Chapter 7

Dean

What the hell was wrong with me?

My raven was losing it. I was losing it. This girl was driving me insane.

She could have suffered serious injuries and been out there all alone where no one would find her. No one would have even considered looking for her until someone reported her missing. And she'd ran so there was no car or obvious trail to lead anyone to know where she was.

I was furious, and I didn't even know why I cared.

I'd tried to tell myself she was just a kid I felt weirdly responsible for, but seeing her naked had changed everything. She wasn't a child at all. She was the most gorgeous woman I'd ever had the privilege of laying eyes on. And I knew when I closed my eyes at night, I would remember every inch of her body.

Shit! I was getting hard just thinking about it.

She'd clearly said she'd gone for a run, not a flight, a run. She definitely wasn't a bird shifter of any kind. Most likely a wolf if she was from Westin Pack, where Westin Force headquarters resided.

I shouldn't be this attracted to a freaking wolf!

Somehow, I'd managed to make it to my office without raising any suspicions. Once inside, I locked my door and started to pace. Pace! That wasn't a raven trait, but a wolf one. I really had to ask Patrick if it was possible to inherit the traits of other species when spending time close to them. It sounded ridiculous, but something very strange was going on and that's the best I could think of.

I needed a distraction. I thought about calling Janice. I'd blown her off last night, but she was the perfect distraction to keep my mind off Bailey.

The mere thought of it had another migraine coming on and feeling like my raven was pecking the inside of my head. I sat down, feeling defeated, and closed my eyes.

What was I going to do?

Resigned to my need to find her and confirm she was okay, I got up to leave, but a knock at the door stopped me.

Bernice jiggled the doorknob, finding it locked. I never locked my door.

Cringing, I walked over and unlocked it.

She eyed me suspiciously.

Ryan and Elias are here to see you.

"Send them away. I'm not in the mood to deal with my brothers right now."

"What do you want me to tell them?"

"Tell them I'm not here and must have left for an early lunch or something."

"You'd really have her lie for you like that?" Elias challenged.

"I told you something was up with him," Ryan said.

The two of them barged into my office despite my protests.

"Spill it," Eli insisted.

"Spill what?" I said, playing dumb.

"Whatever has your panties in a wad lately."

"It's nothing."

"This is not nothing. You asked Bernice to lie to us. That's not cool Dean," Ryan said.

"Because I don't want to talk about this."

"So there is something," Elias said.

I groaned. "You two are infuriating."

"And you're avoiding the question. Normally, you are all smiles, the happiest man I've ever seen. But the last few days, you've been unbearable, snarling, and even growling on occasion. Yeah, we hear things."

Rolling my eyes, I plopped down into my desk chair.

"It's nothing."

"It's not nothing, Dean. We're worried about you."

"I'm allowed to be in a bad mood for a few days. You've been in one your whole life," I pointed out to Elias.

Ryan snorted. "Pretty much. Or at least until you bonded with Kim."

My oldest brother beamed at the mention of his mate's name.

"Stop it, that's creepy."

"Elias smiling is creepy? You look like that all the time, well, until this week."

"I don't look like a creep when I smile.'

"Thank God for that," Ryan said.

Elias laughed. They were both so funny. I rolled my eyes again at my own sarcasm.

"That smile of yours has gotten you out of just about anything life could throw your way. So what gives now?" Elias asked.

"It's nothing. Westin Force is just in town."

"You usually thrive under stress. Is there something I need to be updated on?" Ryan asked.

"No. It's nothing like that."

"Then what is it?" he insisted.

"There's this girl and she just rubs me the wrong way," I confess. And I wanted her to rub me the right way all day and all night long, but I didn't share that part.

"A girl? You've been sulking over a girl?" Ryan clarified.

"No, it's not like that."

"I think the boy doth protest too much. It's definitely the girl. What happened? Did she turn you down?" Elias asked.

"Shut up."

"Yup, that's it. Damn. A girl? You have a new girl in bed every other night. Let this one go and move on already."

"He's never had one say no before. I guess it would seem like the end of the world to him," Ryan said.

"You're both assholes. And don't talk about her like that. I haven't slept with her or even tried."

"Oh shit. She's your mate, isn't she?" Elias asked.

‘What the hell are you talking about? Of course not."

"Are you sure?" Ryan asked.

"I haven't even met her like that, so yeah, I'm sure that's not a possibility.'

Eli shrugged. "I knew long before Kim let me meet her bird. It made me crazy like this at times, too."

"This isn't the same thing at all," I insisted, but that seed had already been planted and suddenly the walls were caving in around me.

I knew it was stupid to let them drive me crazy like this. Bailey wasn't a raven. So she couldn't be my true mate. Still, now that they'd said it, I couldn't get that thought out of my mind.

"You two are assholes," I said, storming out of my office and leaving them both there laughing like hyenas.

"Come back. We need our fun-loving baby brother back."

I gave them the finger over my shoulder.

"Look! It's a bird flipping the bird."

That sent then into another round of hysterics. Assholes.

When I heard the distinct Irish accent of Patrick O'Connell, I ducked into an empty cubicle and let him pass. I wasn't in the mood to deal with that and it didn't go unnoticed that Bailey wasn't with them.

This made me worry.

I checked the time. I'd left her a little over an hour ago. It couldn't have been that bad, right? A bit of road rash that needed cleaning. That was all.

So why wasn't she back to work?

I knew I could go back and ask Patrick, but that seemed too logical. Besides, my brothers were likely still in my office and Patrick might ask questions like why I wanted to know where Bailey was.

And I could have gone back to the clinic to check on her and demand doc tell me how she really was, but that could have stirred up gossip.

There were a dozen better ways to handle things, but I'd done none of those either.

Instead, I got on my bike and drove off as I rode all over town like a madman trying to find her.

Where the hell could she have gone?

I tried to think of a casual way to ask at her motel if she was still there. There was simply no way without issuing a full notice to the Congress that I was looking for the little wolf in town. I knew that would just draw questions and speculation, but I had to find her.

Parking the bike, I sat there in frustration. As much as I wanted to find her, I equally didn't want to field a bunch of questions as to why, so asking around was out of the question.

It dawned on me that was lunch time. Maybe she'd gone to get something to eat. There were only a few places in town, but I headed straight to my sister's diner. I knew Ryan had taken them there to eat when they first arrived, so she would likely be familiar with it.

Feeling optimistic, I made the drive there, parked my bike, and walked inside.

I knew immediately that she wasn't there.

"Hey man. Take a seat wherever you want," David said.

"I'm not staying," I told him.

"Oh. Did you call in an order? Maybe I missed it. Gia, do you have an order for Dean?" he hollered into the back.

I glared at him and shook my head.

This was the kind of attention I was trying to avoid.

"Yup. Send him back."

I groaned, knowing damn well an order hadn't been placed for me. But it would look even worse if I turned and ran now.

David shot me a curious look, and I just shrugged.

As soon as I walked back into the kitchen, Gia grabbed me and pulled me into her office.

"Eli called and said you were acting weird. They think you found your mate. Is that true?"

"Jesus, Gia. Not you too. This is ridiculous. I have not found my mate."

"They said you were acting weird."

She eyed me suspiciously as she seemed to check me over for any signs to agree or disagree with our brothers.

"It's nothing. Stop making a big deal out of it. I just had an incident this morning and I'm trying to find the girl to check on her. They're just making it out to be way more than it is."

"Someone had an accident? I didn't hear about that. Why didn't I hear anything?"

"I don't know. I get this is gossip central, but maybe everything doesn't filter through your diner."

She laughed and waved it off.

"Of course it does. Now who was hurt?"

"The girl here from Westin Force. I dropped her off at the clinic earlier and was just following up to see if she was okay."

It sounded plausible. Why hadn't I thought of this line before? It wasn't even a lie. Bailey had been hurt, and I was trying to find her to make sure she was alright. It really was that simple.

So why was I making it out to be a bigger deal than it needed to be?

I shoved that thought aside.

"So, have you seen her come through here for lunch?"

"No. She stopped by this morning for breakfast with a few of the guys from her team, but Janice came in and Bailey, that's her name, right? Well, anyway, she left while I was still talking to Janice. The guys stayed to eat. No idea why she ran off so suddenly."

I had a terrible feeling she must have overheard Janice talking about me. That shouldn't matter. My personal life was my own business, yet it bothered me that she may have overheard something she didn't like.

I gritted my teeth. Why should it even matter? She was nothing to me. Yet, even thinking that left a bad taste in my mouth.

"Dean? Earth to Dean?"

"What?"

"You sort of zoned out on me."

"Sorry."

"The boys are right. Something is bothering you."

"It's nothing, Gia. Mind your own business," I snapped and stormed out of her office, then marched right through the kitchen and the dining room to leave.

David made eye contact but didn't say a word.

Back on my bike, I made one more loop around town then headed out to the cliff. She could be anywhere and I needed to calm down. Maybe taking to the air would help.

At the last minute, I U-turned and drove home. No one said a word to me as I took the stairs two at a time. In my room, I stripped out of my clothes and cracked the door that led out to my balcony.

Shifting was as natural to me as breathing.

I stood there a moment and breathed in the fresh air. There was a light breeze that ruffled my feathers and called me into the air.

I'd always loved the feel of the wind through my feathers. There was nothing else like it.

Taking my time and calming down, I flew over Ravenden as I often did on security rounds first thing in the morning and again before bed each night. It wasn't an uncommon thing for anyone to see me out flying and it felt good to do something so normal.

I was making another round over the town when it dawned on me that I was actually looking for Bailey again.

Where the hell was she?

I finally flew out to the cliffs and had a look around. It wasn't long before I found her running through the woods.

As I dipped down into the trees to follow her, a sense of relief and completion filled me.

I wasn't even sure how I knew it was Bailey, but there was no doubt in my mind. It was like I'd know her wolf anywhere. And it made no sense whatsoever.

Mate , my raven cawed.

What the hell?

Mine!

Nothing could have prepared me for this moment.

I had a mate?

My mate was a freaking wolf?

My head was spinning, and I lost all sense of direction.

*THUD*

I felt a sharp pain and then the whole world went black.