“Jon,” Essie’s voice on the phone, pulled him from his work for the sixth time that morning. “Bryce from Hollingsworth’s is on the line again. Are you free to take his call?”

“Put him through,” Jon sighed and tugged at his hair. He’d gotten the remote access to the Hollingsworth servers first thing in the morning. He was running his programs through the data now. He couldn’t do a lot else until his programs showed him where the missing money was going. “Bryce,” he said as the call was transferred. “I am working as fast as I can. I should have results for you in another three hours. I told you that when you called me first thing with the access codes.”

“I’m just calling to see how you are.” Bryce’s voice was low as though he didn’t want to be overheard. “You seemed a little out of sorts when we spoke earlier.”

“You caught me before I’d had my regulatory three cups of coffee.” Jon smiled and leaned back in his chair. “I’m a snarling pit-bull without it.”

“So, you’re not feeling upset, or like you have a sudden urge to shift and maybe track after a certain person who will remain nameless?”

Jon clunked forward in his chair. “What do you know?” he snarled, keeping an eye on his office door. He felt all those things and more; the joys of having a mate who rejected him. What he didn’t understand is how Bryce knew about it. Had Hollingsworth talked about him?

“I can’t talk now. I need to see you. Are you free for lunch?”

Looking at his computer, Jon saw it was eleven thirty. “I can be, but I thought you guys were heading back to New York today?”

“The flight’s not booked until this evening. I’ll meet you at the sports bar just down from your office; say, twenty minutes?”

“I’ll be there and Bryce, remember, I can scent any lie so you’d better be honest with me.”

“So can I,” Bryce laughed. “See you in a bit.”

Jon put down the phone, tapping his pencil on his desk. There was a big part of him that wanted to get Essie to call straight back and cancel. It’s not as though he didn’t have work to do. But the two days since his first glimpse of Dirk Hollingsworth had been difficult. His search on dragon mating habits hadn’t given him any answers. The dragons were a closed off society and information on them was scarce. His gentle dog spirit alternated between pining and snarling; wanting to track his mate down and Jon couldn’t blame him. He wouldn’t mind a few words with the arrogant SOB himself. He wasn’t going to admit to the wet dream or two he had involving his dick and that fine ass he saw disappearing down the hallway, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have a few things to say. The least Hollingsworth could have done was rejected him to his damn face.

So, lunch. Jon stood and pulled on his jacket. He couldn’t cancel. Bryce was his one opportunity to ensure Mr. Hollingsworth was all right. It’s not as though he would ever use Dirk’s number on the card left for him even if it was safely tucked away in his wallet. He’d have this lunch. Hear what Bryce had to say and then bury himself in his work until he was sure Mr. Hollingsworth was safely on the plane. Then he’d let his dog out and maybe indulge in a howling session or two.

“I’ll be out for an hour, Essie,” he called out as he strode past the reception desk.

“You’re going out for lunch?”

Jon could understand Essie’s surprise. She often had to resort to bribery or physical threats just to get him to go home after dark. He winked over his shoulder. “Business meeting,” he said as he hurried out the door.

“With that swagger, I know exactly what kind of meeting you’re going to,” Essie laughed. “Go get some, tiger. It’s about time. Get some for me while you’re at it.”

Yeah, if only that were true. Jon couldn’t remember the last time he’d had sex. And that was something he was going to have to learn to do without. Thank the Fates he was such good friends with his right hand…or his left, if he wanted diversity. He was still chuckling to himself as he walked out into the sunshine.

/~/~/~/~/

Bryce was waiting when Jon got to the bar. He was dressed more casually this time and Jon admitted to himself Bryce was a good-looking wolf. His long dark hair was loose and fell around a well-defined face and his full lips did his smile justice. If his dog half wasn’t so involved in the man’s boss, he’d be interested, although he doubted that interest would be reciprocated.

“I’ve taken the liberty of ordering. I take it you don’t object to steak?” Bryce said as Jon slipped into the booth opposite him.

“Appreciate it. Thank you. I’ll just have water, thanks,” Jon added to the hovering waitress. He waited until the waitress took Bryce’s empty glass and then leaned his elbows on the table. “I’m sure your boss will be looking for you and I don’t have much time. Spill.”

“Straight to the point. I like it. Let’s see. After our meeting the other day, the one where my boss only got as far as your office door before he high-tailed back out again for a non-existent meeting, did you notice anything strange in the scents in your hallway?”

“If this is your roundabout way of asking me if I think your boss is my mate; I know he is.” Jon didn’t care how blunt he sounded. His nerves were on edge and he wasn’t sure they’d settle even after Bryce and Dirk left his town. “I also know, thanks to you, that he’s due to be married in less than a month. After speaking to Raoul that evening I further learned he rang and was insulting about me and my animal half. So, if you think I am going to do anything to stop you guys getting on the plane this evening, you’re totally mistaken. You have nothing to worry about.”

“I wish you would stop him leaving.” Bryce looked around. It was lunchtime and the place was filling up. But their booth at the back wasn’t getting any attention. “He’s not the same. That night he was burning up like he had a fever. I called a doctor who came and medicated him. He was calling for you, but saying no, no, no, at the same time.”

“Is he all right now?” Caring for a mate trumped any bitterness Jon felt personally.

“That’s the weirdest thing.” Bryce shook his head. “I’d swear he was dying, right? But with the dope the doc gave him, Dirk slept until lunch the next day and when he woke up, he said he was fine.”

“Well, that’s all right then, isn’t it? You don’t want him sick when his new bride arrives.” Jon patted himself on the back for not choking on the word.

“He’s not fine.” Bryce leaned over the table. “His power’s gone.”

“What on earth do you mean gone and what power? He’s a dragon; an animal shifter just like you and me, only bigger. Are you telling me he’s magic too?”

“I am talking about his shifter strength; the power of his dragon spirit, it’s…it’s muted somehow. Like, you know when us canines get together and there’s always that sniffing around and you can tell who’s got the stronger animal?”

Jon nodded. He wasn’t part of a pack but he’d had a lot of wolves think they could dominate him and make him do what they wanted. It didn’t work, but he did know what Bryce was talking about.

“Dirk has always been the strongest wolf, so to speak. Always, ever since I’ve known him and that’s a good hundred years or so.”

How old is my mate for fuck’s sake? Not that Jon asked. He just nodded so Bryce would keep talking.

“After he woke up, he said he felt physically fine, but he wasn’t. The doctor came back and seemed really surprised the fever had gone, but he was tight lipped about anything else. Dirk asked him why he felt so weak and the doctor said it was a consequence of the medication and should pass in a few hours.”

“But it hasn’t?”

“No, if anything it’s getting worse. Jon,” Jon looked down to see Bryce’s hand clutching his. “What if he’s lost his dragon because he rejected you?”

“Is that even possible?” Jon sat back and removed his hand as the waitress approached with their lunch orders. The smell of beef and blood filled his nostrils and his stomach rumbled.

“Go on,” he urged as he picked up his knife and fork. “I know you wolves don’t like talking over food, but we’re both on time constraints here.”

“Right.” Bryce took a couple of mouthfuls before resuming their conversation. “I admit all of my information about dragons is secondhand but I made a few discreet inquiries. That heat Dirk went through was the result of his dragon trying to force a shift. Dirk’s dragon was looking for his mate and when Dirk ran, his dragon side started putting pressure on Dirk to get back to you.”

“But the medicated sleep stopped that?” Jon was pleased Dirk’s animal side hadn’t rejected him.

“I don’t think it had anything to do with it,” Bryce said around another mouthful of steak. “I think Dirk’s dragon is so pissed off because Dirk won’t accept you he’s gone, or at least, he’s withdrawn his power so Dirk can’t call on him.”

“Is it really noticeable, or do you just know about it because you’ve been with him a long time?”

“Oh, it’s noticeable. Hugely noticeable. As soon as Dirk steps back into his office, his family are going to be on him like foxes in a chicken run. I don’t think he realizes how much his dragon was a part of him. He tried telling a maid to pick up the socks he left on the floor this morning and she laughed at him. She told him her job was to change his sheets and towels and that was it. Totally ignored him after that.”

“Maybe she was having a rough day.”

“She was a deer shifter. Normally, she’d be too scared to even come into the room. I stayed as far away from her as possible so she could do her job in peace, but Dirk was right up in her face and she laughed. The only one who made her slightly nervous was me.”

Jon’s steak wasn’t settling well in his stomach. “I don’t know what you want me to do about it. He’s made his choice.”

“Can’t you talk to him? Go and see him at the hotel before we check out?”

“It won’t achieve anything.” Jon put down his cutlery and fished out his wallet, throwing a twenty on the table as he stood. “Your boss rejected me as a mate without even having the decency to talk to me first. That hurt more than you can know. Oh, I’ve lived with the slurs from predators my whole life, but what your boss did was torture by comparison. I am doing what I can to help him find his missing money but after that, I don’t expect to hear the Hollingsworth name again.”

“This is hurting your animal, too.” Damn, Bryce could be grabby when he wanted to be. Jon shook Bryce’s hand off his arm.

“That’s not your problem. Your problem is about protecting your boss. I’m sure his dragon won’t stay dormant for long but until he makes his presence known, your best thing would be to keep him from as many of his kin as you can. If they’re like a lot of other clans and packs, they’ll gut him like a shark in a feeding frenzy once they realize he can’t fight back.”

“Don’t you care if that happens?”

“Of course, I care.” Every instinct in Jon’s body compelled him to track down his mate and sit by his side; in his shifted form if necessary. “But I’m not putting myself in front of a man who can’t even look me in the eye. Your boss made his choice the day he ran out of my office and then insulted me to our mutual friend. I’ll work on his money problems and I won’t stop until I’ve found the culprit and the missing money, but that’s all you will get out of me. Good day.”

I’m doing the right thing, Jon told himself as he power walked back to the safety of his office. I have my pride. I won’t go like a beggar crawling at Dirk’s feet only to be tossed out on my ass. Forcing his mind back into work mode, Jon was in such a hurry to see if his programs had found any trails in the Hollingsworth system, he barely acknowledged Essie’s inquiries about lunch.