Page 11 of Broken By Her Mate

He nodded.

“It’s dated a few days ago,” she said, her voice ringing with confusion. She squinted at the screen. “That man, it’s hard to make him out.”

“I’m sure that was deliberate on his part. He must have known there were cameras everywhere.”

She inhaled sharply. “I didn’t know I was being followed…”

Tolliver lifted an eyebrow. He wanted to scold her for being so careless as not to have her guard up. However, he reminded himself that she lived in a town with peaceful humans. Of course, she wouldn’t suspect danger in a place like Cedar Ridge.

Handing Tolliver back his phone, she stared at him. “That one video doesn’t mean anything. That man could be a resident out for a late-night stroll.”

Tolliver’s gaze cut into her. “Do you really believe that?”

Her teeth punished her lower lip, and his attention went to her mouth. He knew how good her lips tasted and felt against his. What he would give to kiss her again.

Focus,he told himself and forced his gaze away from her lips. “Denial won’t help, Laila.

“No,” she whispered. “I don’t understand. Why would someone stalk me? Does he plan to rob the bakery?” She gasped. “Oh, my gosh. We have to go back. If there’s some lunatic watching the bakery, Cora is in danger. Why would you leave her there alone?” she shrieked.

“Laila, be quiet and listen to me,” he growled. The authoritative note that had an underlining of steel made her cooperate. “I can do my job better if you remain calm.”

“Your job…?”

He eyed her guiltily. When they dated, Tolliver told her he was interested in a job at the mayor’s office in Bellefleur. That had been a lie, of course. At the time, he didn’t want to mention the Black Ops, and after he learned about her father, he kept lying to her.

“My job is to keep you safe,” he said. “I don’t want you to freak out, but there have been rumblings about missing women.”

Laila’s heart jolted. She immediately wanted to freak out. However, she kept it together. “What does that have to do with me?”

“The women are shifters with your… aesthetic.”

Her gaze snapped to him. “What?”

“Curvey female shifters, Laila. There are rumors about an organization kidnapping women like you for… breeding purposes.”

Her jaw dropped.

“It’s sick.” It turned his stomach to know there were such depraved shifters in existence. “So far, we don’t have much proof, but the fact that women are going missing is a cause for alarm and investigation. I’m convinced it isn’t just rumors because I spent the past two months on the trail of a suspected member of the organization, and things are looking more suspicious by the day. We got a break in the case when one of my trainees found the footage you just watched.”

His eyes bore into hers as if silently begging her to trust him. “Don’t worry about Cora. These guys aren’t interested in robbing bakeries, nor are they interested in witches. They want female wolf shifters. Still, I wouldn’t risk an innocent young woman like that.” He glanced at his watch. “There’s someonefrom my team in Cedar Ridge right now, ensuring that Cora locks up and gets home safe.”

“Like you’ve been ensuring my safety for days?” she asked in a low voice. “I knew I felt someone watching me, but I thought I was being paranoid. When I scented you, I thought…” She shrugged. “I thought I was going crazy because I hadn’t seen you in…”

“Five years.” He sighed. “I know. I didn’t want to show myself and scare you for nothing. I only came out of the shadows when I realized the same shifter you saw on the security footage was getting ready to grab you.”

Laila buried her face in her hands and took several deep breaths. She then met his gaze. “All right.Kidnaping.Breeding. Depraved shifters… say I believe you? How are you mixed up in all this? What do you mean by your team and trainees? I thought you’d have a desk job in the mayor’s office by now.”

Tolliver sat back and blew out his breath. After years of lying to her, it was the moment of truth. “I work for the Black Ops.”

Laila’s eyes widened. Her shock morphed into something darker. Tolliver could see the look of betrayal flitting across her face. She scoffed. “The Black Ops? So, when we started dating, and you said you were looking to go into politics like your late father and grandfather, you lied?”

His gaze skated away from hers. “I wanted to tell you, but—”

“But nothing. Our entire relationship was a sham, wasn’t it? I don’t even know you.”

Tolliver’s chest tightened as Laila’s words sliced through him. “It wasn’t a sham.” How could she think that? Hadn’t heshown her how much he loved her when they were together? She was his world back then—hell, she still was because he couldn’t move on even if his life depended on it.

Laila shook her head, a bitter laugh escaping her. “Right, because that’s why you were able to walk away so easily.” Her eyes clouded with sadness, and it broke his heart. “I feel like you just played a role back then, and nothing was real.”

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