10. Spirit

The three kidsare hanging from the rafters in Abigale's pole barn. Phantom put duct tape over their mouths and one has already pissed himself. Ollie pulled me aside and told me to give them a good scare, which I can do easily. With the help of Jeffries, Phantom, Dog, and Sketchy they are only in their tighty-whities, so I figure momma still buys their underwear. Out of the three, only one is giving me the stink eye, the other two have tears running down their faces. When I hear the door open and see the immediate fear in all three kids' eyes, I'm trying to figure out who just walked in when I hear her voice.

"Well, damn, Spirit, you already started the party and forgot to invite me? That's not nice, sister, since I've always included you in all of my tea parties or get-togethers."

Turning, I grin as I take in Shadow with her skull-face tattoo in black leather pants, a cool-looking T-shirt ripped in places, and her kutte on top. She is wearing biker boots and her hair is braided down her back. If I didn't know better, I'd be shitting my pants which, from the smell of it, one of these kids did just that.

‘Damn, big badasses are now crapping their undies. What the fuck, let me guess, those tiny balls are drawing up into your bodies with fear. I'll tell y'all that when Spirit and I get done with you, you'll be lucky if your parents even recognize you. So are you going to cooperate or do we have to get bloody and dirty? Choice is yours. Hey, Sketchy, mind ripping that tape off their mouths, sister?"

Sketchy leisurely walks up to them as Dog lowers them so she can reach them. With each rip we hear yelling or swearing. These kids need to learn a lesson right now or their future is going to be limited, if they have one at all. Shit happens in Montana that stays in Montana, though the bodies disappear. This woman to my left is evidence of this. I can't imagine how many bodies have gone to ground because of her. I let her take the lead as she's able to put more fear into the boys then I ever could.

"So the way this is going to work, boys, is we ask questions… you answer. If at the end we think you've been truthful, maybe you'll be allowed to go home. Well, after we kick your asses for what was done to Jeffries over there. And, personally, I don't care if you did it or not, I'm guessing you know who did. Let's get started, I don't have all day to fuck around with the likes of you little ignorant children."

By the time Shadow is satisfied that she's gotten all she can from the boys, my ears are ringing. Trudy is sitting on a stool right beside the door, making sure Nicholas and Jorgie don't make their way inside. Especially Jorgie, she's beyond fascinated with both Shadow and me for some reason. Never had a kid follow me around like she does. From what Trudy said the two wolves are okay, though Avalanche's Ma?iitsoh is being checked by Paisley since Abigale went with Grey. Shadow told me in between her scaring the ever-lovin' shit outta the kids that both Panther and Avalanche have noticed a difference in their wolf. The female Zh???ii, which means Raven, is fine. Maybe Ma?iitsoh has been bitten or was in a fight. Paisley will find what's wrong with him, she's that good.

"Think we're done here, Spirit. Might be a good idea to have these little assholes' folks come pick them up so they can also get the scare of their lives seeing all those males out there, just waiting to pound the shit outta someone—anyone. I'm sure Tank will be on board with that."

Shadow walks to the small sink off in the far corner and starts to clean up. She didn't go all badass on the boys, but she did give then something to think about. They won't forget today or her… ever, I'm thinking. Jeffries walks into the pole barn holding a piece of thick rope. He approaches the boys, whose eyes are about to pop out of their heads.

"Hey, dude, that wasn't our idea, swear to Christ. We didn't have anything to do with your beatdown either. Just happened to be there and witnessed it. Our dads wanted us to witness you, as they put it, ‘getting your ass kicked' so they could see if we could handle it. Please don't wrap that around my dick. I'm sure you're in pain from the rope burns but again, we didn't do any of it."

Jeffries stops right in front of them. What he does next shocks all of us as he unbuttons his jeans and pushes them down. He's commando and from my angle his dick is extremely red and raw as fuck. My anger starts to build as I don't think any of us knew how badly Jeffries was beaten. Those jagoffs need to be gutted and from the low growl Shadow lets out, I know she feels the same. Ollie walks in at that moment, his eyes taking in Jeffries privates. He closes his eyes for a second then walks over to the boys, pulling out his phone. One by one, he asks for their fathers' phone numbers. Then he calls each one, telling them if they want their kids back to hightail it to Abigale's ranch. He doesn't wait to hear their ranting and raving but hangs up on their asses. Ollie isn't playing. He walks toward Jeffries, who's pulling his pants back up.

"Fuck brother, gotta get that taken care of so it don't get infected. We'll put a call out to Dr. Cora so she can come by the sanctuary quietly and help sort you out. Next time, Jeffries, tell me so I can get you the help you need as quickly as possible. Shouldn't have to suffer in pain, she can give you something. That area is highly sensitive, as you know. Go over to the truck, I'll have Dog drive you back, brother."

Before he can leave, Ollie pulls Jeffries in for a man hug. The young man's shoulders start to shake and, oh fuck, he's gonna lose it. Not sure how but Jeffries holds it together, barely, before both of them step back out of the pole barn. When I turn to the three boys, they are white as ghosts because Shadow is swinging the rope in front of them, smiling like a crazy-ass lunatic. Well, she's the best at a good mindfuck, for sure. Let them sweat for a while. Jeffries did when their fathers did that shit to him, I'm sure.

I've seena lot in my lifetime. When I joined the military and what I was trained for, than after working with Sloan and his team, then coming to the Blue Sky Sanctuary to try and heal myself. I was part of the sniper team that took out Ash's dad when he was going to kill Raven from the Devil's Handmaidens MC, though he did get shots off at her anyway. I'm not against doing what is in the best interest of innocent people. Though right now, if I had my weapons on me, there is no doubt I would end these bastards running their stupide fucking mouths off.

Like Ollie said, the parents of the three boys showed up after the calls he made. Along with Sheriff George and a multitude of other folks. It's such a shitshow, but since I'm involved, I can't just walk away, though I wish to God I could. Two sets of parents are so apologetic, even though they admit the men were part of the torture team on both Jeffries and the wolves. It came out they darted the poor animals so they couldn't run or get away. Real assholes. Wish I could dart their asses and then torture them so they get how those poor animals felt. From what Paisley was saying, the female and the three pups are being transported to a wolf sanctuary in the Midwest, where people are a bit more sane when it comes to animals like them. Paisley also said she didn't think the huge male was the mate to the female. She explained that wolves mate for life, and he's shown little interest in the female or her pups. Maybe he was the beta looking to take over from an alpha, or worst-case scenario, hunters killed the female's mate and father of her pups. That does explain why the huge wolf came looking for Grey. Since the wolf was rescued by Grey, it's formed some sort of bond with him. Paisley's words, not my thoughts.

Hearing accusations being thrown my way, my head gets back in the game.

"Dad, that crazy bitch there with the dark hair and purple eyes, she's the one who was torturing us. Oh, and the skull-faced whore too."

On the kid's last words, I see Panther push his way past the kid's dad and get right in the young man's face. Panther doesn't raise his voice or show any violence, just speaks softly, which is way scarier.

"Young man, never use those words or tone when you are speaking about my Nizhoni. Show some respect for the women in your presence. Remember without your mother you would not be here. Learn from this seriously stupid action of yours. Be thankful Shadow and Spirit didn't put you and your friends to ground because if they had, your families would have never known what had become of you. Open your mind to what is around you and don't judge before you have all the facts. A man is on his way to the hospital because of your stupidity. You could have killed the owner of this small ranch because of your ignorance on not getting both sides of a story."

When Panther grabs hold of the young man's forearm, it suddenly feels like the entire space is filled with electricity. The kid looks shocked at first, then his eyes lock with Panther's. I don't know what's happening right before my eyes, but eventually the young man gives Panther a nod before letting his head drop down. Panther releases him and walks right up to Shadow, pulling her into his arms. Damn, that right there is what I want. Not sure I'll ever have it but a girl can wish.

Sheriff George is taking statements since both Grey and Abigale are not present. Trudy gives a detailed explanation of what went down, just as the two wolves walk toward Panther and Avalanche. One of the fathers reaches behind him to grab a gun from his jeans just as Jeffries steps up behind him, gun already drawn and pointed to the man's head. Sheriff George is on standby but doesn't interrupt yet.

"Obviously, you don't listen, Mister. They mean no one harm, especially Panther's wolf. He is trained and works within a team, as does the female that lives with Panther and Shadow. Now either you put the gun down or we are gonna have a serious problem. I know who you are and believe me, so does my raw dick. You thought it was funny when you did that, right? How would you like it if we all tied you spread-eagle and ran ropes up and down every inch of your body? Wouldn't be so friggin' funny then, would it? Take your kid and get gone before something happens that will change everything. We don't want any problems but we won't back down from a fight, remember that."

As the parents each grab their sons and head off to the vehicles, one of the boys turns and walks right up to Jeffries. When he puts his hand out, I hold my breath. Jeffries looks at it then the kid before dropping his head, hand running through his hair. Then the kid tops it off by speaking.

"Sir, I'm sorry for what the adults did. We were just trying to scare the lady who lives here to get rid of the wolves, though I don't think they are the problem. Even when I talk to my dad about it, he kind of agrees with me, but it's the older men who won't let it go. It makes me sick to my stomach when they hunt the wolves and kill the pups in the dens. It ain't right. I just want you to know that none of us participated in what they did to you, I swear to Christ. I hope you get to feeling better soon."

I hear Jeffries accept his apology then start talking to the boy about maybe stopping by the sanctuary to lend a hand. I walk away after that because I need some quiet time to download my emotions. It's been one hell of a day and it ain't even early afternoon. I'm gonna have to find out where they took Grey, so I can get up there and check on him too. Even when we try to stay out of trouble, it always finds us. Oh well, better get myself together. Maybe later I'll put a call out to Sloan or Quinn to check in, it's been awhile. I surely miss those kids of theirs, for sure.