Page 114 of Unravel Me

A strange excitement begins building inside me, and I keep moving forward while thinking, What the hell am I even doing? Then I find it—that one particular direction that feels undeniably tempting. The forest road carries me through relatively easy terrain, and unexpectedly, through my cracked-open window, I start hearing distant sounds.

I stop and listen, even shutting off the engine. A saw. Hammering. Maybe even the whine of a drill. Could there be a construction site out here? I start driving again, slowly and cautiously, keeping a close eye on the forest ahead. Sure enough, after a while I spot a clearing between the trees, and a construction site comes into view.

My heart speeds up. I nervously glance toward the glove compartment where I keep my gun and open it. You never know what kind of people might be working at a site like this. I approach at an unhurried pace.

Someone is building a rather elegant log house here. I'm not sure whether it's meant to be a vacation cabin or a year-round home, but at this stage it still doesn't have a roof. I spot three workers: two alphas carrying lumber and a beta operating a power saw, cutting beams near the entrance.

Could I find my True Mate here? Could it be one of the workers?

I can't deny that something was leading me here. My heart speeds up slightly, but I'm afraid to get out of the car. Eventually, the beta operating the saw notices my car. For a moment, he just stares at me, apparently unsure what to make of the fact that some old beater has suddenly emerged from the forest with a guy inside staring at him.

The two alphas carrying lumber disappear inside for a moment, and only then do I dare pull a little closer and crack my window open. I'm already gathering the nerve to ask the beta something—I have no idea what, actually—when I suddenly notice two other men coming around the back of the building. One is an older beta wearing a reflective vest and a hard hat, looking a little like the site supervisor. But the other one is someone I already know very well.

It's… Mauro.

My heart leaps.

Holy shit, did I drive all the way here just to find him? Is this where I was being drawn? Was it him I was searching for all along?

I have to admit, I just stare at him with my mouth hanging open. Mauro hasn't noticed me yet. He and the other man are looking over some plans, and the man in the hard hat is pointing something out to him, but after a moment, Mauro clearly feels the weight of my stare. His head suddenly lifts, and he looks in my direction.

Even from this distance, I can see the effect my presence has on him. He freezes, turns his whole body toward me, and stares. He probably has no idea what I'm doing here, and honestly, at this point, neither the do I. What the hell is going on?

Could he really be my True Mate?

Of all the roads I could have taken, all those turns I could have made, I somehow chose this one.

The one that led me straight to Mauro!

A fucking miracle… Unbelievable.

Mauro hands the papers back to the other man, who is now staring at me too. My showing up in a place like this must certainly be a strange sight.

My beautiful alpha starts walking toward me, and I swallow nervously because I have absolutely no idea what I'm supposed to say to him now.

When he reaches the car, I manage to squeeze out, "Hey, how's the work going?"

I immediately turn beet red because it's just so fucking stupid. Why the hell would I drive all the way to a construction site just to casually ask him how the work is going?

Mauro doesn't answer. He just stares at me, and I can see the confusion, surprise, and utter bewilderment on his face.

"Sorry. I don't want to bother you. I can see you're busy."

But Mauro quickly pulls out his phone and types a few sentences.

"Is everything okay? Did something happen?"

I shake my head quickly, my heart pounding in my chest. "No, nothing. I just came by because, you know, I was curious to see what you were up to," I babble.

I'm lying, and I know he can feel it. His eyes move uncertainly over my face, studying me. Ugh. I shouldn't lie, but… well, it just happened.

Mauro slowly bends over his phone and types a few sentences, but I can see he's hesitating over whether he should use the text-to-speech function. But then I reach out, quickly snatch his phone, and turn it toward me.

It says:

"Did you go looking for your True Mate? Do you still believe you'll find him?"

I hand the phone back because my throat suddenly feels tight. Should I keep pushing the lie? Maybe I should. After all, I'm almost certain he's hiding plenty of things from me too. But in the end, I decide not to say anything.