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“No. Ivy’s scent had dulled, and I knew she had left hours before.” Her scent—apple spice, fresh morning and violent storms—still lingered in my nose. My wolf pushed for release, but I locked him down. Now was not the time.
“Do you think someone took her? Or do you suspect she did something to you?” Axel asked, a glint of anger sharpening his gaze, making his eyes glow.
I thought about last night, how my wolf pushed me to claim her. He screamedmate, and just as I was about to lose control, a surge of energy hit the center of my chest and spread outward. Dizziness blurred my vision as static deafened my ears. And then nothing until I woke up this morning. After throwing on my wrinkled clothes, I inhaled deeply and only smelled her fading yet intoxicating scent.
“I suspect she did something. However, I believe it was unintentional.”
“Unintentional or not, we need to investigate what happened. It could be a new threat that we need to take out.”
Axel would have a hard time letting this go, especially when it came to me and my safety. He was my beta and took his responsibility seriously. However, he didn’t trust easily, and we learned the hard way that people would turn on you in a heartbeat. Ten years ago, when I took over as Regional Alpha, Axel, Devon, Rage, Trace, and I had to fight for our positions.
Many underhanded, sometimes criminal supernaturals hadn’t liked the change. The old regional alpha cared nothing about our people. He only cared about the payments he could obtain for certain favors, such as looking the other direction when it came to selling females into sex houses. When I was unwilling to let things slide, many attempts were made on my life. Wolves could challenge my position, but other species resorted to underhanded ways to kill me. It took time and a lot of bloodshed to maintain my position and secure the respect of my wolves. There was a reason that Axel was my beta, and he was damn good at it.
Glancing at the clock, the time read 7:50 am. I rubbed my forehead and sighed. “Let’s go see what The Agency wants.”
“Probably more money,” Axel mumbled as he fell in step behind me. When we cleared the office, Celia rushed over. “Mr. Jackson has arrived. As you previously suggested, a security officer is escorting him to the 3rdfloor conference room.”
“Thank you, Celia.”
Stepping into the elevator, Axel continued our conversation. “Luca, you cannot ignore what happened to you. We need to find this wolf and interrogate her. What if she is involved with the missing shifters?”
I knew Axel had a point, but I could not stand the thought of him, Devon, or anyone else laying one single paw on her. “She’s not.”
“But…”
“Drop it, Axel!” I snapped, then scrubbed my face before facing him. I took a deep breath and tried to explain. “Look, I don’t know what happened, but I know she didn’t mean to hurt me.”
“How can you know that?” He asked, a little calmer now.
“Because she smelled of wolf and something else.” I hesitated before admitting, “And, I think she’s my mate.”
“Shit!”
“Precisely.”
“What about Violet?”
Wincing, I scrubbed my forehead again. Alpha Rayne’s daughter would be a problem. Violet left the Western Moon Valley Pack around two years ago in hopes of landing the female alpha position. My wolf had never shown interest, but that didn’t mean that I didn’t take what she freely offered. And her body was pure female with ample breasts, wide hips, and a rounded ass. But after meeting Ivy, nothing about Violet enticed me. Needing to focus on my meeting, I shoved all thoughts of Violet away. “Let it go. Okay?” Axel gave me a curt nod just as the elevator doors opened. But I knew this conversation was far from over.
Walking into the conference room, Mr. Jackson stood and straightened his suit jacket. I nodded and then took a seat at the head of the table. Axel sat to my right.
The simple conference center held an oval table with ten chairs, and a floor-to-ceiling window that faced the busy street below. The room was nothing special, a meeting place for mostly non-shifters, human or supernatural, nothing more.
“Mr. Jackson.” I acknowledged, folding my hands together.
Mr. Jackson worked for The Agency. The rumor stated that he had wicked computer skills and a lengthy contact list in the underworld. Now he worked from an office, gathering data through various networks before deploying supernatural agents on missions.
“Mr. Blackthorn, thank you for agreeing to meet with me on such short notice.”
“Anything to help find the missing shifters,” I said, with nothing but professionalism. As an alpha, I not only protected my pack, but I was also regional alpha and liaison over a large territory that included ten different wolf packs. The alphas answered to me, and right now, I needed answers from The Agency. One missing shifter was one too many.
Mr. Jackson straightened his tie and cleared his throat.
“About that,” he started. “Most of the missing shifters have been located three cities over. I believe they were barely outside of your territory. They were drained of their blood…well, I think you can imagine the rest of it.”Ah-hm, he cleared his throat. “I thought I should inform you personally.”
The rest of it meant that their bodies were pasty white, and then after a day, they swiveled up and almost mummified. A vampire would be the only cause for such a horrific death. And Mr. Jackson was also correct in assuming that I did indeed expect the news to be delivered in person.
I nodded, then followed with a question of my own. “Mr. Jackson…what is The Agency doing to find this rogue vampire?”
