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“Your kind, the shifters, you have a name for what she is to you.”
“My mate, yes. That woman is my mate.” His voice was rough as he said it for the first time out loud.
It should be Caroline who hears this for the first time.
But no. He had been too stubborn. He fought his instincts to tell her, to mate her, and to spend his entire life with her. And now, he might never see Caroline Knight again.
That can’t happen.
“I have to find her,” he said.
Mrs. Bonetti shook her head. “You will be lucky to find them.”
“They can’t harm Salvatore. He’s a Bonetti.”
“They won’t harm him but will just leave him stranded somewhere.” Her face darkened.
“Is that what happened to Luigi? He was left somewhere?”
She nodded. “Yes. If you find your mate and Sal is with her, please bring him back home to us.”
“I will find them,” he vowed.
He found his phone and dialed a number. Ryland needed his brothers, and they would show up for him. “Wilder,” he said once his brother answered. “Caroline Knight has been taken.”
“What do you need?” Wilder asked.
That his brother, the alpha and CEO of the company, would speak those four words meant a lot to Ryland. He, Rylee, and Canaan might gripe about Wilder, but they knew. Their big brother would always have their back. That notion almost made this terrible situation bearable.
“I need you to meet me somewhere, but I’m gonna need your help and figuring thewherefirst.” Ryland filled in Wilder as he walked the perimeter of the house.
“More lynxes,” he said to Wilder as he followed Caroline’s fearful scent to tire tracks on the ground.
“I’ll find out what packs, specifically lynxes, live out there. I’ll get Dante and a few others on this. We’ll find her.”
“Thanks. She’s … she’s important to me.”
“We’ll find her,” Wilder promised.
TWENTY-FIVE
CAROLINE
Lying on a cold surface, Caroline tugged at the rope that bound her hands together, but the knots were too tight to undo. The tape on her mouth wouldn’t budge either. Her only hope was to rub her face on her sleeve a few hundred times until she could feel one of the corners lifting.
It might’ve taken her hours to free her mouth from the tape. All sense of time was lost to her in the dark space. She was only aware she wasn’t alone because of a deep wheezing sound beside her. When her eyes were finally used to the dark, she saw that Salvatore was lying next to her, breathing with difficulty.
“Signore Bonetti … Salvatore? Are you okay?”
The old man stirred despite the large cut on his forehead. He had fought their attackers, but he hadn’t fared as well as her. Thankfully, the blood was dried, giving the wound a terrible look. He had to be concussed. Caroline wanted to keep him awake just in case.
“You need to talk to me, sir. Please. Don’t die. Because as tough as I pretend to be, seeing you die right now would be pretty devastating.”
“Wha…” Salvatore cracked an eye open. He blinked a few times, his eyes getting used to the dark. “You!” He looked around. “Oh, no. No! They took us!”
“Yeah, they did. Do you knowwhatthey are?” she asked.
He blanched.
