Chapter~17~Leaving the pieces.

Nicholas~17done

My body may be in my car, hauling ass down the freeway in front of me back to Ian's pack, but my mind and the closest thing I have ever felt to a longing are behind me in LA. Never in my life have I missed a woman I'd bedded, let alone be pining away just to be close to her.

Nick, the bounty hunter, doesn't know what to do with these newfound feelings, so I will do what I have done all my life and do my best to push them aside and act like they don't exist. I am also failing miserably. Zeek keeps telling me that being drawn to my mate is natural. Okay, I get that sort of thing.

However, drawn to and consumed by are two different things. I'm about as lost as a nine-eyed opossum in broad daylight. No one is as stunned as I am by my possessiveness of her. I hardly know her; it was not what I had expected. My mind keeps circling back to the human man in the bar.

The thought of Harley being intimate with him makes my skin crawl. Rage overtakes us both at the thought of him becoming hostile toward her. It wasn't hard to get the gist that Harley was trying to break the relationship off with him, and he wasn't happy about it. I'm also feeling guilty — imagine fucking that, another emotion I don't do well — for lying to her. Zeek pushes his way in; it's useless for me to push him back.

'You should have told her the truth, Nick, but you were too busy thinking, would your other head. You should've also stopped her and told her they are OUR mates!'

'Hey, it was mutual, and you know it! Don't you think her wolf already informed her of that, Zeek? She left us anyway because she wanted to. We had no right to hold them against their will.'

'Perhaps what we did embarrassed her. Women are fickle like that. You must not give up! They belong with us.'

The word quit isn't in my vocabulary for Harley, though it looks like my row will be a long one to hoe. My common sense tells me she will not want to be mated to me once she finds out I don't have a pack. My logic tells me that once she finds out what she was born to be, she will return to the Lake and take her place as the next guardian.

'Selene wouldn't have brought us together without a way to be together. You like to fish and boat. Lake life doesn't sound too bad to me. As long as we wind up with our mates, I don't care where we wind up.'

'I got it, Zeek. It's a little harder on this side of the wolf, though. All you have to be is sweet and cuddly.'

With unease, I called Ian and told him I would be there within the hour, since I knew what his plans were for my mate. The excitement in his voice made me want to let Zeek rip off his head so I could shit down his throat. Knowing that I need Ian to protect Harley isn't an easy pill to swallow. I've got to keep a handle on my anger; however, taking Ian out once I have her safe is sounding like a pretty good idea after all.

There were no questions when I pulled into his pack entrance; he must have informed his front gate guards I was coming. Cocky bastard! The vermin was at his desk with his Beta Toby, whom I never cared for, guarding the office doorway. Toby stepped back, closed the door behind me, and took his position in front. Like, he could stop me if I wanted to go! I sit across the desk from Ian, whose veins are popping out of his skin — a tell that he is pissed.

"It's about damn time!"

Ian followed up what he'd thought were cutting words with a grunt before he opened his desk drawer, took out two thick stacks of hundreds, and slid them across the desk to me.

I thumb through them with a smile at his stupidity and set them aside. "You're lucky I came at all, Ian."

"You will address him as Lycan!" Toby is coming up behind me.

Still, I ignored the mouthpiece. "Ian, I am not a guidance counselor. Family drama is bad for business. Not to mention, the abductee will not be easy to abduct. High-profile detectives don't just go missing."

Ian fidgeted in his chair but produced a manila envelope and slid it across the desk. My new FBI badge and shield fell out onto the desk when I turned it upside down. A look inside shows me my personnel file.

"I assumed it would take some time. I'm not rushing you, Nick; you will have to get her alone first. Use a stun or tranquilizer gun on her if you have to. Then you could stuff her in the trunk of your car; you have free rein in the how. Maybe even have some fun with her along the way, just don't kill her. She is of no use to me dead, and of course, I will provide for all expenses besides the 5000,000."

I had wanted to believe there was at least a shred of decency or fairness in the man, and that he would reconsider. Unable to tolerate much more, I stand and extend my hand.

"Deal, I will leave in the morning."

Ian just sealed his fate with a handshake. I move toward the door, but Toby doesn't move aside, so I square my shoulders at him, hoping he will. His eyes go black, and I know Ian is communicating with him. He opens the door and steps aside.

"Thanks, buddy." On the way out, I slapped his chest, and his wolf growled at us. Zeek pushed forward, and the two glared at each other.

Ian stood up and slammed his fist onto his desktop. "That's enough! Stand down, Toby."

Zeek needed a reminder that this wasn't the pace or time, and he backed up. "Don't come for me again, Toby."

Before I can return to my car, my phone is buzzing in my pocket; the message reads. 'Meet me at Café Rosa in town.' It was Kyle.