Did he want children? Sure he did, but he was still enjoying his career and was hoping to get a promotion as Damon’s deputy. Plus, he was hoping to find his mate like his parents had found each other, but it felt like he’d been searching forever and that he’d never find her.
His grizzly protested at that. Hmmm, he never knew his animal was an optimist.
Putting those thoughts aside, he sent Damon a quick email telling him he was punching out early and headed toward the locker room. After a quick shower, he wrapped a towel around his waist and went to his locker to change into street clothes.
It wasn’t near shift change, so the locker room was empty. However, he was about to take off his towel when he heard the door open.
“… his truck’s still in the lot and the office is empty, so he’s probably in here,” someone said. He recognized the speaker as Anders Stevens.
“ … I’m sure—wait, isn’t this a locker room?”
The second speaker was a woman, and as soon as he heard her voice, his entire spine went rigid and the hairs on his entire body stood up. Why did that voice sound familiar?
“Yeah it is,” Anders replied. “So what?”
“I mean, is this the men’s locker?”
“Well, Rogers isn’t going to be in the women’s locker, that much I can tell you.”
What the hell was going on? Slamming his locker shut, he turned toward the sound of the voices. “What the hell do you—”
Mine.
“—want?” Every nerve ending in his body frazzled as various synapses in his brain fired up. His grizzly roared and stood up on its hind legs, paws raised in victory.
It was her.
His mate.
She’d walked in here like he’d summoned her from out of thin air. But why did this feel like déjà vu? Like it had happened before and he’d stared into her chocolate brown eyes before, seen her pretty face and plump lips. Like he already knew what that smooth tawny skin felt like and how her curvy body fit against his.
She looked stunned too. Human, he could tell, which meant she didn’t hear the call of an animal declaring them as mates. Her gaze dropped down to the towel around his waist, and she quickly jerked her head up, but not before he saw her pink tongue flick out to lick her lips.
Fffffuuuck. He turned around, opened his locker and grabbed for his jeans, placing them over the front of his hips before he embarrassed himself. “Uh, can I help you?” Mate. She’s our mate! He still couldn’t believe it.
“Yes, you can, actually,” she replied. Her voice was low and smoky, and it sent pleasant tingles across his skin. “I need to talk to you.”
“Sure,” he said. “Anders, do you mind?”
The other ranger crossed his arms over his chest. “No, I don’t actually,” he said, flashing him a grin. “Go ahead.”
“Anders,” he warned. What was the tiger shifter doing here anyway? With his mate? His inner bear did not like that and bared its teeth at Anders. “Privacy, please.”
When Daniel didn’t budge, Anders shrugged. “Fine. See you later, sweetheart,” he said to the woman before he turned and left.
Daniel reined in his grizzly before it could take a swipe at Anders. Calm down. Our mate is here! Speaking of which … “So.” He cleared his throat. “What can I do for you?” Aside from keeping you and moving you into my den?
“It’s you,” she said, almost reverently. “It’s really you.”
“Me?” Did she recognize him as her mate?
“Yes. Um, maybe you don’t remember. My name is Sarah. Three months ago, you were in Vegas, and we … we met at The Pink Palace.”
Realization swept through him. The memories slammed back into him all at the same time. Her skin. Those lips. Even the sleeve tattoo on her arm—that of a woman wearing red and blue surrounded by a halo of yellow—lit up something in his brain telling him he’d seen her before.
And those eyes. Those eyes that had been haunting his dreams.
“Yes,” he gasped. God, this was it. The moment he’d been waiting for. But why couldn’t he remember—oh right. The drugs.
When he arrived back from Vegas, the first thing he did was go to the hospital in Blackstone and get a drug test. They confirmed that he had trace amounts of bloodsbane in his system. He was almost certain that it was that asshole from the club who slipped it in his drink, to get back at him for spoiling his plans with the stripper.
He called The Pink Palace and told them what happened. To his surprise, the management took him seriously. They found the CCTV footage of that punk going outside and collecting something from a car that drove by, then going back in and putting it in a drink. They were also able to identify him and banned him for life, plus pressed charges on Daniel’s behalf, even using their own lawyer to represent him.
But then, he didn’t realize it could make him forget everything—including meeting his mate.
“So, you’re probably wondering why I’m here,” she began, twirling a lock of caramel hair between her fingers.
“Er, yeah.” Though he wasn’t going to complain. Maybe she did feel the pull of the mating? And she obviously recognized him. Shit, he didn’t even remember her face until now.
“I saw you on the news and—and … this is embarrassing,” she said. “So, we met at The Pink Palace Gentlemen’s Club in Vegas. My friends and I were celebrating because one of us was getting married. And I was pretty wasted, and I think you were too.”
“Uh, kinda,” he said.
“Anyway, I can’t remember anything from that night. Do you?”
“Er, not much,” he said. “I woke up in a
