13. Gregory

Gregory Hicks sat in the ruined kitchen of the old house, his eyes fixed on the clock that hung on the cracked wall.

He had been waiting for another call from Dawson, the wolf shifter he had sent to Greenfield.

Time seemed to stretch endlessly as the minutes ticked by, but the call he had been anticipating never came.

Anxiety gnawed at him as he wondered what could have gone wrong.

Dawson had been given a special task, one that was crucial to their plans, and failure was not an option.

Dylan Riggs was going to be the key to his retirement. Gregory had a wealthy buyer lined up for that omega.

If he could retrieve Dylan, then the other missing omega wouldn’t matter. Gregory could have shouldered the rest of his loses.

At least that was what Gregory had thought when he sent Dawson to Greenfield just in case Dylan would appear there.

When Dawson called him earlier and reported he had sighted Dylan, Gregory’s hopes had gone up. Mark had always been reliable.

He knew what needed to be done and always deferred to Gregory for instructions. Dawson was the ideal foot soldier in his operation.

Now, Gregory still couldn”t shake the feeling that something had gone terribly amiss in Greenfield, just like it did in this house.

When Gregory and his crew returned to their base, they were met with a shocking sight.

The place had been ransacked, and it was empty of their valuable merchandise.

All the cells had been left open. Some of the furniture in the house were trashed.

Gregory felt a surge of anger that he hadn”t experienced in a long time.

Their operation had been streamlined and perfected over the years, and this breach was a severe blow.

The base still carried the old scent of bears—grizzly shifters, to be precise.

They hadn’t bothered hiding their presence, which meant they wanted Gregory to know they were responsible.

He couldn”t allow his group to be seen as weak; in this ruthless world, the strong devoured the weak.

His grandfather had taught him that lesson well.

Gregory clenched his fists, his jaw tight. He knew he couldn”t let this offense go unpunished.

He would track down the grizzly shifters responsible and make them regret crossing him.

This theft would not go unanswered, not if Gregory had anything to say about it.

Late afternoon had slowly transitioned into late evening, and there was still no call from Dawson.

Gregory”s frustration deepened as he considered the possibility that something had happened to Dawson.

The enemy they were dealing with was no amateur, and the fact that Dawson hadn”t checked in was troubling.

Gregory decided to check the rest of his messages, hoping for any sign of information or success.

However, what he found was disheartening. The members of his crew he had sent out on various missions had all reported failures.

They mentioned they felt they were being watched and Gregory told them to pack up and return to base.

It was clear that the enemy group they were up against was composed of professionals.

Gregory knew that they were facing a dangerous and skilled enemy, and he needed to regroup and come up with a new plan.

The setbacks were frustrating, but he was determined not to let this enemy group get the upper hand.

Gregory knew that before he could take any decisive action, he needed crucial information about the enemy he was up against.

Going into this blind would be a grave mistake, and he couldn”t afford any more failures.

He started devising a plan to gather intelligence on his adversaries. He would need to find their weaknesses, vulnerabilities, and any gaps in their defenses.

Gregory understood that knowledge was power, and he was prepared to do whatever it took to uncover the details he needed to turn the tide in his favor.

The rumble of a truck engine outside drew Gregory”s attention away from his thoughts.

He swiftly left the kitchen, only to find Thomas helping a severely injured Finn out of his truck.

”What happened?” Gregory demanded, his concern evident in his voice.

The wolf shifters in his crew weren”t known for being pushovers, so seeing one of them in such a state was concerning.

Had Thomas and Finn bitten off more than they could chew?

”Finn got too close to one of our targets,” Thomas explained in a rush. ”Then, out of nowhere, this biker appeared and tore into him. Neither of us noticed he was there.”

Gregory”s blood ran cold as Thomas continued the story, and together, they brought Finn into the kitchen to tend to his injuries.

The word ”biker” hung in the air, and Gregory couldn”t help but ask again, a sense of dread forming in his gut.

”Describe him to me,” he said. Gregory tried to keep his voice steady because he was still the alpha here.

”What did he look like, and what was he wearing?” Gregory demanded.

“Gregory, Finn’s bleeding out on your kitchen table. He needs medical attention,” Thomas blurted.

Gregory growled and the sound echoed in the kitchen. Thomas paled and wisely, did not point out Finn’s condition again.

Finn was just being a baby. He wouldn’t die from those wounds.

Thomas did his best to recount the details. As he described the biker”s appearance and the patch on his jacket, Gregory”s heart sank.

Gregory had been hoping his guess was wrong.

He didn”t need to hire a specialist to investigate the group that had stolen from them. The description fit all too well.

They were up against the Grizzly Reapers MC, a group that Gregory had hoped to avoid crossing paths with at all costs.

Gregory found himself with two difficult options. He could walk away, abandoning the current operation and starting fresh at a different base.

It would mean leaving behind the stolen goods and kissing his long-awaited retirement goodbye.

As he considered this option, his inner wolf howled inside him in disagreement.

The idea of letting the grizzly shifters, this MC of monsters, get away with what they had done was inconceivable.

Gregory had invested too much time and effort into his operation to let it crumble without a fight.

He made his decision. The grizzly shifters had to pay, and Gregory was willing to do whatever it took to ensure they faced the consequences of their actions.

Retirement could wait; revenge was a dish he intended to serve cold.