Page 49 of Mitchell's Untamed Mate

“Of course,” he replied, reaching out.

She cupped his hand and pressed a small, cloth pouch against his palm.Her lips trembled as she struggled with her emotions.Tracy’s heart twisted when Mitchell pulled Ella into his arms and hugged her.

“Jayden loves you, Ella.She misses you.You know how she is.She bottles things up.Give her time,” Mitchell murmured.

Ella sniffed and nodded.“I know.I miss her.Please tell her that.”

“I will.You’ll get to tell her yourself soon if everything goes right,” he promised.

Ella pulled away and wiped at her damp cheek.She sniffed and wiped at her nose.A disgruntled expression settled over her face as she looked at the group.

“I hate being so emotional right now,” she grumbled.

Ty chuckled and wrapped his arm around her waist again.“It won’t last long.You’ll be back to your old self before you know it, slaying dust bunnies and kicking butt.”

“Let’s get on the road.I’d hate to think what they’ve got is contagious,” Van joked.

“I call shotgun,” Peterson said.

Tracy groaned.“You always call shotgun.”

“Van and I both know you’d rather be sitting in the back with your boyfriend,” Peterson teased.

“Tracy and Mitchell sitting in a tree—” Van sang in a sing-song voice.

“You guys need to grow up,” she complained, pulling open the back passenger door.

Laughter spilled out from the group, echoing through the air as they piled into the SUV.Tracy sighed and looked over her shoulder as they pulled down the driveway.It was hard not to notice the increased security that was present on site.She looked down at the carefully wrapped gift her father had entrusted to her, feeling the softness of the cloth and the roughness of the twine.As she turned it over, she examined the object closely, trying to figure out what it could be.

“What is it?”Mitchell asked, nodding his head.

She gave a brief shake of her head.“A gift for one of your clansmen.”

Mitchell frowned.“Who?”

“I don’t know.Daddy said I would know when I meet them,” she said with a shrug.

“Your dad always had a way with cryptic words,” Van replied.

“Yes, but when have you ever known him to be wrong?”she asked.

“Never,” Van and Peterson answered in unison.

Tracy smiled at their response, slipped the gift into the pocket of her jacket, and leaned back.She reached out and cupped Mitchell’s hand.His fingers curled around hers.

“Everything will be alright,” he murmured.

Her lips twitched, revealing a hint of a smile as she turned to look at him.Concern filled his dark brown eyes, giving them a soft and caring expression.If anyone should be comforting and reassuring someone that everything was going to be alright, it should be her telling him that, not the other way around.

“I meant what I said earlier,” she softly replied.

His lips curved into a slight smile.“I know.”

He feel same way.You see.I sense it.

Her bear’s reflection slipped through her mind.She sighed and looked out the window again, listening as Van and Peterson interspersed questions to Mitchell with tales of their own adventures.She was happy the three men were hitting it off.

Her mind wandered to the threat.Van told her that the SBSI had arrested a warthog named Carter Stout, but he claimed he had only been testing a new design for a tranquilizer gun and had shot Mitchell by accident.The shifter had denied knowing anything about the truck, saying that whoever had left it must have come after he had arrived.The tranquilizer gun was conveniently lost before he was apprehended.

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