Savage Urges (The Phoenix Pack, #5)(71)

That really was good. They would need whatever help they could get to convince the council that Remy was responsible for all the trouble happening around the shelter.

“It was nice to have some good news, especially after what happened last night.”

Makenna frowned. “Last night?”

“The computer crashed. Seems someone sent a virus that messed up the whole system. If it wasn’t for you insisting on me keeping backup files on the memory card, I’d have lost everything.”

As a strong possibility occurred to Makenna, cold invaded her limbs. “Motherf*cker.”

“What?”

Dread a heavy weight on her chest, Makenna replied, “Remy sent the virus. But what if he managed to hack into the system first? He could have all our files.” She shot a questioning look at Ryan, hoping he’d contradict her.

Frown deepening, Ryan said, “It’s possible. There are some viruses that are used as ploys to gain access to whatever information is in the computer hard drive.”

Fuck, f*ck, f*ck. “Think what that would mean.”

Dawn gasped. “He’ll know the names of the loners who are in hiding. He could expose them. Makenna, we have to get them out of here.”

Her stomach churning, Makenna dragged a hand through her hair. “If he got the files last night, we don’t have much time. Personally, I doubt he’d expose all of them at once. He won’t want the shelter damaged in a war of any kind.”

Dawn took a calming breath. “That’s true. But I don’t think we should risk it. It’s better to be safe than sorry.”

Makenna fully agreed, which was why she and Ryan headed straight to the shelter. On the drive there, Ryan called Trey and explained the situation. He told them he would send some of his wolves to meet them at the shelter very soon.

When Makenna entered the building, she found a manic-looking Dawn talking animatedly with Colton. Catching sight of Makenna, her shoulders seemed to lose some of their tension. She drew Makenna into a hug. “Honey, thank you so much for coming.” Pulling back, Dawn looked at her neck and smiled a little. “Someone’s been claimed. I’m glad you both finally accepted the inevitable. Congratulations.”

Ryan accepted her words with an incline of his head. Colton also passed on his congratulations. Ryan ignored him and moved closer to Makenna. Anyone who didn’t know her well probably wouldn’t sense how on edge she was. Ryan could see that she was doing her best to stay strong for the others—as usual putting other people before herself. His wolf wanted to nuzzle her, comfort her.

The door opened, and Ryan turned to see Jaime, Dante, Trick, Dominic, and—what the f*ck?—Zac enter.

At Ryan’s scowl, Dominic quickly said, “I seriously doubt these loners are going to be happy about leaving with perfect strangers—especially since you look like a serial killer, Trick has that scary scar, and Dante’s so big he has his own zip code. But they know Zac. If they see he’s fine and well, they might be more comfortable coming with us.”

Ryan couldn’t deny that he made sense, but he didn’t have to like it. Makenna didn’t appear to like it much either.

“How many need to relocate?” Jaime asked.

“Originally, there were nine,” replied Dawn. “Now there are only three.”

Ryan asked, “Are they children or adults?”

“One adult, two children. None of them are wolves. Would that be a problem?”

Jaime shook her head. “Our pack has agreed to give them refuge, no matter what species they are.”

“Thank you. You don’t know how much I appreciate this. They’re in my office with Madisyn.”

Makenna was glad that Ryan stayed at her side as they headed to the office; the simple contact of his arm brushing hers was somehow soothing. She was pissed, she was worried, and she wanted to burn shit down. The shelter was supposed to be a safe place, a sanctuary, and Remy had ruined that.

“Do you think they’ll agree to leave with us?” Ryan asked Makenna.

“They might for the simple reason that Zac trusts you all. But honestly, I’m not sure. Riley is . . . well, you’ll see.”

As they entered the office, the scents of cheetah, snake, and raven hit Ryan all at once. His wolf stilled, already on edge due to Makenna’s anxiety. Madisyn rose from behind the desk, and the other adult female planted herself in front of two small children. He’d seen the three from afar during one of his visits.

He doubted they were at all related. The adult female was small and had dark iridescent hair typical of a raven shifter. The little boy had a mop of blond curls and was crouched behind the raven, ready to pounce. The second child, who coiled herself around the raven’s leg, had caramel pigtails and golden eyes that didn’t once blink as she took in the strangers with a solemn expression.

Zac held up his hands. “Guys, it’s okay; this is my cousin, Ryan, and my pack mates, Dominic, Jaime, Dante, and Trick.”

The little girl tried to dash to Makenna, but the raven barred her way with her arm.

Dawn sidled up to the loners. “Riley, you can stand down. They won’t hurt you or the children. In fact, they’ve offered to give you all a place to stay. They’re good people. We wouldn’t have let Zac join their pack if they weren’t.”

“But like Zac said, one of them is his cousin,” said the raven, cutting her eyes briefly toward Ryan. “Just because they’re good to him doesn’t mean we should trust them.”