Page 3 of Don't Howl At Me

I nodded. “See? I’m not the only one.”

Everyone remained quiet for a moment. I wondered how many of my coworkers were rethinking their plans for that weekend.

“Okay, then,” our council head, Ivan, said. “Now that we got that all out of the way, let’s discuss cases.”

I listened as they went over updates. Everything was included in the notes we were sent, and I preferred to read everything later. I was a pro at looking present at conferences when I was thinking about a hundred other things instead.

I lifted my mug, expecting the creamy sweetness of my chai latte, and instead got the disappointment of an empty cup.

I wished my magic worked to make me coffee or tea automatically. In movies, cups would float in the air, and the pot poured the coffee for the witch. Unfortunately, if that type of magic existed, it wasn’t the kind I knew of. I settled for the bottle of ice-cold water next to my laptop. Another cup would have to wait until the call was over.

At least I had my cinnamon raisin bagel with strawberry cream cheese.

“Ollie.” The sound of my name on Ivan’s lips snapped me out of my revelry over breakfast choices.

“What’s up?” I answered. “Sorry, I must have zoned out for a moment.”

Or most of the meeting.

“I was about to discuss an issue with the Survolar-Romano Training Center. Do you want to be involved with this case?”

I froze. My fated mate was a Romano and worked at the training center. “What’s going on with them?” My attention was entirely on the meeting now.

“There have been several recent attacks on the training center, from physical blows to hacking attempts and magical energy strikes. They’ve been able to block any attempts to get into their database and the actual buildings, but they need to pull us in now. We need to help figure out what is happening and who’s behind it.

“Do they have any leads?” Michael’s voice sounded hoarse. Another GSC agent who’d worked with the pack a few years ago, he had a few friends who may be involved.

When I start my investigation, I may take him with me if I need a partner.

“They don’t have any solid suspects yet. They believe it’s someone looking to steal energy. Perhaps the person or group doesn’t generate their own, or not enough to satisfy their needs. It could be they are trying to hit up one of the most powerful covens on the continent.”

“Have any other covens been attacked?” Michael asked.

“Not that we are aware of. There is a chance that it is a targeted assault on the coven, pack, or clan specifically. The Survolars and Romanos may not have considered everyone who may have something against them,” Ivan answered.

“I’ll go check it out.” As soon as I found out who was involved, I knew I had to be the one to take this case.

If anyone were to have my mate’s back and keep him safe, it would be me. It was time I straightened this shit out with Wolf.

***

My dragon was an insistent bastard, pushing me to shift and go to my mate. I wouldn’t let my dragon rush me, however. I had to stop, think, and breathe before I acted.

How I would make it up to my mate for refusing to listen to him over the last year? This was not about forgiving our fated mate for being the person he was before we met. The major obstacle was to get over my hang-ups. That took time, which was what our mate had given us. Unfortunately, I had been unfair to him and myself.

Wolf hadn’t done anything wrong. He hadn’t known his fated mate was only a room away at his brother’s wedding. No one knew if they had one or if or when that fated mate would arrive. I processed everything and was ready to return to my mate five minutes after we had fled.

Unfortunately, I’m a fiery, emotional soul ruled by my heart. Witnessing proof of my mate’s past hit me hard. When I witnessed evidence of how promiscuous my alpha had been, my dragon wanted to tear every past lover of his into tiny bite-sized chunks. At the moment, running was my only clear choice.

But instead of returning after a few hours and cooling down, my temper flared. When my dragon overcame the irrational need to eat the competition, my human side took over. A history of being cheated on influenced my decisions, and I threw a tantrum. I blocked Wolf on all social media platforms, sent his calls straight to voice mail, and, when he kept trying to reach out to me, I reported him to his supervisors for stalking.

I acted like an irrational bitch.

Augh! I hate the emotional part of me.

After working with my inner child, healing wounds of my past, and understanding why I ran, I was ready to embrace my fate. That was why I was headed to the Survalor-Romano Training Center in the morning.

Will he even forgive me for being such an idiot to him?