Page 14 of Mitchell's Untamed Mate

“Have you found a replacement for Abe?”she inquired.

“Yeah.You’re gonna hate him.Too bad about Abe.It isn’t easy to get a gorilla shifter to do some of the stuff he did.The new guy won’t have any trouble, though.”

Hyder’s grin revealed the remnants of his meal: bits of food lodged between his teeth.A wave of disgust washed over her, causing her to shift her attention quickly back to the newspaper.She hoped to glean information on where the woman had been discovered.During the interview, a wolverine shifter revealed that he had been fined for digging a trap on protected land.He explained that he did so after someone broke into his shed, although there was no concrete evidence linking the human to the break-in.

Except Ty Bearclaw.

“I want you to find a wolverine shifter named Clevis Shackle,” she instructed.

“What do you want me to do when I find him?”Hyder asked.

“Find out about this trap he dug and where it was located.That is where you’ll start your search,” she said.

Hyder picked a piece of food out from between his teeth and looked at it on the tip of his finger before he sucked it back into his mouth.She tapped her finger, waiting for his next question.He reached down and wiped his finger on the tablecloth.

“What am I searching for?The girl ain’t going to be there,” he said.

Isabella released an exasperated sigh.“If there was one, there are bound to be more.I want you to capture me one.”

Hyder sat back with a frown.“You want a male or a female?”

“Just bring me a human, for Goddess’s sake!If this is too complicated, perhaps I should hire someone else to do the job.This time right.”

“I got this.I’ll even bring you two… since the first one slipped away,” he offered, tossing his cloth napkin in the middle of his egg-yolk-and-syrup-laden plate before he pushed back his chair and rose.

Isabella sat back in her chair as Hyder departed.Deep in thought, she ignored Frances who had silently come to remove the dishes and refill her tea.Only after she was alone once again did she reach for her phone.Pressing the number in her contact list, she lifted the phone to her ear and waited.A deep voice answered on the second ring.

“I have a job for you,” she said.

“I’m out.”

“You are not out until I say you are, my dear boy.”

Her challenge was met with silence.A malicious smile curved her lips.She knew he wouldn’t dare end the call because she had his life at her mercy.The sound of his heavy breaths solidified her conviction that he wouldn’t venture off course.

“What do you want?”

“I want the same thing I asked for before,” she said.

“The security around Ella is extensive.Any move on her will not only piss off Ty Bearclaw, but the rest of the family, which includes the President.”

“Not her then.There are others.I want you to find them and tell me where they are located.I don’t want you to engage, just find them.I’ll do the rest,” she ordered.

“If I do, I want your promise that my debt is paid.”

“Once I have a human in my hands,” she said.

“I want your promise.”

Isabella chuckled.“You’ll have my promise—when I get my human.”

She disconnected the call and relaxed back with a smile.The weak, the stupid, and the noble were all easy to manipulate if you had the right skills and leverage.Lorne Timberwolf was neither weak nor stupid, but he was very honorable and noble… to the point that when this was over, he would be willing to give his life in exchange for another.

“Goddess, I love a good cup of tea.Thank you, Frances,” she exclaimed when the loyal antelope shifter came forward with a fresh pot of tea.

Chapter3

The sound of birds cheerfully chirping woke Tracy from a dream-filled sleep where she was in the middle of the forest wrapped in the arms of a gorgeous, mocha-skinned man that made her want to unwrap every delicious inch of him.She wasn’t sure if the moan that slipped from her was from her X-rated dreams or the annoyance of being awakened so damn early.Muttering a heartfelt curse, she rolled onto her stomach and pulled her sleeping quilt over her head.

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