Gods, Duke wanted to be her dad.
“Now isn’t the time,” he growled, yanking out his phone. “I need to make sure Nat isalive.”
Xannon paled.
Sending a text wasn’t something Duke wanted to do. He wanted to get out there, pound the pavements and hunt down Nat’s kidnapper. But he needed help.
Duke
Someone kidnapped Nat. I need a scent tracker. Starting point is BI office, I’m there right now
Sure, he had a number of wolf shifters on his staff. But he needed someone to watch Wanda while he rescued Nat, someone who couldprotecther. And as much as he appreciated his staff, they weren’t fighters.
Crush
I’m without my car over by Beacon & Meadow, near apartment safehouse. Give me 20
Raptor
Hey, that’s near my restaurant. Crush, head over here. I’ll drive you to Duke’s.
Crush
K
Duke locked his phone and paced, his mood worsening when Wanda looked around and babbled sadly. She wanted her dad, didn’t she? His heart twisted.
“Um, do you want to keep the lockdown active?” Xannon asked cautiously.
Duke had almost forgotten his receptionist was there; he was so worried about what Giblin Turkeyson could be doing to Nat right now. “No, lift it. I don’t think there’s anyone else in here that shouldn’t be.”
Turkeyson would take Nat to a place where he would have true control over him. The thought alone made Duke’s blood boil.
Xannon reversed the lockdown procedure. Then he stared at Kylie’s body. “Should we call the police?”
“I’ll do it.” Duke took a deep breath and dialed Blade—one of the dragons in his group of friends. Ace and Raptor’s brother. Blade was a police officer fairly high up in the chain of command. His mate, Joey, had stolen a baby from some kidnappers.
Blade answered after a few rings. “Duke? I saw your message.”
“Yeah, it’s related to that. One of my ex-employees tried to kidnap my mate’s baby. I’ve neutralized her, but that also means I have a body on my hands.”
“Damn it. Hold tight, I’ll be there in a few to take your statement. Don’t leave to rescue Nat yet. Last thing we need is a body with no explanation.”
Duke snarled, “Hurry.”
“I’ll put on the lights,” Blade promised. The sirens were wailing in the background even before he had ended the call.
Duke paced, trying to make faces at Wanda except it wasdifficult.His mate was out there somewhere, suffering.
There were scars on Nat’s body that they didn’t talk about. Small silvery things that Duke pretended not to notice because he didn’t want to make Nat relive those times by bringing attention to them.
But they were there along with Nat’s missing fingers, proof that someone had hurt Nat in terrible ways.
Knowing that Nat was with the slime stain who had given him those scars... Duke wanted to tear the world apart.
Nat knew that Duke was coming for him, right?
Duke cradled Wanda closer to himself, pressing kisses to her soft hair. This was his first time holding her, and yet all he felt was an intense knot of worry.
