Chapter One #2
His feet were ready to propel him forward, to close the distance between them, to speak to this mysterious woman who had captured his senses so entirely.
But before he could act, two imposing figures appeared from the shadows.
The abruptness of their arrival startled Carter.
They were both broad, and tall, their faces set in stern lines that gave away nothing.
Danger! Carter’s mountain lion snarled. Mate is in danger! Help her!
He felt a tug in his gut that was the first indication that his lion was trying to force its way out so that it could get to their mate and protect her. But now wasn’t the time to let his lion out. He could not shift. Not here, not now. Not before he knew what was going on.
His heart raced as he watched the two men approach his mate.
She turned to them, her eyes widening a fraction, but she didn’t cry out or resist as one of them firmly grabbed her arm.
Carter saw red. Who in the hell did this guy think he was manhandling her like that?
The second man seemed to scan the area for any onlookers, his gaze momentarily passing over Carter’s position.
Help her. Now! His lion roared, growing more insistent and more frantic.
Carter watched as without a word, the two men directed her to a black, tinted-window sedan idling a short distance away.
He sprang into action, racing after them, but the engine was already running, the soft hum doing little to mask the alarm bells ringing in Carter’s ears.
Right before she got in the car, she turned to cast one final, lingering look around, and for a split second, their eyes met once again.
But she didn’t scream or call out to him for help.
She didn’t fight. Instead, she entered the vehicle seemingly of her own accord, albeit under duress.
The car roared to life and sped away, leaving Carter in its wake, his mind racing as fast as his heart.
Instinctively, he changed direction and sprinted to his father’s car.
As the sedan disappeared around a curve in front of him, Carter pressed hard on the accelerator and raced after them, careful to maintain a safe distance.
He wasn’t a novice when it came to tailing someone without being detected, but this was personal.
He needed to know that his mate was safe, and his heightened senses—an advantage of his shifter nature—helped him stay on their trail.
The knowledge that if he lost track of them, it could mean that he never saw her again made cold chills roll over his body.
Now that he had found her, he could not lose her.
His lion though still frantic, had at least stopped trying to force a shift.
The animal had enough logic to know that it would be of no use behind the wheel of a car.
But it was angry at Carter for letting her get away.
Truth be told, he was angry at himself. But everything had happened so fast that he’d been blindsided.
Something that had never happened to him before.
The journey took them away from the heart of the city and toward the looming mountain range in the distance.
With each turn they took, the environment grew more desolate and rugged.
The sedan eventually turned onto a gravel road that snaked its way up the mountain to a well-fortified compound.
A high fence, topped with barbed wire, cameras strategically positioned—it screamed of high security, of secrets held within.
Parking at a distance where he wouldn’t be immediately spotted, Carter kept low and observed.
The sedan entered through a heavily guarded gate, and he could see the two men escorting the woman—his mate—out of the car.
But what struck him the most was her demeanor.
She wasn’t handcuffed or bound. She walked with an air of resignation, her head held high.
And even from this distance, Carter could feel the weight of the situation, and a mounting resolve to find out who she was and why she had been taken to this place.
The lights of the compound shone starkly against the darkening night, casting long shadows. And there she stood, outside the car, a beacon in the dark, unknowingly drawing him in. But for now, he had to wait, watch, and plan.
From his vantage point, Carter intently studied her movements.
She paused at the entrance to the building, rummaging in her purse before extracting a key card.
With a swift motion, she swiped it, and the door beeped in acknowledgment, granting her access.
As the door slid open, she glanced back one last time at the space where Carter was hidden.
Had she sensed him? Her gaze seemed to linger for a moment too long, but then she stepped inside the building.
“We’ll be waiting to drive you home after you finish work!” one of the two goons called after her.
She ignored them.
The entire scene baffled him. This wasn’t any sort of abduction—there was something more intricate and enigmatic at play.
The facility, the security, with guards armed to the teeth, her apparent familiarity with the procedures, her keycard—all these elements coalesced into a puzzle that Carter was determined to solve.
His sister’s sudden disappearance, and now this.
Two mysteries that seemed to orbit the same unnerving space in his mind.
And now, with a connection as instinctual as the one he felt to this woman, he knew he couldn’t just walk away.
Whatever was unfolding within those walls was significant, and he was inexplicably tied to it.
The sense of urgency was now twofold—finding his sister and ensuring the safety of the woman who he was entirely sure was his destined mate.
Drawing in a deep breath, he looked at the imposing structure. He would need a strategy, allies, and information. Carter made a silent vow then. He would unearth the secrets of this place, and nothing would stand in his way.
The moonlight cast a silvery glow on the compound, making it appear even more mysterious and forbidding.
As the weight of his tasks bore down on him, Carter went back to his car.
Now that he knew his mate worked in this place he could leave, safe in the knowledge that he had a way to find her again.
He turned the car around and started his descent back down the mountain into town.
The night was just beginning, and he had much to do.