The Alpha's Pursuit

Chapter 7-Beau's P.O.V.

Cinnamon and honey. My nose lifted instinctively into the air, sniffing. Her scent grew, and it swirled with fear like all the other times. Perking my ears, a wild heartbeat thudded outside the conference room. f**k!

′Parker is in the hallway.′ I spoke through the mind link to both Thomas and Chris.

Waving them off as we all rose from our chairs simultaneously, I crept over to the door, hoping to catch her off guard. I grabbed the cloth from Chris as I passed him and lowered my head.

Sorry, baby. I hope you can forgive me for this.

Poking my head out the door, ready to wrap my arm around her waist and place the rag over her mouth and nose, I found the hallway empty. The dissipating aroma left no doubt that she had been there moments ago. Turning back to them, but standing in the doorway this time, Chris spoke first in a whisper.

“Do you think she overheard us? Man, we should have done all of that through the mind link.”

“Ya think? And yeah, I'm pretty sure she heard us.” With the cloth still clenched in my hand, I marched toward her office, where her door now stood closed. Well, that’s a bad sign.

Thomas and Chris trailed behind me, hanging back and giving my massive frame space.

Knocking on her door, I listened for the possibility of shuffling feet or a heartbeat. Her fragrance lingered, so I held my breath, hoping my ears deceived me, and she sat at her desk on the other side of the wall.

“Parker, it’s Beau. Just seeing if you were coming back to the meeting,” I said. Sticking to the original ruse made the most sense. Nothing. No answer.

“You try. She’s afraid of me. I’m not picking up any noise, either. Perhaps you'll have better luck,” I said over my shoulder to Thomas.

After I stepped back from the door, I leaned against the wall next to the window in the copier room. Raising my hand, I pushed a blind down with my index finger to inspect the property, but didn’t catch any movement. A metal chain-linked fence surrounded Braxton’s company land; no other businesses resided on this street. The seclusion was done by design.

Thomas approached the door and knocked louder.

“Miss Rose, it’s Mr. Braxton. Are you coming back? We are about to finalize some things, and I would like you to participate.” He paused. “Hello. Parker?” Thomas shifted on his feet and ran a hand through his blond hair.

“I’ll admit, Alpha, I don’t know her well at this point, but from the little I have witnessed, this is not like her,” he said as I watched the color had drained from his face.

He took a deep breath and wrapped his fingers around the door handle. It only moved a smidge before meeting resistance. She locked the door, and panic coursed through my veins.

Did she manage to slip away from me when we were plotting to avoid that very thing from happening? If I weren’t so hurt, scared, and angry, I would have beamed with pride at how brave my little Kitten was proving to be.

She picked up portions of our plan and didn’t hesitate to barricade herself away. Unfortunately for my mate, fear and anger raged at the surface, burying the pride along with the desire to be buried deep inside her. Instead of leaving out the front door and letting my men see her go, she must have hidden in her office. Silly, really. Even a human could break this door down.

“Do you have a key?” I asked. Impatience riddled my voice, and my jaw twitched.

“s**t!” Thomas shouted and, with a swift kick, sent the door flying off its hinges. It landed with a loud thud, narrowly missing her desk.

“What the hell!?” Bracing myself for his answer, I stared at him, baffled.

“A back exit is accessible from her office,” he stated as he launched toward the back door. He flung it open and sprinted out, spinning around and darting his eyes.

“God Dammit! You were right; we should have moved faster. Her car is gone.” Thomas lowered his head in regret. “I’m sorry, Alpha.”

Pacing the lot while fighting to keep Blade from shifting into his wolf form, my body shook in anger, not at Parker. She had no clue what was going on but at the whole damn situation.

I hadn’t marked Parker. My ability to track her scent only went so far and without assistance from any connections I might have, losing her became a real possibility. Not knowing of my mate’s existence, why would I place wolves around town? Though I foolishly wish I had as a precaution for anything that might have arisen, lesson learned.

Punching the side of the building, I damaged the bricks, which crumbled under the force of my fist.

“We’ll find her, Beau,” Chris attempted to reassure me, placing a hand on my shoulder.

“I’m going to dig in her office for anything that might help, and you can gather everything you have on her. Address, phone number, emergency contacts,” I instructed Chris. I hated that we were gonna take her unconscious to the pack, but now I’m hating what I’m about to do even more. Chasing her down, though still technically kidnapping, felt worse. I rubbed my hand over my face in frustration.

“This just got so much more f****d up, and I’m not sure she will forgive me, but it’s kind of out of my hands at this point. Disappearing forever isn’t an option. Fuck.” I rubbed my face.

Recognizing Parker as my mate was the catalyst that would wreak havoc on our lives. Not completing the mating bond sooner than later would start to affect us negatively. She wouldn’t even comprehend what was happening when it struck her, if the mate bond hadn’t already set in, likely confusing her.

It would, in the literal sense, cause us physical pain and weaken us both, which would endanger us and our pack—yes, our pack. The new pack would soon be her pack, apparently, whether she liked it or not.

Why in the f**k did she have to be f*****g human? Or at least not have an awareness of the existence of wolves and mates, at a minimum.

′Yes, let’s kidnap Parker, mate her, and mark her.′ My wolf circled in my mind in agitation.

′Calm down, Blade. One thing at a time. She is already gonna be freaked or pissed or both when we carry out the first part of your list,′ I reminded him.

“Are you sure about this, Alpha?” Thomas asked.

“What other choice do I have?” Glaring at him, he backed up a step. He understood what this meant and how much worse it would be for me since I’m an Alpha or technically an Alpha heir.

“Dumb question.” He lowered his head in deference. Parker hadn’t been in his life long, but Thomas worried for her, and I appreciated that she had him protecting her to some extent. However, I was now taking over.

I tensed in frustration as I poured over her calendar while Thomas ran to his own office to grab her employee file. Chris helped me snoop into her things while my warriors monitored the perimeter outside.

There was a glimmer of hope in my chest that she would go out to lunch and return instead of entertaining the notion that she ran from me.

Should she return, they would, to her displeasure, bring her right to me. Digging into her desk for clues about friends or family, I discovered a tiny black personal date book. Thumbing through it, I found the phone number section and shoved it into my back pocket for later.

Sitting in her chair, her scent wrapped around me and calmed me a little as I pried into her emails on her desktop. Where are you, baby?

When the screen lit up, it remained on a stream of messages to someone named Jake. Who the f**k is Jake?

‘We should kill him!’ Blade roared. As much as I wanted to disagree and be the cooler head, I didn’t and snorted in agreement with the brilliant plan.

As I read through the messages, I saw that this Jake guy had invited her to stay with him for the weekend in Eden Prairie.

Gnashing my teeth due to my seething jealousy and anger, they felt ground to the nub. The idea of someone touching what was mine spun me near the brink of shifting.

Black hairs started to sprout on my skin, and I took a powerful whiff of the cinnamon and honey scent that coated her office, calming me.

Just as Blade retreated, another message beeped in. From her. From my mate. She must have done it from her phone, not realizing she had never logged out of work or that I was reading her messages.

Parker: Hey Jakey, I might come earlier if you don’t mind. Respond to me as soon as possible. I’m packing now. I just need a vacation, and I can’t wait another day. Love you!

She loves him! What the hell!?

Fingers crossed, Thomas's minimal conversations with Parker included a story or two about this jackhole, Jake. Nabbing her before she ran to this guy became imperative. Without knowing who Jake was, finding his residence wouldn’t be easy.

No last name, just a user name shown in the chat, but social media might help. Dammit to hell!

She wasn’t using social media but some other form of messaging.

“Hey, Thomas!” I bellowed out.

“Yes, Alpha,” he jogged in with a folder in his hands.

“Did Parker ever mention a Jake to you?”

“No. As I said, she hasn’t worked here for too long and stays focused on the job. We joke, and it’s relaxed, but we have been super busy since she started, so not much personal talk the last few weeks.” He appeared dejected, however, I couldn’t worry about his feelings of guilt right now when I had a mate on the loose. Tracking her down was my only priority.

“Doesn’t matter. Do you have her address? We’re leaving now!” I barked, storming toward the parking lot, and he passed me the file.

“Yeah, it’s right here. Her emergency contact is her parents, who also live in the area,” he said, trailing behind me.

“Well, it doesn’t sound like she will stop there, but perhaps they’ve met Jake and can tell us where he lives. If Parker isn’t home, we’ll visit them next,” I said, grabbing the SUV's passenger door handle.

“We?” he asked.

“I certainly can’t go up and ask them. I’m a stranger. You are her boss. You can come up with a legitimate reason to ask about Jake’s whereabouts, like sending her flowers for a job well done or something. A surprise for her while she is vacationing,” I said, flustered.

“Oh, that will work,” he nodded, pulling his phone out and calling Stella to instruct her to lock up at the end of her shift.

That woman seemed unbothered by everything going on around her. She never seemed to lift her head from her computer while I threw a tantrum in the office, and everyone else panicked.

It was comical. The thirty something she-wolf with brown hair and brown eyes almost appeared bored with my antics. It struck me again that all employees of Braxton were wolves, so I wondered why Braxton hired a human, my mate, in the first place.

I shook the thought away. The thrill of the chase zipped through my veins as I craved for my Luna.