He was taking her son. A man was taking her son!
Hailey shouted, but barely a whisper escaped. Her chest tightened in terror. There was nothing she could do, she couldn’t…she couldn’t move. It hurt so much. No, she had to. She had to stop him. She couldn’t let him take her son.
Somehow, she managed to get her seatbelt off, falling out of the car as a fresh wave of dizziness hit her. Hailey groaned and pushed herself up off the snow. But she was already too late.
Riley was gone.
Chapter Ten
Chase
The world was always clearer in his reindeer form. The scents were crisper, the sounds were clearer, and the landscape was bathed in glorious ultraviolent, and as beautiful as anything he’d ever seen. Except his mate. Nothing shone in his heart the way she did. She was like a magnet, drawing him back to her side.
Yes. Let us go to our mate,his reindeer urged.
He shook his furry brown head.
No, we have our duty. We must find the missing children.
He could feel his reindeer’s torn loyalties. On the one hand, it yearned to be by their mate’s side, partaking in her joy and celebrating as a family. On the other, it wanted to find the missing children—and the men who had taken them—as badly as he did, and their senses gave them an edge over the human teams. That was why he’d agreed to stay and join the search. He’d recognized the photo the moment his boss had shown it to him—he’d caught a glimpse of that man fleeing the scene where a child had been taken. More importantly, he’d caught the man’s scent, and in this form, he would know at once if he crossed the man’s tracks.
And no matter how badly he wanted to return to his mate, he could never do that knowing he hadn’t done everything in his power to make the world a safer place for her, and for her son.
No, they had to keep going, and they had to stop these barbaric men.
Stop those who prey on the most vulnerable of the herd,his reindeer agreed.Then go home to mate.
That sounded like an excellent plan to him, and he lifted his head as he pressed ahead, scenting the air with each step. The pressure was dropping, and the wind was starting to pick up, disrupting the scents that lingered all around. A storm was coming in, and judging by his reindeer’s restlessness, it was going to be a bad one. If he was going to find this asshole in time to rescue the kids, he needed to move fast. He hastened his pace, pushing through the barren trees.
And then he froze, one hoof poised mid-air, tail twitching.
Something was wrong.
He could feel it somewhere deep in his soul. His heart pounded with an urgency that hadn’t been there before, and his inner reindeer was suddenly near-frantic with need.
Mate. Mate needs us. Go to mate.
What’s wrong?he asked, trying to get to the heart of his reindeer’s terror.
Go! Go now! Mate needs us!
His reindeer’s instincts had never once been wrong. If it said their mate needed them, then she needed them. And it was screaming that she did. She was in danger. He needed to help her.
And now that his reindeer had alerted him, he could sense Hailey’s distress through the part-formed mate bond. And there was only one thing he knew that could causethatlevel of distress. Riley was in danger. Her, too, almost certainly.
He spun around and bolted through the woods, letting his senses guide him. Some part of his mind registered surprise at her direction; it wasn’t the same way as where his home lay.
And she was close, he was sure of it. Less than a mile, and every step cut down on that. But why was she out here? She was supposed to be tucked away safely with her son.
He stumbled in the snow. She was leaving. She’d rejected him, rejected their love, without even giving him a chance to show her what he could offer, without giving him the chance to tell her everything. Without even saying goodbye.
But even as his heart shattered, he steeled himself. Because whether or not she wanted his love, she needed his strength, and he would never deny her anything. She was in trouble, and there was nothing he wouldn’t do to protect her, to make her safe again, even if it was just so she could leave. His heartbeat was like thunder in his ears as he raced forward. His reindeer was almost out of its mind with worry over what might have happened to her, and it wasn’t the only one. He ducked his head and ran faster, plowing a trail through the thick snow.
He burst through the trees moments later, and then skidded to a halt, eyes wide and nostrils flared in horror. That was his mate’s car…wrapped around a tree.
Was she…could she have survived that?
He shook his head, returning some clarity to his thoughts. He could sense her distress through the mate bond, closer to full-on panic now, which meant she was alive, and conscious.
