Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

S he was on the run.

Evander took a deep breath, and tried to bury the disappointment that threatened to consume him.

When he first walked into the restaurant, she didn't react, and though he hated that she didn't seem to be aware of her surroundings, it was nice not feeling her fear blasting into him. She'd been so lost in thought that she'd ignored the bartender, who had called her name twice before eventually giving up and deferring to the other waitress.

The place was loud, but though there was music playing in the background, the din was mostly from the patrons. While the place wasn't full, there were several large groups of people who were finishing their meals, and they all seemed to talk over each other.

Personally, he preferred the quiet over places like this, but like the other groups, he and his clan could get noisy when they were all together, and he didn't fault the others for having a good time.

Still, shifters had way better hearing than full-humans, and he was surprised she hadn't heard her coworker calling her name.

He'd approached her with the hope that up close she might see that there was no reason to fear him, more so because she'd been so consumed with fear the first time, that he wasn't even sure that she'd picked up on the fact that they were mates.

After talking to Petra about her possible fears, he'd decided on a different approach, but that hadn't gone as expected either. There had been no recognition in her gaze, and instead of agreeing to talk, she'd practically run away from him.

He'd felt her fear, but also her determination, and that should have clued him in that something wasn't right. Instead, he'd taken a seat at the bar and tried to think of a way to get her to talk to him. He didn't want to be a creepy stalker guy, but she was his mate, and he wanted to get to know her.

As he watched the door to the kitchen, trying to decide what to do next, her plan became crystal clear. The manager walked out of the door and made a beeline for the other waitress, and the woman's shoulders sagged. Probably from the additional work she'd have to take on by Kari leaving early, but luckily, the man seemed to reassure her. He also started clearing tables, and that's when Evander got up to leave.

He hadn't ordered anything yet, so there was no bill to settle, but that wouldn't have slowed him down. He always carried cash for times when he needed to leave in a hurry, and the habit served him well.

He rushed outside the building, and took in all the scents of the evening air. Kari's sweet vanilla scent still lingered in the area, and when he started following it, he realized that she'd taken off on foot. That thought made him smile until he got further and further away from the restaurant.

The nice neighborhood filled with shops and office workers turned into something dark and dangerous, and the longer he walked, the more her scent faded until there was nothing left.

He stopped on a street corner and looked around as a feeling of unease settled over him. It was late in the evening, and the tall buildings and few street lights seemed to make the area darker than it actually was. He could scent rather than see random people hanging out in dark corners, and though he wasn't afraid for himself, he didn't like the idea of his mate wandering these streets alone.

Did she live somewhere around here, or had she run from him without a plan? Both scenarios filled him with rage, and he forced himself to take another deep breath. He looked around again, but there was no way to track her now, and he realized that he would have to try again tomorrow.

Of course, that didn't mean he wasn't going to do anything.

It had taken him so long to get back to her workplace because he'd decided to drive, and he thought heavily about leaving the SUV behind, but decided against it. The fact that Kari had run let him know that he would have a hard time getting her into a car with him, and flying was so much faster anyway.

The only trick was finding a place to shift back into his human form without getting caught, especially close to her work, but he'd already scoped out the area, and there was a heavily treed park not too far away. He guessed it had been added to make the area more appealing for those office types that liked to workout on their lunch breaks, and if that were the case, whomever had designed it should be proud of their success.

The park had a lot of foot traffic, but finding a place to hide wouldn't be difficult.

He took one more look around and hardened his expression when someone tried to approach him from the side. There wasn't much anyone could do to hurt him—at least not permanently—but the same wasn't true for his mate, and that thought fueled his anger. The man approaching him seemed way too confident, but his smile faltered when met with Evander's glare.

"Don't try it," he said, his voice hard. "This will not end well for you."

He didn't know what the man planned to do, but he wasn't lying about it not ending well. Usually, he was more easygoing, and probably would have even smiled at the man, but his mate's safety was in question, and he was feeling anything but friendly.

Luckily, the man took the hint, did a one-eighty, and slinked off to wherever he'd come from.

Evander stayed where he was for a few more minutes, knowing that he needed to do so in order to make a statement. If he ran off too quick after his interaction with the other guy, then next time they would approach him in a group. That wouldn't bother him if he was alone, but if Kari was with him, all bets would be off.

It was better to let everyone know to stay out of his way early on, even if he never planned on coming back.

He hoped that Kari didn't live anywhere around this area, but he also knew that line of thinking was probably stupid. She'd made a plan to run, and it didn't make sense that she would have run into this area blindly. That meant she either lived around here, or had friends that would help her hide, and he had a feeling it was the former.

He didn't like it, but there was nothing he could do about it now, so he causally made his way back to the SUV and started the long drive home. Tomorrow was a new day, and now that he had a name, he had something to work with.

He would have her full name and address by the end of the night.

E vander growled at the information on the screen, and jumped at the loud knock on his door.

Finding Kari's full name and address had been easy, but finding anything else on the woman was proving more difficult. He had her birthday, a cell-phone number, and a previous address, but other than that, there wasn't much. There was no family linked to her, and the couple that had lived in the previous address had died in a head-on collision nearly ten years ago. Withno heirs listed, their property had gone to the state after their death, and he couldn't find any relationbetween the couple and Kari.

The nearly empty slate of her past bothered him, but only because she seemed soalone in the world. He didn't have knowledge of that feeling personally, but Anton had been living alone in a cave for nearly fifty years before they became friends, and Petra and Sabine hadn't been visibly alone, but inside was a very different story. He understood his friends' pain, even if he hadn't lived it himself, and he hated the idea of Kari experiencing something like that.

At twenty-five years old, she was young, and it seemed she'd been on her own for at least ten years. Maybe more, because he wasn't sure about the previous address. Did she actually know the elderly couple, or had she grabbed that address out of thin air and gotten lucky?

Either way, she was a wolf shifter living in the center of the city, nowhere near a safe place to shift, and that kind of confinement wasn't good for their animal sides. Not to mention that the area wasn't safe. He wanted to fly over and scoop her out of that place right now, but he knew doing something like that might scare her to death.

And also probably get him arrested.

Fuck!

Of course, that didn't mean he was about to give up. He was going back to see her tomorrow, and once he got her to talk to him, he was going to start working on getting her out of that dump. She didn't have to live in the castle if she didn't want to, but there were apartments in Emerald Haven—hell, there were apartments in the same neighborhood as the sports bar—and he had plenty of money.

Even if she wanted nothing to do with him, he would do everything in his power to keep her safe.

The loud knock on the door happened again, and he crossed the room to answer it. He already knew who was on the other side, and guilt swamped him. He hadn't told Anton about finding his mate, and he hadn't asked Petra to keep quiet about it either.

He opened the door, and Anton stormed inside.

"You found your fucking mate?" The words came out on a growl, but Evander heard the pain the other man tried to hide. "And I had to hear about it from Petra like everyone else? That sucks, man!"

"I know, and I'm sorry. She only knows because she called me on my shit in the car, and then we talked about it a little. I didn't ask her not to say anything, but I should have come to you as soon as we got back. I just... As soon as Petra was safe, I drove back in case my mate needed a ride or something."

"More like because you wanted a ride."

"Fuck you, man," he growled, advancing on his friend. He got right in Anton's face and growled his next words. "Don't fucking talk about her like that. Don't even think about her and sex in the same sentence or we will fight, and it won't be pretty."

"Geez," Anton laughed, clapping him on the shoulder. "Is this what I was like, too? I know Bastion was a hot ass mess, but the King was so calm. Out of the two of us, I definitely expected you to be the more rational one."

Anton had had his own issues in dealing with his mate, but in the beginning the man had been uncharacteristically calm.

"Fuck you."

"Save that for your mate," Anton said, plopping on his couch. "What's she like? When do Sabine and I get to meet her?"

"I'm not sure. I haven't actually talked to her yet."

"Dude—"

"She's afraid of me, and ran after I introduced myself."

"Shit!"

"Yeah."

He walked over to the small fridge and pulled out two beers, and then he joined Anton on the couch. He told his friend everything he knew about his mate, and Anton felt the same way as Petra. Something had happened to make her so afraid—of other shifters, or just dragons in general—and he was going to have to be patient if he wanted to break through her barriers.

Easier said than done, because patience was hard to come by when you knew your mate was in trouble. On top of that, he was a member of the Royal Guard. It was literally his job to protect, and that didn't usually involve being patient. It involved neutralizing threats as soon as possible, and as far as he was concerned, the building his mate lived in was a threat.

His dragon side wanted her out of there immediately, but his human side understood it might not be that easy. Of course, that didn't mean that he wasn't going to try. He would try every day until she told him to leave her alone, but she had to mean it, because he had a feeling she would be telling him to get lost sooner rather than later.

K ari snuggled deeper into her pillow and tried not to cry.

Again.

She'd already taken some pain medication, but her face still hurt, and the bruise that had formed overnight was larger than she had expected. She didn't like wearing makeup, but tomorrow she'd have to go to the drugstore and buy some concealer before going into work.

Today, though, she was going to stay under the covers and hide in her apartment.

She'd already called in sick to work, and though she felt guilty about leaving her coworkers in a bind, she was pretty sure her boss expected it after the way she'd left the night before. Honestly, calling in today hadn't been part of the plan, but after an attempted mugging and assault, she didn't want to go anywhere.

God, I am so stupid!

This time, when one tear slipped out, she didn't try to stop it.

After faking sick and practically running out of the restaurant, the only thing she'd paid attention to was whether or not she was being followed. She hadn't scented Evander anywhere, but the fear of him flying down and scooping her up had been real, and when she made it to her building, relief had swamped her.

So much that she'd let her guard down.

The scene from the night before replayed in her head...

She'd made it home safe, and luckily, the dragon hadn't followed her. Swamped with relief, she rushed into the stairwell and nearly crashed into a man coming down the stairs. Unfortunately, that was all the opportunity he needed, and she saw the moment his face turned predatory. He used his large body to slam her against the wall, pinning her there with one arm against her throat, while using his other hand to pull a gun out from under his jacket.

He'd wanted money, and luckily, she'd been able to convince him that she didn't have any. The restaurant allowed her to eat one meal for free, and she knew better than to walk back and forth with anything other than her cheap cell phone, keys, and ID. If for some reason she needed something, she either did without, or waited until the next day to go shopping.

After searching her pockets, he'd let her go, but not beforewarning her not to reveal his identity. Then, to drive his point home, he punched her in the face so hard she landed on the ground, her body spread awkwardly over the stairs. Pain spread across the side of her face, blurring her vision, and she covered her face with her arms, trying to protect herself from another blow.

Instead, she heard the sound of his heavy footsteps retreating, and then the swoosh of the door opening and closing.

She'd gathered up her things, and then moved quickly up the stairs, while being extra vigilant. Luckily, her floor was empty on the side she'd entered, and she made it to her apartmentwithout running into anyone else.

Once she was safe inside her dwelling, she'd let the tears fall.

Kari wiped her eyes with the edge of her pillow case, and pulled the blanket tighter around her. Even thoughthis was the first time she'd been attacked in thebuilding, she knewit was only because she'd been lucky so far. She tried to tell herself otherwise, but things had gotten progressively worse over the years, and as much as she didn't want to take on another job, she knew what she had to do.

After last night, she couldn'tkeep telling herself that everything was okay. Sheneeded to live someplace safer,and she needed to invest in some mace. Of course, the man from the night before had caught her completely off guard, and if she'd had mace in her pocket, he would have definitelyused it against her.

And then who knows what else would have happened to you.

She shuddered at the thought and decided self-defense classes were probably a better option. In general, she wasn't a fan of weapons anyway, and she'd rather not carry something if she could use her body to escape an attacker. She was curvy, but because she walked everywhere, and ran in her wolf form, she was stronger than most people thought. In fact, most people usually left her alone—she wasn't sure why—but clearly, that was changing.

More tears spilled out of her eyes, and even though she was alone in her apartment, she pulled her legs up to her chest, and tried to make herself as small as possible. Her face was still throbbing, but getting up to find more ice felt monumental, and all she wanted to do was sleep.

She'd been up most of the night thinking about the dragon, and then worrying about her attacker. It struck her as odd that some of the fear against Evander had faded into curiosity, but she blamed it on lack of sleep and the fact that she was in a lot of pain.

She knew the dragon didn't have to worry about outside threats, and the idea that he could protect her from almost anything was a thrilling concept she didn't quite understand. Especially since she wouldn't be safe with him. He was a dragon shifter—the kind that had killed her family—and he could kill her just as easily.

He wasn't anyone she could ever trust with her safely, and deep down, she knew that was the real reason why her thoughts were all over the place. It had been so long since she had anyone to lean on, and the loneliness she felt was bone-deep. Most of the time she was able to ignore it, but if the attacker had taken her life, it wouldn't have mattered.

No one would care.

She didn't have any family, and aside from her coworkers, she didn't have any real friends. Honestly, she wasn't even sure she could call the people at work friends. They were more likeacquaintances.She got along great with everyone, but their lives didn't mingle outside of work, and if she was gone, they would only be upset about having totrainsomeone new.

That knowledge caused an invisible band to tighten around her heart, and more tears fell.

What did it mean that her life was basically disposable?