Chapter 65

Dominic

I almost laughed when I saw her face through the car window. Her face was wide in fear and anger, and her arm was lifted and poised to strike. She held a syringe in her hand. At least I could be sure that my Mate would not go down lightly if under attack.

Stepping back and raising my hands in the air, I watched her face change as she recognized my face. All the fight went out of her and her lips moved as she spoke under her breath.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

My hand went to the door handle, and I crouched to see Lucian so he would know to unlock it. His body was also coming back down and rippling back to human form. Another second and he might’ve gone full wolf in the car, perhaps protecting Mira but perhaps doing her more harm. I would deal with him later.

Mira poured out of the car and immediately wrapped her arms around my neck and pressed her weight into me. I reciprocated by pulling her in close, her feet lifting briefly off the ground. Her scent filled my nostrils, mixed with the sweat and anxiety and eventual relief that she’d felt during the car ride. Both of their faces told me they’d been through something big today, but I was patient and just offered comfort while it was needed.

“We thought you were a murderer or something,” she said into my chest, “we thought you’d followed us this whole way.”

“Just me and the boys,” I said, looking to where Wyatt and Lucas had gotten out of the car to join us. “Even Lucas looked worried when it started to get dark, and nothing scares him.”

“How did you find us?” she asked as she released herself from my grip.

“That’ll be my fault,” Wyatt said, stepping forward. “I’m following your phone, as you may remember, and also…”

“Yes?”

“Well, recently, I have been able to sense you more,” he said. I know my eyes squinted, and he noticed the reflex. “I can’t read your thoughts or reach out to you or anything. But as you’ve spent more time with us, as our next Luna, the connection has become clearer.”

No one moved or spoke as Mira looked at Wyatt. I saw movement in her eyes, which told me her mind was busy. Maybe she was coming to realize that what Wyatt had described was real. This was the first I had heard my Beta mention this, and I marveled at the powers of nature that control our lives. Even wolf less, Mira was still weaving herself into our Pack.

“Incredible,” she said softly, smiling at Wyatt who then mirrored her.

Mira looked back at me and a new emotion took over: frustration.

“But why?” she asked me.

“Why what?” I turned my head slightly in confusion.

“Why did you come?” she was squared off to face me again. “I told you I would be gone until late— did you not trust my word?”

“You told me basically nothing,” I said, catching my hands behind my back. “Not where or with whom or anything important that would let me know you were safe.”

“Not everything I do is dangerous, and Lucian is very capable of protecting me,” she said, hands on her hips.

My step-brother turned red and shrunk back a bit when she mentioned his name. He was hoping I had forgotten he was here.

“Then why were you both so scared just now?” I asked firmly, exerting a touch of Alpha aura to make my point. “May I remind you that you are Luna of the Pack, and as such you do not have the privilege of disappearing on secret missions with a wolf who is already on thin ice.”

Lucian looked down, and Mira’s mouth opened and shut a few times like a fish out of water.

“We will discuss this more when we get back. Let’s go. ”

I turned like a soldier and took a few steps, then stopped.

“Mira, you’re with me,” I said, barely turning to look at her. “Lucas will drive Lucian back.”

“It’s fine I—“

“That wasn’t a question.”

My hands were fists as I made my way back to the car and sat in the back seat. My heart was threatening to leap out of my chest. The worry had skyrocketed to rage quickly, and as it receded again I felt hollowed out.

Wyatt got into the front seat preparing to drive, and I was surprised when Mira opened the front passenger door instead of the back.

“You should sit in the back with me,” I said, making it sound like a formality due to our status. An Alpha doesn’t beg.

“I’d rather sit up here,” was all she said.

I started to speak, then caught Wyatt’s eyes in the mirror telling me not to push. I sat back into the seat and looked out the window.

“Fine.”

We drove home without speaking, or at least I was not speaking. Mira and Wyatt shared occasional courtesies, commenting on the music playing quietly from the speakers or on some landmark outside the car. I had become the third wheel in the relationship.

Before falling asleep, I needed to clear the air. No one should go to bed angry.

“Mira,” I whispered to her back. “Talk to me, please.”

For the record, this was not begging.

I heard her sigh before she flipped over to face me, making a show of resettling herself under the sheets.

“I’m sorry, I should’ve told you,” she said to the space in between us. “I just wanted to do something on my own, get my own answers, without you having to get involved or take care of me. And now you’re so angry.”

“I am not angry, Mira. I was worried sick.”

She looked into my eyes, and I saw sadness and guilt locked in the corners. My fingers softly fit a lock of hair behind her ear, tracing her jawline as I pulled away.

“Will you tell me where you went?” I asked carefully, then adding, “It’s alright if you don’t want to yet. You can tell me when you’re ready.”

I took her hand and her face melted into a smile, and I felt like I had won the lottery at slowly understanding this complicated woman.

“I’d been thinking a lot of getting my wolf back,” she started to say. “I know now that I lost it from some horrible experiments done by the Rogues, so I was looking for answers on reversing the act.”

I listened, hairs raising on the back of my neck. I knew where this was going and I did not like it.

“And Lucian?”

“He knew I was wolf less, I guess from Tessa,” she said, eyes rolling at the second part, “and he offered to help. I didn’t want to involve you immediately, it could all be nothing, and with your own history I didn’t want to trigger some painful memory, or worse.”

There was a pause as we both thought of what “worse” could mean when it came to emotional outbursts.

“And so we went looking for it,” Mira said.

“It?”

“The facility,” she said, “I wanted to find the scene of the crime.”

“Mira…”

“I know, it was a crazy idea,” she said, shrugging through her whole body. “The place was empty, at least of people. But not old and decrepit. I think they’d been there recently.”

She almost went on, then changed her mind.

“You think they’ve gone somewhere else? A new facility?”

“It would make sense, the Rogues are often nomadic, avoid leaving a trail,” she said, sounding more tired. “Lucian has a connection who has some ideas, but I know I can’t just snoop around unknown buildings.”

“Yes you will,” I said, pulling her attention back to me. “And next time, I am coming with you.”