“Damn, John, she’s human, younger, and you’re not exactly the most civil wolf.” Bass chuckled. “Go easy on the girl, okay? And I need to know if you’re struggling for control. Mate or not, we’re at war, and I need you focused.”
His stomach dropped, disappointment crawling over his skin; he’d lost control, and now the man they needed to question was dead. “I’m sorry, Bass,” John answered, rubbing at his face. “I’ve been fine up until then, but when I found him attacking her… I saw red.”
Bass clapped him on the shoulder. “It’s understandable, John. Don’t beat yourself up about it. If a man hurts what’s yours, he deserves death. Come on. Let’s go find Nico and see if he’s found anything.”
They’d walked a few steps when Bass’s phone chimed in his pocket. The harsh curse out of Bass’s mouth had John on full alert.
“Cass? The baby?” Bass answered, then listened to Cassady’s reply. “Damn it, another… Yeah, someone tried to snatch Eva too… Yes. Are you sure the baby is… I know, being pregnant doesn’t make you an invalid. I’m just a concerned alpha. Give me a break.” Bass chuckled. “Be there soon.”
Hanging up, Bass explained the call to John. “Cassady was at the supermarket, and someone tried to take her like they did Eva. She was ready for him though. Guy’s knocked out in the back of his van. She says she’d fine but….”
“Yeah, you need to get there quick.” John nodded.
“No one’s in town, are they?”
John shook his head as he mentally scanned through the information he handled as second to his alpha. “Cage has just come off nights. Bet he’s home… asleep, but….”
“I’ll call him. You’re in charge of your dead guy. Send Nico back out onto patrol and alert everyone to the possibility of further attacks. No one is to go out alone anymore. I’ll grab Evan. He’s going to go batshit when he finds out his pregnant mate was attacked.” Bass rubbed at his neck. “Can we not catch a break? Fucking Castor. Wish he’d attack head-on for once.”
“He’s a coward. He knows he’ll not win in a fair fight,” John answered, voice cold with anger. “Go take care of Cassady. I’ll look into Eva’s attacker, and with a bit of luck, we might have some information by the end of the day.”
Going their separate ways, John met with Nico to learn he’d already done a search on the van. It was a stolen vehicle registered to an address in Utah, and after making sure no trace of their involvement could be found, Nico had sent someone to dispose of the van where the police would find it and presume it was abandoned by the people who’d stolen it.
The body of Eva’s attacker also didn’t lead to any clues, leaving John with the final job of disposing of the body where it would never be found.
It was a frustrating end to a hunt, which left John irritable and his wolf snarly. Yet he was angrier at himself for killing Eva’s attacker than anything else. He knew better than to allow his wolf to control his actions; it was a mistake he couldn’t afford to make again.
Eva was a problem he’d been ignoring for too long—if you called finding your future mate a problem, of course.
The fact she was human made things complicated, and that didn’t even factor in the large age gap between them. What little he knew of Eva was what he’d learned from Zackary—she’d deferred the final year of her biology degree to help her brother and would soon need to return so she could complete the degree and go onto veterinary school. She was clearly smart and driven to commit to eight years of study, and both sides of him liked this, but it also meant she’d be leaving for school for far too long. It was hard enough to control his primal instincts with her close by. John had no idea how he’d cope with her potentially in another state.
He had no right to ask her to change her plans for him, and even if he did, he’d never do it. A relationship was built on an equal partnership, and Eva giving up her career for him would not accomplish that. It was a disaster waiting to happen and why he’d been avoiding the mating call in the first place. But fate, as usual, had other plans.
With nothing left to do but wait to see what Bass had learned from the other attack, John decided to use his time to hunt down his very beautiful, very innocent prey.
Entering his cabin without knocking, he startled a yelp from Eva, followed immediately by her rage. “What are you doing? You can’t just waltz in here. I could have been naked or something,” Eva ground out, her stance rigid.
He raised an eyebrow, pleased she had a spine and delighted to taste her fiery spirit. “You’re in my cabin, Eva,” he drawled, smirking.
“What? I can’t stay with you.”
“Why not?” he asked as he went to the fridge to grab a beer.
“Because I can’t. Besides, my father would never approve. I’ll need to be accommodated elsewhere.” Crossing her arms, Eva stared at him hotly, amusing John. He liked his future mate annoyed.
“No can do, sweetheart. I’m the only one with a spare room. Unless you’d like to bunk on the floor with your father and brother?” The lie rolled far too easily off his tongue.
Her anger faltered before she smiled. “You can bunk on the floor and give us this cabin.”
He laughed. “Why in the hell would I do that?”
“Because it’s what a gracious host would do,” she countered.
“Hmm… I suppose I could.” He grinned. “But I won’t be doing that, Evaline.” He closed the distance between
