It might be foolish, but with mates, it was very hard just to walk away or let it go if things weren’t going smoothly. Luckily, the fates or the goddess or someone was giving me the strength to take another run at it.
My wolf butted me inside, offering support. She was more worried about the mate thing. If I couldn’t get this situation straightened out somehow, I wasn’t sure what would happen as far as she was concerned. But she wouldn’t be happy, and having one’s wolf unhappy was not what anyone wanted. They had their own ways of making it known, day and night.
And speaking of unhappy, when Gigi and I got home, Tris had been gone and hadn’t answered when I called before going to bed. I’d left him watching TV with Gigi, but, obviously, everything had changed. I first thought maybe he hadn’t felt comfortable being alone, but that didn’t explain why he didn’t answer. I finally texted to tell him where I’d be then grabbed a cup of coffee on my way out the door.
Samson was waiting for me at the alpha house, but none of his betas were in sight. Or anyone else. He opened my car door and extended a hand. “Ready to hit the trail?” Literally.
Considering how serious our mission, he seemed relaxed. I accepted his help and stood. “I am. No news since last night?”
“Not at all. We’ve had people combing the woods all night, but they have found absolutely nothing.”
“And now?”
“Now, they are sleeping, and I thought just the two of us might be a good stop gap. Maybe the perp or perps will think it’s safe to do something when they aren’t hearing a ton of wolves roaming the woods.”
“Like move the girls?”
“Like that. Or I don’t even know what.” His voice was so flat, I looked into his eyes. Dark circles were around them and his cheeks were pale. Hell.
“Did you get any sleep at all?”
He shrugged. “Not much, a catnap around dawn. But it doesn’t matter. What does is finding our pack members and shutting these guys down.” Without releasing my hand, he started toward the woods. “So, just you and me! Unless you’re afraid?”
“Me? Warrior chick?” I scoffed. “I hardly think so.”
The morning mist twined around the trees as we entered the woods, and I turned my face up into it, sniffing for any unusual scents. We were still two-legged, but my senses were still very attuned to similar things. Like someone not pack in our woods. The light fog would carry it easily. So far nothing, but that didn’t mean we wouldn’t have better luck after a while. I had cleared everything off my calendar for this day.
It seemed important. Well, it was important, of course, and for more than my precarious personal life. If the kidnapper or kidnappers continued to target the pack, soon we wouldn’t have any young, single women left to take.
“I guess that would resolve it,” I said aloud.
“What would?” Samson asked, and I jumped a little. How could I get so lost in my head with him right here?
“You’re going to think this is weird.” Hell even I did.
He chuckled and tugged me into his side with an arm over my shoulders to pass a rock blocking part of the trail. As wolves, we would bound right over such things, or avoid trails altogether, but human form had a different set of abilities. Like talking to one another in words. When we mated, we’d be able to communicate much better in wolf form. Something I was reminded of often.
Past the boulder, he could have loosened his grip. There was plenty of room to walk side by side without being sandwiched together, but this was better. “Let me be the judge of what is weird. You wouldn’t believe what pack members tell me. I think a few of them live in an alternative universe.”
“It’s not that out there,” I protested, sliding an arm around his waist. “At least I don’t think so. How many girls do you think are in the age range the kidnapper seems to be going for? I mean in the pack, living on the lands right now?”
He was quiet for a minute, and I glanced up to see his lips moving, probably counting young women. Unfortunately, fixating on his handsome face led to not noticing a much smaller rock I caught the toe of my sneaker on. I gave a little squeak as I lost my balance and fisted the fabric of his flannel, trying to stay upright.
Of course, I needn’t have worried, not with Samson’s arm still over my shoulders. Or I shouldn’t have, except my flailing made it impossible for him to hold on to me without going down himself. Which I guess my grip on his shirt made unavoidable.
However it happened, we landed in the leaves on the side of the path, him on the bottom, me on top, and his hands slid from my shoulders to my bottom, pressing me tight against the swelling at his groin that told me he wanted me as much as I wanted him.
I extricated my hand from his shirt and buried both in his hair, the silken strands slipping between my fingers. He smelled so good. Of everything warm and sweet and pack. Of home. A sob swelled in my throat before I crashed my lips down on his, and then we were kissing, and I didn’t care about anything else. Just my mate, just Samson whose kisses and caresses
