Page 13 of Claimed By the Hunter

Tamara looked at them both suspiciously and then nodded. She dropped a bottle of water on the mattress by her hip. “We’ll be back, whore.”

Nicole didn’t do anything and acted as weakly as she could.

Malani patted her arm, grabbed her bag, and stood.

Once the door closed, Nicole lay back and took several deep breaths. Her whole body ached, but the heat and her headache were worse. It wasn’t long before whatever Malani gave her kicked in, and it did help tremendously. The pain didn’t go away, but it definitely took the fierce burning edge off.

Nicole started looking around for anything that would help her. She could only reach the area around the mattress she lay on. The chain shackled her to the wall. She tried pulling on the bolts holding it, and although the wood gave a little, it would still be impossible to pull it from the wall.

Since it was her only way of escape because of the old wood it was attached to, she worked at it, scraping her hand and the ankle that restrained her. She’d do whatever she needed to get back to her mate.

Chapter Eight

Hunter paced. “Where the fuck is she?” he yelled.

“We’ll find her,” Roman told him.

“Whoever took her is most likely a shifter because only they would know to use bleach to cover the scents.”

A few of his deputies were making calls on the other side of the room.

Hunter looked over to one of the tables to see the woman holding hands and crying.

Blake raced into the bakery. “Hey, guys, I got here as quickly as I could. What’s going on?”

“Someone took my mate. We know it was by the garbage dumpster because we saw blood, but whoever took her spilled bleach all over to disguise her scent.”

“Fuck.” Blake opened his arms when Simone walked to him. He kissed the top of her head and murmured to her. “No clue who it might be?”

Hunter shook his head and pressed on the back of his neck.

“Hunter, did Nicole ever tell you about the woman that comes in here?” Brenna asked.

Hunter stopped and looked at her. “No. What woman?”

“This woman has come in several times over the last week or so. She’d sit at a table and not let anyone but Nicole serve her and then would glare at her the rest of the time.”

“Do you have any idea what her name was?” Hunter asked.

“Nicole told us her name was Tamara,” Simone said.

Hunter stood in shock.

Rafe walked over. “I told you something’s off about the woman the last time she was in to see you.”

“When did she visit you, Hunter?” Roman asked.

“A few weeks ago. It was the day I mated with Nicole for the first time. She wanted help with a sink in her cabin, and I told her I’d call her a plumber but could no longer help her because I had a mate.”

“What did she do then?” Blake asked.

“She kind of closed down. Being a shifter and having been with the pack her whole life, she knows how mates work.”

“I think her mother’s bitterness damaged her,” Roman said.

Hunter nodded. “I’ll head to her house.”

“We’ll keep looking here,” Rafe said.

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