the light. Nathan pressed himself up against his mate, needing comfort from him. Marcus wrapped him in a hug that settled some of the unease whirling in his mind.
“We’ve gotten through so much together, we’ll get through this.” Marcus petted his hair, reminding Nathan it was all over the place and likely a tangled disaster. “It’s beautiful. Stop fretting.”
“This is different,” Nathan forced himself to say, vocalising the words that made him tremble. “This is worse. Little Joe could be annoying and mouthy, but he wasn’t a bad man. He didn’t deserve to be tortured and killed as a means to send us a message.”
“No one deserves that, with the exception of some very cruel bastards. It happened, and there’s no undoing it.” Marcus kissed the top of his head. “All we can do is be vigilant, and when the time comes, make sure that I rip the throat out of the fucker who killed Little Joe.”
Nathan refused to give thought to any other outcome. He believed in the power of positive thinking, even if sometimes he faltered. This time he wouldn’t.
“That’s my mate,” Marcus said quietly, still stroking Nathan’s hair.
Eventually they showered, making it quick and towelling off half-assedly since Keegan was waiting for them. They left the steamy comfort of the bathroom and dragged on sweats and T-shirts before joining Keegan, who had a laptop open.
“I’m enlarging the pictures on here. It makes it worse,” he informed them, his voice cracking. “Better detail, though.”
Nathan fixed them both a cup of coffee, letting his thoughts out as he did so. “Do you think it’s that missing shifter, the one that got away from you and the other guards in Sedona, when Drake and his makeshift pack were captured?”
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Keegan admitted. “I didn’t get a good look at him, but he had to be quick to get away, and smart to