Page 57 of Mitchell's Untamed Mate

“It wasn’t.”

They all turned when Van appeared out of his tent.His face was grim and his eyes barely contained his fury.

“What is it?”Tracy asked in a voice filled with concern.

Van opened his clenched fist and held it out.A tiny silver disk lay in the center of his palm.Mitchell didn’t know what it was, but from Van’s furious expression, Tracy’s shocked hiss, and Peterson’s low, intense curse, it must not be good.

“What is that?”he asked, picking it up and turning it over in his hand.

“A tracking device,” Peterson and Van growled at the same time.

“Where was it?”Tracy asked.

Van nodded toward the tent.“In my pack.I was digging around for a pain reliever I dropped and felt a cut in the lining of my bag.I pulled this out.”

Van took the disk out of his hand and flipped it over.Mitchell could see a tiny set of numbers etched into the metal.

“Who could have put it there?Can those numbers tell you?”Mitchell asked, motioning to the disk.

Van’s eyes glittered with fury.“Oh, I know who the disk belongs to… and the only person who could have put it there,” he growled.

“You don’t think—” Peterson asked, his eyes filled with concern.

“Who?”Tracy murmured.

Van’s lips pinched into a stern line as he stared down at the disk.He walked over to the firepit and dropped the disk in the remains of the cold fire.Mitchell’s concern grew when he saw the other man struggling for control.

“Lorne,” Van finally answered.

Tracy walked over to Van and laid her hand on his arm.Whoever this man Lorne was, he must mean a lot to Van.It was clear the other man was extremely upset.Memories of his feelings of betrayal when Jace attacked him when they were kids flashed through his mind.

“Who is Lorne?”he asked.

“Van’s younger brother,” Peterson murmured.

His frown deepened.“Why would your brother betray you?”

Van looked up from where he was staring at the pile of ash, shook his head, and began buttoning his shirt.Tracy looked back and forth between them before she sighed.

“We can’t know for sure.The only thing we do know is that it is a tracker and whoever put it there knows where we are,” she said.

Mitchell grinned.“Well, it won't be a problem.I told you we humans have learned to listen to our guts.We are heading in the opposite direction of my people.I would like to check all our bags to make sure there aren’t more of these silver disks.Once we know that there aren’t, I will start heading us in the right direction.”

Peterson laughed.“Damn.I really wish we could see the culprit’s face when they realize we are onto them.”

“I will,” Van stated.

Mitchell looked at him in surprise.“What do you mean?”

“I mean I’ll be here when whoever is following us arrives.Peterson, you and Tracy head out with Mitchell.Get to his people as fast as you safely can,” Van instructed.

“What about you?”Tracy asked with concern.“Whoever’s following us is dangerous.They already killed one person.”

“She’s right, Van.We don’t know how many are following us.I think Tracy and Mitchell should go ahead.We could at least give the idiots following us a run for their money and lead them away,” Peterson said.

Van cursed under his breath.“I don’t like this.I don’t want to leave them without backup,” he hissed, running his hands through his hair.

Tracy squeezed his arm.“I don’t like it either, but maybe we can use this to our advantage.I go with Mitchell while you and Peterson find out who is behind this.Like Mitchell said, he led us in the opposite direction.I have the satellite phone.I won’t use it unless it’s an emergency, because if...if Lorne is working with whoever is behind this, he could track the call.I need you both to make sure that if and when I do call, we can get everyone safely out.”

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