2. Roman

Chapter 2

Roman

Drumming my fingers on the table as I sit at the back of a little twenty-four-hour diner, I contemplate the map that's laid out before me. Various marks have been made along the highway and at various other locations, all indicating sightings or the potential trail of our quarry.

I look across the table at Theo as he examines his nails. He's been flirting with the waitress for the last half hour, but whenever she's not around, he looks completely bored. His skills have been useful so far, but I really wish he'd take things more seriously.

"Has Lucas checked in yet?" I ask as I look back down at the map and try to figure out the most likely location for our target to flee. The last one to check in was Sebastian; he'd tracked the target to a rest stop near the highway a few miles away from here. I'd pinpointed that as one of the potential locations where we might pick up his trail, and I'm quite pleased that my prediction was correct.

Now we just need Lucas to confirm a sighting farther down the road and we should have a fairly good idea of where he's going.

That's if he continues his current pattern. The omega we were sent to hunt has been quite clever at evading capture so far. He's thrown us off the trail a few times, but we've always managed to find it again. And I can't help but feel like we're getting closer to closing the net.

Theo glances up at me and shrugs. "I think so? He said something about a motel. Said he's gonna get a little shuteye, then go back out to find the guy."

I narrow my gaze at Theo. "He said what?"

"Yeah, he was complaining about having to stay up all night. So he's getting a room. Then he'll go back out."

My nostrils flare. Theo may not take things seriously all the time, but at least I can rely on him to follow through. Lucas, on the other hand, has always been a slacker. He's got a reputation in the pack for only doing the bare minimum. I honestly don't know why he was assigned to such an important mission.

I'm already standing up and gathering my things. "Come on, let's go."

"Where?"

"To the motel."

"I told him you were gonna be pissed," Theo says, not bothering to hide the smug grin on his face.

"This isn't a joke," I snap at him.

Theo frowns. He stands up and tosses some money down on the table. He winks at the waitress and blows her a kiss as follows me toward the door.

"You've been a lot more uptight than usual lately," Theo tells me.

I glare at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means, I've known you for a long time. Even when we were pups you had a stick up your ass, but it seems to be wedged in there a bit more tightly these days."

I scowl at him but don't argue. He's right. I've been tense. Frustrated. There's a lot riding on this mission, and the council handpicked me to lead it. I know I'm up to the task, but the longer we're gone, the more I feel like I'm not making the progress that's expected of me.

And the pressure is starting to get to me.

We head across the parking lot to the small, rundown motel. It's a shabby-looking place with cracked pavement and an air conditioner unit sticking out of every window. I can already tell the place is probably crawling with fleas. I spy Lucas's car almost immediately. The fact that he left his post, came here, and didn't even bother to check in with me at the diner is honestly pissing me off more than I can express.

Theo jogs ahead of me and heads into the front office. He'll work his magic on the desk clerk and find out which room Lucas is in. Like I said, I know I can rely on Theo. He might have a bit of a shitty reputation back home, but in situations like these, I know that he'll pull his weight.

As I approach the motel, a strong scent hits my nostrils, and I stop short.

No fucking way.

My head snaps in the direction of the far end of the parking lot. I wouldn't have seen it if I hadn't caught his scent, but there, tucked between an SUV and a U-Haul truck, is the familiar little car that we've been tracking. I move toward it, my annoyance at Lucas completely forgotten for the moment.

I peer into the driver's-side window. The omega's scent is fresh here. We're so close.

My nostrils flare as I turn my face toward the wind and try to determine his direction. Is he here? Or did he dump the car and go somewhere else? He's done that before.

The sound of the hotel door opening makes me turn. Theo is coming toward me, raising a brow in confusion and holding up his hands as if to ask why I'm all the way over here.

A grin tugs at the corner of my lips, and I wordlessly gesture to the car beside me. I don't expect Theo to recognize it. I doubt he studied the pictures I gave him after we accessed the security feed from the junkyard a few days ago. He doesn't keep up with details that aren't immediately relevant to him. That's why I don't send Theo out on scouting missions.

But the moment the wind shifts direction, carrying the omega's scent toward Theo, he freezes. His eyes narrow as his nostrils flare, inhaling deeply.

"Well, fuck me..." he mutters.

"He's here," I say, my voice low as Theo joins me. "And I doubt Lucas even noticed."

"So, what do we do?"

"Find him. And quickly."

"You think he'll bolt again?"

"If he's risked staying at a motel, he must be exhausted." I scan the rows of doors facing the parking lot. "And thanks to your efforts to mask our scents, he probably doesn't realize that he stopped right next door to where we've been holed up all day."

Theo's gaze follows mine, and he nods slowly.

"So, we just need to wait."

I nod. "As soon as he wakes up, he'll want to be on the road again. We'll grab him as soon as he leaves his room. I take it you found out what room Lucas crawled into?"

"He's in the last room on the end, just over there." Theo points toward a room only a dozen or so yards away. He tosses me a keycard.

"Right. You call Sebastian back here, and the two of you park somewhere that you can keep an eye on the hotel entrance. I'm going to go have a word with our Sleeping Beauty."