Chapter Three

Nomad

Two days later

Listening to Rocco, Nomad soon had the list of information on all the members of the club in front of him on screen.

"That's all the information we have for our members." Rocco pointed out as his hands nervously fluttered at his sides. As yet, Nomad couldn't decide if it was him that made Rocco twitchy, or if it was just the way he was. The eagle so far had seemed to keep whatever he'd heard about them being mates to Cosmo to himself. "Gabai likes to do background checks on anyone who applies to be a member of the club. It prevents there being any problems… sort of."

Nomad's gaze moved from the computer screen to the eagle shifter in front of him, at his spark of interest, at his vagueness. "Sort of? What does that mean? Either it does or it doesn't?"

Rocco's forehead wrinkled. "Did Gabai explain about the trouble we had a while back?"

"What trouble?" Had Gabai mentioned something to them?

Harley paid better attention. Only right now he was in the daycare with one of the Little's, Jeb, a red panda who, it turned out, was very chatty and friendly. They'd met Jeb the day they'd interviewed for the job. His role was to run the daycare, Little Paws Haven, with support from them. Not that he'd shown he'd needed any as yet. But then they were all finding their feet right now. So Harley was in that part of the club, with Jeb working on ‘getting to know Cosmo' through those he'd have had the most contact with as a starting point.

So far, the blond cherub hadn't been back to the club. And Nomad had found little to no information about Cosmo through the normal sources he had. Which ticked him off and caused Harley last night to ban him from their bed. The couch, though comfortable for a couple of hours, wasn't for an entire night. He wasn't sure how many more nights he might have to endure on it, if they didn't find something, and soon.

His bright idea and feelings towards a no sex rule until Cosmo was in their bed was going down heavier than a damn lead balloon.

The urge to go and see Gabai, who clearly knew Cosmo well, they kept as a last resort. They didn't want to mix business and personal stuff together, not yet anyway.

It was Rocco's silence that pulled him from his thoughts. "What trouble?" he asked with a little more force, realizing the quiet had extended too long .

Rocco visibly tensed before he stood a little straighter. "One of the Littles wrecked the daycare, Dilly. So Gabai went to Bree for help, and she sent Asher, it's how those two met. While Asher was here, Dilly upped his game and sent threats out to other members because he got jealous of Gabai being mated to Asher. It brought up some stuff to do with Asher… anyway, it all got resolved with some help from the other members of the club."

"Hang on, go back. There's no record of a Dilly being a member here." Nomad had memorized every member's name. He liked to know who he was mixing with.

"You won't. Right now, he's not a member. He's banished to Bree's pack. She runs the local wolf pack. She's good friends with Gabai, and Asher was her second in command until he mated with Gabai."

Now they were getting somewhere. "Do members of the wolf pack belong to the club?" he asked, leading Rocco to give him more information.

He ran through a list of names and Nomad nodded, plucking at his lower lip, showing interest. "Are there prides, leaps, claw of panthers, any other type of groups of animals in this area?"

"No, just Bree's pack. She takes lone shifters that aren't wolves." His hand waved about the room. "The club is mostly a pack, or that's how Gabai sees it. Lots of misfits, I suppose you'd call us. They all tend to be members here. We become whatever it is they are missing from their lives."

Interesting!

He struggled not to just come out right and ask about Cosmo.

"How does that work for those who use the daycare? The security there is different and other members use the exit at the rear to enter so they don't have to come through the club. Is there a separate list of names and personal information that pertain to just that section? "

"Not sure what you're getting at?"

Nomad pointed to the open screen. "Here, I have a list of all members, right?" Rocco's gaze narrowed on the screen, and he nodded. "Did Gabai segregate them into different sections if they only use one part of the club, like Little Paws Haven? There's nothing here to show who is Little on the spreadsheet." He knew fine well Cosmo was a Little, he'd seen that with his own two eyes. Only there was nothing on the spreadsheet that told him that.

"Oh, I see. Nope, all that data got removed after Dilly sent emails to everyone threatening to blackmail them by telling those close to them, or their employees, what they were into. We have privacy guidance for all members and Dilly made a mockery of it, so Gabai made sure it couldn't happen again."

His cat surged at learning about their mate being threatened in such a way. It also pissed him off that the data had been changed before he had a chance to see it. Another damn alleyway that leads nowhere.

What's gotten your boxers in a twist? Harley sounded amused as his voice filled Nomad's head. He didn't answer, instead he continued to stare at the twitchy man now at his side. "Is that why there are no addresses?"

"Yes, Gabai has those on a master file. He has the only copy at his home, where no one can access it, but him and Asher."

Nodding thoughtfully, he didn't sigh at how a visit to Gabai appeared to be jumping fast up the list of options, despite how much he didn't think it was a good idea.

I hope you're having better luck than me, Harley!

Cosmo

Mission completed, information extracted and passed along to those who could dismantle the brothel the way Cosmo had taken apart the tiger he'd caught. A murder of crows, an army of fire ants, and an untold number of rats would feast on the pieces for a while. He'd scattered them over dozens of miles in the thickest, most wooded areas he could access. Now he was just exhausted and in desperate need of a diversion until he could tuck the images away in a place where they wouldn't haunt him.

It was getting harder to do on his own, which was exactly why he'd dressed in a brown fuzzy crop top with matching hood and brown boy shorts with a small tail resembling that of a bear cub on the rear. His hood even had rounded off bear ears on the top. His cat had gotten a great deal of amusement out of choosing that and wearing it where Gabai could see it, back when he was still getting giant hugs from the massive bear. It remained one of his favorite outfits even now that Gabai was mated and bearhugs were no longer on the menu at Little Paws Haven. Besides, there was an amazingly huge rhino who not only knew how to hug the stuffing out of him, but was in need of some of the intel Cosmo had gathered. Bash would take his time getting it too, and let Cosmo use his body as his personal stuffy until he'd purged himself of the burdens and information he carried.

He was well aware of the fact that his bounces had lost their vigor, and his smile was forced. His curls were messy and haphazardly brushed, one particularly errant one falling into his eyes as he skimmed the room for Bash, finally spotting him near a padded bench, about to tug Kit over his lap.

It took some careful manoeuvring to weave around those who stood between him and his target, but he managed it for the most part, only crashing into one person, who reached to steady him, only to touch air when he'd deftly avoided the contact. He caught a glimpse of their face, one of the new guys, and a flash of frustration he gave little concern to as he slotted his body between Bash and Kit and batted his eyes up at the big rhino.

"You promised to play with me," he declared, pouting and giving Bash his saddest look.

"So I did," Bash declared, reading the moment correctly and giving Kit a little shrug. " Raincheck, Kit."

"Yeah, sure, it's all good," Kit declared, melting into the crowd as Bash closed his arms around Cosmo and picked him up, carrying him against his shoulder towards the Littles playroom.

"You got something for me?" Bash whispered to him.

"Lots," he replied so low his voice didn't carry.

"Good deal."

Cosmo pressed his face against Bash's shoulder and burrowed there all the way to the playroom, clinging as Bash got comfortable.

"You've lost weight. You need to eat more. Jeb is bringing snacks over. I'm gonna feed ‘em to you while you fill me in," Bash informed him.

That was really good, because his tummy rumbled, reminding him that he'd forgotten to eat again.

"There's a pair of rhinos, young, captured and being held for auction. They're trapped in their shifted forms. The tiger claimed not to know how that was done. He gave up the location, though," Cosmo murmured softly as Bash held a tender chicken nugget to his lips. He hummed contently, accepting it, and licked Bash's fingers in thanks.

"If they are the pair I've been hunting for, I'll have some good news to convey to the family that's been searching for them." Bash's response was barely a mutter, but Cosmo heard.

"I hope they are."

"Me too."

More chicken got offered, and sips of creamy milk that left Cosmo purring and sleepy by the time his tummy was full. Bash seemed to understand that all he wanted was to nap wrapped in warm arms and continued to hold him long after he'd given up the location and the rest of the intel about the rhino pair he'd been able to gather. Sleep claimed him then, and he gave into it gratefully, falling limp against the firm form of his rhino friend.

Harley

His fingers continued to tingle at the near touch. Harley had kept his curses to himself and the smile on his lips as he'd watched the rhino shifter, Bash, pick up his mate and head to daycare. Jeb was a mine of information about those who came into Little Paws Haven. Bash was a regular and a favorite with a lot of the boys who liked to frequent that part of the club.

It appeared he was also a favorite of their mate!

He eyed the door he'd come through only minutes before Cosmo had arrived, looking cute and sexy. Only there was something about his tight expression. The way his eyes held a misery that belied the cheeky grin he wore when he'd come through the club.

Not all was what it seemed with their mate, and Harley's inner tuning fork was picking up some worrying vibes that made his cat want to hunt. Something it only ever wanted to do when there was danger.

What are you sensing?

Harley scanned the club, assessing those present and coming up with nothing as his cat continued to prowl in his mind. His cat wasn't overly talkative and right now was not the time for him to do the silent act.

Listen, if our mate is in danger, we need to know!

A witnessed tantrum by a Little earlier had made Harley belly laugh, right now he wanted to do the same and it was no fucking laughing matter.

Death surrounds him. Getting a response like that drove Harley back to the door he'd walked out of, needing to check on Cosmo.

Inside the room, Jeb's brows rose, then a furrow appeared between them before he skipped to him.

Harley's gaze swept the room so fast if anyone had blinked, they would have missed it. He used his body to pick up the vibrations in the room, looking for anything out of the ordinary. Sounds of cartoons playing, giggles and Littles talking over each other in the far corner where the sandbox was situated gave the place a mellow, unthreatening vibe. Yet, his cat didn't settle when Harley caught sight of Bash feeding Cosmo.

There was obvious hesitation when Jeb came to a stop in front of Harley. "Something up? Did you forget something?"

Harley kept his attention focused on Jeb with great difficulty, who'd kept his voice low, which was something he tended to do when worried he'd upset someone. "Did I leave my cell phone here?" It was the best he could come up with when he'd not considered another reason for his return when their mate continued to ignore his existence.

Jeb glanced at where Harley had sat getting to know the other Littles, who'd been brave enough to come over and sit at his feet. Rebel was the bravest to crawl up his leg to give him several hugs that highly amused his cat. This had opened a floodgate and then Easton and Jakai, two more Littles, got in on the action until they nearly smothered him. Usually, his cat wasn't particularly fond of being touched by anyone other than his mate. At the lack of threat coming from the Littles who only wanted cuddles, he'd allowed it, particularly when Rebel had been brave enough to stroke Harley's hair and inform him it was softer that any pelt of fur he'd touched, and Harley's animal spirit must be super soft to touch too.

Begging eyes had made him feel all kinds of awkward, like the boy wanted him to shift so he could test out his theory. It was what had finally driven him out of the room.

His cat hissed in his mind and didn't get why their new mate didn't want to come and sit on their knee instead of the large Daddy. There was a tension rolling off Cosmo that didn't fit with what was happening between him and Bash.

"I can't see it. I'll ask the Littles to see if one of them took it to play with it. I'll come and find you. I know you're busy."

It was the excuse he'd used to leave. Now Harley had no option but to turn around and go when that was the last thing he wanted to do. "Cool. I'll be up in the office with Nomad," he spoke loud enough for his voice to carry to the couple.

Not a flicker of a look came from either, as they continued to have an extremely quiet conversation in between Bash feeding Cosmo.

He swung around as Nomad's voice filled his head. I hope you're having better luck than me, Harley!

If you count seeing our mate getting cuddly with a fucking rhino Daddy, then I am!

What the fuck!

Yep, that! I can't take much more of this. My cat tells me death is surrounding our mate. I've no clue what that means when that threat isn't in the club.

He stomped through that very same club, folks getting out of his way fast enough to make some stagger. Harley would be sorry for scaring folks later. Just right now he needed to let out some of the mad before he did something stupid, like let his cat free to shred a rhino hide!

Death!

Death, and—

And what? Nomad questioned impatiently.

He flung open the office door just as Nomad reached it, looking fit to murder someone. "Whatever he is inside these walls, it hides who he is. What he is."

Nomad tugged him hard against his chest, his body shaking against Harley's. "And what is he?"

"I don't know. And my cat isn't going to settle until we find out, and neither am I. We've tried doing this by keeping our distance, searching for answers from those here so as not to scare him away. It's time to show him he can trust us with whatever his secrets are. ‘Cause if my cat believes death surrounds him, then he's not safe." A shudder of apprehension, not solely his own, ran through Harley. "We will not lose him when we've only just found him."

Nomad pressed a kiss to his forehead in a gentle gesture not natural to him. "We won't, I promise you."