Raze trackedher for seventeen miles, covering the ground in his wolf form fast and steady as I trailed behind him on my bike.
Seventeen damn miles.
How she had gotten so far on foot I didn't know. But somehow she did.
Briella was running. From me of all people. The one person she should have been able to trust to protect her. She was hurt. She had taken what she had seen and instantly thought the worst of me. Not that I could blame her for that.
I would have reacted the same way if I had seen another man leave the apartment. Actually, I would have acted worse. I would have killed him. There was no doubt in my mind that I would have. I wouldn't have been able to help myself.
No one got to touch Briella but me.
All I had to do was make her listen now. If I could explain things to her I was sure I could make her understand.
Pulling my bike to a stop next to the giant wolf who was hiding in the shadows, I let my eyes drift over the rundown motel in front of me. Its neon light was only half illuminated.
The place was a dump. I hated thinking of her alone in a place like that.
“Here?”
There was a gruff kind of whine as Raze answered me.
“Fuck, how did she get here on foot?” I was talking more to myself than anyone else. My eyes swept from one lit window to another. Less than a quarter of them were occupied as far as I could tell. And Briella was in one of them.
A high whine sounded, and the bush next to my bike rustled. I didn't need to turn to know that Raze had shifted back. Without pause I passed him the clothes I had been carrying for him.
“And in those heels as well.” A human Raze stepped out of the shadows, pulling a tee over his head. We stood side by side and studied the building.
“This is not where I thought she would end up,” he grumbled, and I nodded my agreement
Silently I called out for her. Willing her to come to a window, open a door, anything.
Nothing happened. The motel remained quiet.
“I should probably check the perimeter.”
I nodded again silently. My attention was drawn to a ground floor window. At the end of the row of rooms. The rectangular window was illuminated, and I was certain I had seen the curtains twitch back.
My heart slowed in my chest and then hammered back into life as the curtains opened wider. A human wouldn't have been able to see the pale face looking out into the dark parking lot but I wasn't human,
“There.” Without looking back, I strode forward.
“Go gently with her,” Raze called after me.
I didn't answer him. What kind of moron did he think I was? Chuckling darkly to myself, I decided not to answer that question. Raze thought I was the biggest type of moron.
I would go gently with Briella, but I wasn't about to take no for an answer.
My mate needed to come home where it was safe.
