Page 94 of His Wild Mate

The echoing silence sent chills down my spine.

I strained my ears to listen for signs of her, but could hear little over the roaring in my ears as my heart raced.

“Paige!”

When she wasn't in the kitchen or the living room, I smirked to myself and ran downstairs to the safe room. But I came to a screeching halt when I saw the door to it was still open, just as I'd left it.

“Where the hell are you, Paige?”

My phone rang and I picked it up without even looking at the caller ID.

“What?!” I barked.

“Are you back at the cabin? I made a few calls and a team of us jumped on the Collier jet. I was able to arrange for the pilot to land in bear territory about twenty minutes south of you. I'm going to owe Kano, their Alpha, for this one. We just loaded into a van he loaned us and we're en route to you now.”

“I can't find her, Thomas,” I cried.

Never in my life had I ever been so scared.

“It's a big place, maybe she just got spooked and is hiding or just relaxing somewhere.”

“The hot tub,” I said, feeling some stress wash over me as I ran down the stairs as quickly as possible.

As I entered the hallway, the hair on my arms stood up.

“Something’s wrong.”

“What is it?” he asked.

“There's a new smell here. He's here, and I'm going to kill him.”

“Okay. We'll be there to clean up the mess shortly. You do what you need to do to protect your mate.”

“I will,” with or without his permission, though I didn't vocally admit to that part.

I didn't call out this time as I walked down the hall. When I reached our bedroom, I found the door locked. That seemed a little odd and made my stomach curdle.

Leaning in, I listened through the door but didn't hear anything on the other side.

Quietly, I crept down the hall and found the adjacent room door slightly ajar. I pushed it open and crossed through the bathroom to find that door open.

Inside my bedroom, I knew she wasn't there. The door to the deck was open, but a pile of wet clothes sat in the corner with a discarded towel that hadn't been there this morning.

His scent was everywhere and my pillow was tossed across the room. I followed my mate's scent which was tainted with fear, and I knew she wasn't going to be in the hot tub. Still, I had to confirm. It was empty.

“Paige!” I screamed out causing a flock of birds to startle and fly away.

“Where the hell are you, Paige?”

I wasn't the best tracker in the world, but this was my mate. Her scent was engraved in my memory forever. I used that to follow it across the deck and down the stairs. At the landing it disappeared. I looked down and saw signs that she had jumped and then run off into the woods. But there was a second set of footprints mixed with hers.

Anger rippled through me as I exploded in complete fury. Shreds of my clothing rained down around me and my wolf howled as we raced to the ground and caught her scent.

The snow was falling faster now, bringing a new thick layer that was beginning to cover their trail and dull the scent I was tracking. I managed to trace it through the woods and loop back around to the front of the house.

I stilled when headlights approached and a van pulled up in front of the house.

Logically, I knew it was Thomas, though I had no idea how he'd gotten there so quickly. It felt like only seconds had passed since I spoke with him, and yet when I thought back on it, it also felt like years. Time had ceased to exist, and all my wolf saw were more threats to our mate.

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