“You stepped to him. He took two steps back. Max Bock called me before you got back to the truck. That’s the second time I’ve gotten a call like that from Max, Blaze.”
“I didn’t touch him,” he repeated.
“Yesterday Ryder made a joke about your haircut. You snapped at him hard enough that he came to me to ask if he should be staying out of your way for a while.”
Blaze leaned his hands on his knees and breathed.
“Your job is the protection of our clients and the discipline of yourself. You do not get to walk around looking for somewhere to put your fists.”
“I know.”
“I know you know. So, tell me what’s going on.”
Blaze stood with his hands at his sides, breathing hard, his wolf howling inside his mind.
“I found my fated mate on mate.com last week.” Blaze took a breath. “She’s Stella Keenan. From the Fate Mountain Diner.”
“Tell me everything.”
He told him about going to the diner and what she’d said. He told him about how the bond pulled at him every minute of every day since. How he couldn’t sleep or eat. He was going insane.
Dom rubbed a hand down his face. “Listen,” he said. “You can’t fight your way into a mate bond.”
“I know.”
“You can’t intimidate her. You can’t push her. You can’t show up at her diner again. You’re not going to win this the same way you win fights. If you try, you’ll lose her and endanger the reputation of the entire pack. You don’t message her. You don’t go to the diner. You don’t do a goddamn thing. You let her come to herown conclusion, and you trust that her bear is going to argue your case for you better than you can.”
“Got it.”
“And you get yourself under control. Because I’m not putting an enforcer in the field who’s looking for a fight. That’s dangerous to the people we work for and to the pack.”
“Yeah.”
Dom watched him for another moment.
“You should have told me as soon as it happened.”
“I know.”
“Get your shit together. Tomorrow you’re back on client check ins and you’re going to be the version of yourself I trust.”
Chapter
Eight
Stella wasin her office at the diner when Andre’s name came up on the screen. It had been three days since the wellness check, and she’d been waiting for additional updates on Nell’s case.
“Here’s where we are,” Andre said. “Her description’s gone out to neighboring jurisdictions. Her phone carrier gave us her tower data with the family’s authorization. Her phone went dark late Sunday afternoon after her last shift at the diner. Last tower it pinged was the one that covers her apartment.”
“So, her phone was last active near her apartment?”
“According to the cell data. I called the bus station and the rideshare companies. Asked them to check their records for Nell Meadows. There are currently no records of her going anywhere.”
“Did you connect with anyone at the Bright Institute?”
“I went up there personally and talked to security. They don’t have any sign of her on CCTV. I interviewed her professors. Andthere’s been no sign of her on campus since the Friday before her last shift at the diner.”
“Have you talked to her mom?”
