Page 14 of Alpha Wolf
“Got it, Boss.”
Dom sat back down, feeling some of his tension ease now that they had a plan. “Any visible investigation makes us look guilty, so we’re going to be smart about this. Hunter, your neighborhood canvas needs to be disguised as routine business. We’re a security company; we have legitimate reasons to be asking questions about community safety.”
“And if the police ask what we’re doing?” Hunter asked.
“We’re conducting a security assessment for potential clients,” Siren answered smoothly.
“Exactly.” Dom looked around the table.
Axel was already pulling out his laptop. “I can get started on the basic research right now. Public records, employment verification, that kind of thing.”
For the next hour, they refined their approach while Axel worked. The information he found painted a picture of a perfectly ordinary woman.
“Rebecca Matthews, thirty-two years old,” Axel reported. “Employed at County Emergency Management for eight years. Clean background, no criminal history. Address history shows she’s lived in the same house for five years.”
“Online presence?” Dom asked.
“Minimal. Very private person. Basic social media profiles but hardly any activity. She kept a very low digital profile.”
“That fits with someone who’d learned to be security conscious,” Siren observed.
“Property records normal, voter registration current, no red flags anywhere,” Axel continued. “Whatever she was mixed up in, it didn’t leave obvious traces.”
Dom felt the familiar satisfaction of a well-planned operation taking shape. His pack knew their roles, they had a clear objective, and they were using their considerable skills to protect an innocent community. But underneath the professional satisfaction, a deeper pain gnawed at him.
“Pack’s dismissed for tonight,” Dom finally said as the sun began to set. “Get some rest. Tomorrow we start hunting.”
Dom climbed the stairs, each step heavier than the last. Inside his apartment, he sank onto his couch. He pulled out his phone, checking for messages from Rookie Bear that weren’t there. Rookie Bear. His fated mate. The woman he’d been texting with for less than forty-eight hours but who’d already become the center of his world. The woman who’d looked at him today like he was a dangerous criminal.
The memory hurt. Her ice-cold voice. The way she’d looked at him. It was like he was a threat to be managed. So formal. So distant. Like they were strangers instead of two souls meant to be together.
But he’d seen it, just for a second. The recognition in her eyes when she first spotted him. The way her breath had caught,her pupils dilating. Then she’d shut it down, buried it beneath professional duty and suspicion. The rejection of the mate bond was a physical ache that no amount of military training could overcome.
Dom set his phone aside and rubbed his face with both hands. The cruel irony wasn’t lost on him. He’d spent five years moving from place to place, never staying long enough to build personal connections, focused entirely on the mission. The one time he’d allowed himself to hope for something more, to believe in the possibility of a mate and a future, it had fallen apart before it had even started.
Chapter
Eight
Valeria spreadthe case files across the conference room table like a surgeon laying out instruments. Crime scene photos, photocopied evidence fragments, timeline charts—everything that would help Gabriel build his case against the man her soul recognized as its other half.
She’d been at the station since dawn, unable to sleep, unable to think about anything except the impossible situation crushing down on her. In seventy-two hours, her entire world had shifted. She’d found her fated mate and watched him become the primary person of interest in a murder investigation.
The photocopies of burned notebook fragments stared up at her from their protective sleeves. “...organized criminal group...” “...intimidating local businesses...” “...protection racket...” Every legible phrase seemed to point directly at Steel Protection, and by extension, at Dominic Steel. Her mate.
Her bear whined restlessly beneath her skin, confused and agitated by the conflict between duty and instinct. Everything in her shifter nature screamed that Dom was her mate. But everything in her police training said the evidence didn’t lie.
The conference room door opened, and Gabriel walked in carrying two cups of coffee and a determined expression. “You’re here early,” he said, setting one cup in front of her.
Valeria managed a tight smile. “Just wanted to review everything before the interview.”
Gabriel settled into the chair beside her, studying the evidence spread across the table. “Steel Protection arrives in town Monday, gets in a public fight, and by Wednesday their first potential client is dead. That’s one hell of a coincidence.”
“The timing is suspicious.”
“Suspicious is putting it mildly.” Gabriel tapped one of the timeline charts. “Either this is the worst coincidence in the history of law enforcement, or we’re looking at a professional hit disguised as a protection consultation.”
Valeria’s stomach churned, but she kept her expression neutral. She couldn’t tell Gabriel why every instinct she possessed rejected his theory. Couldn’t explain that her bear had recognized Dom as her mate after being matched on mate.com. It was too humiliating. She had to focus on her job.
