Alyssa's Wolves (Wolf Masters, Book 4)(9)

Without even seeing his face, her body had responded to him as quick as lightning. The crotch of her tight jeans grew damper by the second, and an ache filled her belly as if her womb insisted she find the wolf destined for her right now and force him to see reason.

Alyssa flinched.

“Alyssa? Alyssa?” Lindsey’s voice filtered through the crowd, and Alyssa turned to find Lindsey pushing between bodies against the flow of traffic to get closer.

Defeated, Alyssa turned back toward the arena and caught up with Lindsey.

“What happened? You looked like you’d seen a ghost.” Lindsey was breathless. She gripped Alyssa’s arms.

“He was here.”

“Who?” Lindsey’s brows squished together.

“My mate.” Alyssa ducked her head. “He was here. And now he’s not.”

“Your mate? But…” Lindsey bent her knees to get into Alyssa’s line of vision. “Are you sure? I mean, could you have been mistaken?”

Alyssa shook her head. “Nope. It was him. Why would he flee? Do I look okay?” Alyssa stepped back, putting some space between herself and Lindsey as if the woman would need a better, closer look to affirm Alyssa’s level of appeal, as if Lindsey hadn’t already seen Alyssa for the last hour or so and couldn’t remember what she’d been wearing. “Do I have a giant smudge of makeup or…” She patted her hair.

“You look fantastic. Stop that.” Lindsey grabbed Alyssa by the wrist and pulled her back toward their seats.

On wobbly legs that had lost their ability to function normally, Alyssa followed or, rather, was dragged.

“What happened?” Kara stood to make room for them to pass.

“Alyssa thought she scented her mate.” Lindsey’s words sounded awkward. Strained.

“Your mate?” Jessica wrapped her arms around her middle and frowned.

Why was this concept so difficult for anyone to grasp? All three of these women had met their own mates, six in total, in a similar fashion. What was the surprise?

“Are you sure?” Kara asked.

Alyssa cleared her throat. “Of course I’m sure. What’s the matter with you guys?” She stared into the face of each woman. Something was definitely amiss. None of them smiled or offered congratulations. They didn’t actually even seem to believe her. Not one of them. That was just weird.

“Well … where is he?” Jessica asked finally.

“Gone.” Alyssa shook her head. “I don’t get it. One minute he was here and the next gone. Why would he do that? Do you think he didn’t notice me, feel me, smell me? Is that even possible?”

Kara coughed into her hand as though there were a frog in her throat before she nodded. “That could be it. Maybe.”

“Even if he didn’t scent me, where did he go? The rodeo hasn’t started yet.” Alyssa rubbed her arms with her hands. A chill crawled up her spine. “It’s as though he didn’t like what he saw, and he ran.” Tears threatened now. Don’t cry.

The last thing she wanted to do was start bawling like a baby. You are a cute—no, scratch that—grown woman. No man would hightail it to get away from you. Stop it right now.

But what other explanation did she have?





Chapter 2


Michael Masters dug his cell phone from his pocket, glanced at the screen, and tapped the button to connect the call. It was his sister, Tessa. What would she be calling about?

“Michael?”

“Yep. Who else would it be?” he teased.

She didn’t laugh. “Listen…”

Something was wrong. Michael froze. He leaned against the fence where he’d been looking out across the vineyard and braced himself for the worst. “What’s the matter? Is it Mom?” The one thing that had made him the most nervous about moving to Spain was fear that something would happen to one of his family members or Alyssa, and he’d be too far away to do anything about it.

“No. No. Nothing like that. I just wanted to call and tell you that Alyssa thinks she found her mate.”

“What?” He screamed the word into the phone. Fuck and goddamn. There was something worse that could happen while he was away.

“Well, found might not be the right word. She hasn’t actually seen this mysterious mate. She smelled him. Last night while they were at the rodeo. Personally, we’ve all been hoping she was mistaken. But, she woke up this morning still distraught and insistent. So that’s why I’m calling. And Michael … he’s lupine.”

Michael struggled to get a breath. Impossible. No way.

“What do you want us to do?”

“Nothing. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” Guess his jaunt across the ocean was over. Time to head home. ASAP.