to take a risk, to have fun. The hunters had taken more from her than she’d realized that day. It wasn’t her body, though it had certainly felt like it at the time. They’d broken it, but it had healed far more easily than the rest of her.
She paused, coming to a stop midstride as she realized what she needed to do, where she needed to go. She had to return to the place where her life had changed. Or according to Anna, where Ariel had died. Maybe, if she went back, she could face the demons that continued to haunt her and find the piece of her soul she’d left behind. Maybe, she could finally begin to live, and when the image of her mate filled her mind, she knew she had to try. For herself. And for her mate. Daniel.
Chapter Eight
Daniel’s feet hit the floor as he vaulted from the bed to land in a crouch beside it, gaze scanning the room as a roar launched from his lungs to resonate in the air around him.
“Whoa. Daniel, you good?” Tah’s voice had Daniel jerking his head over to stare at his alpha and the primal shifter who stood beside him, appearing ready to launch himself in front of Tah if needed. Aleksy. The behemoth’s name was Aleksy, and he was mated to Reno’s sister, Lyra.
Daniel rolled his head on his neck in an attempt to relieve some of his tension. His body burned, muscles stretched tautly over sinew and bone. His senses were on fire as he soaked in everything around him. And in his head, his heart, his very soul was the call for his mate.
“Ariel.” His voice came out deep, guttural. His normal baritone even lower as if something had damaged his vocal chords, but he hadn’t been injured there. He patted his chest, fingers trailing over to his side then down to his thigh before turning his right arm so he could complete the inventory of where he’d taken bullets during the fight with hunters. He hadn’t imagined it. He was healed. And his lion? He felt the beast ready to roar inside him.
“Gabriel, Kenzie, Vic and Gideon went to meet her,” Tah reminded as if Daniel might have forgotten. He hadn’t. His anger reignited at the thought of someone else going to help his mate. It was his right. He should be the man she counted on. He needed to be that man.
“I’m going after her.” A statement and he’d dare anyone to try and stop him.
“Not a great idea,” Tah countered.
A growl rumbled up from Daniel’s chest, and he couldn’t contain it.
“Listen to you,” Tah snapped. “Hell, walk over and take a look in the mirror. You look like you’re ready to bust out of your skin. I don’t think you’re in the right frame of mind to go searching for the mate who’s been avoiding you.”
Another growl at the reminder he didn’t need. Daniel was well aware that his mate hid when he came back. That she stayed hidden until he left again. He’d never once challenged her on it. He’d let it go, and now, he questioned it.
What if he’d pressed to see her when he’d been around? Even if just in passing? Would he have made things worse? He didn’t see how. Or would he have gradually gotten through her defenses and slowly worked past the fears she harbored about the two of them? Maybe, she’d already be in his arms instead of him having this emptiness.
That was a lot of maybes. Maybes were nothing. Reality was everything. And reality was she wasn’t with him, and the man going to help her this time still wasn’t him.
“I’m going to my mate,” he reiterated.
“I’ll go with him.” It was Aleksy who spoke, his gaze squarely on Daniel even though he was speaking to Tah. “If anyone understands his current state and how to deal with it, it’s me.”
His current state? He walked toward the mirror and glanced at it, startled by what he saw. The animal he’d felt slipping away now rode so close to the surface that his pale blue eyes glowed neon. His muscles visibly bulged as he rolled his shoulders. Primal. Aleksy was primal. Was that what was happening to him?
“What was in that shot?”
“Too much, apparently,” Tony answered as he walked in with Abby at his side. “I’ll need to dial it back before we use it again.”
“If,” Tah corrected, his displeasure coming through loud and clear.
“No