Page 11 of My Unbearable Mate

I closed my eyes for a long blink. I could never forget that scent, no matter how hard I tried.

“You okay, Bell?” Beau asked. “I know I keep giving you shit, but there’s no denying this woman is under your skin.”

“Never been better,” I lied.

Shirley returned with a leopard print sweater that was as soft as…

Soft as Clover’s skin, my bear finished my thought for me.

This was going to be a long night.

“A team should do a sweep of the other directions, but my instinct is telling me she headed north.”

“What else do we need to know about this woman?” Brad asked. “We’re looking for Clover, but something tells me when we find her, that’s just the beginning of this job.”

I had a bad feeling he was right. Her visit to our office and subsequent disappearance were no coincidence.

Shirley clutched the sweater to her middle. “My granddaughter is a free spirit, but she always responds to calls and texts. No one’s heard from her since she left this office. Not her best friends, not her sister, and not me. She’s wild, but she’s not stupid. I’m holding out hope that this is all a misunderstanding, and my apologies for tearing you away from a fun night, but my intuition tells me that time is of the essence, and my intuition seldom fails me.”

“What about the locket?” I asked. Clover had been cagey about the details surrounding its disappearance, which wasn’t a surprise. Shirley and the elders had guarded their magic closely from anyone who didn’t have it.

And Clover hadn’t shown any signs of carrying their gift. The clan had hoped her child would, but after she told me to take a hike, they may never find out.

Unless she found another mate.

No, my bear snarled.

“Seems like a trivial thing to have a security team look for,” Beau said, and several of the guys nodded. “We usually work on much bigger cases. Personal security. Cyber threats. Not missing jewelry.”

“The locket is very important to our clan,” Shirley said, telling us nothing. “We could lose everything if it’s not found.”

Still nothing.

“Tell us more about the magic,” I said. “This isn’t the time for secrets, Shirley. Is there a chance that Clover has anything to do with its disappearance?”

She swallowed hard. “Sharing the magic with ungifteds?—”

“Might save your granddaughter’s life,” I suggested. “She isn’t known for making decisions in the best interest of the pack.”

Shirley pushed her shoulders back and took a step closer to me. “You need to find Clover, and the locket.”

“I need to know if I’m putting my guys in unnecessary danger, Shirley. All your traditions won’t mean shit if there’s no pack to save. So you need to ask yourself, which one’s more important—the magic, or your granddaughter?”

“Clover, of course.” She sighed and rolled her eyes. “Fine. The locket contains the spirit of our great ancestor, Artemis. For those of us who have the gift, it gives us the power to heal. But that’s not all we do. The power helps those in our clan find the one they’re fated to be with, and ensures mating is successful.”

“Thank you.” I nodded and turned to my team. “Beau and Brad, you’re with me. Everyone else can work on the sweep in the other directions. Head back into the Stepchild and ask everyone about Clover Crowley.”

I jerked my head toward my truck.

“We’re staying human?” Brad asked.

“For now.” Part of me was expecting a phone call in fifteen minutes reporting that they’d found Clover in Red Heaven. My bear had definite thoughts about that, but I had a job to do. “Be prepared for all scenarios.”

“Are you gonna tell us who the fuck Clover Crowley really is and why she’s got you coming undone?” Beau asked.

“She’s my mate,” I growled, shocking no one more than myself with the answer. “And that explanation about the magic was a lie.”

Chapter

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