Page 3 of His Relentless Mate

As they left the hotel, Trace couldn’t help but feel a sense of something shifting between them. It was subtle, barely noticeable, but it was there—a crack in the walls that Annika had built around herself, a hint of the girl she used to be. He wasn’t sure if it was just wishful thinking on his part, but he couldn’t deny the feeling.

They were halfway back to the station when Trace’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out and frowned when he saw the name on the screen. The mayor. He glanced at Annika before answering, his voice gruff. “Gallagher here.”

“Chief,” the mayor’s voice crackled over the line, strained and wary. “I’ve been hearing some things about that old murder case you’re looking into. I thought we agreed when you became chief that it was best to leave that in the past.”

Trace’s jaw tightened. He had expected this call, though he had hoped it would come later rather than sooner. “The case was never officially closed,” he replied, keeping his tone level. “Annika Connelly’s in town, and she’s taken an interest in it. We’re just following up on some leads.”

The mayor’s sigh was heavy with frustration. “You know this town, Gallagher. People have long memories, and not all of them are fond of digging up old wounds. The last thing we need is to stir up trouble.”

“With all due respect, Mayor, we’re just doing our job,” Trace said, his patience wearing thin. “If there’s a chance we can solve this and bring some closure to the family, don’t you think it’s worth pursuing?”

There was a long pause on the other end of the line, and Trace could almost hear the mayor weighing her options. Finally, the older woman spoke, her tone resigned. “Just be careful, Chief. This town can be a powder keg when it comes to the past. Don’t let it blow up in our faces.”

“We’ll proceed with caution,” Trace assured her before ending the call.

When he returned his attention to Annika, he saw the question in her eyes. “The mayor?” she asked, her tone suggesting she already knew the answer.

“Yeah,” Trace confirmed. “She’s worried about reopening old wounds, making waves in the community. But I think we’re on the right track, and I’m not going to back off just because some people are uncomfortable.”

Annika nodded; her expression determined. “The truth doesn’t disappear just because it’s inconvenient. If we have a lead, we have to follow it.”

Trace felt a surge of admiration for her, a reminder of why he had fallen for her in the first place. She had always been strong, stubborn, and unafraid to stand up for what she believed in. It was one of the things he had loved most about her, and it was good to see that part of her was still very much alive.

As they drove back to the station, Trace couldn’t shake the feeling that this investigation was going to change things—not just for the town, but for him and Annika as well. The past was a living thing between them, pulsing with unresolved tension, and the more time they spent together, the more those old feelings would threaten to resurface.

Back at the station, they debriefed the team about what they had learned, sharing the new lead about the mysterious guest at the hotel. It wasn’t much, but it was a starting point, and the team seemed energized by the possibility of finally making progress on the case that had eluded all of them for so long.

As the day wore on and the station began to quiet down, Trace found himself lingering in his office, going over the notes they had compiled. He could hear Annika in the room next door, her voice low as she spoke on the phone, likely following up on another lead. He wondered if she was thinking about the past as much as he was, or if she had managed to put it all behind her.

The truth was, Trace wasn’t sure if he wanted her to have moved on completely. A part of him still clung to the hope that there was something left between them, something worth rekindling. But he also knew that things were different now. He was different. The man he had become, the dragon he had become, wasn’t the same boy she had fallen in love with all those years ago.

The door to his office creaked open, and Annika stepped inside, her expression unreadable. “We’re making progress,” she said, leaning against the doorframe. “I didn’t expect to find anything, but I think we might actually be onto something.”

Trace nodded, setting his notes aside. “It’s more than we’ve had in years. But this case... it’s complicated. It’s not just about solving a crime. It’s about this town, and the people in it. There are a lot of layers to peel back.”

Annika’s gaze softened for a moment, and he saw a flicker of the girl he used to know, the one who had believed in him, in them. “I know,” she said quietly. “And I’m ready to face whatever we find, no matter how messy it gets.”

There was a long pause as they stood there, the weight of their shared history hanging heavy in the air. Trace wanted to reach out, to say something that would bridge the gap between them, but the words wouldn’t come. Instead, he watched as Annika straightened, her walls coming back up as quickly as they had started to fall.

“I’m going to head out for the night,” she said, her tone brisk and professional once more. “We’ve got a long day ahead of us tomorrow.”

“Yeah,” Trace agreed, though his heart wasn’t in it. “Get some rest. We’ll pick up where we left off in the morning.”

She nodded and turned to leave, but just as she reached the door, she hesitated, glancing back at him. For a brief moment, their eyes met, and Trace felt a spark of the old connection that had once burned so brightly between them.

“Good night, Trace,” she said softly before slipping out of the room.

“Good night, Annika,” he replied, though she was already gone.

Trace sat back down at his desk, running a hand through his hair as he tried to make sense of the emotions swirling inside him. Seeing her again, working with her, was bringing up feelings he had thought were long buried. He didn’t know if they had a future together, but he did know that the past wasn’t done with them yet.

That night, after Annika left the station, Trace headed for his own home, outside the city. He had chosen it as it was somewhat isolated and yet still close enough to be able to get into Kodiak in bad weather or an emergency. Standing on the porch with a glass of bourbon in his hand, his mind too full of thoughts of her and the case to allow him to sleep, he realized how much everything had changed since they had last been together.

Eventually, he gave up on the idea of sleep altogether and decided to go for a walk. The air outside was frigid but invigorating, and the rain and snow mix had tapered off into a light mist that hung in the air like a veil. Trace found himself heading toward the beach, the one place in Kodiak where he could usually find some peace.

As he walked along the shore, the waves lapping at the sand, he couldn’t help but think about how different his life had turned out from what he had imagined. Back when he was a teenager, he had thought he had it all figured out. He would go into the military, serve his country, and come back to marry Annika. They would build a life together, maybe even start a family.

But fate had other plans.

---