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She shook the feeling off and continued searching. She managed to find herself three pairs of pants and a nice shirt for the lovely price of four hundred dollars. She definitely was going to write them off.
She headed to the next store in search of nice shoes. Her flats didn't impress Jill. She felt nothing had impressed Jill besides her resume. Jill explained they needed her to look her finest at all times. You never know who could be watching you. That thought made her think of Timber, and she wanted to look amazing.
She headed down the rack, flipping through shoe boxes. She pulled her eyes up and once more had the feeling someone was watching her. Worry caused her stomach to churn.
Lyra grabbed a pair of shoes and headed to check out. She didn't start work until next week so she could go shopping again with her mother. Her mother had better taste in clothes anyway.
She paid for her shoes and headed straight to her car. She heard footsteps behind her and turned around. There was no one.
Her heart raced, and panic set in. She turned back around and ran to her car. She locked her doors and tore out of the parking lot.
She was heading home when she realized there was a car following her. She swerved into another lane, and they did too. Seeing the car's windows were tinted, she swallowed. There was no license plate. The pit in her stomach only grew.
She couldn't go home. She couldn't let them know where she lived. So, she went down different streets in the hope of losing them. It wasn't going well.
Instead, she turned left, and then she took a right. And she went onto the interstate and hopped off. They were still behind her.
Lyra looked at her gas, and her worry grew. She was going to get gas before her interview but forgot, and now she was getting very low. She had less than a fourth of a tank.
She was driving in a small quiet neighborhood. She decided she would park in a block and call the cops. The cops would know what to do. She could head into someone's house and have witnesses. She turned into a driveway and frowned when she realized it was a house for sale.
The car wasn't around her, and she slipped out. She started down the street, looking for a house that had a light on. She didn't see any.
Her stomach roiled as she walked, and her feeling of fear grew tenfold. She saw a house ahead with the porch light on and started to run.
She heard something to her left, a low growl. She ran faster, pumping her legs to move as quickly as she could get them to go.
A pair of eyes stared at her, and a large paw reached out to her from the dark side of a house. She screamed.
It yanked her back through a small yard and into the woods, and she screamed even louder.
No one seemed to hear her, or no one seemed to care.
She tried to free herself, but it was no use. She was small compared to the person pulling her deeper into the woods. She just needed to accept her fate.
TWENTY-FIVE
TIMBER
Timber was rattled after the meeting with the committee. They just wouldn’t listen to him, even if he had good points, which he felt he did. If they knew what it was like to find their mate, then they would know what it was like for Timber. He physically could not be without Lyra. She was connected to him for life, whether she was there or she wasn’t.
He drove home, trying to keep his cool for the sake of Marigold, who was largely unaffected thus far by his emotions. When he walked in the front door, his phone vibrated madly in his pocket.
“Hold on, hold on.”
He took Marigold to her playpen, feeling the vibration stop and go to voicemail. He frantically slipped it out of his pocket, thinking that it was either Lyra or the council. But when he looked at it, it was a number he didn’t recognize.
Timber listened to the voicemail; it sounded like a woman panting with fear and desperation.
“Hi, hi, is this Timber Mahogany? Please call this number back, please. This is Lyra’s mother, Karen. Please call me as soon as possible.”
Marigold played with her toys, roaring with a plush bear in hand. Timber didn’t have time to take in the amusing image as he hit the reply button instantly.
“She’s missing,” Karen implored. “She was supposed to meet me at my house two hours ago, and … and, they found her car at another, empty house.”
It was obvious that the woman was upset. So Timber moved into action, scooping up Marigold into his arms along with a few jars of baby food, a bag of diapers, and a to-go bag of extra clothing.
“I will be there as soon as I can. What is your address?”
