Sent Beast Mate(Beast Mates, #3)(25)
“She has gray eyes.”
“Noted.” Vice scribbled on his damn paper. “Wanna make sure. Dewlyn’s hoping someone has seen her sister.”
“You think this girl is mated?” I asked. Something cold stabbed my chest. It had to be surprise.
Vice nodded, registering my bewildered look. “If she’s a mate, we need to watch. Feel me?”
“Watch what?”
“That she’s not harmed and that she isn’t successful in her attempt to bed you. They send them to bed us. She can’t bed anyone but her mate.”
I shook my head. “Don’t you have records of who belongs to whom?”
“I have,” Vice bit out.
Ah, a bit sore there. I pursued that sore spot of his. “So then look up Reagan.”
“No Reagans registered in the Pairing Program.”
I leaned back in my chair. “There you have it. She’s not mated.”
Vice cleared his throat. “Some males may have skipped the paperwork.”
I threw my head back and laughed. Vice loved politics and political correctness, so I knew his males not following his instructions grated on his nerves. “Some of your males kidnapped women and held them hoping for the best. And you think I’m a primitive farmer boy?”
“You don’t know what I think.”
“Oh, I know. Also, I know the girl is now mine.”
Vice shook his head, feigned composure, but the pale red in his eyes gave him away. “Jamie gave you free rein, so do what you want with that. Reagan, however, might be my issue, so you’ll hand her over to me.”
“If she’s mated,” I said. “Which she isn’t, and it’s too late anyway, because I sucked her pussy. If you find her mate you can send him here so I can tell him all about it.”
Vice’s eyes widened. “You didn’t.”
“I did.”
Vice sighed. “I was under the impression you are able to control yourself even around bitches in heat.”
“I can.”
“So what happened?”
“The mouse is cute. She makes noises.”
“You’ve got a pet name for her?” I shrugged. Vice leaned in as if he’d whisper me a secret. “I don’t care what you call her or what you’ve done or how nice and warm her pussy feels, you are not allowed to touch her. She might be a mated woman.”
“I don’t take orders from you.”
“But you will.”
I approached the screen. “I will not.”
Vice growled, his red eyes a pale pink. “First, we find out if she’s mated. No more fucking around with her.”
“Your pairing papers are shit. No Reagans on the list. So how can I know?”
Vice sighed. “Know what?”
“A mate? How do I know a mate?”
“You can’t know another’s mate unless she’s collared. Your mate, you’ll know.”
I sat back down. Nobody really knew about mating until the mating stuck. Seeing as only a handful of my tribal members ever mated, and I’d witnessed only one of Jamie’s males mating strikes, I wasn’t sure how it worked. “How do you know a mate?”
“You see a girl, and she’s yours. That’s it.”
“Very helpful.”
“Welcome.”
“Hey, Vice?” came from behind him.
“Yeah, baby, what is it?”
“Can I come in?”
“Sure.” He pointed a finger at me. “Behave.”
Dewlyn sat on his lap and flung her mane of red hair behind her. She smiled. “Hey there, May.”
“Hey.” I sat back down. Could chat with Dewlyn over coffee. “You look stunning this morning.”
“Thank you.”
“Yes, thank you, May,” Vice mocked. “Now, where were we?”
“On Reagan,” Dewlyn said. “I need to see her.”
“I’ll send you an image,” I said.
“Has she mentioned anyone to you?”
“No. Why?”
“My sister’s name is Hanna, and I think she’s in Texas with the other girls. If they took Reagan to Texas, then brought her back for the auction, chances are she would have seen Hanna.”
I nodded. “Vice, anything on Texas?”
“No. You?”
“Nothing. They must be underground,” I said.
“Why do you think that?”
“We’ve combed the communities in that state on the ground, as have you from the sky.”
Vice leaned back, thinking. “Bunkers. They could be inside nuclear bunkers. If I go in for the thermal scans, I have to drop low. They’ll see us coming. I don’t want them to scatter. I want them comfortable wherever they are. I want their guard down.”