Page 7 of Unravel Me

What the…

My mouth gapes in shock.

It’s Storm!

He approaches the house and knocks at the door.

Fuck! I wasn't expecting him at all.

For the first two weeks here, I believed he would show up. Every day, I looked out the window, hoping he would bring me good news about my True Mate.

Then, slowly, my hope began to crumble. A month passed, then two, and I started to doubt it would ever happen. In fact, I was preparing myself to reach out to Damien and ask the Omega Red Line Agency for help.

Now I rush down the stairs to open the door for him, my hands trembling and my heart pounding, but suddenly I realize that I stink of preheat, and he’s an alpha after all.

Mated, yes, but I don’t want to make the situation awkward.

Panicking, I rush back into the bathroom and strip out of my clothes, figuring they're already soaked with the scent of my preheat. I change, spray myself generously with pheromone-blocking deodorant, and only then do I run to answer the door.

Storm is already halfway down the path toward the driveway. Apparently, he's given up on me opening the door, so I hurry outside before he can leave.

"Hey! Wait!"

"Oh," Storm says, turning toward me with a wave. "I was starting to think you weren't home."

"I am, I am. Come on in."

My heart is pounding crazy. My blood pressure would probably blow the monitor. If he's here, maybe it means he found something for me.

Storm's massive frame looks completely out of place inside Alex's small house. He has to duck to get through the doorway, then pauses to glance around.

I raise a finger to my lips.

"Tommy's asleep. If you don't mind, let's keep our voices down."

"Of course," Storm murmurs. He looks around a little helplessly before finally walking over to the kitchen table and settling onto one of the stools.

He places a large tablet on the table.

I have no idea what any of this means. I watch what he's doing, but despite my confusion, hope keeps swelling in my chest.

"So, you've probably already given up, haven't you?"

He raises an eyebrow slightly, and I let out a long huff.

"You bet I have. I was already thinking about calling Damien and asking him to help me arrange some kind of safe house for me and Tommy."

Storm clasps his hands and straightens up, before speaking with emphasis.

"Jared, I don't even know if I really have anything to bring you. What's happened over the last couple of months is… hard to explain."

"I'm listening," I say, with a trembling voice. My fingers curl into fists, every muscle in my body pulled tight like a vibrating wire.

Storm studies my face for a moment, then turns on the tablet. I notice a map covering the screen, centered on a large stretch of green.

"You've got Instagram, which turned out to be a good thing. I was able to use your pictures. I kept looking at them, trying to get a feel for your aura, but I had no idea what to do with it. I didn't have the slightest clue how I was supposed to search for a True Mate when I'd never even seen the man."

His finger taps a spot on the map, but not on a city. Just a patch of green.