19. Hunter
NINETEEN
HUNTER
“Look who it is!”
While Stefan did live here, I hadn’t expected to see him strolling casually down the street. He didn’t have a black-suited goon at his back with a gun pointed at his spine. There were no handcuffs around his wrists, and he wasn’t being bundled into the back of a car. Police weren’t swarming him with pistols pointed at his chest.
It was a workday, so he must be on vacation or have a day off. Being threatened by Draven must have been traumatizing, so perhaps he’d taken sick leave. Or the kickback he received from Draven had enabled him to retire.
I put a hand out, predicting Odell would leap up and press his face to the glass. But I underestimated him. He didn’t make any quick movements that would alert the waitstaff, and there were no tears or shaking limbs. I had to admire him because he’d pushed that stress down deep. It’d bubble up and he’d have to deal with it, but he, like me, was on a mission.
We might not be mates in the truest sense—not yet—but we were a team, and I was grateful he was at my side.
Technically he’s across the table, my wolf pointed out.
“Okay, rapid-fire answers. What’s he doing out and about?” I kept my voice low, though there were no shifters in the diner and only a handful of customers, none of whom were sitting close to us.
“He's not afraid of Draven.”
“Agreed.” Damn it.When we met, he was ill at ease, jumpy and lacking in confidence. He had a job and while he wielded some power, he’d never advanced to the top of the ladder. “But why?” I was puzzled over this. I’d miscalculated Stefan’s relationship to Draven.
“He’s just been paid a lot of money and is off to a tropical island to live out his days.”
That sounded amazing. “Is that something you’d like to do? I can make it happen when all this is over.”
Odell shot me a look. “Really? Now, when we’re so close, you’re thinking of a balmy beach, sunbathing, and cocktails?”
“Sor-ry!” I wasn’t. I’d always hated it when Flint called me on my shit, but when my mate did it, it was cute. And hot!
“Focus, Hunter!”
I saluted, and he poked out his tongue. “The hit on us was unsuccessful, so if he’s involved as we think, he should be running fast in the opposite direction.”
“Because if not, he’ll be buried in a shallow grave.”
I side-eyed my mate. “Sure you’ve never done this before?”
“Nope, but I’m learning.” He grinned, a smile that gave me hope we could be, or possibly might be…
“Oh shit!”
Odell leaned over the table, his face close to mine. “What?”
“He’s a good actor, I’ll give him that, but he’s luring us out. Think about it.” I detailed the hit and how we were able to get away. “That was unsuccessful, so Draven knew we’d come for him, and he’s using Stefan as bait.”
I threw money on the table and took my mate’s hand. “Out the back way.”
“Is there a back way? There is in the movies, but this is a small diner.”
Ignoring his concerns, I dragged him through the small kitchen. Heads bounded up and brows were raised, but we raced out and down the street. We jumped in the car, my mate panting, but he grinned and his cheeks were a delightful pink.
“That was fun!” He squeed, and his tantalizing scent drifted around me in the small space, making me its prisoner. If he only experienced the same emotion when he scented me.
It was a little dramatic—just as Odell had teased me about—because as a human, Stefan wouldn’t have seen or scented us in the diner. But escaping with my mate, his harsh breathing rasping in his chest, had been exciting.
Once his breathing returned to normal, he twisted in the seat. “Stefan has a better relationship with me than you.’
I didn’t count a few minutes in the registry office and him marrying us as a relationship. He’d been standoffish with me in his office, but again, we didn’t know one another’s favorite foods or if we were allergic to any. I couldn’t label our interactions as a relationship.
“Maybe.”
My wolf was naysaying in my head, before Odell voiced his thoughts. This doesn’t sound good .
I agree, but let him speak. He’s an equal in this relationship . My mate and I had met less than forty-eight hours ago, but we had a bond of sorts that was weighted more heavily from my side.
“I have to go to him.” He pulled out the business card from the bag and waved it at me. “He gave this to me for a reason.”
Yeah, ‘cause Draven might be lying in wait, ready to kill him.
Bad idea, bad plan . My wolf was ready to take his fur and attack Stefan.
“And that reason might be because someone wants to hurt you or snatch you away.” I couldn’t sugar coat it. My mate was fierce and needed to be aware of the consequences. I refused to allow him to walk into Stefan’s home.
“There’ll be no snatching—just like there was no stashing—on your watch.”
Sweat broke out on my upper lip and under my hairline at the back of my neck. I could hear my brothers’ voices telling me I was a fool for considering allowing Odell to do what he suggested.
“I’m not.”
“Huh?” He peered in front and behind the car. “Not what?”
“Just thinking out loud, but you are not going in there. You’re the getaway driver, remember?”
Odell grabbed my chin and jerked me to face him. His soft skin on mine almost ambushed me, making me forget what we were talking about.
“I get you’re the big scary alpha wolf shifter and I’m a human omega.” His strident tone was arousing, and my internal temperature rose.
“No, that’s not?—”
“And that you adore me.” His words hung in the air, hovering above us and not evaporating. “But take off your mating cap and put on your mafia one.”
You have a cap? What cap? Forget clothing and tell him no! My wolf was agitated and twisting and turning inside me.
Now my mate grasped my face with both hands. He pulled me close so we were a couple of inches apart.
“Think, Hunter. I go there, I’m frantic and say I got away from you and your family. He offers me something to drink, and we chat. The more we talk, the more he reveals.” His grip tightened and his fingers dug into my skin. “You can scent Draven, right?”
Being so close to my mate, my thoughts were fuzzy, as though someone had placed a veil over my head.
“Ummm, yeah. His scent, like other shifters, is distinctive.”
“Well then. You go sniff around the house.” He peered at the sky. “After it’s dark, see if the guy’s been there.”
“And after you have tea and cookies with Stefan, what then?” I reconsidered. “Don’t drink or eat anything he gives you.”
My mate’s eyes flicked upward. “Fine. Don’t suppose I can just waltz out the door.”
“No, because you went to him for help to escape the bad guy—me!”
He smirked, his hands still holding my face. “Right, and I should be running far, far away from you.” His eyes softened, and combined with his breathy voice, I could almost believe he was falling for me.
“Mmmm.” Everything about him drew me in. His unique scent, his feathery touch, his body angled close to me.
“Once I find out anything significant, you scare the shit out of him with your wolf. Don’t kill him, but tell him to keep his mouth shut so we can go after Draven. This is the signal for you to come in.” He tugged his ear.
“I’ll need to see you through a window.” I’d have to check that out.
I could go in alone, but maybe Odell was right. If I threatened Stefan, as me or my beast, he’d be less likely to spill and might just say anything to save his life. It wasn’t my way, but my way had partly gotten us into this mess.
If my mate were a shifter, I’d agree. A human like Stefan would have no comeback against a fierce wolf, unless he had a gun or a shifter accomplice.
Stefan might have both, but so did Odell.
“You’d need this.”
I stuck my hand under the seat. I wrapped my palm around the barrel of a gun and brought it out, the one that wasn’t fired last night.
He pressed his lips together. “I’ve never held one. Don’t know which way is up.”
“Dellie.”
“A little joke to lighten the moment.”
I held the weapon in my palm. The safety catch was on, as it should have been. His eyes were drawn to the gun.
“If something doesn’t go to plan, shoot.”
“I’ll be fine because you’ll be looking out for me.” His voice trembled. Shit. My brothers would never have put their mates in this position. “I’m your partner and your mate. You haven’t forgotten, have you?” He held up his hand, his mating mark visible.
I leaned back and gave him a look. “Oh you’re pulling the mate card?”
Odell folded his arms. “I am. It’s got to have some advantages. It’s not like I can go shopping and ring up thousands of dollars.”
“Huh?” We’d leaped from mates to shopping and I was lost.
“Card. You called it the mate card.”
I snorted with laughter and clasped his hand. Without thinking, I gently kissed his mating mark. He didn’t move, my lips still firmly pressed on his skin. With my gaze on his face, I gauged his reaction.
His long eyelashes fluttered and he glanced down, biting down on his lower lip. I rubbed my thumb over his wedding ring, the thin, twisted metal cool under my skin.
“Could it be if you’re not my one and only, you’re my one and something?”
Gods, he was adorable. If anyone had told me I’d rejoice at those words, at him not accepting me as his mate yet but as a maybe, I would have bled them.
“Dellie.” The name slipped out.
A tiny smile appeared. “Now show me how to shoot this damned thing.”