Claiming His Mate(20)

Lauren wasn’t a coward. She wouldn’t just run because of their sort-of argument. And not because she still wanted the jewels. Even though they were still getting to know one another something told him she was the type of woman to stay and fight and honor the terms of their initial agreement. If she was pissed about something she’d yell at him before she’d tuck tail and run.

Now he just wished he hadn’t called Sapphire and Charlie to watch their alpha’s place, leaving Lauren unguarded. He hadn’t truly thought Lauren would leave, but he’d had to show his packmates that he was following all standard procedures of an investigation.

Keeping his cell phone in his hand, he headed out of his condo. Her scent trail was so damn faint he could barely smell it. Unlike most shifters, hers faded right away, making it difficult to track her. It wasn’t as if she was covering her scent with perfumes or anything either. It simply faded.

Something about that bothered him but he didn’t have time to dwell on the reasons behind it. He followed the trail to the elevators then stopped on each floor until he picked it up again. At the third floor he smelled her along with some of his other packmates’ scents. But there was something else in the air too.

It was manmade, a strange chemical scent. It was so subtle he barely picked it up, but he was a damn good hunter. As he scanned the quiet hallway, he frowned at a strip of red cloth lying inside a potted plant outside of Margery’s place. The two-hundred year old shifter was like a mother to Max. Hell, to half the pack. Maybe Lauren had come to see her. She’d mentioned that she’d made friends with some of the females of his pack.

Holding the cloth up to his nose, he inhaled. It was definitely Lauren’s distinctive amber and vanilla scent. And he recognized the color from a sweater he’d seen among her clothes. Without going back and checking his condo he couldn’t be sure if the piece of clothing was missing, but if this was hers, there weren’t many reasons for it to be here. Unless she’d shifted to her animal form and shredded her clothing.

But why would she do that?

Unable to shake his uneasy feeling, he knocked on Margery’s door a couple times. When no one answered, he tried again, harder this time.

When he stopped he could faintly hear her muttered ‘hold your horses’. A few moments later she answered the door, her dark eyes bleary with sleep. Even though she was a couple hundred years old she looked barely thirty-five. She was tall, leggy and wore a long T-shirt that almost grazed her knees. Considering most shifters preferred to sleep nude, she’d probably just thrown it on. She was clearly surprised to see him.

“What’s going on?” she asked, her voice raspy with sleep.

“Have you seen Lauren today?”

Margery shook her head. “No, why? Don’t tell me you let that girl get away. She’ll make a fine mate for you.”

Stunned, Max blinked at Margery’s words. It wasn’t that he was blindsided by the thought of wanting to mate Lauren. But how did Margery know how he felt?

As if she read his mind, or more likely his expression, her lips pulled into a thin line. “I heard what you did at the bar, getting all dominant in front of everyone. And I also remember what a monster you were after her and her pride left months ago. It didn’t take a genius to figure out why you were such a bear to everyone. I’m just surprised you didn’t chase after her then.”

He’d gone to see her, or tried to, but no one needed to know that. Right after he’d decided to hunt Lauren down he’d received word that his mother had died. Shifters lived a long time but they weren’t immortal. And his mom had been killed by a rogue vampire. Considering his mother had chosen to live alone with her mate in the mountains instead of a pack, they’d been ripe for any predators to pick off. Max had taken time away from his own pack to hunt down those vampires and by the time he’d returned to his own pack, he’d been in no frame of mind to court someone. Which was what he’d planned to do with Lauren. He’d needed a couple months to get his shit together before going to see his future mate. But now wasn’t the time to focus on any of that.

He needed to find his female and didn’t want to open up a conversation on his feelings or intentions with Lauren when he didn’t even know if she’d left him or where she was. “If you see her, call me.” Without waiting for a response he headed for the stairs instead of the elevator. He heard Margery grumbling something under her breath behind him, but he didn’t care.

As he pushed the door to the stairs open, his cell phone buzzed in his hand. Jumping like a randy cub, his short-lived burst of hope that it was Lauren fizzled when he saw Derrick’s number. “Yeah?” he growled into the phone.