Page 20 of Clash of Kings

“He does, but maybe he has his hands full with his pack. Or maybe he’s still mourning the loss of Hadley. Whatever his reason, there are plenty of wolves out there. We’ll find the right fit for the council. Regardless of whether Dakota is your mate, I honestly didn’t get a good feeling from King or Sloane. Especially Sloane.”

“Then another meeting is moot. I trust your instincts. I was too focused on what I was smelling to pay much attention to the type of males they are.”

“We might not want them on the council, but we need to pretend we do so that we can remain in their territory.” Lydia stood and stretched, the sleeves of her sweater sliding back to reveal the bracelets Anthony’s aunt, Lilly, made for all females of their Clan. The jewelry was spelled, and with nothing but a thought, would become whatever weapon the wearer needed. Lydia’s weapons of choice were knives. “I’m going to my room and catch up on emails. Will you be okay?”

Bas rose and walked her to the door. “I’ll be fine. Thanks for the talk.” He hugged his cousin, then watched her walk the few steps down the hall to make sure she was safe.

That left Bas alone with nothing but his imagination. He grabbed the room card and walked down to the package store for a bottle of whiskey. Having shifter metabolism meant he couldn’t get drunk off one bottle, but he did his best. It was that or let the beast loose when it demanded they take to the sky and go after Dakota. It didn’t do any good to argue with his beast about the fact that they had no idea where the female had gone. During the course of the evening, Carleigh sent several texts keeping him updated on her progress, or lack thereof as the case was.

Sebastian was still on the balcony hours later when the hotel room door opened. Anthony entered, carrying a pink box and three to-go cups. He motioned for Bas to come inside.

“Not that I think anyone will hear our conversation, but I’d rather err on the side of caution,” he said when Bas closed the sliding door behind him. Anthony pulled two cups from the cardboard carrier and set one on the table in front of Sebastian. He opened the box, grabbed a Danish, then pushed the box across the table. After taking a huge bite and washing it down with coffee, Anthony asked, “How are you holding up?”

“About as well as I can be considering I have no idea where Dakota is. I don’t know if she’s my mate, and if she is, how do I handle the fact that she’s already mated to King?”

“Yeah, about that. She’s not King’s mate but not for his lack of trying.” Anthony pulled out the chair closest to him and sat. “Dakotaisyour mate. The reason she wouldn’t say yes to her Alpha is because she has this romantic notion of finding the teen her brother attacked ten years ago when they lived in Utah. Since regular wolves don’t have fated mates, everyone gave Dakota grief over refusing the ‘privilege’ of being the Alpha Mate.”

“I’m surprised Jolee spilled her guts to a stranger,” Bas said before taking a sip of coffee.

Anthony wiggled his eyebrows. “Magic dick, Brother.”

Sebastian choked on the coffee and slapped his own chest. When he was no longer coughing, Sebastian, muttered, “Fucking hell.”

Anthony pulled out his phone, laughing. “Let me text Lydia to see if she’s awake. That way I don’t have to repeat everything.”

A few minutes later, Lydia knocked on the door, and Anthony got up to let her in. “I brought breakfast,” he said, motioning to the box and extra coffee.

“You just getting in?” she asked as she surveyed the sweet offerings.

“Yes, and I have some good news.” Anthony recapped what he’d told Bas so far.

“At least we know it’s not someone else.” Lydia pulled the last cup of coffee from the container and removed the lid. She added a couple packs of sugar, then took a sip.

“Is Nix Dakota’s brother?” Sebastian asked before taking a bite of donut.

“Yes. I wondered why you were sniffing him, but it makes sense. I bet your beast recognized his scent.”

“Not at first. When he stood next to me, he smelled the same as King and the chair I was sitting on. At some point, Dakota had been in King’s room. Then my Goyle got a whiff of Nix’s scent, and he was ready to throw down then and there. If she’s not King’s mate, why did Nix say she was?”

“Because King has chosen Dakota, and her family, mainly her father, was pushing her to accept the offer. According to Jolee, the pressure from both her father and King became too much, so she ran. And before you ask, no, Jolee doesn’t know where Dakota went. She wasn’t lying about that when she told Sloane she didn’t know. But one thing I did learn was Sloane owns a garage, and King worked there before taking over as Alpha from his father. Both males worked on Dakota’s car, and I bet money they put a tracker on it. I know I would if the female I wanted was skittish.”

Lydia hummed. “I thought when he said they could track her, he meant because they were wolves. I bet you’re right about them bugging her car.”

“Fuck! That means they could be following her. Hell, they may have already caught up to her by now.” Sebastian tossed the rest of his donut back into the box. “This fucking sucks.”

“I take it Carleigh hasn’t found anything?” Lydia asked.

“No, but she didn’t have much to go on.”

Anthony tapped the table with his fingers. “She has more now. After I found out Dakota’s last name, which is Young by the way, as well as the type of vehicle she drives, I texted that info to Carleigh. I also told her my theory about there being a tracker on her car. I’m not going to sugarcoat it for you. Dakota left her phone at home so they couldn’t use it to trace her whereabouts. With there being very few security cameras in Panther, it’ll be hard to find her that way, but if anyone can locate your mate, it’s the Trio. You know Carleigh’s pulled Harlow and Nikita in on this.”

Sebastian twirled the cup in his hand as he considered what Anthony said. Dakota was his mate, and King had no claim to her. Now to find her and convince her to… To what? Come back to West Virginia? Was that why Sebastian had been drawn to the state? Because somehow, he knew his mate was there? Stranger things had happened. Like the dream he had last night where he fought King and whisked Dakota away. He still hadn’t seen her face in the dream, but he’d held her in his arms. Bas woke up happy until he realized it hadn’t been real.

“Oh, I have something for you.” Anthony tapped his phone a few times, then pushed it across the table. It was a photo of Jolee with another female. “That’s her?” Sebastian’s throat tightened as he studied her smiling face. Long black hair in two braids hung over her shoulders, and she wore a straw cowboy hat. Dark eyes glittered with happiness. The female was captivating.

“Yep. That’s your mate. According to Jolee, Dakota is a badass, but we already knew that from when she tackled her brother. She’s twenty-five, smart, sassy, and doesn’t take shit from anyone. All the customers at The Depot love her. Well, all but the single females who want to be Alpha Mate. And as you can see by the way she’s dressed, she’s perfect for you. Y’all share a love of flannel shirts.”

Lydia pulled the phone in front of her. “She’s cute.”

---