Chapter 11
Vanessa
My heart was still racing long after I’d made it home safe and sound.
I’d been pacing my living room floor for the last hour.
I had a mate.
My mate was Crazy Sac?
He didn’t look like an ancient old man bordering feral.
I could vividly remember every detail of him from his dark hair to his light green eyes. There was nothing old or ancient about him. Maybe it wasn’t even Crazy Sac, or Isaac as Mary had called him. But I was pretty sure it was.
My mate.
My brain couldn’t comprehend what had just happened.
I should have been thrilled. It should have been the greatest moment of my life. Instead, he’d yelled at me and told me not to come back.
What the hell was wrong with him?
Before I could stop myself, I turned the car around and started driving back towards his house. That had to be it and why I was so attracted to the scent of that place. The farm, the cabin, all of it must have been covered in his scent.
I remembered that smell. It was the greatest thing ever.
Because it was him, I realized.
It wasn’t that I didn’t know that. I wasn’t stupid. But the correlation suddenly hit me like a ton of bricks.
It took me a few minutes to find his place again. Partly it was because my head was still spinning from meeting my mate. But also, he certainly didn’t make it easy for anyone to find him.
He didn’t seem like the kind of man who wanted company. Yet, when I got there, I could see a vehicle in the driveway and he was talking to someone. From this distance I couldn’t make out who it was.
I snorted at the thought.
I didn’t know every single person in the Pack. Clearly, because I had no idea who Isaac was or that he lived out here. But I did know most of them. Or until now I’d thought I did.
This insane man was already turning my world upside down. I knew I would be better off to just turn back and forget about him, but I just couldn’t.
He’d caught me off guard the first time. This time I was more prepared.
I backed out, hoping they hadn’t seen me, and then I pulled into a spot I thought would be discreet but allow me to see when his company left.
It was late. Who the hell was visiting him at this hour?
My wolf flared in anger as I wondered if perhaps it was a woman.
Did he have a girlfriend?
I swallowed hard.
Did he already have a mate? And if he did, would my wolf have recognized him as my mate? I had no idea about any of this stuff.
“I don’t care,” I said out loud.
I was there because of the boys, not him. And if he knew anything at all about them, I was going to find out and I wasn’t going to leave until I knew for sure.
What did I know about the man? He could have eaten them by now for all I knew.
That was a lie. I had heard them scurrying through the woods when I’d made noise that had awakened the forest and the farm.
All the animals had been on full alert and a distraction while the boys ran away.
I was certain of it. But that meant they were out there in the cold somewhere, probably scared and all alone.
It broke my heart to think about it.
Were they hungry?
Were they scared?
Were they cold?
Each passing thought made me even more fearful for them.
I had to find them, even if it meant confronting him again.
As soon as the SUV in his drive pulled out and drove off, I pulled in.
Taking a deep breath backfired on me again as I inhaled my new favorite scent.
Growling in frustration, I parked, turned off the ignition, and got out of the car. I was just about to knock on his door when it flew open.
He glared at me with those piercing green eyes.
“I thought I told you not to come back here.”
“Tough shit. Do you know anything about those missing boys?”
“What? No.”
“Are you sure?” I asked, peering into his place over his shoulder.
“They aren’t here,” he growled.
His hair was wet. He’d taken a shower recently. I could smell a hint of fresh soap mingling with his unique scent. When had he done that?
Had he met me, sent me away, and went to take a shower? Had he taken it alone?
My jaw locked and I knew my eyes must be ablaze with frustration as I glared at him.
Why the hell did I even care?
Mine, my wolf growled in my head.
“You had better not be lying to me.”
“Or what?” he challenged, taking a step closer to me.
I had to lift my head to meet his eyes.
“If you hurt one single hair on their heads, you will regret it.”
“Oh yeah? Why’s that? Besides, we both know it’s been you all along.”
“Me? What are you talking about?” I sputtered.
“I caught you. Found where you’ve been staying in the woods. Remember? You’ve been stealing my eggs, stealing my stuff, and stealing my food.”
The boys had done all that? They were better off than I’d suspected and sneakier too. Relief washed over me.
“Oh, thank God.”
“What? Are you crazy? I mean, really, are you?”
“I didn’t steal anything from you.”
“Woman, I caught you red handed out in your little shelter, remember?”
“I remember you destroyed that shelter. How could you?”
“How could I? You really are insane, aren’t you?”
I glared back at him not even wasting breath remarking on such stupidity. Or at least I tried to, but he just made me so mad that I couldn’t restrain myself.
“I’m not the one they call Crazy Sac, Isaac.”
He took a step back, surprised by my outburst.
“How do you know my name?”
So that’s what had caught him off guard? I’d started to tell him that everyone knew his name, but we both knew that wasn’t true.
“Tell me,” he roared.
My chin defiantly rose a little higher.
“You’ll never know.”
Where the hell had that come from?
He growled at me, but the sound had the opposite effect either of us expected.
Instead of being scared, I was turned on by his aggression. That realization made me suddenly very uncomfortable.
What the hell was I doing?
“Take off your mask,” he demanded.
“Leave those boys alone,” I responded, and then I turned and walked away.
But I only got a few feet before he reached out and grabbed my arm.
His touch seared into me sending shivers of excitement through my body that I wasn’t prepared to feel.
“Or what?” he challenged.
His eyes shimmered in the moonlight as he stared at me.
“Let’s not find out,” I said, suddenly feeling very awkward.
This wasn’t like me at all. I didn’t do crazy spontaneous things like this.
Oh, but I did, or I had once upon a time.
That wasn’t me anymore. I was a good girl who abided by the rules. I wasn’t this defiant, vigilante of sorts.
This time when I pulled back, he let me go. A part of me wished he hadn’t, but the other part of me was relieved.
He was my mate. I was certain of that.
Mate, my wolf whined as I turned my back on him and walked away.
This time he didn’t stop me.
Maybe he was just as shocked by that touch as I was.
As I reached my car and opened the door, I dared one last glance back at him swearing it would be the last.
He was standing on his porch watching me.
I’d never seen anyone so gorgeous and sexy.
If he had been anyone else, I would have probably thrown myself at him and accepted the mating without question.
But he seemed to purposefully want to rile me up and it worked.
My temper flared every time he opened his mouth.
“See you soon, mate,” he yelled out just as I slid into the car and slammed the door behind me.
I was momentarily stunned. He said it aloud. He knew who I was to him. Of course he did. His wolf must have alerted him around the same time mine had me. But he’d said it. It was out there just lingering in the space between us.
I started up the car and got the hell away from him as fast as I could.