“Stay here and lock the door behind me,” I ordered over my shoulder.
“You can’t go out there.” There was alarm in Reese’s voice as she went to step over the threshold of her back door.
“Do not take another step.”
She stilled at the biting edge in my voice, I assumed.
I swallowed my anger down. It wasn’t her that had me angry, but I was fucking rattled. The possibilities of why there were werewolf shifters at my mate’s home were too numerous. This could have something to do with the nursing home, or somehow, someone had found out that she was my mate. If the Alliance discovered I found my mate in a human, they would do their best to put a stop to it.
I’ll kill them all. My wolf declared, his voice roaring through my head. I dipped my head, agreeing with him, silently.
“I’m going to make sure they’re gone. Go inside, lock the door, and do not open it for anyone but me,” I warned.
Reese tucked her bottom lip between her teeth, and I had to look away. When I lifted my head again, she stepped back inside and closed the door. I didn’t move until I heard the door lock.
Off the back porch was a stone trail that led into the small backyard. The distance between the patio and the fence was only about ten feet. I glanced over my shoulder before grabbing hold of two wooden planks to hoist my body over the eight-foot fence. I landed in a crouching position and didn’t move.
An owl sounded in one of the trees, about three yards again. We made eye contact, and he quieted down. I quickly discarded my shirt, boots, and jeans, leaving them by the fence, before shifting into my wolf.
Find them. I ordered my wolf, and he took off running, tracking the scent. Their fucking smell was all over the backwoods behind Reese’s home. I growled and bared my teeth when I spotted paw tracks. I followed them for about six yards, noting the scent of the wolves still prevalent in the air.
However, my anger eased, only slightly, upon recognizing they were long gone.
The bastards, whoever they were, had followed this pathway out of Reese’s neighborhood and connected to another street about half a mile away. That was where I lost their scent and the tracks. They likely shifted somewhere around here and got in an awaiting vehicle.
Who the fuck were they? And why were they looking for my mate?
I made my way back toward Reese’s home, stopping at a few trees just past her fence, and lifted my back right leg. A stream of piss flowed out, watering the trees. I went over to another tree at the opposite end of the fence and did the same. Then I circled to the front of Reese’s home, doing the same thing over and over, drenching her entire property in my scent.
Not until I was thoroughly satisfied that I’d marked my territory did I return to my pile of clothes. Once shifted back and dressed, I circled to the front of the house to do one final sweep of the surrounding neighborhood. Nothing was amiss, but I knew what I smelled earlier.
“Hey,” Reese said as she pulled the door open for me. “Everything okay?”
“Perfect,” I lied.
“You didn’t find anything?” She slapped her forehead and shook her head. “I knew it. I was overreacting. I shouldn’t have…” She cut off when I took her hand into mine, squeezing it.
“You did what I wanted you to do.” I stepped back inside, crowding her space and shutting the door behind me without peeling my gaze away from her.
A small smile touched her lips, and a yearning in my body unlike any other started. How I wanted to stroke those lips with my own. I wanted to hear her beg for me with that pretty mouth of hers.
I ran my hand down the side of my face.
“Oh my.” Reese’s eyes grew wide. “I’m sure you’ve been working all day and are exhausted. You probably want to get back home.”
“Actually.” I paused to make sure I locked the door behind me. “If it’s alright with you, I think I’ll stay awhile.”
* * *
Reese
If it’s alright with me?
I should’ve told him that it most definitely wasn’t alright with me for him to be in my home in the middle of the night. I stared at Chael, taking up the entirety of my doorway, his presence filling up every inch of my tiny, rented home, casting his almost overwhelming energy over everything it touched.
He unnerved me in ways that I’d only read about in romance books and romantic comedies. I’d felt butterflies for other men before, sure. But this was more than that happy, giddy feeling you get when you think about your crush. I called this man when I was terrified in the middle of the night. And he came. No questions asked.
That was a panty-wetting type of behavior.
