Page 21 of Shielded By My Mate

“Exactly.” Mira laughs. “I still don’t trust it completely, I guess. I know how my body and heart feel for Ansel, but my head is still stuck on ‘it’s too fast.’”

I want to barge in there and pull her into my arms. I want to promise her that it’s real, that she can trust me and this bond between us.

I take a step to do just that when a hand clamps down on my shoulder, pulling me to a stop.

“The Alphas are here,” Julian tells me. “Let’s get this done. Then you can go be with your mate.”

I take one last look at Mira before I head out to greet Rhodes, Cyrus, Foster, and Camden, the four Alphas of the Night Grove Falls Pack.

“They filled us in on what happened,” Rhodes says.

“They kidnapped my mate from a town about six hours away. Southmill. I’m not sure where they were taking her, but she escaped from the truck, and I found her,” I explain.

“They’ve been in town looking for her?” Cyrus asks.

“Yeah, we tracked their scent all over town before they came back here to find her.”

“Okay, well, it’s a clean kill. We’ll be checking into them fully, making sure there’s no trouble. In the meantime, we need to bury the bodies,” Camden orders.

“Other girls were taken,” I tell them. “Mira’s best friend, Ridley, was with her. I’ve been trying to find her, but I’ve hit a dead end. I could use some help to locate and rescue her too.”

“Of course. You’ll have the pack’s full support. The Midnight Haven will have resources too, and all members will be on the lookout for her. Maybe there’s some other way to track her down,” Foster says.

“I’ll go to headquarters and get everyone started on that. Can you send me any information you have on her friend?” Julian asks.

“Sure. I’ll email it to you.”

“Good. I’ll let you know if we find anything,” he says, clapping me on the shoulder before he leaves.

“Where are they going?” Pyrce asks.

“They’re digging a hole up by the north ridgeline as we speak,” Camden tells us. “We’ll put them there.”

We all get to work. Russo comes back to help us load the bodies into the back of Rhodes’ truck. Within the hour, the bodies are buried, and I’m heading home to clean up the backyard.

“Hey,” Pyrce greets me, shutting off the hose.

I smile gratefully when I see that he’s already taken care of the backyard. It looks like nothing happened.

“Thanks,” I tell him.

“No problem.”

My eyes stray to the house, and I move closer, needing to get my eyes on Mira.

“Hold up,” Pyrce says, catching me before I can go inside.

“What?” I ask distractedly.

“You need to take a shower,” Pyrce tells me, gently nudging me towards the stairs.

“Right,” I say, still staring at my mate.

“Hey,” Pyrce says, gripping my shoulder. “She’s fine. She’s okay. We’ll watch her. Go shower. You need to get the blood off you, man.”

I glance down and wince when I see all the dried blood on my chest.

No wonder Mira hasn’t looked at me. She’s probably trying to keep it together, and I’m over here covered in her kidnapper’s blood, staring at her like a stalker.