Mason

I stepped into the brand new Ursus Security Solutions offices and couldn’t fight back a grin. Kaden’s mate had worked wonders. When she found the warehouse space a couple of months ago, it was dank and musty. I’d thought Kaden was being led around by his dick when she convinced him to put an offer in on it.

But Alyssa, who made it clear she didn’t appreciate the implication that she led Kaden around by his dick, was happy to make me eat my words. Almost single-handedly she’d transformed the space, hiring contractors to clean, put up walls, and upgrade the plumbing and electrical.

We now had a reception area, more than enough offices for each of us, a bathroom and a conference space. She’d also added a gym, a kitchen, a locker room with two showers, a small armory, and an intelligence center, all in an employees only section in the back half of the building. I was beginning to see the reason for Kaden’s devotion.

As I stepped into the reception area, another obvious reason presented itself. Alyssa bent at the waist, ass in the air, as she sorted through a stack of files piled on the floor in front of a low filing cabinet.

Scanning the rest of the room, I found I wasn’t the only one appreciating the view. Kaden stood in the open doorway of his office, his eyes glued to his mate. His need for her was clear as day.

I shook my head and couldn’t help but smirk at him. “Soldier, lock it down.”

Kaden’s gaze shot to me and he scowled. His obvious annoyance only made me grin more.

Alyssa stood and turned to us, her movement drawing our attention. “Hey, Mason. Can you believe this is the last bit of organizing? We’re actually going to be open for business in three more days.”

“Looks good in here, Alyssa. You did an amazing job.”

She beamed at me, and I smiled. Hard not to in the face of her pleasure at my words.

I’d always liked her, though our interactions growing up were few and far between. But seeing her transform under Kaden’s devotion the last few months was something else.

A sharp pain stung me in the middle of my chest. I put my hand there, as if that would alleviate the ache.

But I knew it wasn’t an ache that would go away. It was one that hit me at odd moments lately. One that made my bear start pacing inside me, as if he was impatient to get to something, but he didn’t know what.

But I knew what he wanted—our mate. One of the reasons I’d been so easily convinced to leave the military, aside from being sick and tired of some of the shit we’d seen and done, was that my bear got more restless with each passing year.

Standing in the reception area watching Kaden prowl toward his woman, seeing her stepping forward like some force I couldn’t see was driving them together, a wave of jealousy hit me so hard, I’m surprised I stayed on my feet.

At the same moment, a vision assaulted me—a curvy girl with wild blonde curls sitting astride me, both of us naked in a bed with rumpled sheets. Her husky voice had called out my name in her sweet southern accent as her body bowed with her pleasure. Juliet.

Her image had come to me more and more the last few months. And each time it came, my bear’s restlessness grew. The idea I’d met my mate already kept teasing the back of my mind. But wouldn’t I have recognized her when I met her?

Even as I had the thought, I knew my head had been so messed up then, I might not have recognized my own mother standing in front of me.

“Yo, Mason!”

Kaden’s voice pulled me from my thoughts. I tried to shake off the image of Juliet that seemed to be haunting me, but that was easier said than done.

“What’s wrong with you?” Kaden asked, and for the first time I realized he’d moved back to his office door. He stood there now holding his phone.

Way to be aware of your surroundings, soldier.

I ran a hand over my hair. “Nothing, man. Why?”

Kaden gave me a long hard stare, but I gave him nothing. As much shit as I’ve given him about Alyssa, no way would I share that a woman I’d spent one night with months ago had literally driven me to distraction.

Kaden stared at me a few long beats before he responded to my question. “Call from the PD. Chief said she has an interesting situation she could use some help with. She asked for you specifically.”

I drew my brows together. Most of the time the police department in Kodiak kept busy with tourist shit. I could see why they’d ask us for help from time to time once we were up and running, but not sure why the Chief would ask for me by name.

“She give you any clues?” I asked.

Kaden shrugged. “Just that the sooner you could stop by, the better.”

“Our meeting isn’t for a few more hours, right?” I’d stopped in early to check out my office space, but I should have some time before the Mason, Nash, Gage and I sat down to talk shop.

Kaden checked his watch. “Two hours.”

I nodded in return and headed toward the door. “I’ll be back before then.”

As soon as I stepped into the drizzly, overcast day, I inhaled deeply. The scent of the sea and pine hit my nostrils and I couldn’t help but compare it to the scent of New Orleans, the city where I spent two weeks on leave eight months ago. The sea air there had a different tang to it.

My mind drifted back to the woman I’d spent one night with there. Juliet’s scent came to me as clearly as the scent of the Alaskan seaside town where I stood now—caramel and powdered sugar and coffee mixed with a fragrance that was all her. The combination of strong and sweet burst into my memory and left me with a craving so powerful, it forced a decision from me before I even knew there was a question.

As soon as I could manage it, I was going to find Juliet Bellamy. Something told me I’d made a mistake in leaving her after only one night. My bear roared his approval as I made the turn down the road leading to the Kodiak PD.

* * *

Juliet

I sat in the chair next to a cluttered desk and fought the urge to toss out the empty coffee cup and straighten the files piled over the top of it. The only way I managed to control the compulsion was to clasp my hands together in my lap.

My gaze scanned the busy room for what felt like the millionth time. Several desks were pushed together in the area where I sat. The messy desktops triggered my cleaning compulsion even harder than the one next to me. A couple of plainclothes police officers sat at those desks. As I looked, one of them caught my eye. I offered him a smile and he turned away quickly to examine a file.

I was beginning to feel like a bug under a microscope that had only a small hint he was being studied. I was also beginning to think maybe the instincts that led me here had steered me completely wrong.

I sighed as I could almost hear Kendra's voice in my ear telling me she told me so. But it was the only lead I had to find Mason. My first thought had been to hire a private investigator. But after a little research, I found the cost of hiring one was not in my budget.

So I decided to play detective myself. I started with a phone call to the Kodiak, Alaska police department. I said I was looking for someone who lived in the area. The officer I spoke to told me a new security firm was opening in Kodiak that would be offering some private investigation services. He seemed to think that was my best bet.

But I couldn't wait too long. I didn't know what to expect over the coming months. No What to Expect When You’re Expecting book I could find seemed to cover having a shifter baby or turning into a shifter myself.

And as every day passed, I was more and more convinced that was just what was happening to me. In the month since I discovered my pregnancy, I’d noticed changes that seemed like more than just typical pregnancy symptoms. My joints and muscles had continued to ache. My sense of smell had become incredibly powerful. And a strange need had grown inside me to find my baby’s father.

After the call to the Kodiak PD, the frustration had grown to such heights, I felt like something was caged inside me, fighting to get out. The feeling was scary enough to push me to come up with my craziest plan yet. In less than a week, I’d quit my job as a tattoo artist at Ink This, packed up my meager belongings, and despite Kendra’s warnings, and my own misgivings, I’d gotten on a bus and started the journey to Alaska.

And let me tell you, traveling from New Orleans to Alaska by bus would have been harrowing enough. Add morning sickness that struck at all times of the day and night and a super sonic sense of smell, and I’d be happy to never, ever, ever see the inside of a bus again.

I huffed out a breath and scanned the room one more time. The woman I spoke to had introduced herself as Chief Martin. She’d listened as I explained I wanted to reconnect with an old friend from the area. The minute I’d shared that the person I was looking for was Captain Mason Hunter, her eyes had changed from slight suspicion to flat out distrust.

I could understand the feeling. Trust wasn’t something I gave out easily myself. But since talking to the local police was the only idea I’d come up with, I had to hope her sense of duty would move her to help me despite her suspicion.

She’d told me she might be able to help. But that was a good twenty minutes ago when she’d found this seat for me and told me she’d be back as soon as she could. She’d stepped into an office and closed the door and hadn’t shown her face since.

Maybe she hoped if she left me long enough, I’d wander off. I sighed and pressed my clasped hands into my belly. Under any other circumstances, I’d do just that.

Hell, I didn't want to count on strangers any more than she wanted to help one. And that included counting on Mason. He might be the father of my unborn baby, but that didn’t mean I was ready to place all my trust in him.

Which is why I concocted a story in all those hours I spent with my cheek pressed against the cold glass windows of one bus after another and finally sitting on the ferry for the very last leg of the journey. I’d made the decision to keep the news of my pregnancy to myself. I’d come up with an excuse for looking him up, and hopefully I’d get the chance to spend some time with him or at least talk to some people who knew him better than I did, before I shared my secret.

He'd seemed like a good guy when I met him. Troubled, but decent. He'd been protective of me when we walked from the club where we met to his hotel room. He'd given me the option of walking me to my own front door instead of the hotel. But the bulk of the night had been spent with the two of us naked and entwined in the sheets on his hotel bed.

And I’d be damned if I’d make a decision to include him in not just my life, but the life of my unborn baby, based on what I learned about him in one night where very little talking had taken place.

Instead, I made up my mind to find him, get to know him, and then make a decision on how much I shared with him. If he was a decent guy, I could tell him the truth. If he was a dickhead, well, I didn’t want to keep the baby a secret from his father, but I’d do it if it meant protecting the little peanut growing inside me.

Thank goodness I wasn’t showing yet.

“Miss Bellamy?”

I shot up from my seat at the sound of my name. Apparently, I’d gotten so lost in my thoughts, I hadn’t seen Chief Martin finally leave her office.

“Yes? Do you think you’ll be able to help me?”

Chief Martin’s only response was a nod toward the front of the room. I glanced to the spot she indicated and my breath left my lungs on one big whoosh of air.

As if conjured by my thoughts, Captain Mason Hunter stood there.