Page 84 of Drive me Wild (South Island Shifters)

A loud sigh of relief washes over the clan and me. He’s still alive.

“Any sign of his scent?” Christian asks from behind me.

Jason chuckles. “I’m an Orca, not a dog. My sense of smell, while useless underwater, is there on land, but barely. There was a scent in the air, but I didn’t recognise it at all. I’ll call when we are done with our scene examination, and you guys can come check it out.”

Zane nods. “Thanks, mate.”

Jason exits the house.

I look at Zane. He looks as lost as I feel. No sign of Declan in the car is a good thing. Despite this, I am worried that with no sign of him in the car, we may never find him alive again.

Zane looks at the clan. “When we get the call to be able to go and see the car, I will be taking Graham and Brendan with me. If we find something, we will call in the rest of the cavalry.” Zane heads towards the kitchen with Graham and Brendan to discuss some sort of plan. I race after him. I grab his arm, and he spins around. He exhales. “You want to come when we go see the car.”

“How did you know?” I ask.

He smiles. “Because if it were my mate missing, I wouldn’t want to stay here. But no, Winter. You can’t come with us. You can’t shift, which means you’ll be in incredible danger out there.” I look at him, and his eyes sadden. “I’m sorry, but as much as it hurts you, it’ll hurt Declan worse if he comes back to find we put you in harm’s way just to spare your feelings.”

“Sorry, Little Luna. You gotta stay here,” Brendan says. I look at him, confused by his sudden attitude change, to which he smiles. “If you weren’t the true Luna, you wouldn’t be here begging to come with us. I think you’re fierce enough to be a Luna, but I need to see you shift first, to believe it truly.”

“At least take Liliana with you, please. She’s such a big tiger. Any wolf would be afraid,” I beg.

He nods. “Of course, and she can keep you updated on what happens.”

I breathe a sigh of relief. “Thank you.” I turn and walk away from him.

What he doesn’t know is I’m damn well going with them to that area, and I’m going to be part of the search party. Declan is my mate, the man I want to spend the rest of my life with. I will be part of the search to find him, even if they don’t know it. Now, I just have to convince Liliana that it’s a good idea.

I make my way up to Declan’s room, where I coincidentally find Liliana sitting on the bed. She smiles at me. “How are you doing?”

“A mixture of emotions. There are no signs of Declan at the car but no obvious reason why he’s gone. I just want to find him, Lily.”

She stands up and wraps her arms around me. “We will find him. Want me to stay here tonight?”

I nod. “Please.” I sigh and look at her. “What happens if I never shift into a wolf, Lily? Do you think the clan will accept me?” I ask.

She looks at me, and her entire face saddens. “I don’t know, honestly. I’d like to hope they can, but let’s not focus on that right now. Let’s focus on finding the man you love and bring him home so we can plan a huge wedding.”

“Maybe not too big,” I reply.

She offers me a grin. “It’ll be all about you and Declan.”

We make our way downstairs to have a few glasses of wine.

When I get the news about when it’s time to go check out what’s left of Declan’s car, I’ll sneak into Liliana’s car and hide. She’ll have no idea I’m there, and I’ll take the blame when questioned by Zane. I know he’ll be furious, but there is no way in hell he will be looking for my mate without me.

Thirty-One

WINTER

I’m in the front seat of Liliana’s car, waiting for her to get in.I’m wishing she’d hurry up so we can get going when the door flies open and Zane leans on the roof. “Nice try, Winter, but I told you yesterday you are not coming. Get out of the car.”

I smile at him sweetly. “No choice, Zane.”

He huffs. “I want it known to Declan I wasn’t okay with this.”

“I’ll take this all on me.”

Brendan, meanwhile, grins. “Wow. I’ve never seen anyone challenge the Beta before. Yeah, you’re changing my mind about you, Little Luna, one stand-off at a time.” He shuts the door, and he and Graham get into the backseat while Liliana slides into the driver’s seat. She starts the engine and drives out of the housing estate.

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