2. Lorenzo

TWO

LORENZO

Lucius and his minions were becoming a real pain in the ass. I was sick of their antics and the games being played with us at this point. Lucius was screwing with us now. He had an army under his thumb, using his mind control ability on them, and forcing them to do as he wanted—which in this instance had been to ambush me outside Last Drop.

I'd gone there after work for tacos from the new food truck and a few beers. It had become my thing lately. Everyone in the tribe was mated now and being around them reminded me that I wasn't.

I never thought my panther would yearn for a mate, but here he was, slamming me with a sense of unbearable loneliness I didn't want anyone in the tribe to pick up on.

So, I ventured off on my own a lot, which was why I'd been wide open for an ambush by Lucius's minions tonight.

Not my finest moment.

Clearly, because I'd been saved by a fucking car horn. Nope, no one was hearing about this, especially not Neo. He'd never let me live it down.

After we lost Lucius's minions, my panther hunkered down near the dumpster at Mariam's Diner. I wanted him to continue home, but he wouldn't. Instead, he insisted we hang back.

The woman in the car had captured his attention.

I didn't understand the lure of her, but as long as the others were gone, I didn't care if he wanted to head back to Main Street. One on one was fine. Two on one was okay. Three on one stretched my limitations and wasn't a good idea.

Things with Lucius were getting out of hand.

The tribe and I were starting to wonder how long it would take before he had the entire shifter population of Crescent Creek under his damn control.

From the looks of it, it didn't seem like it would take long.

The woman's face filled my panther's mind as though she was what he wanted me to think about. Not Lucius, not his minions. The same deep stirring I'd noticed in him before bled through to me at the thought of the woman.

Curiosity filled me.

What was it about her that intrigued him so much?

She was different, that I spotted right away. I mean, what other human would have honked their horn to save me? Most would have frozen, staring with wide eyes until we'd passed through.

Not her—she'd reacted.

As my panther rounded the corner of the diner, I understood the restless pull toward her that suddenly consumed him wasn't about curiosity or saying thanks for the save. It was about something more, something bigger. There was a connection there, but I couldn't figure out why.

Not until I saw her again.

It wouldn't be tonight, because her car was gone. A wave of dizzying disappointment that was puzzling as hell hit me, and I knew it stemmed from my panther.

Why did he care so much about seeing her again? She was just a human who'd helped us out, right?

My panther grumbled, his irritation with my thoughts spiraling through us both. I ignored him the best I could, but I also decided that I needed to know who this woman was. I needed to know why she'd helped a panther run from a pack of vicious animals. I also needed to know why it felt like our paths crossing wasn't just a random stroke of luck.

Skepticism pooled through me.

I decided I'd come back tomorrow to scope out the diner and see if I could find her. Maybe when I did, I'd be able to understand what my panther felt toward her.