Page 42 of Pregnant Kidnapped Mate

“Go there, tell them what happened. I’m going after Iris.”

Iris’s scent was here, but it was faint, and I could only smell it deeper in the house. Anything else was covered up. Outside, there was no trace of her, either.

My heart thudded. She wouldn’t have left without even a note. And that wouldn’t explain the busted-in front door. No, something else was happening here. Something far more sinister.

There were no scents to track, which seemed impossible. There was always a scent.

At least, if only humans were involved. Humans didn’t know how to conceal their scents properly from shifters.

But other shifters knew how. And there was only one shifter I could think of who had openly hated Iris. One shifter who had threatened her, and who might have gone so far as to attack her.

“That fucker,” I snarled.

Rage washed over me, and I didn’t give myself any time to think or reconsider. The caramels and chips fell to the floor as I ran outside. One second, I was human. Mid-stride, I became a wolf. I growled and bristled, letting my wolf’s rage and protective instincts wash over me and take over. All I cared about in that moment was finding Iris and making sure she was safe. And the first step in doing that was to find Dan. Because I knew he had something to do with all of this. And if he thought he was going to get away with it by concealing his scent, he had another thing coming.

My wolf wanted to tear him to shreds the instant we saw him, but I needed him. I needed information only he could give. I could tear his throat out later if I wanted. But at the moment, that came second to making sure Iris was alive and all right.

And if she weren’t, I would make Dan and anyone else involved pay.

He’d made the effort to hide it for a long distance, but that didn’t matter. I knew where he lived, and I went immediately there. He wasn’t at his house, but his scent was, and the freshest trail of it led into the woods nearby. Snarling, I raced for the woods, keeping track of the scent and racing toward its source.

I followed it into the trees, my rage growing. Every second spent chasing him was a second Iris was in trouble. I couldn’t have that—I needed to get to her. And the quickest way to get to her was through Dan.

I saw him an instant before he sensed I was there, his head shooting up seconds before I pounced on his back. My paws landed on the hard ground as he dodged away a second before I would have hit him. I snarled, rounding on him, fur bristling. But a second later, the wolf was gone, and a bemused Dan appeared instead.

“Dude, what the hell?” he demanded. His outrage and wild-eyed confusion were so convincing and looked so genuine that for a moment, I almost thought I’d missed the mark. I shifted back, panting from where I had run the entire way. I might have believed him, too, if it weren’t for the slight flicker in his eyes as he asked, “Why are you attacking me?”

“What the fuck did you do to Iris?” I growled.

Dan scoffed, rolling his eyes. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t give enough of a shit about that human to do anything to her.”

I stalked toward him, still fuming, still bristling. “Don’t pull that bullshit with me. Iris is missing, and I know you had a hand in it.”

Dan barked out a laugh, folding his arms and refusing to back down. “You can’t really expect me to have done something that stupid. And why would I?”

“I don’t know. Why would you?” I was in his face now.

“How do you know she didn’t just run away?”

A new scent hit me, and rage washed over me. Grabbing his throat, I slammed him against the tree. “I can smell her on you,” I snarled.

It was faint, just the smallest of traces. But I knew her scent well enough to recognize it anywhere. He might have covered up his scent at my house, but he hadn’t remembered to get it off him.

His eyes flew open with panic, then turned to cold rage before turning wolfish. His teeth lengthened to fangs as he snarled and pushed back, his own hands slamming into my chest. I took two steps back but didn’t let go of my grip on his throat. My fingers lengthened to claws, pressing into the flesh of his neck.

“Tell me where she is,” I said.

“Make me,” Dan growled.

I’d been trying to work on impulse control, but even I had my limits, especially when it came to Iris’s safety. I snarled, slamming his back to the tree and digging my claws deeper into his neck.

“If you kill me, you’re never going to see her again,” Dan choked out.

“Then tell me where the fuck she is, and I won’t,” I snarled.

“All right,” he gasped. “All right.”

I released him, but the instant he was free, he lunged for me again, throwing me to the ground. He shifted, and the great weight of a massive wolf pressed down on me. Before he could bite down on my throat, I turned into a wolf, snarling and pushing myself up, throwing him off me. He slammed into a tree, collapsing to the ground, but I didn’t believe it was over for a second. I darted forward, trying to get the upper hand as I let anger and adrenaline flow through me.

---