Nicholas~
My body may haul ass down the freeway in front of me back to Ian's pack, but my mind and the closest thing I have ever felt to a longing are behind me in LA. Never in my life have I missed a woman I'd bedded, let alone be pining away just to be close to her. Nick, the ruthless bounty hunter, doesn't know what to do with these newfound feelings, so I will do what I have done all my life and do my best to push them aside and act like they don't exist. I am also failing miserably.
Zeek keeps telling me that being drawn to my mate is natural. Okay, I get that sort of thing. However, drawn to and consumed by are two different things. I am about as lost as a nine-eyed opossum in broad daylight. No one is as stunned as I am by my possessiveness of her. I hardly know her. It was not what I had expected. My mind keeps circling back to the human man in the bar.
The thought of Harley being intimate with him makes my skin crawl. It enrages us both to think of his becoming hostile toward her. It wasn't hard to get the gist that Harley was trying to break the relationship off with him, and he wasn't happy about it. Leaving her was a mistake. I also feel guilty, imagine fucking that, another emotion I don't do well, for lying to her. I should have been honest, and I know it.
'You should have stopped her and told her they are OUR mates!'
'Don't you think her wolf already informed her of that, Zeek? She left us anyway because she wanted to. We had no right to hold them against their will.'
Perhaps what we did embarrassed her. Women are fickle like that. You must not give up! They belong with us.'
I know my wolf is right, and I have no intention of giving up. Though it looks like I have a long row to hoe. My common sense tells me she will not want to be mated to me once she finds out I don't have a pack or even an actual home. Still, I don't want to let her continue believing I am a respected Alpha. My logic tells me that once she finds out what she was born to be, she will return to the Lake and take her place as the next guardian. Still, I would follow her to the moon goddess's realm.
'Selene wouldn't have brought us together without a way to be together. You like to fish and boat. Lake life doesn't sound too bad to me. As long as we wind up with our mates, I don't care where we wind up.'
'I got it, Zeek. It's a little harder on this side of the wolf, though. All you have to be is sweet and cuddly.' I chuckled at his growl.
I called Ian and told him I would be there within the hour. The excitement in his voice made me want to rip off his head and shit down his throat, since I knew what his plans were for my mate. Little did he know, Harley would never see the inside of the Durwood Academy. I know I have to keep a handle on my anger. I need Ian if I am going to protect her. However, taking Ian out once I have Harley safe is sounding like a pretty good idea after all.
I pull into Ian's pack without question. He must have informed his front gate guards I was coming. Cocky bastard! I go to his office and find the vermin kicked back at his desk with his Beta Toby, whom I have never cared for, standing by the door. He closes the door behind me and assumes his position in front. I roll my eyes at him. Like he could stop me if I wanted to go! I sit across the desk from Ian, trying to keep the hatred off my face.
"It's about damn time!" Ian opens his desk drawer, takes out two stacks of hundreds, and slides them across the desk to me.
I thumb through them with a smile at his stupidity and set them aside. "You're lucky I came at all, Ian."
"You will address him as Lycan!" Toby growls behind me.
I ignored the mouthpiece. "Ian, I am not a guidance counselor. Family drama is bad for business. Not to mention, the abductee will not be easy to abduct. High-profile detectives don't just go missing."
Next, Ian produces a manila envelope and slides it across the desk at me. I opened it, turned it upside down, and my new badge, FBI, and shield fell out onto the desk. A look inside shows me my personnel file.
"I assumed it would take some time." Ian fidgeted in his chair. "Of course, you can't just go in and drag her out of the police station. Get her alone first and use a stun or tranquilizer gun on her if you have to. Then you could stuff her in the trunk of your car! You have free rein in the how. Maybe even have some fun with her along the way. Just don't kill her. She is of no use to me dead. I will provide for all expenses besides the 5000,000."
I hoped there was at least a shred of decency or fairness in the man, and that he would reconsider. Unable to tolerate much more, I stand and extend my hand. "Deal, I will leave in the morning." Ian just sealed his fate with a handshake.
I move toward the door, but Toby doesn't move aside. I square my shoulders at him. His eyes go black. I know Ian is communicating with him. He opens the door and steps aside. "Thanks, buddy," I told him sarcastically, slapping his chest. I made my way out.
Before I can return to my car, my phone is buzzing in my pocket. The message reads. 'Meet me at Café Rosa in town.' It was Kyle.