Page 2 of His Secret Mate

“There’s a lot of things to get done, and I sleep fine on a cot.”

“You sleep like shit on a cot. You’ve always liked big soft beds, with fluffy bedding. He also said they have to drag you down to the bonfires…”

“Zach should mind his own business,” Lara said defensively.

“You don’t understand the Grayson polar bears, they think anyone who is family is their business and like it or not, you’re family.”

Lara groaned. She really did not want to be having this conversation. Much as she loved her sister, she didn’t want to be having a conversation with her or anyone else. What she wanted was to get up to the Arctic, get the Solanum Mystica, and uncover its secrets. She wanted to find a cure for DFTD.

“Okay, I can tell you want to get back to your work but think about coming for dinner. If you don’t come this month, I’ll send a squad of horny polar bears to kidnap you next month.”

“Hmm, kidnapping? Do you think they’d be willing to ravish me? I’m worried my vibrator is going to leave me for another—it’s not getting a lot of use.”

“Gross. You are spending way too much time alone.”

“Says the woman who gets awakened every day by a mate who thinks an orgasm a day keeps the doctor away.”

Tess laughed. “Honey, you know nothing about bear-shifters. If I was only getting an orgasm a day, I’d be looking for another mate or three. Seriously, Lara, think about it. You deserve a great life. I didn’t encourage you to come just to see you shut yourself away in your lab.”

“I’ll think about it. I don’t know about Sunday, but next month for sure.”

“I’m going to hold you to that.”

“Well, I’ll be looking for the horny polar bears.”

“You’re awful,” said Tess, humor lacing her voice.

“But you love me because I’m your favorite sister.”

“You’re my only sister, but I love you dearly. Please take care of yourself and do try to come Sunday.”

“I won’t promise, but I’ll think about it.”

They ended the call. Tess did have a point, but Trudi and her kind were running out of time. Lara looked around her lab. Tess wasn’t wrong. It was a cluttered sanctuary of half-written formulas, lab equipment, and stacks of books on everything from biochemistry to Tasmanian Devil behavior.

The faint hum of the scientific apparatus was the only sound that broke the silence, punctuated by the occasional frustrated sigh as Lara pored over her latest set of data. There was something missing. Another trail that had led her nowhere. She brushed a strand of blonde hair from her face, her eyes never leaving the computer screen. She tried tucking it into the scrunchy holding her hair in a ponytail, but when that failed, she settled for tucking it behind her ear.

Her eyes were riveted to the computer monitor. The lines of code and chemical structures had become a second language to her, more familiar than her own handwriting. Lara had no time for anything but the mission. The Resistance relied on her expertise, and Trudi’s life hung in the balance. If even half the stories of the Solanum Mystica were true, the plant would be a god-send.

Every spare moment spent on anything other than finding a cure for DFTD felt like a betrayal. Lara wasn’t so arrogant that she believed she was the only person who might find or at least contribute to a cure, but she was certain she was pursuing a unique avenue of research. Romantic entanglements? Drama? They were laughable distractions. She had a species and a friend to save, and nothing was going to stop her.

After a few hours, Lara leaned back in her chair, removing her glasses and rubbing her eyes and temples. The data was promising but incomplete. A breakthrough seemed just out of reach. Every piece of data, conjecture, and instinct told her she was right. She closed her eyes and let out a deep breath. Shaking her head and shoulders, she centered herself.

Her phone buzzed on the desk, snapping her out of her thoughts. She glanced at the screen. It was a message from Deke, the head of the Resistance. “Urgent. Come to HQ.” She wondered what a cave lion-shifter might consider ‘urgent.’

Lara stood, locked down her computer and grabbed her coat, stuffing her phone into her pocket. The Resistance headquarters was a short walk up from her lab.

Only part of the encampment could be seen. Most of it was a hidden compound burrowed into the side of the sea cliff. She punched in her security code and then navigated the dimly lit corridors with practiced ease, nodding to fellow members as she went. She found Deke in the war room, surrounded by maps and screens displaying various intel feeds.

“You called?” Lara asked, stepping into the room.

Deke looked up, his expression grave. “We’ve found something. Sit down.”

Lara took a seat, a knot forming in her stomach. “What is it?”

Deke punched up some information and threw it up on a central screen, a photograph of a delicate, purple-flowered plant. “That is the Solanum Mystica. It’s been thought extinct for centuries. I can see from your face you’ve heard the stories.”

Not wanting to tip her hand as to the plan she had been plotting, Lara tried to play it cool. But this was a digital image of the plant itself. Her breath caught. “The Solanum Mystica? Are you sure?”

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