6. Ranger

SIX

RANGER

"I'm right where I want to be."

That could be taken two ways and one of them was a threat which hadn't been my intention.

"Cappuccino?"

"I prefer a latte, but okay."

He chugged the luke-warm coffee, and I couldn't help but notice the dark circles under his eyes that hadn't been there last night.

"Have a nice day."

My mate sped off, and I let him go. I knew exactly where he was going because I'd just placed a tracker on his car. I could be arrested for that, not that any of the police on our payroll would let that happen.

I hadn't told Flint, who was not only my brother but as Alpha was also my boss, that I'd met my mate. I'd persuaded Dad to stay quiet about what happened last night until I came to terms with it.

My dad loved to gossip, but he would never reveal pack secrets. He was more into who had just mated and was pregnant and whose kid had been given a scholarship to a prestigious school.

And I was grateful to the man who'd given birth to me. If he hadn't had this bonkers idea of speed dating—and he was so proud that a couple met their fated mate last night—I would never have met… Matt.

"Matt!" I said the name out loud. Short and sweet.

Hawk was the only person I knew who'd met Matt. But my mate wouldn't have used his real name when working for Dane.

My beast was pestering me to stop this cat-and-mouse game and mate the guy. My reservations weren't about Matt being human but rather that he was a reporter—not an occupation favored by our La Luna Noir pack, or any other mafia organization. And, he was working with Obsidian shifters, trying to get information.

He'd seen too many movies where a guy infiltrated the mafia and got out with his life—just—and was labeled a hero for bringing the bad guys down. And he lived happily ever after in a tropical paradise with his true love and a few battle scars as proof of his former life.

I disliked Dane and his gang of not-so-merry men as much as anyone—Flint loathed the guy—but if Matt was undercover in one mafia group, he may have intended to infiltrate others, including our pack.

I needed to get to the office but perhaps I could stroll in late and fib, saying I was stuck in traffic. Except I couldn't. Loyalty to my brother and La Luna Noir wouldn't allow me. I was tracking Matt on my app, so I'd know where he was or where his car was.

But as I did a U-turn and retraced my steps, I hit the brakes. Shit, Hawk said my mate was working as a chauffeur. He wouldn't be doing that in his banged-up car. Really, the guy had watched too many movies. The investigative hero always drove a car that needed to be in a wrecking yard.

Dane was driven around in a variety of vehicles, all expensive and less than six months old. I wouldn't be able to track Matt until he got back into his own car. And who knew when that would be?

Damn. I was a fool. I had one choice and that was to come clean to my brother and tell him I wouldn't be working today.

Being the older son, Flint was always aware of his destiny. And while he had no choice, it must have been comforting to know the direction his life was headed. For me and Hunter, our lives had been more uncertain. Sure our future was in the pack, but we could have broken the bond to La Luna Noir and gone off on our own.

Uncle Arnie's two sons had done that, and his grandchildren, who were now college-age and older, had no connections to our family.

Being Beta of the pack didn't mean squat. I used my initiative and worked hard but ultimately followed orders.

"Ranger, you're late." Flint was sitting behind his huge-ass desk in his huge-ass office. Or one of them. He had another at the club where he'd met his mate. Not that he was there as much as he was before he became a dad. The club was now Hunter's responsibility.

"There's a reason for that." I tossed my empty coffee cup in the trash.

"Trouble?" Flint stiffened, always prepared for problems.

"Yes and no."

Hunter passed by the open door, and I beckoned him in. He slouched on Flint's expensive maroon sofa, and our older brother scowled. Hunter grinned, knowing how Flint hated his possessions getting dirty.

"I met my mate last night."

"What?" they both yelled.

Hunter guffawed. "At the speed-dating thingy. Bro, you're never going to live that down."

"Yes and no."

Flint leaned back in his chair, the one Tony had bought saying it was ergonomic. Shifters didn't suffer from sore backs, but Flint, being a good mate, didn't point that out.

I laid out most of what I knew: human, mate, Hawk's information, Ben tailing him, and followed up with what Nate from The Daily Star had overheard.

Hunter leaped off the couch. "Ranger, I'm so sorry."

I hadn't expected congratulations, but that was a little odd.

Flint clapped me on the back. "That's tough. Maybe if he dies, you'll be able to mate."

"What?" I screeched. "No one is dying and especially not my mate."

Flint glanced over my shoulder at Hunter. They were no doubt mouthing something or my younger brother was making those weird-ass hand signals he and Flint used as kids. Sometimes Hunter and I ganged up on Flint when we were younger, but as he was older and stronger, he usually won an argument or fight. And other times, like now, I was the odd one out.

"You cannot seriously want to mark this guy? This Matt person?"

I'd been conflicted up until now, but I went on the defensive at Flint's accusations.

"I can. He's just trying to suss out some shit that Dane's up to." And there was a lot of crap to sift through. "I'll take him to dinner and explain."

"That'll go down well." Hunter paced around the office. "Ummm, you're undercover in the mafia and I'm part of another mafia organization and we're the bestest one and you're my one true mate and you have to give up your life and live with me. And I have to draw blood and mark you. And did I forget to mention I have a wolf inside me?"

"Fuck you, Hunter." My nails transformed into my beast's claws, and my canines elongated. While I wouldn't shift in the office, I was tempted to punch him in the face.

My younger brother collapsed on the sofa.

"Fuck all of you."

"Ranger, enough!" The authority in Flint's voice gave me pause. "Sit."

I took a deep breath and whacked Hunter's legs off the couch and sat down. Leaning forward, elbows on my knees, I waited for Flint to rain down a verbal blow on my head.

"Mating a human is fine—I did it—but this guy is not our friend. He's looking for dirt, and whether he finds it or not, these guys don't stop. They're relentless. You will forfeit your place in the pack if you mate him, Ranger."

I leaped up and placed my hands over my ears. "I don't want to hear this, Flint." Losing my pack and my family but gaining a mate. No one should have to make that choice.

"Give me twenty-four hours and I'll get him out, and… and…" Beyond that, I didn't have a plan.

"Ranger!" Flint's voice was in the dangerous decibel level. "That won't work."

"Please, Flint. Think of the torture you put yourself through when you were going to kill Tony, your mate."

My Alpha's chin fell forward on his chest, and he fisted his hands.

"Ranger, this?—"

"It is the same. You were faced with losing your mate and living life alone."

Flint walked to the window. He sighed. "I'm going to regret this, aren't I?"

"No. Besides, he might be doing us a favor, exposing what Dane is doing to us," I yelled over my shoulder as I tore out the door.

I'd changed my clothes and was in the car—not my sports car but a company car, a four-wheel drive, that Matt wouldn't recognize—and on the road in less than five minutes, the windscreen wipers swiping back and forth as the rain pelted down. The tracker on Matt's car was useless if he was still at work, so I headed to The Obsidian Circle's headquarters. I slowed before reaching the building, and coming toward me was a black beast of a car. It swung into the underground parking, and I caught a glimpse of Matt at the wheel.

I parked down the street, wondering how I'd get in. But as I sat in the car, biting my nails, Matt emerged from the building, holding that same broken umbrella above his head, and headed toward a food truck. His hair was different; it had light streaks, and he was wearing an earring.

Taking a chance he wouldn't call Dane when I confronted him, I sidled up to him as he ordered a burrito.

"Sounds good. I'll have one of those too."

He jerked away, but I took his arm. "Fancy meeting you here." I didn't use his name because people were always listening. I paid for the food and hustled him around the corner away from prying eyes and ears.

"Leave me alone." He struggled, but he was no match for my strength.

"Matt!"

"Fuck."

His scent was interfering with my thought processes. Though other parts of me were working as expected.

He screwed up his face, and his shaking hands clenched his burrito. "You're the La Luna Noir boss."

"That's my brother, Flint."

"What do you want with me?" He glanced over his shoulder, back the way we'd come. "My employer is a scary guy. He'll kick your ass."

I laughed at the idea of Dane beating me in a fight. "I'm not interested in him. Just you."

"I'm a nobody. Please let me go." He was close to tears. "I have to get back."

"Stop what you're doing and walk away from this job. You're in danger working for Dane."

"I wasn't, but you using my real freaking name and kidnapping me isn't helping."

"Kidnapping?" I scoffed. "You're confusing me with my brother when he kidnapped his mate."

His eyes bulged, and he took deep breaths. "If you're trying to sell me on something, it's not working."

"I like you."

"That's what the mate reference is? You and your family kidnap people because you have no friends? Loser." He emphasized it by making the L sign with his thumb and index finger on his forehead.

"I have friends."

Stop . My wolf had had enough of the human babble.

"That's what people with no friends say," he countered.

Gods, this guy was pissing me off.

"Tell me that you didn't feel a connection when we met." It was all I had other than throwing him over my shoulder, like I did with Lottie, and stealing him away.

"I didn't."

Shit! "You're lying."

He rolled his eyes. "Look, buddy. You should download a dating app." He put a finger to his lips. "Oh, you were looking for a friend last night. Didn't work out, huh?" He patted my arm.

This human was insufferable.

"Please, Matt. Our happiness depends on you getting away from Dane and stopping your investigation of his mafia organization."

Me telling Flint that Matt might help solve our problems by bringing Dane down was an illusion. It would never happen.

He frowned and took a bite of the burrito. The rain was getting heavy, and droplets of water spilled onto his jacket through the holes in the umbrella.

"Or what? You going to put a bullet in my head? Nah, intimidating omegas is more your style. Maybe you have to get your big brother to do your dirty work."

My hackles rose, and he pulled away. I did something I wasn't proud of. His phone was bulging in his pocket and I snatched it and added my number.

"What did you do? Did you download a tracking device?" He pushed damp hair from his brow. "And there is no our anything. Not happiness or friendship. Don't come near me again."

He flounced off, flicking mud on his pants as the rain drenched his suit while I was left holding a soggy burrito.