4. Ryan

Chapter four

Ryan

T he afternoon air was heating up as Mai, Jase, Derek, and I walked up to the bungalow on Elm Street. According to Thomas, our Pack doctor, the werewolf who lived here—one Norman Adler—had been brought in showing signs of advanced ripple addiction. Norman wasn't in a state to answer our questions—Thomas had him locked down in his medical room and said Norman was ranting about dust storms and living in an iron recycling plant on the planet Mars.

Evelyn and Ava had come to see me this morning after my phone call with Thomas. I'd put them in charge of the Renegades, those werewolves that fought for us at the Meet. They were our core enforcers now. Usually, enforcers would be running down an errand like this, but Mai and I had agreed that right now we needed those we trusted to be out in the Three Rivers, showing the Pack that things were settling down, there was order and safety here. Too many would be wary of me and Mai right now, not sure what sort of Alphas we were going to be, but they might feel more comfortable with the Renegades around—people they'd known their whole lives. People they knew and trusted. Mason and Sam had headed back to their PI agency to see what they could dig up on who was framing Ronnie, and Jem's whereabouts. With the rest of the Renegades guarding those of Brock's enforcers that we captured, until Mai and I decided what to do with them, that left Mai, Jase, Derek and me this task.

I scanned the quiet street as Derek picked the lock on the front door. We were hoping Norman's home might still hold some clues about where he got the ripple.

The door clicked open, and we stepped inside, hit immediately by the stale air and an unwashed stench. Mai wrinkled her nose in distaste. "You'd think with our enhanced senses, people would be more inclined to open a window now and then."

The living room was cramped and cluttered, overflowing ashtrays and discarded takeout containers littering every surface. The sagging couch had clearly seen better days.

"Derek, Jase, search the bedrooms. Mai and I will take the living room and kitchen."

We split up, Derek and Jase heading towards the back of the house. In the living room, unopened mail piled up on a small, cluttered table, and children's toys were left lying around. Derek has done a background check on Norman. He worked at a local car loan business. He'd not found his mate yet, but up until a month ago he had been living with a human woman and her two kids. The woman apparently left a month ago, reconciling with the children's father and heading out west to be with him.

I began rifling through the stack of bills and letters, looking for anything that might point to a dealer or a place where Norman could have gotten the ripple. Mai was opening and closing kitchen cabinets, her movements efficient and focused.

"Find anything?" she asked.

"Just bills and junk mail so far."

Mai came back to the living room and started sifting through a pile of magazines and newspapers stacked haphazardly on a side table. A used needle fell out of the papers and onto the floor.

Mai squatted down and reached out to it.

My wolf nearly jumped out of my skin. "Don't touch it!" I growled, pushing him back down.

I've got this.

The needle could still have drops of ripple in it, and I didn't want Mai anywhere near that thing.

"I'm not an idiot, Ryan." Mai's hand reached past the needle to a fallen piece of paper. She scooped the needle onto the paper and brought it close to her nose.

"It's ripple," she confirmed. "The smell is the same as in Arabella's room."

At least we knew now for sure that Norman had been taking ripple. But my wolf was deeply unhappy. This wasn't a safe place for our mate.

I glanced around the living room. "There's nothing else useful here."

Mai didn't look up from the table. "We haven't checked everything yet. There could be something hidden."

"Derek and I can handle it. Why don't you head back with Jase?"

Her head snapped up, eyes blazing. "Head back? You think I can't handle this? "

"That's not what I'm saying. I just—" I started, but she cut me off.

"You just what? Want to protect me from everything, to the extent that I can't even do my job?"

"No, it's not about that." It was so about that. "I just don't think there's anything here. You could be of more use—"

"Sitting at home, reading magazines, perhaps?" Her voice was sugar sweet.

"Yes. No. Not magazines. Reports. Doing background checks. That sort of thing."

Mai stared at me, her eyes blazing. She knew exactly what I meant. "We're the Alphas, Ryan Shaw. You and me both. I know this is hard for you, but I don't hide away at home. Ripple is going to destroy our Pack. My brother might be out there in the hands of that sick fuck, Brock. And you, you are not going to put me in a marshmallow room, where I couldn't get hurt even if I tripped over, and shut me out of these investigations. If you can't see that, how are we supposed to rule this Pack together?"

My wolf growled inside of me. It wasn't that we thought Mai couldn't handle herself, but the thought of losing her scared us shitless. We'd lost her once, when she ran from me after I rejected her. Four years without her and now that we had her back, my wolf went crazy whenever she left the room. Her being kidnapped by Seth, then giving herself up to Brock to try to save Sofia's life, hadn't helped calm either of us. My wolf thought maybe a marshmallow room was a great fucking idea. Besides, that was what this was all for, wasn't it? Win the Pack so we could mold it into a killing, fighting machine that would put itself between any danger and our mate. We'd learned long ago the importance of Pack. With both parents gone, I had three younger brothers to feed and clothe, and I did what I had to, to make sure they were okay. Then my best friend, Jem, saw what was happening, and he helped out. We wouldn't have survived if it wasn't for him. That was Pack. Now I had hundreds of werewolves under my command, and I was going to make damn sure that we changed this Pack into one where every single member would protect the others. That way, they'd protect Mai, and if we ever had pups, they would protect them. I just needed to do it without Mai realizing why I was doing it. There wasn't a doubt in my mind that she'd leave me if she thought I believed she couldn't handle herself.

Derek and Jase reappeared from the back of the house, their expressions tense.

"Everything okay in here?" Derek asked, glancing between Mai and me.

"Fine," Mai replied, though her body language said otherwise.

Derek studied us both for a moment longer, before saying, "Good, coz we found something." He held up a pair of jeans and a crumpled receipt. "I found these in his hamper. The jeans reek of ripple. And this receipt was in the back pocket."

I scanned the list of items, my gaze snagging on a name scrawled near the bottom. "Bradford Hayes?"

Derek nodded. "He's human. A low-level dealer downtown."

Finally, a real lead. I felt a spark of hope—this could be the break we needed.

"So what now? We bring this Bradford guy in for questioning?" Jase asked eagerly.

"Ryan and Derek will track down Bradford," Mai said curtly. "Jase, you and me are going to go and talk to Norman's work colleagues. "

Without looking at me, Mai strode out of the door. She was pissed, of that I had no doubts. Jase glanced at me quickly, then looked at Derek. Derek jerked his head towards the door, and Jase ran after Mai.

Derek and I sat in silence, parked downtown on a dingy corner, waiting for Bradford to show up.

My thoughts kept drifting back to Mai. I knew she was right—it was vital we found a way to make this work. I'd seen the damage an unstable Alpha pair could do to a Pack. If Jem and Hayley hadn't been at each other's throats all the time, there was no way Brock could have convinced Hayley to do what she did. And without a stable Pack, I'd have no hope of forging us all into an elite force. I had to stop trying to side-line her, but the thought of anything happening to her made me want to burn the fucking world down.

"So, how are things going with you and Mai?" Derek asked casually. "From the way she tore out of there earlier, I'm guessing not awesome."

I glared out the window. "We're working through some things."

Derek held up his hands in mock surrender, though his eyes sparked with humor. "We all knew you were going to suck at being her partner. We just didn't think you could mess it up this quick."

My hands clenched into fists. He could fucking talk.

"Really helpful," I bit out. "Let me know when you finally admit that Sofia is your mate, then maybe you can start doling out relationship advice. "

Derek flushed. "This isn't about me and Sofia. I'm just trying to look out for you, bro. You can't do what Jem and Hayley did and try to hide your arguments. It affected the whole Pack. We need the two of you to be on the same page. We want you to be happy, you and Mai. So stop fucking it up."

I knew Derek meant well, but I was in no mood for his meddling. Not when I knew he was right, and I was fucking this up.

I took a deep breath, running a hand over my face. Derek was my brother. He had my back, always.

"I have to protect her, I have to keep her safe, but every decision is a fucking battle. I'm trying to find the line between what I want to do, and what I know will push her away."

"She's independent, she always has been, bro. That's what we all love about Mai. Your protective streak has always been strong, and add to that the mating bond, and everything is amplified. It forces you to be freakishly over-protective."

"This is different," I admitted.

Derek laughed. "They all say that."

"No, this is different, Derek," I insisted. "I can't lose her, not again. I wouldn't survive it. But if I don't protect her, I could lose her, and if I do protect her, she might leave me."

Derek placed a hand on my shoulder, squeezing gently. "Yeah, that's fucked up, but you need to find a way. I have faith in you, bro. You and Mai. You're our Alphas now and the whole fucking Pack is relying on you to work this out."

I turned round to face him. "Is that your idea of a pep talk? ‘Don't fuck it up'? "

He grinned at me. "Yup. It's short, it's sweet, it rolls off the tongue and covers all bases. I might it get embossed on a T-shirt."

"Great, Derek. Great fucking help you are."

After twenty minutes, Derek suddenly sat upright, gaze fixed down the street. "There. That's him."

I followed Derek's line of sight to see a short, slightly overweight guy in an oversized hoodie standing on the corner. His head swiveled side to side as he talked to a glassy-eyed human teenager. Even from here, I could make out the small pills exchanging hands.

We waited until the kid had pocketed his purchase and scurried off. Then, as one, we stepped out of the car. Bradford's head jerked up, eyes blowing wide. Before we could react, he turned and sprinted down the nearest alley.

"Dammit," Derek growled, as we set off after him. Garbage cans and debris flashed by as we followed Bradford through the dingy concrete canyon. Up ahead, I saw him duck through a hole in a chain-link fence. I put on a burst of speed, closing the gap. With a grunt, I swung through the ragged opening just as Bradford disappeared around the corner of a crumbling brick building.

I could sense Derek right on my heels. We rounded the building side by side, nearly slamming into Bradford cowering against the wall. A towering fence loomed behind him—a dead end. He was trapped.

I stalked toward him. "We just want to talk, Bradford. "

Bradford shrank back against the bricks, hands on his knees, wheezing from the effort of running. "Look man, I got nothing to say."

In a flash, I had his shirt twisted in my fist, just enough to convey I meant business. "I think you do, Bradford. You're dealing in ripple. You're dealing to Shifters."

"Nah, man! I wouldn't do that. I ain't stupid."

"Yeah, how about Norman Adler? You know him?"

"Norman? Nah, I don't know no Norman."

Derek held out his phone. On it there was a photo of Norman that Thomas had sent to us.

I leaned closer to Bradford and growled, "Try again."

Bradford blinked. "Oh, yeah. Norman, right. I know Norman. Good guy. Bought some stuff from me, sure."

"Ripple?"

Bradford's eyes shifted to the side.

"Bradford, I'm about done playing nice."

"Okay, okay. Yeah, he bought some ripple."

"The ripple shipments. Where are they coming from?"

"I swear I don't know!" Bradford wheezed.

"Derek, hold him. I'm going to get our hand drill." I showed Bradford my teeth. "It works really well on bones."

"Okay, okay!" Bradford threw his hands up. "Don't hurt me, okay? There's this guy, calls himself Ghost. He's the one moving the major product. Rumor is he works for this biker gang guy. Named Reggie Billet or something."

I released Bradford.

"Ronnie Bishop? "

"Yeah, man. That's it. Ronnie Bishop."

"What else do you know about Ghost?" Derek pressed. "Where's he operating from?"

Bradford just shook his head frantically, still gasping from trying to run from us. "That's all I got, I promise! No one knows who Ghost is."

"How do you get your supplies?"

"It just turns up. I start running low, the next day, the product will be on my doorstep. I don't know how they know. They just do. It's like they're ghosts, man. Watching all the time, never seen. That's why the main man is called Ghost, you know."

"And the money you make? How do you get it to them?"

Bradford shrugged. "The day after the product arrives, I leave the money in an envelope taped under a bench in Cotton Park."

Maybe we could set up a sting. If Bradford was running low, we could watch his house and stakeout the bench. We could catch them in the act.

"When did you last get a restock?"

"Two days ago."

"And how often do you run low?"

Bradford held up his hands in an I don't know gesture. "Depends on my clients, man. Could be a week. Could be a month."

Fuck! Frustrated, I stepped back, running a hand through my hair. Another dead end.

"Show me your phone," Derek ordered.

I knew he wanted to check if Bradford was telling the truth. We'd have to run all the numbers but maybe we'd get lucky and hit one that could be traced to the guys supplying ripple .

Bradford pulled out his phone. Derek swiped it out of his hands.

"Hey!"

I grabbed Bradford's shirt and hauled him against the wall. "You know who I am?"

"S…sure," he stuttered. "You're the new Alpha."

"That's right. I'm the Alpha. And the new rule for the Three Rivers is that this is a drug-free territory. No more, not even for the humans. You're going to drop off any drugs you have at the Alpha Compound, then you're going to have to find a new job, Bradford. Or I'll put you down. There won't be another warning."

He stared at me wide eyed and then nodded. I released him and he almost tripped over himself in his hurry to get away.

I watched him scamper down the alley, then turned to Derek. "Put enforcers on his house. I want it watched twenty-four-seven."

Derek nodded. "At least we have a name now."

"You heard of him?"

"Nope. But we'll find him, Ryan. And when we do…"

He was right, when we found Ghost, he was going to be in a world of hurt.