TheAngryDoveAndTheAssassin by Stephani Hecht Read Free Book Online Page A

was all killed off by a Hyena attack. I was only fifteen at the time and starving. He gave me a place to stay and fed me.”
    “And he didn’t ask for anything in return?” Simon asked in a suspicious tone.
    “Nope, that’s the way Zaid is. Zaid is an African Wild Dog, and he lost his pack, too, so he knows how it is to be alone and hungry,” Alger said. “So he made a vow to help others in the same situation, no matter what breed they are.”
    “So if he’s so helpful, where is this Zaid right now?” Grey asked.
    “He’s with the pack soldiers, helping to clean up the mess outside. As soon as we came here, the first thing he did was join up with Chris’s pack. He’s determined to earn our keep here,” Caley explained, quick to defend his mentor.
    To him, Zaid was more than his savior. He was the replacement to the family he’d lost. The same could be same for Walsh, Hales, and Alger. Although, Caley didn’t even want to think of where Walsh could be at the moment. He was withdrawing from them more and more. To the point days would go by when they didn’t see him. When they did get a glimpse of him, he looked like crap. Zaid had been trying to intervene but with little success, and Caley was beginning to worry that they were going to lose their friend to his drug addiction if something drastic wasn’t done soon.
    He had thought about going to the Alpha with the problem, but he feared that if he did, it would get Walsh exiled. He’d heard of other packs doing that to drug addicts. While he didn’t like to think Chris would be the type to do that, Caley was afraid of taking the risk.
    “We better get going, it’s getting late, and the bars will be opening.” Simon said.
    Caley was confused. What did the bars have to do with the mission the assassins had to go on? He decided not to ask. The less he knew about that end of the business, the better.
    Grey nodded. “You’re right. We should get moving, so we can hit as many of them as possible.”
    He started to leave, but stopped and turned to Caley. Wrapping one arm around Caley’s waist, he brought him in for one quick, hard kiss. Then without saying another word, Grey walked out of the room.
    Alger let out a low whistle. “You are in so much trouble.”
    “Why?” Caley asked, still a little light-headed from the kiss.
    “You know how I said Wolves can be territorial about land?”
    “Yeah?”
    “The same can be said about potential mates, and he just all but marked you.”
    For some reason, that didn’t scare Caley at all. Instead, it gave him a heady thrill of excitement.
     
     
     
     

Chapter Six
     
     
    They found him at the second bar they went to—Axel, a Weasel shifter who was the biggest…well, weasel in town. Not only did he have a toe in every illegal activity in the area, but he had his oily little nose in every criminal’s business. Which was exactly why Grey wanted to have a little chat with him.
    The bar, if it could even could be called that, was situated between two shifter-run restaurants. It was as seedy as hell. The floors were warped from years of use and from the various spills of both drinks and bodily fluids. The walls were full of patchwork drywall repairs along with holes that had yet to be repaired. The tables and chairs were all mismatched and looked like garage sale rejects. The bar, which was situated in the front, was nothing more than a worn wood plank with a flickering neon sign behind it. The lone bartender looked like he could eat nails and spit them back out at anyone who dared to mess with him. A handful of waitresses moved around, dodging the hands of the patrons of the bar. More than one of the servers was armed with daggers, which they weren’t afraid to use, going by the fresh bloodstains on the floor.
    All-in-all, it was far from the Ritz.
    Grey nodded over to Axel. Simon and Toby nodded back to indicate that they saw him, too, and knew what needed to be done. They then entered the door and made