Page 58 of Chase Me

Apparently, she did.

First, he’d take care of the Wyr business and then he’d go find his mate and figure out exactly what was wrong and how much groveling he needed to do to fix it.

“Ky, you think you can use that nose of yours to find the relic with what Ciara told you?”

Ky stroked his chin. “I’d like a little more to go on than ‘America’. That country is fucking huge. I can’t scent the relic either. Haven’t been able to since before we got here. Something more powerful than your angry mate is using some fancy-ass magic to hide it.”

“We should all go.” Match stood off to the side, away from the rest of the group. He hadn’t said anything for several minutes, which was completely unlike him. “A massive demon dragon attack on a Wyvern, a white witch mate, and the relic being used by an unknown entity aren’t signs we can ignore. Something big is happening and we’d better figure out what.”

“You are acknowledging that Ciara is my mate.” Jakob didn’t make it a question. If a temper tantrum rain storm was all it took to get Match’s head out of his ass, he wished he’d pissed Ciara off earlier. She had proven herself as a true mate and had hardly blinked twice about the trial.

There was no way Match could object any more. She was powerful, she was beautiful, she was smart, and Jakob loved her.

Yes. By the First Dragon, he absolutely loved her.

The feelings in his heart stretched and grew like a seed pushing up through the soil for the first time. It had been dark for so long, dormant because of his belief that he would never have a mate. This new sensation felt incredible.

This wasn’t just a result of the mating or the ritual that compelled him to be with her, to protect her. It controlled his lust for her.

Even if none of those factors pushed him toward her, he still would have fallen head over tail for her. He didn’t want to spend any more time with these yahoos.

He’d give them five more minutes of his attention and then he was blasting his way out of here to go find Ciara.

Match cleared his throat and Jakob half expected smoke rings to come out of his mouth. Flashes of some emotion he’d never seen on Match flashed through his eyes. Regret?

Instead he got an apology.

“I, above all, never expected any of us to have mates, and only wanted to protect the Wyrs. I still can’t believe it, but she has proven herself. I apologize to you and your mate for the… distress.”

Match had pushed, but Jakob hadn’t done enough to stand up for Ciara, to protect her. It never should have come to this.

Match clasped his hand on Jakob’s shoulder, and he returned the gesture. “Take care of her well, brother warrior. You have been blessed like no other among us probably ever will be.”

“I will.” Oh, how he would.

“Good. We’ll make the preparations to travel to America. You see to the care and feeding of your mate.”

One more thing. A prescient fate must have been in his office with him two days ago, because he’d gotten the ball rolling on this investigation in the right direction.

“I sent Steele there to see if he could find out anything about who had taken the relic in the first place. Contact your red, Daxton, to see if they’ve made any progress. We can start with whatever they’ve found.”

Match and the others nodded, and Jakob, as much as it pained him, took his leave. He shifted into his dragon form to exit the lair as fast as possible. He had an angry mate to tend to. Which he planned to do with a lot of kissing and other darker pleasures.

He followed her scent up to his bedroom where he found her still storming, pacing back and forth and muttering to herself.

Ciara, come to me.

She stopped mid-stride and pointed a shaking finger at him. If he didn’t know better, he’d think she was cursing him.

“I am not talking to you like that. You turn back into a man right now, so I can look you in the eye, mister.”

She’d banked her powers for now, no tornadoes or dust devil accompanied her demand, however, her face was flushed and her body was tense.

He’d help her work all that tension out. He shifted, ready to let the words of love pour out of his mouth and into her heart.

“I can't believe you robbed me of planning my own wedding. Do you know how long I’ve been dreaming of this day?” She threw up her hands and returned to her angry stomp stomp stomp across the room, to the window and back.

Ah. So that was it. He could explain and then they could get to the love declarations and kissing. “I did not rob you of anything, my little thief.”

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