I FOUND HER

Chapter Six

Taydyn POV

She’s still there.

Zey’s howls pound through my mind like thunder, frantic and sharp. Mine. Mine. Mine.

I grit my teeth and force myself to stay put, to breathe, to behave like a normal human. Because running up to her, throwing all caution to the wind? That would be a disaster. Probably terrifying. And she doesn’t know. She can’t know… there must be something wrong with her wolf. If she had had any idea that I was her mate this would be as hard for her as it was for me.

Instead, I watch.

I watch her move through the gym — folding towels, wiping down benches, her hands precise, careful. Every now and then, she glances at her phone, her fingers hovering over the screen before she types. Her brow creases ever so slightly, like something surprises her. A text, maybe, or a memory. I can’t see the screen, but the subtle reaction is enough.

Zey whines, pacing inside my skull.

“Mate. There. She is a wolf. I smell it.”

I sniff subtly, scanning for her wolf scent, trying to catch anything, but there’s nothing — at least nothing that I can detect. It shouldn’t be this hard. Zey insists it’s there, and part of me believes him, but I’ve been wrong before.

She moves on, picking up a towel to carry elsewhere, and I follow her eyes, then her scent trail, careful not to be noticed. She leaves the area she was cleaning… and nothing. Empty. But Zey refuses to be quiet.

“I know she’s here. Where did she go? Where?”

Damn it.

Another thirty minutes pass like this.

And then she keeps disappearing again and again.

She’s just doing her job.

I tell Zey.

I grit my teeth. Patience isn’t my strong suit. Zey growls, snarling and clawing at my focus. I can’t give in, can’t freak her out, can’t make the mistake of revealing myself. Not yet.

After an hour of this, I give in… sort of. I leave the gym, slip back to my car, and sit. Engine off. Head leaning back against the seat. The fluorescent lights inside the building are bright, and the darkness outside gives me perfect cover. I can see the front desk clearly, see her through the windows, the way the gym smells faintly of her even from here.

She talks with Nate. She laughs softly at something he says. She moves with that quiet, purposeful rhythm that makes Zey growl and makes my chest tighten. Every motion she makes, every flicker of expression — I memorize it, imprint it on my senses.

Yeah, it’s probably stalkerish. But I don’t care. Not really. Not now. Being here, even like this, is the closest I can get. And for tonight… that’s all I want.

I pull out my phone, flip on the Bluetooth, and let music fill the car. Middle of the Night by Our Last Night slides through the speakers, tense and bittersweet.

I close my eyes.

Just sit.

Just watch.

And for a few minutes, nothing else exists. Not the pack. Not my mother’s voice. Not responsibility or the world outside this quiet parking lot.

Just her.

Just the scent.

Just the sound.

And the quiet, unbearable pull that won’t let me turn away.

Not yet.

———————————

I wake with a start, eyelids heavy, spine stiff, and realize I’ve been sitting in the car for… how long? Two hours. Six a.m. Already. My body aches from staying still, but something — someone — wakes me.

Zey is on full alert. She’s moving. Now.

I glance up just in time to see her crossing the parking lot, head low, coffee-colored curls bouncing slightly with each step. Old Navy Jeep Cherokee. I clock the license plate like some kind of obsessive idiot. She slides behind the wheel and backs out, tires crunching over gravel.

Without thinking, I put my car in drive.

Then immediately stop.

What the hell are you doing?

Sitting out here last night was reckless enough. Following her home? Absolutely not. That crosses every line. My pulse races, and Zey lets out a frustrated, low howl in my mind as she disappears around the corner.

I bite my lip. The buzz I’ve been avoiding all night — that pull of pack energy, the unrelenting mental link — comes roaring back. Finally, I give in and reconnect.

Immediately, my mother’s voice hits like a whip.

“Taydyn River Woodson!”

Sharp. Shrill. Loud. In my brain.

I groan.

Where the fuck are you, and why is your pack link off?

“I’m fine, Mom,” I think back as evenly as I can. I’ll be home soon.

“Soon is not soon enough! The leaders of Crescent Creek will be here at any moment, and you are late!”

I blink. How does someone hiss through their teeth in thoughts?

Zey groans in frustration.

Mother, you’re terrifying.

I ignore him and pull the car into gear, heading toward home. Thoughts of her cling like smoke in my mind, unrelenting.

By the time I pull up to the pack house, my stomach is in knots. I step inside to be greeted by the sight of my mother, perfectly composed despite the storm barely under control in her green eyes. Her fury is veiled with polite smiles — an art she’s perfected for visitors — but I can feel it in every taut line of her body.

I offer the briefest nod. Acknowledgment, not apology.

“Good morning, Taydyn,” she says, voice smooth but sharp enough to cut through metal. If I want to, I could shred you where you stand.

I swallow. Smile faintly. “Morning, Mom.”

Before I can be interrogated further, Terrance — my beta, best friend, comic relief — sidles up with that infuriatingly confident grin of his.

“Sleep well, big guy?” he teases, clapping me on the shoulder. Mother shoots a disapproving look out way. She was not found of the way I treated Terrance as almost my equal. I had decided long ago that I would be his alpha one day, something neither of us were confused about. But for right now I did not feel the need to Lord over him. Few wolves had the luxury of choosing their beta. Most were assigned and you can not assign friendship. You can only demand loyalty. Fate had dealt me a much better hand then that.

It had given me a brother.

Terrance is always good at this, making the mood seem lighter. At easing tension with jokes. But all I can think about is her.

I mind link with Terrance and speak to him privately.

“I need your help.”

He can’t hide the brief emotion of alarm that flickers in his eyes.”

“What happened.”

I FOUND HER.

“ Who her? Your mate??”

YES. ZEY SAYS SHE IS A WOLF BUT I CANT CATCH A WOLF SENT. ITS LIKE IT’S DORMANT, OR SOMETHING IS SHIELDING IT! SHE HAS NO IDEA WHO I AM.

He winces slightly and looks at me nervously.

“Tay.. your using your Alpha command on me… and I’m fighting the urge to go back to the gym and track her scent. If that’s what you want I will go now but, I don’t think it is.”

I pause and breathe quickly. And realize I can feel the change in my chest.

Damn it Terrance I’m sorry…

It’s all good, tell me everything after.

I nodded

Even as I had told him she filled my whole brain.

The way she smelled. The way she moved. The way my senses screamed mate and yet she didn’t know.

And worst of all… I didn’t even get her name.

Zey growls softly, disappointed. Pathetic. Alpha can’t even introduce himself to his mate?

I grind my jaw, forcing the wolf down for the sake of appearances. Guests will arrive. Pack leaders will inspect. Mother will glare. And yet, all I can think of… is her.