Undercover Wolf's Great Loss (Shifter Doctor Daddies Instalove Romance 3)

CHAPTER SIX

Claude

Once word of my daughter reached my brain, my instinct kicked into overdrive. I searched for her scent, the one I had known of her when she was an infant. Sure, it had been a while since that scent had met my nostrils, but I knew it.

I knew her.

“Destiny?” I briskly jogged around the room, searching the dark corners and stalls for that familiar little girl. Not even her caregiver could be found. “Viola…?”

A small hand took mine. “Claude?”

I turned to April who wore a look of concern. After licking my lips, I whispered, “Where are they?”

“They were just here. Let me talk to Maria.”

“Who’s Maria?”

Her reassuring grin put me at ease as she led me to the three adults lingering around a table. The woman next to him observed me, eyes iridescent from the glow of the electric lamps.

“That little girl and woman who was here,” April explained to Landon. “Do you know where they went?”

“They went to find a bathroom about five minutes ago,” Landon replied. He stood up abruptly from his chair. “Why? What happened?”

“We can’t find them.”

Determination flooded Landon’s features as his gaze darkened and he grabbed an electric lamp. He motioned around the room. “Alright, spread out. They couldn’t have gotten far in here.”

“How many doors lead out of this one?” I asked.

“Five. But two of them are blocked off.”

“So, we have three paths.”

Landon nodded curtly and took off. As I exchanged a glance with April, I knew what she was thinking: that the kitchen door couldn’t have been chosen because we had been using the kitchen for...adult activities.

Blush spread over her cheeks, enhanced by the electric lamp I held in my right hand. I smirked as I took her hand and led her to one of the other available doors. “Come on. Do you remember her scent?”

“I think so,” she whispered. “But I can’t be sure. A lot has happened in the past twenty-four hours.”

I nodded. “I understand. Do your best, okay?”

“Yes, sir.”

Hearing her acknowledge me as such sent shivers down my spine, electricity tickling my bones and settling in a pool between my thighs. Now wasn’t the time for that sort of arousal. Yet I couldn’t help it.

This woman had a spell on me.

I squeezed her hand as we wandered through tight corridors, peeked into abandoned offices, and explored narrow hiding places where a child might hide. But the more we searched, the less of their scent we found.

Returning to the main room, the others looked just as abjectly lost as I did. We had lost two of our own. That affected a group of runaways like the ones here.

Landon stepped forward. “The swamps outside—they could have taken shelter out there.”

“Why in the world would they do that?”

“I don’t know, but maybe they got scared and tired of waiting.”

I shook my head. “Viola would never…”

“You have to consider it,” April reasoned. “If she’s vowed to protect your daughter, then she would do just about anything to make that happen, right?”

After a moment, I nodded. “Alright, we’ll check the swamps.” I looked at Landon. “If they come back here, send someone to let us know, okay?”

“Absolutely.”

I smiled as I watched the woman named Maria look fondly at Landon. He didn’t seem aware of her affections, or he was simply putting on a show of ignorance. I couldn’t tell.

Landon gathered some supplies and placed them into a bag that he handed off to my mate. A smile crossed her lips as she accepted the bag. She hugged Landon and then clutched Maria for a moment before returning to me.

My grip on April’s hand tightened as we headed to the back door leading into the swamps. As soon as the door was shut behind us, we heard it bolt, the latches clicking raggedly into place. We were alone out here.

That was fine.

A glance at April told me she was in this all the way. Her determination, her strength, and her resilience were admirable, inspiring me to sweep her into my arms and plant a hungry kiss on her lips. We just had each other an hour ago—yet I still wanted more of her.

“Later,” she assured breathlessly as I dusted kisses along her jawline. “And you can heal every wound that I have.”

“I will kill one of Remington’s goons for every wound you have, my love.”

“Then, you would be wiping out an entire pack.”

Her response angered me, rage boiling in my gut as I clutched her tightly. Instinctively, I nuzzled into the nape of her neck, fangs extending to tap her main artery. “Mine.”

The desire to mark her was overwhelming at this point. I had to do it before someone else did, but I couldn’t do it unless she was ready. The last time I tried to mark someone without permission didn’t exactly go so well.

Guilt gripped me as I withdrew from her. “I have to tell you something.”

“I suppose we both have important things to tell each other, huh?”

I observed her fondly, watching the way the moonlight glinted in her eyes. God, I loved the way she looked at me. No one else had ever beheld such fondness in their gaze while just looking at me.

Not since my late wife.