Page 25 of Alpha Marked

"Where is she?"Ares bellowed. "Who is she?"

"Ares, calm down." Vanessa reached for him.

He swatted her away and bared his teeth. "Don't touch me."

Zeke and Silas cleared the club of the press, breaking their equipment and buying the cellphones off every person before they left. Now, in the silence of the dead space filled with too many aromas for Ares to process, he fought to catch her scent again.

She'd run from him. All these years, he'd searched for his mate, thinking he would never find her, and upon their first meeting, she'd run. An Omega. The rarest of rare. The sacred above all.

"Zeke!" he yelled. "She was here with your new mate, wasn't she?"

Zeke nodded and moved swiftly to Bianca's side, putting a protective arm around her and pulling her to him.

"Who is she?" he demanded, looking between Zeke and his mate.

"She's my mate's sister… sort of," Zeke answered. "I mean, their parents have been together for a while-"

Bianca swatted at Zeke. "She's my sister."

Ares strode to them. "What is her name? Where can I find her?"

Zeke's eyes flashed. He wasn't an Alpha or a full Lycan. He was one of Ares' faithful hybrids. Even so, the message was clear: Ares had to calm down with Zeke's mate, or there would be a problem.

"Her name is River Whitetail," Zeke said, his voice strained.

River.The beautiful, petite, silvery-haired beauty who might break if he held her too close was named River. How she'd looked at him with her bright sapphire eyes had been like no one else in the world existed. At twenty-eight, he'd all but given up on finding his true mate, and he'd only ever fantasized about finding an Omega. So when he'd smelled her, it had literally brought him to his knees. His wolf paced and howled, ready to rip the city apart to find her.

Mine. My mate. Find. Mate. Bond.

Vanessa moved toward him again, but he pinned her with his gaze, her very presence irritating. "Go to the hotel," he commanded. "Prepare for my mate's arrival."

Shock registered on her face for a split second, then she bowed and complied. Vanessa was nothing more to him than a subordinate. She'd been his assistant for five years and occasionally shared his bed when he couldn't take the loneliness. But no more. Looking at her tempted him as much as looking at his men. Zero.

Vanessa passed him without a word, and as soon as she'd left, he glanced over his men who awaited his command.

Nothing mattered more than finding his mate. His Omega. She was in the city. Alone in the city. An Omega. How was it possible?

He'd heard the rumors one had been born, but he'd been too busy dealing with the rogue issues to see if the rumors were true.

But now… He'd been such an idiot. He should have been searching the whole time. And how had he not smelled her as soon as he'd entered the club? There were many people, shifters and humans alike, but he should have been able to smell her. To sense her, but he hadn't. Not at all.

Desensitizing spray? Since she was an Omega and a shifter. She probably used a desensitizing spray. It had to be because it had been a full two seconds after she'd bumped into him before he'd caught the whiff of her beautiful perfume. Of pistachios, vanilla, and sweet cherries, and he'd wanted nothing more than to bathe in her scent. But the moment their eyes had locked, she could have sprayed all the desensitizing spray in the world on herself, and he would have smelled her. When he'd laid his head on her breast, her perfume had intensified so much it had taken everything inside him to keep from ripping off her panties and burying his face in her most delicious parts.

But the stupid paparazzi had shown up and scared her off. His poor little wolf. He needed to find her. More than needed. He'd die if he didn't. He'd spare no expense. Rip down all of America to find her. Burn it building by building if he had to. No matter what it took.

"Where does she live?" he asked.

Bianca gave him an address, and he nodded, trying to keep his wolf from running all the way there.

"Take me to her." It wasn't a request.

Zeke looked to Lachlan. Lachlan nodded and exited.

Ares paced, his slacks painfully restraining his erection. His skin itched, and his wolf clawed at his insides to be let out.

Find her. Mark her. Ours.

"Your Majesty," Theo said. "May I suggest a drink?"

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