Laurence bolted after her, his wolf howling at the distance she had placed between them.
She was fast, but so was Laurence. He let his wolf take over and push him quicker. His desperation to reach her overcame him and he followed her out of the alley.
He cursed when he broke out onto the sidewalk again and couldn’t see her. He carefully scanned the empty street, searching for the slightest flash of movement.
The streetlights illuminated the sidewalks, but there was no movement.
Laurence instead honed in on her scent. It was faint as if she was able to suppress it somehow. He quickly followed her scent, only for it to fade quicker than normal.
He tugged at his hair, trying to figure out how to find her again. He felt panic come over him at the thought of losing her.
He just found her.
Was he reading her incorrectly? He was so overcome with lust that he could have pushed her too quickly and he scared her off.
But she was a wolf, he was sure of it. Her earthy mix of flowers and the forest was mind-numbing to him, but also distinguishable enough for him to determine she was a wolf.
Not to mention her incredible speed.
Laurence spun around again, peeling his eyes for the gorgeous woman he was lucky enough to call his mate.
But she was gone. It’s like she disappeared.
Laurence let out a loud string of curse words and turned around, heading back to the parking garage to find his car.
He had been trying to follow a lead to find Mateo again. He knew Peter was meeting with someone tonight, but when he arrived to spy on them, they had already picked up on his presence.
The last thing he was expecting was a stunning woman literally running into him and knocking the breath out of him.
Laurence had been with his fair share of women, but none of them compared to the beauty of his mate. The way her curled brown hair circled her face, her deep brown eyes, and the starking contrast of her smooth skin and the long eyelashes against her cheeks.
He shook his head. There was no way he imagined her reaction to his touch. He wanted her so badly in that moment; he wanted to mark and take her right then and there but held back until he could get her out to safety.
It took the most incredible amount of self-control he’d ever had to use in his life.
He finally made it to his car and started it up, feeling frustrated with himself for losing her. She was his mate and he just let her disappear.
Why did she even run from him in the first place? He could tell that she felt their bond.
Laurence ripped his car from his parking spot and headed for his brother, Levi’s territory.
It was not only closer to the city, but he knew he needed to talk to his brother first anyway.
Levi and Landon, his brothers, had been a huge help to him ever since Mateo disappeared. There was something about Mateo that made Laurence want to help and protect him.
Mateo had spent a lot of time helping him in finding out all the information he could about the Arroyo’s and his father. But when he disappeared one day, he couldn’t help but feel it was his fault.
He knew he either found something he shouldn’t have or he was going to find something soon. And because he was working for Laurence at the time, he knew it had something to do with his case.
Laurence pulled out his phone and dialed his brother before adding Landon to the call. It took almost no time for him to catch them up on his most recent failure.
“You had one job, Laurence!” Levi fumed over the phone.
Laurence ran his hand through his hair and continued to drive with his other hand draped over the steering wheel.
“It’s not like I did it on purpose, Levi!”
Levi blew air through his nose. “What, did you get distracted? You’re lucky you got out of there alive, Peter and his stupid crew are not safe. Now all—”
“I ran into my mate, Levi.”
The line went dead silent.
“Who?” Landon asked as if he heard him incorrectly.
Laurence let out a frustrated sigh and landed a hard palm to his steering wheel, making his car vibrate dangerously on the highway.
He hated himself for losing her.
“My mate. She was also spying on them. We got caught, waiting for them to disappear, and she and left.”
More silence followed his statement. He knew he surprised his brothers—the revelation even surprised him.
He would have never thought he would meet his mate while on the longest man-hunt on his life.
Just his freaking luck.
“Look, I don’t know what’s happening or even what her freaking name is, but I intend to know. All I can do is hope this wasn’t random and that she has a connection to Mateo or Peter somehow.”
“You mean you lost her?”
“Of course I lost her, Landon! I would have told you guys if she was with me. She was a shifter and before I could stop her, she was gone..”
Laurence wasn’t surprised by the lack of response at both ends of the conversation.
That was almost more of a surprise than the fact that he lost the information he went for.
“Look, I’m almost at Levi’s. I gotta go on a run really quick, then I’ll be back to talk to you soon.”
Laurence knew he needed to go on a run to get some of this tension off of him; he couldn’t think straight.
As soon as he pulled up to Landon’s house, he was out his door and running into the woods. It was about nine-thirty at night and he didn’t want to keep his brothers up for too long, but he also knew he needed to get his head sorted out before he could talk to them.
As soon as he broke through the treeline, Laurence stripped from his clothes. He threw them carelessly on the forest ground before his wolf took over and he transformed into his glorious beast.
Laurence sighed in his wolf form, enjoying the instant freedom he felt from his furry side. He took a deep breath of the night forest air and took off into the woods, kicking up clouds of dirt and pine needles as he thundered into the woods.
Now more than ever he needed to find Mateo. And he needed to find his mate and determine her connection to his private investigator.Laurence finally made his way back to his brother’s house. He had no idea how long he had been running and burning off steam, but he needed to come back and discuss their next course of action.
Eva finally slowed down enough to gulp in large lungfuls of air. She placed her hands on her knees and bent over slightly, trying to suck breath into her burning lungs. She sprinted for almost a half a mile before she ran another two miles to reach the motel. She trembled from the adrenaline still coursing through her veins and she crouched low
Laurence released his suffocating grip on his steering wheel and hesitantly took his keys from the ignition, keeping his eyes peeled on the bustling bar in front of him the entire time. It had been two long months since Mateo disappeared and it was driving him mad. Laurence had zero experience with finding people, but he was learning quickly that this meant you had to be stealthy and sly. No good information lied on the surface, so he had to be careful as he started associating with people that could easily get him in trouble.
Eva stared down at her mate, a look of shock covering his handsome features as she gave him one last fleeting look. She needed to leave before it got her in trouble. Eva spun around, making sure the flash drive was still secured in her bra before hustling to the exit sign. She was feet from the door before the strong hand of her mate grabbed her shoulders and spun her, his eyes frantic.
“If you bump my foot again and I’m going to rip out your eyeballs,” Eva glared at Laurence, his movements freezing as he realized he was pressed against her foot. Embarrassment passed through him, which he quickly hid with a hurried mumbled apology and slid over on the hardwood so he was no longer brushing against her bruised ankle.
“Here’s something for you to sleep in,” Laurence offered, grabbing a large shirt and some basketball shorts from the drawer. Eva shifted her weight uneasily, her arms still folded tightly over her chest as she surveyed the room he was letting her stay in. It was about the size of her hotel room. It wasn’t much
Laurence’s head was still spinning by the time he registered she even left. He watched with a sinking feeling in his stomach as the dirt clouds rested from her hasty retreat. Despite her quick escape, Laurence couldn’t get the electric tingles from her searing lips out of his system. Her response was not only unexpected, but it was also thrilling.
The loud music thundered through her whole body and the stench of alcohol and sweat scrunched her nose, but Eva still found the desire to stay. The secret of what happened lies in this one guy. She had to stay. After seeing Cullen’s face on that tape and watching those men mercilessly beat her brother, Eva knew she had no choice but to follow the only lead she could really hang onto.