Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

E ron opened the picture he'd saved on his phone, and smiled.

The day before, it had taken Evander less than two hours to make a list of all of the Jenna's that had exited the parking garage of the hotel between the last time he'd woken in the middle of the night with his mate in his bed, and the hour that he'd woken alone.

Getting out of the parking garage in the middle of the night could be done by paying cash, but it was a lot more work than sliding a credit card into the reader, and though she'd left cash on the table for the waiter, he'd hoped she would take the easier route when trying to escape.

Evander had found four Jennas who left between the timeframe given, and, after choosing the time that made the most sense, his friend showed him a picture of his mate.

It was a blurry photo with low resolution that Evander had swiped from one of the cameras in the parking garage, but it was definitely his Jenna.

And now he knew her full name, address, cell-phone number, make and model of her vehicle, and place of business. The need to hunt her down and claim her rode him hard last night, but showing up on her doorstep uninvited, after she left without a trace, screamed of stalker behavior.

He didn't want Jenna running again—or calling the police—so he'd settled on flying over her house in dragon form, and then landing on a neighbor's roof across the street. The ability to make himselfinvisible in his dragon form was a useful ability, and he'd watched her house for several hours while waging an internal battle between his human and dragon sides.

The beast wanted him to burn down the door, throw his mate over his shoulder, and fly her back to the castle. Luckily, he didn't allow that side of himself to make life decisions, because if he pulled that crap, he would scare his mate half to death.

But he would also scare her if he showed up out of the blue and knocked on her door, so he needed a plan.

Part of him wondered if she felt bad about leaving him. Even though she'd been partially blocking it by focusing on his wealth and whatever else she'd been dealing with, the pull between them was strong.

Would Jenna realize her mistake and come looking for him?

He certainly hoped so, because meeting up in again in the restaurant was better than his next plan of attack. That plan included accidentally bumping into her on her way out of the building after work, but it could potentially have a lot of witnesses, and he didn't want to embarrass her or give her an easy way to brush him off.

Because he would leave her alone if she really wanted him to, but he wasn't going to give up that easily.

The sound of the first timer went off, and he opened the oven to pull out the first batch of cinnamon rolls.

He'd spent the day before mostly moping around, but today he had a plan, and that involved reserving another room in the hotel and a ton of cooking. Jenna was getting chicken Parmesan and cinnamon rolls for dinner, and he'd also made breakfast burritos just in case.

Of course, he knew she had to work the next day, so the burritos might be overkill, but he wanted to take care of her, and right now, this was the only way he knew how.

"Oh, my god, it smells amazing in here."

He rolled his eyes before turning to face Kari, Evander's mate. The woman was the newest edition to their clan, and no doubt they sent her in because she was the most unassuming. Except he wasn't buying her innocent act for one minute.

"No," he said, shaking his head. "This batch is for my mate, and if anyone touches it, they will lose a hand.You guys can have the next batch, and it will be ready in twenty minutes."

"Okay," Kari laughed, holding up her hands in surrender. "I'll spread the word. Is the chicken parm for her, too?"

"Yes, but I made some sandwiches earlier, and there are some protein bars in the pantry."

"You're awesome," she said, bouncing to the door that led to the huge pantry where he kept the homemade snacks. The huge kitchen area was actually two full kitchens divided by a long table down the middle, and each side had its own appliances, water source, island, and pantry.

He rolled his eyes, and opened the drawer where he kept the markers and paper, and after writing a warning, he taped the note to the counter in front of the pan. His clan was like a pack of wild animals when cinnamon rolls were available, but when he marked something as off limits, they always abided by his rules.

Still, it didn't hurt for Kari to spread his message, because if someone touched something that belonged to his mate, he was going to start throwing flames.

He felt that truth all the way to his bones, and though he understood it, it still shocked him. He was the fun, easy-going one. He could be violent when he had to be—and he'd had to be plenty of times in the past—but that wasn't his usual personality, and yet, he felt violent when thinking about anyone hurting his mate.

Even if it was only by swiping one of her cinnamon rolls.

Fuck!

He didn't like feeling so hot-headed, but luckily, he knew the feeling would pass once they completed the mating bond. Well... Maybe pass wasn't the right word, but he would be able to think rationally again.

At least about the small things.

Once Jenna was by his side in the castle, he wouldn't be fighting anyone over food, but he wasn't making any promises about the big things. He'd been around mated couples for years, and he understood the innate need to protect one's mate at all costs.

"Feel like you're going crazy, yet?"

He looked up to see his brother striding into the room with a gentle smile on his face.

"Yes."

"Don't worry. It will get better once you complete the bond. What's the plan?"

"I'm going to the restaurant tonight to see if she returns, and if she does, then hopefully she'll agree to talk. I've reserved another room that I'm going to fill with food, and I'm going to find out why she ran, and then tell her everything."

"And if she doesn't show up?"

"Then I'm going to organize an accidental meeting."

"Good plan," Alric nodded. "If you need my help for anything, just let me know."

He knew the man wasn't offering as his King, but as his brother, and the support warmed him inside and out.

"I will," he nodded. "Thanks, bro."

"Anytime. I can't wait to meet your mate."

Another one of the oven timers went off, and Alric turned to leave without another word.

After he pulled the chicken parm out of the oven, he stared in the direction that Alric left for a few moments. He and his siblings had always been close, but even though he'd never said a word, he wondered if his brother had been secretly worried about him.

Especially after he'd taken off for a hotel the morning after their dinner on Friday night.

They didn't eat a lot of meals together as a family, but when they did, it was always a joyous event, and though he'd been having fun, he'd also been distant. He didn't think anyone had noticed, but as King, Alric would always see more than the others.

He was proud to be Second-in-Command to a man that he admired so much, and he couldn't wait to bring Jenna to the castle. He wasn't exactly sure how he was going to do that yet, but he would think of something.

First, he had to find her again... and then they needed to talk.

" O kay, so something is definitely going on," Maggie said. "I've never seen you so bummed out about candles before, so I'm guessing this has something to do with your date on Saturday? He was an asshole, wasn't he?"

Maggie was her work bestie, and managed the gift-shop in the lobby of the building she worked in. There were several businesses on the upper floors of the building, but the shops on the ground floor were all owned by the developer who was completely hands off. When she'd first started making candles, she'd approached Maggie about selling her product on consignment, and an instant friendship was born.

The woman was the only person who knew about her past secret affair with her boss—or about anything in her life really—and the only reason they didn't hang out more was because Maggie was happily married with two kids under five. She and her husband had been high school sweethearts, and when the couple did manage to get a babysitter, they usually used the time to go out together for a date night.

"Maggie," Jenna whisper shouted. "Keep your voice down."

"No way. We don't open for five minutes, and Carol went to get coffee. Besides, I can't cuss at home because Jax will repeat it, so I'm getting it all out while we talk about your shitty date."

Jenna laughed at her friend, as she started walking toward the door.

"What time is your lunch? I can move my day around."

"Let's do two. Carol is leaving early, so I want to eat late."

"Sounds good," Jenna smiled. "Now let me out so I can go to my fucking job."

"That a girl," Maggie laughed. "See? Doesn't it feel awesome?"

"It does," she nodded. "I'll see you at two."

Jenna left the store, and walked across the lobby to the elevator that would take her to the twelfth floor. She was dressed in straight black skirt that stopped just above her knees, and a dark blue sweater tank and cardigan set that had rhinestones embedded around the collar of the tank. She'd finished the outfit with her black, patent leather, ballet slipper flats, and the small black bag she'd used on Saturday night.

Despite her slightly depressed mood, looking at the bag always made her happy, and she couldn't help but smile when she looked into the silver reflective doors on the inside of the elevator. She'd tied her hair in a twist and secured it with one of her larger sparkly clips, and she wore her standard, plain, silver hoop earrings.

Even though she liked the rhinestone hoops better, she rarely wore them to work because they were much heavier than the plain silver, and often got annoying by the end of the work day.

When the doors opened to her floor, she stepped into the hallway, and came face-to-face with her ex and his current girlfriend. Though they weren't what you'd call friends, they weren't enemies either, and she had nothing against the other woman. They had worked in the same office for a few years, and though her ex dated this woman openly, no one knew that she'd dated the man privately for over a year.

She smiled at them both, and forced out a greeting that was happier than she felt.

"Good morning."

"Good morning, Jenna," the woman smiled back. "Cute bag."

"Thank you."

Next to the woman, her ex's face fell into a frown when his eyes landed on the little purse, and the amount of satisfaction she felt at seeing that look on his face over a stupid bag pushed away some of her bad mood.

She walked back to her desk with her head held high, and as she passed each of her coworkers, the smile on her face was real.

She didn't care about her ex, but the knowledge that her accessory bothered him made her feel powerful. Not in the way she'd felt with Eron—that was something completely different—but somehow in control.

Even though she'd been able to move on from their relationship, she still had to see the man every day, and it often felt like things were just happening to her. Almost as if she didn't control the narrative, and she had no choice but to just go with the flow.

Today was the first time it felt like she was the one calling the shots.

It was a stupid thing really, but it gave her the confidence she needed to return to thatrestaurant.

She'd worked out a plan before she even turned on her computer, and the thought of seeing Eron again kept her smiling all the way until lunch. She wasn't sure what she would do if he never showed up, but she was giving herself a week to hope.

After that... Well, she'd cross that bridge then.

" W hy the fuck are you so happy?" Maggie whispered when they stepped out of the building and onto the busy sidewalk. "Earlier you were moping around my store like a sad panda, and now you're fucking smiling like you just won the lottery. What the fuck is going on?"

"A sad panda? Really?" She laughed. "I'll tell you everything once we have some privacy. What do you want to eat?"

"Anything I don't fucking have to share. No offense."

"None taken," Jenna laughed. "How about Italian? I'll even ask them to bring us two baskets of bread."

"You mean the joy of eating marinara—or any kind of sauce—without having to clean up two toddlers after? And I actually get to eat my weight in bread? That sounds like fucking heaven!"

The walk to the restaurant was short, and soon they were seated in a semi-private booth in the back. Since it was later than the normal lunch rush, the place was already emptying out, and the booths on either side of them were empty.

"Okay," Maggie said after they placed their order. "Start talking."

The woman munched on bread and listened while Jenna told her about what happened on Saturday night.

"So, when I woke up because I had to pee, I?—"

"Don't tell me you fucking left him," Maggie said, shaking her head. When she didn't answer, her friend continued, raising her voice with each word. "Jenna! Don't tell me you fucking left that man! You don't leave a man like that with no way to contact you! What the hell were you thinking?"

"Shhh! Keep your voice down! I was thinking that he was going to dump me in the morning, and I couldn't bear it. I know it was dumb, but I didn't want our last words together to be him brushing me off."

"Oh, honey," Maggie paused, lowering her voice. "I'm sorry, but all men are not like your ex. Or that asshole who couldn't even be bothered to face you. You are amazing, and I just want you to be happy."

"I know," she smiled. "But you're right. I realized my mistake later, but it was too late.I tried to call the hotel, but he'd already checked out of the room, and they wouldn't give me any information about him."

"You have to go back! Tonight, and every night until he returns. Because he will return. I can feel it."

The waiter brought their plates, and in the silence that followed, she wished she shared some of her friend's optimism. She was going back, but there was still a tiny bit of doubt lingering, and she hoped he didn't show up with another woman. Of course, if he did, then at least she would know, and that could be a good thing. Even though it would break her heart.

"I am going back, but I wish I could feel what you feel, because I'm more afraid of seeing him show up with another woman, rather than him not showing up at all."

"I wish I could go with you, but Ryan is out of town until Friday, and his mom is participating in a Bunco Tournament all week."

"Bunco? Really?"

"Yeah, and the stakes are high. The grand prize is five thousand dollars."

"Whoa!"

"Right?" Maggie laughed. "It's crazy. Wait! If you'd already made the decision to go back, then why were you a sad panda this morning?"

"I was still conflicted then, but when I got off the elevator, I ran into Chris and Sara. Don't even go there," she said, holding up her hand. "It didn't bother me at all, but Chris noticed my bag, and I don't know... When I saw the look on his face, something snapped inside of me, and I realized how stupid running had been."

"Really stupid, but I'm glad that fucker was at least good for something. What the hell is his problem with that bag anyway?"

"I have no idea, but Sara complimented it. I hope she goes out and buys something similar soon."

"Oh, that would be awesome!"

"Right?"

They both laughed, and the rest of the meal was spent talking about everything else.

When she did finally quit her job, she would miss seeing her friend every day.