Page 43 of My Mate

Only now, she was starting to smell things, sense things, and it was hard not to get excited at what it could possibly mean.

They walked up Lucinda’s path, and with the frost and a fresh falling of snow, there were no discernable tracks. Nothing to give them information on who could have come to see Lucinda.

Dex turned the handle on her door, and even Casey frowned. Lucinda was known for her privacy. She always locked her front door as she didn’t want daring kids to just wander into her home and start touching everything. It drove her crazy when they did that.

“She never leaves her door unlocked,” Casey said.

“Which means someone must have taken her,” Dex said.

Casey watched as Dex’s arms transformed into those of a wolf’s, and he placed one hand in front of her, and the other he had ready to attack.

They stepped inside Lucinda’s home, and Casey looked around. It was like any other home. A small sitting room to the left, the dining room to the right.

They walked into the house, and the kitchen was fine, but the part which should be either a study or an office had floor-to-ceiling shelves filled with potions and ingredients. There was a pot in the center, on the table, along with an electrical stove that could plug into the wall.

“Dex, there is nothing out of place,” Casey said.

He moved to the shelves.

“She must have gotten lost, tripped or something, then maybe a rare bear or a dog attacked her.”

“Casey, we don’t have rare bears, and trust me, stray rabid dogs don’t just wander into our zone. They can scent us. Also, someone has been in here,” Dex said. “Lucinda likes to keep the jars facing forward, so she knows each ingredient andeach potion. When I came here as a kid, she would tell me it would make her look unprofessional if she had to scramble among her shelves to find what she was looking for. She told me she loved how freaked out people would get when she would go to the right shelf and pick off exactly what she needed.”

He clicked his tongue.

“And these have been messed with.”

Casey didn’t like that feeling of foreboding that suddenly swept over her.

“Dex?” she asked, but before she could say anything an explosion of smoke came to the room and separated her and Dex.

Someone was there, and they were fast.

Casey frowned as her vision, regardless of the smoke, was clear, but in the panic, someone had grabbed Dex and was attempting to force him out of Lucinda’s house. She was not going to allow that.

Chapter Eleven

Klaus was used to taking care of members of the pack. He was also used to keeping an eye on Lucinda. When she first came to him years ago, she had feared for her life and what the coven would do to her, for turning her back on them.

He put the spoon into the soup and Lucinda wrinkled her nose.

“It needs a little more chili,” she said.

“My wife makes amazing soup.”

“For the pack. For me, I always need an added kick of spice,” Lucinda said.

Klaus nodded his head. “I’ll go and get the bottle of hot sauce.”

“Thank you,” Lucinda said. “For coming to get me.”

“How did you make it out into the forest, especially near the lake? You told me you hated the forest, even if you live around it.” Klaus waited.

Lucinda sighed.

“Did your coven come?” he asked.

“Klaus, it was one of your pack,” Lucinda said.

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