Lifting my head, I dragged the humid air deep into my lungs. There was only the barest hint of her scent, just enough for me to know it was fainter when I moved to the left. So I headed to the right instead. Which made sense since the other direction consisted of nothing but wilderness.
As the alpha of my small pack, I had claimed the first cabin anyone would drive past if they turned down the lane that led to nowhere but our land. If anyone was going to invade our territory, I wanted to be the first one to know about it. My decision had paid off when one of the bastards involved in a trafficking ring had shown up looking for Ramsey—a female falcon shifter who’d been held captive for more than a year—when she had taken refuge with my pack after she was rescued.
Yanking him out of his car when he’d tried to escape had been one of the more satisfying moments of my life. Almost as good as when Rome—a lone shifter who’d joined my pack six years ago—had returned after taking care of the man who’d kept Ramsey trapped in her falcon form in his basement for a year. And when my grizzly got to maul another guy who’d come looking for Ramsey and found Rome and his mate, Thora, instead.
Rome and Thora.
It finally fucking hit me.
They’d come up here a couple of days ago for their first visit since their daughter was born, but I hadn’t seen them yet since I just returned from a business trip late last night. They were only a couple of cabins down from me now, and it seemed as though my mate’s scent was leading me toward their door.
Did they know her?
Did she live in Timber Ridge?
Was she one of Thora’s co-workers at Timber’s Treasures? A regular at the restaurant? A friend of hers?
Had they brought someone else with them to help with Danika while they were up here?
Like my mate.
My grizzly raked his claws against my skin, roaring in my head. He wanted our mate. Now.
I was just as impatient as I stalked toward their cabin and banged on the door. I was thinking about knocking again when Rome finally flung it open and scowled at me. Shoving him out of my way, I stepped inside and scanned the interior of their cabin, searching for any sign that my mate was here with them. When I didn’t find anything, my grizzly roared in my head again.
“Where is she?” I growled.
“What the fuck, Keane?”
Rome looked pissed that I’d invaded his cabin but reassuring him was the last thing on my mind. “Where is my mate, dammit!”
Thora walked toward us, cuddling her daughter close while she glared at me. “You better not be talking about my daughter.”
Her daughter? What in the hell was she blathering on about?
Rome hurried over to his mate and pulled her into his arms. “Relax, baby. It’s almost unheard of for someone to know their mate before they’re at least teenagers.”
“Almost?” she whispered, sounding shocked.
I was trying my best to block out their conversation as I moved around the room, desperate to find my mate’s trail. But Thora’s fear was stinking up the room, making it harder for me to separate the scents. So I forced myself to concentrate on her enough to alleviate her concern. Looking up at her, I growled, “It’s not your pup. But she’s near, I can smell her, but…not in the cabin…she’s…”
I trailed off as I headed toward the back of their cabin, Rome hot on my heels as I flung the back door open and stomped onto the porch. I dragged more air into my lungs, and a growl rumbled up my chest when I realized the scent was stronger out here. Prowling to my left, I examined their entire backyard, looking for any sign that my fated mate had been there.
There was a slight rustle at the tree line, and my head jerked up while every muscle in my body locked. Then the leaves moved again, and a woman stumbled into the yard.
With shoulder-length blond hair, pale hazel eyes, and curves that begged to be touched, she was undeniably gorgeous. When her scent drifted toward me, my cock hardened for the first time in my life. There was no denying who this woman was to me. “Mate.”
She looked up at the sound of my voice, her pretty eyes instantly locking on me. Even with the entire length of the yard between us, our connection was undeniable. But that apparently didn’t mean she would make this easy for me. When I stepped forward, she squeaked, spun around, and ran back into the thicket.
I could have told her that running from me wouldn’t do any good. Now that I’d found my fated mate, I was never going to let her go. Heaving a deep sigh, I took off after her.
I want to call after her and tell her to stop. But I was too worried that I’d startle the gorgeous blonde and make her fall. The last thing I wanted was for her to get injured. She was mine to protect. So I stalked behind my little mate as quietly as possible, quickly closing the distance between us. And as soon as I got within touching distance, I stretched my arm out to grab her. “Gotcha! You’re mine now, mate.”
4
Laina
One minute, I was racing back in the direction where I’d come from—or at least I was pretty sure that was where I was headed—and the next, I was flung over a huge guy’s shoulder. He anchored me in place with one hand on my back and the other on my butt before he stalked back toward the cabins where I’d spotted him. He carried me as though I was as light as a feather, which I knew wasn’t true. But with how big he was, he could probably cut down one of the tall trees surrounding us all by himself and hoist the trunk over his shoulder to bring it back to his home.