Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 58962 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 295(@200wpm)___ 236(@250wpm)___ 197(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58962 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 295(@200wpm)___ 236(@250wpm)___ 197(@300wpm)
“No, Alpha,” I replied. He had to be concerned if he was calling me with Boone. “No one saw me, and I didn’t use my claws or teeth. It was clean.” The bastards had positioned their attack on Brooke where the parking garage cameras were blind. I’d offed them in the same place.
“Why, Roy?” Rob demanded. “What happened?”
“They were shooting at my mate.”
There were a few seconds of silence.
“Your mate?” Rob asked.
I heard the sound of a scuffle and then Boone. “Sorry, Alpha. Roy, you found your mate?” He must’ve grabbed the phone from Rob.
His voice had changed from tight to buoyant.
“Yeah.”
“Why were two men shooting at your mate in the hotel’s parking garage?” Rob asked. I could only imagine the look he gave Boone as he handed the phone back.
I ran a hand through my messy hair. “It’s a long story, Alpha, and I will share it with you. Later. Right now, I need to find my mate.”
“You lost her?”
“She left my suite while I was sleeping.”
I glanced down at the gauze pad over my wound and ripped the tape off. The bullet hole was completely closed, looking a month old rather than a day. I ripped at the dressing Brooke had applied to the back of my biceps next. “I got shot instead of Brooke, and while I healed quickly, I slept hard after to recover.”
Quick healing came with a deep sleep, a shifter’s body needing time to recharge after all the energy was used up.
“We didn’t get much sleep last night.” My dick pulsed, eager to fill our mate again. “She must’ve slipped out when I was out. I only woke up because you called multiple times.”
“Is she in danger?”
“Yes, and I need to find her before anyone else from the mob gets to her.”
“The mob?” Rob asked. “Fucking hell, can’t we find mates who don’t come with so much trouble?”
I didn’t know if it was the mob or not, but that was what Brooke had guessed. Regardless, mob or not, Brooke was still in danger.
“I’m not sorry, Alpha. I had to do what was needed to protect my mate.”
“I understand. What can we do to help from here?” he wondered.
I sighed, relieved to know he wasn’t calling me home. It was almost impossible to ignore an alpha’s order, except when it came to a mate.
“Get Levi to do a search for me–fast.” Levi was Cooper Valley’s sheriff and also a shifter. He’d be able to use his network of law enforcement database resources to help. “Brooke Van Druzen. Or Van Drusen. Not sure how it’s spelled. From Denver. Works at an accounting firm called Marks and Fields.” I remembered more than her sweet scent and taste. I also memorized everything she told me. “I need to know where she lives because she snuck out on me. I’m sure she went home, and if I can get her address, these fuckers who want her dead could get it, too.”
8
BROOKE
* * *
“It’s best you come back inside.” A beefy hand grabbed my arm and yanked me in from my front yard. Once I had my feet beneath me, I looked up. Cereal Man. “Don’t want any neighbors to get hurt now, do you?”
He looked like he ate a lot more than a healthy bran cereal. More like an entire refrigerator. He was built like one. Big and square. His eyes weren’t cold, but they held disinterest. He had zero qualms manhandling an innocent woman.
My place was small and compact, one in a long row of older, cookie-cutter homes. The yards were kept neat, but everyone worked during the day to make ends meet. There was no extra money for things like a simple doorbell camera that would record all this.
He was right, I didn’t want anything to happen to any of my neighbors. After yesterday, I knew their boss wasn’t too concerned about them shooting at innocent people.
I was going to die. They’d broken into my house and had been waiting for me. It was a while since they’d raided my kitchen for a snack. Since Roy had killed the shooters from the parking garage, that meant these weren’t the same men. How many goons did the mob boss have? His men had missed me the night before, so I had no doubt they weren’t going to miss this time. They were going to take me inside and shoot me.
I swallowed hard, my mouth having lost all spit when I’d found them on my couch. I was so panicked that my hands tingled as I was led inside. “I don’t know anything. If I did, I wouldn’t say anything. Tell your boss that I’m just a junior accountant. Boring. Look at my house.” I threw my arms wide. “I don’t even own it. It’s just a rental. I keep my head down and work hard.”