Griz is emphatic that the hunters are not being led by the council. When all signs show Thai differently what’s he supposed to do? Believe in the facts that are building against them or believe in his big bear of a mate? His mongoose tells him to trust his mate his computer says trust in what he knows. When someone starts taking shots at him on council grounds…well that’s a conundrum.

  Web Of Lies

  The Avenging Angels 2

  By

  Cree Storm

  MM, SHIFTERS, PARANORMAL, AND SCENES OF VIOLENCE

  A Cree Storm’s book

  www.creestorm.weebly.com

  A CREE STORM BOOK

  Web Of Lies

  The Avenging Angels 2

  Copyright © 2022 by Cree Storm

  Edited by Ann Attwood

  Rerelease of an E-book Publication: October 2022

  Cover design by JP Graphic Designs

  All cover art and logo copyright © 2022, JP Graphic Designs

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  All characters depicted in sexual acts in this work of fiction are 18 years of age or older.

  DEDICATION

  I want to thank my friend Kristina Galbert. Thank you so much for helping me work through my troubles when writing this book and breaking past my own conundrum. You are a great person to get philosophical with and I appreciate you and our friendship.

  Table Of Content

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 12

  CHAPTER 13

  CHAPTER 14

  CHAPTER 15

  CHAPTER 16

  CHAPTER 17

  CHAPTER 18

  EPILOGUE

  CREE STORM OTHER BOOKS

  PLEASE NOTE:

  ABOUT CREE STORM

  CHAPTER 1

  Thai was so close. He knew if he just…

  “Damn it, Thai! What the fuck is it with you and the zone out?” Payne asked angrily.

  Thai was confused as fuck. When the hell had Payne even come into his war room…? And it was a war room, as far as he was concerned, because from what they discovered just days prior, a hate group, along with someone much more important had called out a war on anyone that was part of, or supported, the LGBTQ+ community.

  Gods be damned, had it only been five days? It felt like five years ago that he and his brother from another mother, Payne, had been sent to take the required testing for all paranormals.

  Every shifter took a special test at age twenty-one. It was designed by the council in order to help them understand where the younger shifters’ minds were, and what changes they might need to make to ensure the shifter world was cohesive and keeping up with the times. However, a group of paranormals didn’t always like the changes the council made… especially, when they decided that people should be able to love and mate with whomever they wished, and began to recognize same-sex relationships and matings. That was when The Kiss of Death formed.

  The Kiss of Death was a group of shifters and other paranormals that came together to destroy anyone that might be part of the LGBTQ+ community, and they even found a way to do their destruction in a profitable way.

  Somehow the KOD… as Thai called them, got some of their people into the testing groups, and even were able to add a question to the test to let them know who might be gay, or support the LGBTQ+ community. They would arrange for their kidnapping, and take them to some remote location.

  The person running the hunt charged two million dollars per person… and that meant if you brought your wife or child, you paid two million for each of them as well, no exceptions made.

  The hunt was all on a point system to determine the winner. The bigger or harder the kill, the more points you would get.

  For example, lions and large predators were five points each, and interestingly enough, the smallest animals, like squirrels and rabbits alike, were worth ten. Apparently, the smaller creatures were worth more points, because they were harder to scent, and could hide more easily, and make it far more difficult for the hunters to find.

  Whoever got the most points won the big prize of double their initial entrance fee. There were no second or third prizes either. It was win or lose... period. However, the person running the hunt got to keep the rest of the money.

  That was how he and Payne found themselves on a helicopter with a bunch of other shifters and brought to this island. They had escaped and run for their lives. What they hadn’t known was that there was a group of people out looking for one of the taken.

  It was shocking to discover Castiel, who had been the pilot of the helicopter, along with his team were there to help. They had been part of the council guard known as The Hunters, and they’d been trying to discover what was happening to the missing shifters. However, when the council had decided it wasn’t cost effective, they had decided to shut down the search team. The problem was, Castiel had discovered Piper, his foster brother… who he always looked at as his baby brother, had been taken from the testing area, and was one of the missing.

  Cas quit the council guard, as did the rest of his team, and continued the search until they’d found out about the Dorgers. They infiltrated the group and were going to search for Piper, when Castle scented Payne, and knew he was his mate.

  They worked together and found Piper… well, he found them, and helped them survive.

  They’d found a place to hide, and learned that the island had been owned by a conspiracy nut… well, Tim wasn’t really a nut, but he was a man that worked on some highly classified programs. He had to be wary of people, and think ten steps ahead of everyone out there, to keep his work safe. Some things he worked on would be dangerous in the wrong hands, so he’d even gone so far as to build the bunker Thai called home… because, damned if it wasn’t a house-size building, just underground.

  The bunker had living rooms, bedrooms, bathrooms, a kitchen, supplies to last for years, and the best part… a computer room that any hacker like Thai would call a wet dream come true.

  “Damn it, Thai, are you even listening to me?” Payne snapped.

  Shit, Thai had forgotten all about Payne being in the room with him. “With as loud as you’re shouting, the island next to us probably heard you.”

  Shaking his head, Payne looked around. “What the fuck is all this shit, Thai? Have you eaten anything but cookies and candy?”

  Looking around and seeing the disarray of the room. Thai sighed as he stood up, grabbed the trash can, and started tossing empty wrappers into it, and scraping cookie crumbs into it as well. “Yes, I’ve eaten.”

  Thai stopped and thought again, then corrected his statement, “Um, maybe.” He thought some more, and said, “I think.”

  Before Payne could yell at him again, Thai said, “I thought you were going to pick up some stuff for us, since we’re going to be here a while.”

  It was the wrong thing to say.

  “Son of a… Thai, Castiel and I have already gone and come back. Hell, I came in here three days ago, and told you we were going!” Payne snapped, then tossed up his hands, “I hate that fucking zone you go into when you’re on a computer. It’s dangerous, damn it!”

  Thai dropped back in his seat, still holding the trash bin. He knew that Payne wasn’t so much as angry with him, as he was scared. “Payne, did I ever tell you how your name is really fitting?”

  “Thai, this isn’t the time,” Payne muttered as he sat back down, and drew in a deep breath before letting it out slowly.

  Shrugging, Thai gave his bestie a small smile. “I can’t think of a better one. I mean you’re already upset with me, so what better time to say you are a pain in my ass?”

  Payne rolled his eyes and gave his own small smile. “I’ve never been in your ass, so you can’t say that.”

  “No, but your foot’s been up it a few times,” Thai said with a laugh.

  Laughing, Payne looked around again. “So, how is Grizzly doing?”

  Confusion marred Thai’s face. “Who?”

  Rolling his eyes again, Payne said, “One of Cas’s men? You know the grizzly shifter that was shot. How’s he doing?”

  Shaking his head, Thai was about to deny knowing the man, then gasped, “Oh! You mean the guy in the front bedroom?”

  When Payne nodded, Thai shrugged again. “I have no idea. I haven’t seen him.”

  Holding up his hand before Payne could get pissed at him again, Thai said, “He’s being looked after by Shay, and… damn it what’s that guy’s name? You know the rabbit…”

  “He’s a Sumatran tiger, and his name is Trix,” Payne corrected.

  Smiling wide, “Yeah, but isn’t Trix a rabbit on a box… or maybe I should think of him more like a Frosted Flake?”

  Payne laughed, “You’re a dork.”

  “I’m a mongoose, I don’t deliver babies… they poop too much,” Thai said, deliberately mixing the word dork for stork.

  “Oh ha, ha, asshole. So, you seriously haven’t seen Grizzly at all?”
Payne asked.

  Shaking his head, Thai answered, “Nope. I’ve been busy trying to figure out our next move and theirs.”

  “I’m surprised. I mean Griz is really your type. I’d have thought you would have been all over him by now,” Payne said, sitting back and getting comfortable.

  “I didn’t know I had a type. Please, pray tell, what is my type?” Thai asked with a wave of his hand.

  Snorting, Payne answered, “You so do have a type, Thai. You like them big as fuck, with long hair and muscles on muscles.”

  “I do not! I’ve been with guys that are just average size,” Thai argued.

  Snorting, Payne asked, “Who?”

  “Kenny Strobe,” Thai quickly answered.

  Payne outright laughed, “Thai, Kenny was six foot four, and weighed close to three hundred pounds.”

  “Maybe. But he didn’t have long hair,” Thai quickly said.

  “That’s because he had a mohawk, and it looked like a hand fan was glued on the top of his skull,” Payne replied.

  “Charles Barnel,” Thai said.

  “Charles was six foot three and at least two seventy-five… and his hair went past his ass,” Payne added for good measure.

  Thai thought about that a second and then opened his mouth to give another name, but realized that guy was also well over six three, and so was the other guy he thought about, and… “Well, shit. I have a type.”

  Laughing again, Payne said, “Yes, you do, and Grizzly checks every box. He’s at least six foot eight, looks like he weighs at least three seventy-five, and his hair is well past his shoulders… and he has muscles on top of muscles, on top of muscles.”

  “Damn, who the fuck are his parents? Giants?” Thai asked in awe.

  Shaking his head, Payne replied, “Grizzly shifters. However, I’ll tell you one thing about the man.”

  “What’s that?” Thai asked.

  “He’s a thinker and a doer, but he’s also extremely loyal. I can’t believe you don’t remember him, since he was shot and all when we were fighting for our lives,” Payne reminded Thai.

  Thai rolled his eyes. “When was I supposed to notice him, Payne? When I was killing that fucking snake, Winnie? Or, was it supposed to be when we were cleaning up the dead bodies? Or, how about when we were answering questions from the council for four fucking hours? Tell me, please, when was I supposed to remember my dream man shot and on the floor?”

  “You are such a smartass,” Payne muttered.

  Sighing, Thai stood up, “Yes, I am, and it’s one of the many things you love about me. Now, how about we go into the kitchen, and see what freeze-dried shit we can find to fix up. You reminded me I haven’t eaten in a while, and I’m starving.”

  “Come on, I’ll fix you up something, but you do know you can always come up to the house,” Payne reminded Thai.

  Shaking his head, Thai answered, “No thanks. I’m really good here. I can keep an eye on the island with all the cameras out there, and I can work to figure out what I can do to help our Avenging Angels. Speaking of which, I need to get with Cas soon. I have some information he’s going to want to know.”

  Payne nodded and started talking, but Thai wasn’t hearing him, because the scent of fresh morning rain wafted past his nose, causing Thai to turn and see a man… and not just any man. This guy was fucking huge.

  The man had to bend his head to walk into the room. He had huge muscles, and yes, they were covered by the electric-blue sweat jacket he was wearing, but it was unzipped and… oh, fuck.

  The guy pulled the hoodie off his head, and son of a bitch, he had long dark hair… but his eyes… long eyelashes highlighted the deep chocolate-brown orbs, and they were looking his way… and the scent… fuck, it was that smell that would come right before a lightning storm mixed in with pine… just, damn!

  The man seemed to be sniffing the air, then gasped, “Mate.”

  CHAPTER 2

  Griz stood there in shock. The man standing in front of him was his mate. It wasn’t just because his grizzly bear was trying to scratch through his guts to get to the man, it was the sexy man’s scent.

  Wildflowers and sunshine.

  Griz had never been so happy to have been overruled by Cas as he was right this minute.

  He had just returned to the bunker after a run, doing what he could to heal quickly, so he could get back out there, and help his team scour the island for more survivors, and possible hunters.

  He’d told Trix he was good to go, but the bastard had refused to release him for duty until he had full range of motion of his right arm, and as much as Griz hated being downed, he understood the tiger’s position. Right now, Griz was a danger to the team, because if shit went down, he wouldn’t be in top form to help as he should and could get hurt, causing the team to make a choice of whether to save him or get the target.

  A shifter could heal quicker than a human, yes, but the injury determined how long it would take, and Griz’s injuries had been pretty bad. The bullet he’d taken had nicked a nerve, and it was causing him to have a hard time lifting his arm to its full height. Griz was getting better, just not as quickly as he’d like, and to top it off, he was expected to heal underground… his grizzly bear was okay with it… for the most part, but Griz wasn’t as happy about it at all. However, when Cas would say you do this… they did it, and he’d been told to stay down here to heal, and watch out for some guy named Thai… a guy he still hadn’t met… until now.

  “Thai? Thai? Oh, hey, Griz, you want something to eat? I was going to make Thai something anyway, so it’s no trouble,” Payne said, looking from Griz back to Thai.

  Thai’s wide eyes and change in breathing, let Griz know he was going into a panic. Then, he muttered, “I… I need to get back to uh… I need to…”

  Without finishing his sentence, Thai took off towards the one room a couple of doors down from the kitchen, and slammed the door behind him.

  “Wait. Did you say mate?” Payne asked as he set down a can he was about to open.

  Nodding, Griz said, “Thai is my mate.”

  “But… I mean, you guys have lived in the same location for days. How the hell have you not scented each other before now?” Payne asked in confusion.

  Griz looked at Payne sheepishly. “I… I didn’t want to bother him. Cas told me that he was our new tech guy, and how he was looking into The Kiss of Death, and my job was to make sure that we didn’t get any uninvited guests, and to watch out for him.”

  Sighing, Payne asked, “When he told you to watch out for him, it was because Thai will get obsessed with his tech world. So much so that he will forget to eat, sleep… hell, even bathe for not just days, but weeks at a time. It’s as if the world around him ceases to exist.”

  “Holy shit, seriously?” Griz asked, aghast at what he was hearing.

  Nodding, Payne replied, “Yes, seriously. I thought Cas had told you. Thai hasn’t eaten anything except candy and cookies since the day we took down the Dorgers. I noticed he put a bed in the computer room, but I doubt he’s used it, and from the smell in there it’s highly unlikely that he’s bathed. I’m going to make some food…”

  “I’ll go and talk to him, while you make him some food. Maybe I can even get him to take a shower,” Griz said as he took off in the same direction as Thai.

  Griz lifted his hand to knock, then brought it down again. This was insane. Griz had faced off with some of the biggest and baddest sons of bitches while he’d been with the council guard, and here he was afraid to knock on the door and face his mate… his tiny mate.

  Okay, maybe Thai wasn’t tiny in a normal world, but when you were six foot eight and weighed almost four hundred pounds, and your mate was maybe five foot ten and a good two hundred pounds lighter… yeah, he was tiny… at least, to Griz.

  “Good gods, Griz, are you going to go in there, or stand there and just stare at the door? Cause I got to tell you, that is one hell of a way to get Thai to talk to you, or bathe,” Payne said as he leaned past Griz, and opened the door.