Claiming His Mate (7 page)

Pivoting to face brother and sister hovering outside the doorway, he pinned them with a hard stare. “Explain again how you two allowed this to happen.” What good was having patrols or security if they did a half-ass job?

The tall blonds both looked embarrassed, but Wade covered it first with annoyance. “I was downstairs grabbing some food and Naomi was supposed to be upstairs covering me.”

Way to throw your sister under the bus, asshole.
Max had already heard their explanation but he turned to look at Naomi because he wanted to hear it again.

She glared at her brother and shrugged, as if it wasn’t a big deal, which just pissed him off. “I had to use the bathroom then I smelled the barbeque downstairs. I got hungry.”

“I saw the flashing green lights first,” Wade muttered.

Max had made them repeat their story a few times and it didn’t sound rehearsed. Whoever had managed to open the safe set off the interior tripwire, which triggered bright flashing green lights from three overhead sources within the house. They were silent but damn bright.

“I don’t see what the big deal is. You know that jaguar shifter took the brooch. Punish her and
make
her tell you where it is.” Naomi flipped her long, blond ponytail over one shoulder. There was a bite of censure in the wolf’s words. As if she was reprimanding Max.

Her words were like pouring gasoline on the slow burning coals of his anger. Slowly, he took a step forward, his gaze fixed on her. “You were given an order and failed to follow through. That, I could deal with, if it was an honest mistake. But you’re not even sorry about it. Now you want to
order
me what to do?” There was a very specific hierarchy in each pack and while the Kincaid pack rarely had problems, these were two betas in front of him. And they weren’t acting like it. It rubbed his wolf the wrong way, making him edgy. Max growled low in his throat and flashed his canines.

Immediately both of them dropped their heads in submission but Wade didn’t cover the way he clenched his fists into tight balls. Yeah, Max had a feeling they were going to come to blows again really soon. Since he had to cover every angle of the missing jewels, he would. And he didn’t care if he pissed these two off in the process.

“You two are going to stay here until Sapphire and Charlie arrive,” Max said as he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. He hated calling them over here right now, but he knew they were still awake and he needed someone with knowledge of the situation. “While they’re watching you I’m going to tear apart your place. For all I know you took the fucking jewels.” He didn’t know if he believed it, but he didn’t like their story or attitudes and there was no way Lauren was behind this. If she said her pride wasn’t either, then he had to believe her.

Both their heads jerked up at that, shock clear on their faces.

“You can’t be serious,” Wade snapped.

In response, Max tilted his head in the direction of the stairs. “Downstairs, now.”

Glaring at him, they did as he ordered. Once they were gone, he called Charlie then did another sweep of the room and windowsill while waiting for Wade and Naomi’s babysitters to arrive.

* * * * *

Lauren glanced at her cell phone as it rang for the third time. Max again. She silenced the ringing.

Not only had he insinuated that her pridemates might be behind this, but he’d left two of his packmates to watch her. Like what, he thought she’d leave? She’d made a deal with him and after what they’d just shared she expected…hell, maybe she shouldn’t have expected anything. She actually understood that he needed to investigate every angle and if that included her pride, fine. But he’d left two shifters to watch her. Because he didn’t trust her.

That hurt.

Rolling over, she stared at the ceiling, hating the conflicting feelings surging through her. She was more attracted to Max than she’d ever imagined possible. The man was sexy and infuriating and from what she’d experienced very giving in the bedroom. Sure they hadn’t actually had sex yet, but he’d already proved how much he wanted to please her. And she wanted to do the same, to lick and kiss every inch of his delectable body.

But there was more to any relationship than the physical stuff. She’d be leaving soon anyway so why was she thinking in ‘relationship’ terms. Groaning at herself, she grabbed a pillow and held it over her face while she screamed in frustration. The run from the bar to Max’s condo had been too short to relieve her tension. Now she was even more wound up with sexual frustration. It didn’t matter that she’d had an orgasm. That had barely taken off the edge of her hunger.

She’d seen that look in Max’s eyes and she’d been primed for him to thrust inside her, to fill her until they were both boneless from pleasure.

When her phone started ringing again she snatched it up, but frowned when she saw her cousin’s name on the caller ID. About an hour had passed since Max had left but it was still early. She answered immediately. “Hey, Yelena. Everything okay?”

“Um…not exactly.”

Oh, crap. Lauren knew exactly what her cousin was going to say before the words were out of her mouth. There was no other reason for her cousin to be calling. “He knows.” He, meaning her father.

Yelena cleared her throat. “Well, yeah.”

“Is he pissed?”

“I don’t know.”

Lauren blinked. “What?” How could she not know?

“One of the aunts overheard my bigmouthed little brother talking about you and apparently told your mom—who is super angry. But your dad hasn’t said a word to any of us and he knows we’re involved. He hasn’t called us to his home to yell at us, nothing. It’s weird,” she whispered the last part, as if afraid of being overheard.

It wasn’t weird. When their alpha was truly angry he contained his anger until he’d moved past his initial period of rage. He was her father so she knew better than most. He was a good alpha and never wanted to lash out at those he cared about so he waited until his animal was under control. And right now he had to be crazy angry. Lauren was the baby of the family. It didn’t matter that she was twenty-five. Her older sisters were all over a hundred and her parents were over three hundred years old. She’d been a surprise. Her whole family had practically smothered her in their over protective tendencies.

Oh yeah, she knew what was coming. “I’ve gotta go.” She hung up without waiting for a response, not caring if it was rude. Her father was either about to leave for Gulf Shores or had already left. He wouldn’t have told her cousin or anyone else involved. Nope, they would have been able to warn her and he wouldn’t want that.

A rush of adrenaline punched through her as she threw off the covers. Stripping off Max’s clothes, she hurried to the shower. The surge of cold water blasted her, but she welcomed it. Right now she needed to get as much of Max’s scent off her as possible. Not because she was embarrassed by their relationship, but because she didn’t want her father to go insane before she’d managed to explain all the details.

Once she’d changed into her own clothes and pulled her damp hair up into a ponytail she snagged her phone from the dresser. She called Max as she headed for the front door. Pulling it open, she was surprised to find no one there.

And of course Max wasn’t answering her call. It actually just went straight to voicemail so she texted him. Frustrated, she shoved the phone into the front pocket of her jeans and headed for the front door. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door and waited to be stopped by her babysitters.

Neither Charlie nor Sapphire were there.

Not going to waste time questioning the fates and her good luck, she hurried toward the elevators. Since he had the penthouse there weren’t any other pack members on this floor. She’d met enough of them yesterday that she felt comfortable asking around.

She just hoped word hadn’t spread that she or one of her pridemates had stolen that brooch. Considering the way the pack had given her a chance even after she’d tried to steal from them, she wasn’t sure what her reception would be. But she had to let Max know her father was on his way. Or at least knew about what she’d done. Max had made the assumption her parents knew about her covert retrieval attempt and she hadn’t corrected him. The last thing she wanted was for him to be blindsided. She knew how quickly things could get out of control when tempers were high. Especially between two alpha males. Max might not be alpha of his pack but he was second-in-command for a reason.

Lawrence Hayes was one scary alpha when he wanted to be. And her father would strike first and ask questions later if he thought something had happened to her.

Lauren rode the elevator down to the third floor. She’d borrowed potatoes from a sweet wolf shifter about two hundred years old yesterday and hoped the woman knew something about Max. She felt bad because it was fairly early but hoped the woman wouldn’t mind.

Her ballet-slipper type shoes were silent against the hardwood floors as she made her way down the hallway. Instead of leaving the hallways open like so many condos on the beach, they’d glassed everything in giving them more privacy and eliminating much of the outside sound. She couldn’t be sure but she guessed it was reinforced or hurricane resistant type glass.

As she neared the end of the hallway an unfamiliar, almost chemical scent tickled her nose. It made all the hair on the back of her neck stand up. Feeling as if she was being watched, she started to turn around when something slammed into her shoulder blade.

A sharp, piercing pain quickly followed, spreading out to all her nerve endings. Feeling almost numb, she instinctively reached around to where the pain was the worst. Her fingers brushed something embedded in her skin. Crying out, she pulled on it as she turned and stumbled. Blinking, she realized she held a dart in her hand.

What the hell?

Why would someone shoot her with a dart? Falling to her knees, she struggled to keep her eyes open. A dark, blurred figure was advancing on her. She tried to focus but it was impossible. The dart fell from her limp fingers, but somehow she drew on the strength to undergo the change. If someone wanted to hurt her, it would be a hell of a lot harder with her in her jaguar form.

Losing consciousness, she gave into her animal, letting her jaguar take over, protect her. She was vaguely aware of the sound of clothes shredding and ripping as her bones broke and realigned before complete darkness engulfed her.

Chapter 7

Max looked around his guestroom, his heart thumping wildly against his chest. After searching Wade and Naomi’s place—and coming up empty—he’d received a text from Lauren telling him to call asap. She might have called too, but he didn’t always get service in the condos so he couldn’t be sure since a missed call wouldn’t have shown up. He wished he knew how long ago the text had been sent. He’d received it the moment he stepped out of Wade and Naomi’s place but she could have sent it much earlier when he wasn’t receiving a signal. Since then he’d tried calling half a dozen times but she hadn’t responded.

He’d tried to brush it off, but standing in his condo now…he was worried. Her phone was gone but all her clothes were still there. If she’d planned to leave she would have taken everything with her. At least that’s what his gut told him.

Lauren wasn’t a coward. She wouldn’t just run because of their sort-of argument. And not because she still wanted the jewels. Even though they were still getting to know one another something told him she was the type of woman to stay and fight and honor the terms of their initial agreement. If she was pissed about something she’d yell at him before she’d tuck tail and run.

Now he just wished he hadn’t called Sapphire and Charlie to watch their alpha’s place, leaving Lauren unguarded. He hadn’t truly thought Lauren would leave, but he’d had to show his packmates that he was following all standard procedures of an investigation.

Keeping his cell phone in his hand, he headed out of his condo. Her scent trail was so damn faint he could barely smell it. Unlike most shifters, hers faded right away, making it difficult to track her. It wasn’t as if she was covering her scent with perfumes or anything either. It simply faded.

Something about that bothered him but he didn’t have time to dwell on the reasons behind it. He followed the trail to the elevators then stopped on each floor until he picked it up again. At the third floor he smelled her along with some of his other packmates’ scents. But there was something else in the air too.

It was manmade, a strange chemical scent. It was so subtle he barely picked it up, but he was a damn good hunter. As he scanned the quiet hallway, he frowned at a strip of red cloth lying inside a potted plant outside of Margery’s place. The two-hundred year old shifter was like a mother to Max. Hell, to half the pack. Maybe Lauren had come to see her. She’d mentioned that she’d made friends with some of the females of his pack.

Holding the cloth up to his nose, he inhaled. It was definitely Lauren’s distinctive amber and vanilla scent. And he recognized the color from a sweater he’d seen among her clothes. Without going back and checking his condo he couldn’t be sure if the piece of clothing was missing, but if this was hers, there weren’t many reasons for it to be here. Unless she’d shifted to her animal form and shredded her clothing.

But why would she do that?

Unable to shake his uneasy feeling, he knocked on Margery’s door a couple times. When no one answered, he tried again, harder this time.