But if Rossi had figured out Keir is my fated mate, I doubt he would have cared much about witnesses, too hungry for vengeance to resist striking that kind of blow to me. Losing a fated mate isn’t necessarily fatal, but that’s definitely a possibility. If I hadn’t been able to control my initial reaction to Keir, Rossi would have never let him go, omega or not, since a mated omega isn’t worth half as much. Rossi would have used Keir to control me or—
“Is that a ‘yes’ on the bullshit?” asks Keir, interrupting my spiraling thoughts.
“No,” I say, shaking myself out of the various awful scenarios playing out in my head.
He purses his lips. “I see.”
“It’s not safe for you on your own,” says Brody. “We can protect you.”
Keir thinks on that for a moment, his gaze moving to the window as he watches the city pass by. “Where are we going?”
“Back to the hotel,” replies Brody.
“The hotel?”
“The Grand Royale,” I say. “Where the summit is being held.”
Keir nods slowly, his gaze moving up to meet mine in the rearview mirror. There’s heat and awareness in his eyes, but also confusion. He’s feeling the fledgling mate bond, but given his ignorance in other areas, he might not know what it is.
“And there are other Alphas at this summit?” asks Keir, turning his attention back to the window.
“Yes,” says Brody. “All the Alphas from the Midwest.”
Keir’s throat bobs as he swallows. He holds himself carefully still, but he’s practically vibrating with tension. He takes a deep breath and then flashes a wide grin my way. There’s something about the expression that doesn’t feel right…
“So, where are you guys from?”
“Madison, Wisconsin,” says Brody, pulling to a stop at a red light.
“Nice,” says Keir absentmindedly. “And Remy’s back at the hotel, right? You guys are keeping a better eye on him?”
“Yes,” says Brody. “Dante’s not taking his eyes off him again.”
“Of course not.” Keir grins to himself, clearly as aware of my second’s crush on my brother as I am.
The light changes, and Brody depresses the gas pedal. A subtle click registers in my ears, but it isn’t until the SUV dings a warning noise that I identify the sound as the back door opening. Keir hits the ground, already running even as Brody screeches to a halt.
Brody and I leap from the SUV, barely taking the time to close the doors and take off after Keir. However, it quickly becomes clear that Keir knows this area.
And we very much do not.
I could shift and track my mate easily, but the triumvirate would have my head when they received word of an over-sized wolf running through the streets of Chicago.
“I think we lost him,” says Brody as we finally slow to a stop. “He should be okay now that you got him away from Rossi. He knows enough to get out of the city and he seems pretty resourceful.”
“True,” I say. “But Ihaveto find him. He’s my fated mate.”
“Fuck,” says Brody.
My sentiments exactly.
Eight
Keir
IleftJulienandBrody behind blocks ago, but for some reason I’m still running. My fight-or-flight instinct is firmly locked into flight even though there’s this weird niggling feeling in my stomach telling me I need to go back.
That’s not going to happen.
