Savage Hunt

Chapter 22

Chapter Twenty-Two: Bigger than a wolf’s

Pulling my shorts up, I stood up from Ryan’s bed. I grabbed my shirt from off of the chair that sat against the far wall with a perfect view of the bed. I used the white cotton to clean the cum off of me before tossing it into the white plastic hamper beside his closed closet door.

Picking my phone up, I tried to call Tillie but the phone went straight to voicemail and I let out a growl. Fuck, double fuck. I swiped my thumb over the red icon, ending the call before shoving my phone into the pocket of my shorts.

I didn’t bother putting on a clean shirt, instead, I rushed over to the door. Grasping the gold doorknob, I gave it a twist and pulled it open. Letting it fall closed behind me as I all but ran to Jason’s office. I still hoped they were in there.

Normally, I loved the hunt. I craved it, but right now I was worried about Tillie’s safety. I jogged down the steps, trying to remind myself that she was tucked away in her bed, safe and sound. But shifters could still go into wherever she was, it wasn’t like she would know how to do a warding if she needed to. Or if she would be able to handle herself in a fight against a creature like us.

She was only human and while she may not have known about shifters like us before. Tillie knew now and we had marked her with our claims and our scents. If anyone were looking to test us or to try to hurt Jason, they would go after our mate.

If Tillie was in another shifter’s territory, she wouldn’t know that she was in danger. That though she was human, she would be viewed as a threat. I need to find her, to protect her from what was out there. To make sure that no one could use her to hurt my alpha.

Fuck

By the time I reached Jason’s office, I knew that he wasn’t in there. The glow of his computer screen was the only thing illuminating his office, filling the room with the bright light. His and Ryan’s scents still hung in the air, so they hadn’t been gone too long. I must have just missed them.

I made my way over to Jason’s desk, resting my hand on to the smooth surface of the dark wood as I looked over the computer screen. It was Tillie’s social media profile. The screen was opened up to a picture of her sitting on a dock, her toes in the water making its surface ripple as she wiggled her toes. She was clad in a two-piece bathing suit that showed off was too much of her pretty pale skin. Freckles were dusted over the tops of her cheeks and her shoulders and her skin was reddened from too much sun.

A woman stood beside her, she looked like an older version of my mate. Her much darker hair was pulled back into a braid that hung over her shoulder. Her smile was wide as they both smiled at the camera, laugh lines creased around her eyes and mouth.

My mate looked gorgeous. She was breathtaking the times that I had seen her before but seeing her like this with no makeup in a little bathing suit that I wanted to peel off with my teeth. Man, she was a knockout.

Shaking my head, I pulled myself back to focus. I could eye fuck my sweets later. Right now, I needed to figure out where she was.

Scanning my eyes over the picture, I noticed a tree in the background. It was a large willow tree, its thin wispy branches seemed to sway in the breeze. But I could see the trunk of the tree and a marking that made my blood run cold. Deep gouges marked up the tree and above that was a paw print painted onto the bark in a deep shade of red that was almost black. Like dried blood.

The paw was larger than a wolf’s print. Long claws had gouged those marks into the bark of the willow tree a very long time ago. It was a warning to others, a marking of another’s territory.

My mate was in another shifter’s territory.

Pushing away from Jason’s desk, I pulled my phone out of my pocket as I made my way out of his office. Trying to call Tillie again It went to voicemail and I cursed technology. Wishing that we had never let her go this morning.

What if something happened to my mate?

Hitting the red button to end the call, I tried again as I let the bond I shared with Ryan open up. Using it to help me find my other mate, I made my way towards the kitchen to the backdoor of the pack house. Slipping outside, I realized that Tillie wasn’t going to

answer her phone after it had gone to voicemail again.. Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

She had probably turned it onto silent after speaking with Jason. I just hoped that he had warned her that she would stay inside

until we got there to bring her home.

Ryan was standing outside, his long hair spilling down his back as he looked up at the moon that hung heavy in the sky. His chest was bare and he looked like he had shifted recently. His jeans hung low on his hips, the zipper pulled up but the buttons were still undone.

*Ryan, we have to go to Tillie. She’s in danger.” I said, moving closer to him.

“I know.” He didn’t look at me, just kept his face towards the moon.

Stopping beside him, I looked at his face. His eyes were closed and his face was still almost as if he were at peace as his lips moved softly and I realized that he was praying. Praying to our goddess to protect our mate. His eyes stayed closed for a moment longer before they opened and he looked at me.

My mate’s eyes were dark, it was his wolf that was looking at me. He pulled back his lips, baring his teeth.

“We will go to our mate.” The words were rough with his growling voice and I nodded. We would find Jason and the three of us were going to go to our mate. Hunt be damned. We needed to make sure she was safe.