4. Kase

Igrinned as our mate saluted us, and she was carried down the street. Rylan growled at her, which somehow made me find the entire situation even more hilarious. My oldest friend was not accustomed to being dismissed or ignored.

“We’ve lost her again,” he groaned as the truck she was surfing turned a corner.

“Don’t sound so blue, brother. We have one thing we didn’t before,” I said cheerily, hopping over the edge and landing on the fire escape.

“Oh, yeah?” Rylan asked as he followed me down the metal steps to the street. “What would that be?”

I stopped halfway down the ladder and grinned up at him. “Her scent.”

The sour puss on his face morphed into a sly smile. “That we do,” he replied.

Getting away from us now wouldn’t be nearly as easy for her. A hellhound never forgot a scent, and we were the best trackers in the business. When I reached the street, I returned to where we had first spotted her. I knew her movements after that; I wanted to follow her movements before arriving at that spot.

“Should I go get Jett?” Rylan asked as he followed behind me.

“That’s probably not a good idea,” I replied as I paused at a street corner. Our little mate’s scent split off here in several directions. Two paths were used frequently, but which do I pick?

“He’d be able to find her faster,” Ry replied. He stepped beside me and breathed deeply. “That way,” he directed, pointing to the left.

It was true. We tracked far better in our hound forms, but if we needed that advantage, one of us could easily shift, which was a far better plan than letting a feral hound loose on his mate’s trail.

“Maybe so, but we would risk losing him or control over him. She’s already running from us. How would she react if she saw Jett on her tail?” I asked. “We need to approach her in our human forms first.”

“I don’t understand why she’s running,” Rylan said in exasperation. “Doesn’t she know she’s our mate?”

Rylan bumped into my back as I stopped short. This street was littered with old scent trails leading to the building across the street. This must be where she lives. As if my thoughts summoned her, I caught a flash of lavender. Instead of answering Rylan’s question, I shoved him behind a hot dog vendor cart and covered his mouth. I ignored his glare as I pointed across the street.

There our little mate was, happily prancing down the street, sipping on an iced coffee without a care in the world as if she hadn’t just murdered a human in cold blood and then run away from us. We watched her enter the building and stand in the lobby, waiting for the elevator. As soon as she stepped inside, Rylan and I darted back down the street to an alley. I wasn’t sure which condo was hers, but none of the windows had a good line of sight on us. We slipped into the shadows and sat on the dirty sidewalk to watch her building. Now, we were nearly invisible. Passersby wouldn’t see us unless they were looking—a convenient and necessary trick for a hound to have up its sleeve.

“I’m beginning to think that she doesn’t,” I said, finally answering Ry’s question. Neither of us mentioned the alternative. The idea was too painful to consider: maybe she would reject us. I shook my head. Unless she said the words to my face, I refused even to consider it a possibility. Even Rylan would have trouble not going feral after a rejection like that. Jett would most certainly be lost forever. I didn’t doubt I would be as well. Rylan had given up actively searching for our mate long before Jett joined the pack. I hadn’t. Everywhere we went, I would give the women an extra sniff just to make sure. I had planted a welcoming flower bed where he had built a wall around his heart.

“Do angels even have mates?” Rylan asked after a few minutes.

I considered his question as I watched the building’s windows for any sign of our mate. We really needed to get her fucking name. “I honestly don’t know. I never had a reason to find out before now. They must if she’s ours.”

“Then why doesn’t she know that?” Rylan asked.

Another good question— one I didn’t have an answer to. I’d add it to my growing list of questions surrounding her. On that list was why we watched her murder a man in cold blood on the street. We didn’t speak after that as we waited to see if she would come back out of the building. The longer the time stretched, the more convinced I was that we had found where she was staying. As the sun set and the stars began to peek through the pollution surrounding the city like a blanket, my thoughts turned to Jett.

Unsurprisingly, Rylan’s had, too. “One of us should go check on Jett,” he stated. “He’s been alone longer than we anticipated. Maybe finding out we’ve located her will help bring him back.”

“I’ll go,” I said, standing and nearly scaring an older woman walking past us to death as I did. “If she leaves the building, try to sneak in and locate her apartment.”

When I returned to our apartment, I was relieved to see that Jett was still chained to the wall where we had left him. He awoke when he sensed my presence and shook off his sleep as he stood. He wasn’t nearly as growly when we were alone as in Rylan’s presence. I grabbed a couple of steaks from the fridge and tossed them to him before moving a chair closer and sitting.

“We found her, Jett.”

His ears perked up a little as he ate, and his yellow eyes never left mine. I knew his hound hadn’t completely taken over yet, but each day, I grew more worried that it would.

“She ran from us again, but we’ve figured out where she lives. If you could shift back, the three of us could approach her as a pack. I don’t think she realizes that she’s our mate.”

Jett finished eating but continued to watch me closely, his ears twitching as he listened to my words.

I continued talking, hoping that something I said would give him the push he needed to regain control. “She’s fucking magnificent, brother. You should see her. She was already stunning before her fall, but now... indescribable. Her pretty white wings were replaced with smaller black ones that shimmered like an oil slick in the sun. Against the black wings, her hair looks even more vibrant. And get this: we watched her kill a man. She waited for him like a predator in the night and then followed him into an alley and killed him with hardly a word.”

Jett’s hound cocked his head to the side before laying down, resting his chin on his crossed front legs. I sighed as he returned my gaze, blinking slowly. I wish I knew how to get through to him. What fucking button I had to push to get him to shift back. Deep down, I knew that the only thing that would bring him back was her. Unfortunately, she didn’t seem too interested in popping by for a visit any time soon.

Giving up for now, I went to the kitchen table where my laptop was. I booted it up and then stared at the screen for five minutes. I didn’t know what I was looking for or where to start. I needed to talk to someone who knew about these things better than I did. Knowing it might cost me a favor down the line, I pulled out my phone and called her anyway.

“Kase, darling,” the woman purred after the first ring. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Hello, Lilith. How are you?” I replied.

“Dreadfully bored and lonely,” she pouted. “When are you going to visit me?”

Just as soon as I wanted to end up burning for all eternity, I thought to myself. Lilith was off limits, not that she seemed to have gotten that memo or cared. She considered herself a free agent, but Lucifer did not. I had no interest in getting involved in that powder keg.

“Lilith, I thought we were friends. Why are you trying to set me up to get killed?” I teased.

Her throaty chuckle had the power to do things to a man. I’d be lying if I said it hadn’t affected me in the past, but now that I found my mate, it didn’t. Ever perceptive, even through the phone, Lilith sensed that I wasn’t reacting to her.

“What’s happened? Something has changed with you,” she said more seriously.

“We’ve found our mate,” I replied.

“Oh, my. That is a big change. Congratulations,” Lilith replied. The sincerity in her tone surprised me. With as heavily as she flirted and her general opinion that all men must worship her, I hadn’t expected her to sound happy for us.

“Thanks. There is a slight problem, though, and I was hoping you might be able to answer some questions for me,” I replied.

“What’s the issue?” Lilith asked, “Do you need me to remind you where everything goes?”

I dutifully chuckled at her lame joke. “Well, she was an angel, but we didn’t realize it until it was too late. My first question is, do you know if angels have mates?”

“Was? Did you cause her to fall?” Lilith asked, intrigue seeping into her voice. I could almost envision her suddenly sitting up from her relaxed position.

“Technically, Rylan did, but yes, she fell,” I admitted.

“Fascinating,” Lilith replied. She must have covered the phone because her voice became muffled as she spoke to someone else. “Darling, I’m going to let you speak to Lucy. This is more his area of expertise than mine. Promise me that you will bring her around for dinner when you have everything figured out with your little angel. I’d love to meet her.”

“I’ll make sure it happens. Thanks, Lilith,” I replied. There wasn’t any way to avoid it forever, but I would undoubtedly delay dinner with Lilith for as long as possible.

“What do you want to know?” Lucifer’s deep voice asked seconds later.

“Do angels have mates?” I asked.

“Yes and no,” he replied. “There isn’t any reason they couldn’t potentially have one or more mates. Usually, however, it isn’t something that they participate in. Angels tend to follow the more traditional relationship model made by Adam and Eve.” I smirked when I heard Lilith gagging in the background at the mention of Adam and Eve.

“So then, would it make sense that she doesn’t recognize the mate bond for what it is?”

“It’s possible. Have you tried to explain it to her?” Lucifer asked.

“Well, we didn’t have a chance before she fell. When we finally hunted her down, she ran away from us again.”

“How did a fallen angel evade three of my best hounds?” Lucifer questioned. I knew the question was rhetorical from his tone, but it didn’t stop me from replying.

“Well, technically, she evaded two of us. Jett is... well... stuck in his hound form,” I admitted. Lucifer didn’t reply, and as the silence stretched, my nervousness grew.

“I trust that my top pack will resolve their recent problems expeditiously and get back on assignment,” he finally said.

“Yes, sir. We will. We’re working on that now. As soon as we can make contact with her, I’m certain Jett will return to normal,” I assured him. This was why I had called Lilith instead of Lucifer. I was trying to avoid giving him an update.

“Good. I’d hate to have to step in to clean up your mess.” Lucifer’s barely veiled threat hit its mark. If he did have to step in, he’d likely recycle Jett, and who knew what he would do to Rylan and me? “Did you have any other questions?”

“I have one more,” I replied, “What does a fallen angel do after the fall? We watched her kill a human in cold blood.”

“Since you encountered her on earth, I imagine she was a soldier. Depending on her conviction, she might still be trying to continue her work in whatever way that she can,” Lucifer replied. “She’s probably working as a contract killer, but with morals.”

“That makes sense. Thank you, Sir,” I replied.

“Kase?” Lucifer said before I hung up.

“Sir?”

“I meant what I said. I need Zabiza handled. I need my top team back on the job. Get this mess cleaned up and straighten out your pack issues. I don’t want to have to step in.”

“Understood, Sir,” I replied. The call ended, and I tossed my phone on the table and looked at Jett, who was sitting up, watching me closely. “Did you hear all of that, pup?” I asked. “We’re on thin ice right now, and your inability to control your hound could jeopardize everything. Get your fucking shit together, Jett,” I growled.

“Well, I see you’ve been working hard,” Rylan said sarcastically, waking me from sleep. Jett’s low growl filled the room, and in a moment of irritation, I grabbed the pillow behind my head and whipped it in his direction.

“Knock your shit off, Jett!” I growled back.

“I was the one who spent the night in an alleyway,” Rylan said, dropping into the armchair, “why are you so moody?”

“I talked to Luce,” I replied. “He isn’t thrilled with our current situation and wants us back on Zabiza’s trail.”

“Great,” Rylan groaned. I filled him in on the rest of what Lucifer had told me, and he nodded. “That confirms our suspicions that she doesn’t realize she is our mate. It also explains what I found in her condo.”

I sat up immediately. “You went inside?”

“I took a quick look around after she left this morning,” he replied. “It looks like she has become a contract killer, like Lucifer suggested. The man she killed yesterday is one of several files that she has.”

“What’s our next move?” I asked.

“Now that we know where she lives, I say we go over there and wait for her to come home,” he replied. “Ambush her so she can’t run away again and explain the situation to her. The sooner she understands that she is our mate, the sooner we can pull Jett back to the land of the living and get back onto Zabiza’s case.”

I contemplated his suggestion. It was a little more aggressive than I would prefer to be with our mate, but at this point, I didn’t see an alternative. We couldn’t keep chasing her around the city. “Ok,” I replied. “Let’s do it today. I don’t see any point in waiting.”

Jett yipped in agreement, and as we turned to look at him, he wagged his tail excitedly.

“You’re staying here,” Rylan told him.

Jett whined and dropped his head.

“You could come with us if you shifted,” I told him. The hound stilled, and for a moment, I thought Jett might be able to regain control. Then, the hound shook his head and huffed in annoyance while stamping his front paws on the floor. “Sorry, Fido, there is a two-leg limit for this mission,” I said when it was clear Jett wasn’t going to shift.

“Behave yourself,” Rylan warned Jett before turning to me. “Follow me.” He disappeared, and I gave Jett one last look as he whined before following Rylan to our mate’s condo.

“Nice place,” I commented when I arrived. It was far from the slummy little hole in the wall we stayed at. That was something we might have to consider. Our mate might prefer to have a permanent place to come home to. We were accustomed to crashing in whatever usually roach-infested place we could. We didn’t often stay in the same place for more than a few days.

“Nicer than anywhere we stay,” Rylan replied, rubbing the back of his neck as he looked at the overstuffed couch laden with pillows and blankets with apprehension. A purple fuzzy carpet was under the coffee table in front of the sofa. Before today, I never would have imagined us staying in a place with anything fuzzy that wasn’t alive. Now, it looks increasingly likely that there will be some lifestyle changes in the future.

We wandered around her apartment to get a feel for who our girl was and what she liked. I had difficulty equating the woman who lived here with the woman I saw on the street yesterday—quite the enigma. When I entered her bedroom, my eyebrows raised, and I whistled. Where her living areas were pristine, everything in its place, her bedroom was another story. Clothes were strewn everywhere like a tornado had blown through. There was no discerning pattern to the mess, and I wasn’t sure which pile of clothes was clean and which was dirty. This would drive Rylan crazy, and I chuckled at the thought.

I wandered into the adjoining bathroom and noticed yesterday’s clothes in a pile by the bathtub. Her panties were sitting on the top of the little pile, and I grabbed them and held them to my nose to inhale her scent. My dick twitched, and my hound perked up at the raw scent of our mate. I slid the panties into my back pocket and returned to the living room. Jett couldn’t come with us, but maybe bringing him back the panties would help him shift. Proof that we found her. It certainly couldn’t hurt. If he didn’t want them, I could find a use for them.

When I returned, Rylan sat at her kitchen table, reading the files she had spread out there. “Here’s the guy she killed yesterday,” he said when I sat at the table. He tossed the folder toward me, and I flipped it open, curious to see the type of man she deemed unworthy of life.

“Well, he certainly deserved to die,” I commented when I had finished reading about the piece of shit.

“They’re all like that,” Rylan replied. “These files represent the worst of the worst humans.”

“So she is still trying to do her angel duties, even after she’s fallen,” I stated. That didn’t necessarily bode well for us if she was clinging to her former life. We were the enemy, a fact I had hoped would be easily overlooked with her fall.

“We’re going to have our work cut out for us,” Rylan said, agreeing with my thoughts.

We finished going through all of the files, memorizing her mark’s addresses in case we needed to find her, and then all we had left to do was wait for her to return home. We faded into the shadows when we finally heard a key in the door. Rylan moved behind her door while I stayed at the end of the hall. The plan was to box her in and leave her without an escape route.

As the door swung open, I silently pleaded to the universe that this would work.