The Tracker's Mate: Sunderverse (Mate Tracker Book 1) by Ingrid Seymour (book recommendations website TXT) 📕

the protection I needed. But who could I trust? Tom was the only one I knew. Besides, the time wasted trying to find someone else could make the difference between getting Stephen back in one piece and never seeing him again.

There was no time.

So when Jake gently tugged on my hand, I went with him, and we padded down the hall, our asses hanging out in the air.

Chapter 18

From the hospital, Jake and I Ubered to the police station. Yellow tape surrounded the entire building, and there were no signs of activity.

Only a handful of hours ago, it must have been a madhouse of firefighters, detectives, bomb squad personnel, reporters, and gawkers. Now, with twilight falling quickly, the place felt like a spook house.

A few cars remained in the spill-over parking lot, including my Camaro. I breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of it.

“Where’s your ride?” I asked Jake, glancing around.

“Around the corner, but I have to get a spare key. I don’t know what happened to mine. I’ll get it later.”

From there, I drove to Jake’s office, where he changed into jeans, a Y-neck shirt, a black moto jacket, and biker boots with buckles on the sides and a heel that added an inch to his height—not that he needed it. He also picked up a duffel bag with a change of clothes and some necessities. Apparently, like me, he’d made the place his home, and we were neighbors in more ways than one.

Afterward, we drove to Rosalina’s. I called her on the way there to tell her to expect visitors and quickly explained what had happened.

Twenty minutes later, we sat in her living room. I’d changed into comfortable jeans and tank top, glad to be rid of the stupid buttless gown. I sat cross-legged on the love seat, and Jake occupied the large sofa across from me, while Rosalina sat to the side in an armchair, her large green eyes going back and forth between us.

She still seemed in shock at the events and at the fact that Jacob Knight was in her condo and not even yelling at anyone—not something either one of us could have foreseen.

After rescuing me from the streets, Rosalina also rescued me from the hole Jake left in my life. I’d lost count of how many nights I’d spent sobbing and cursing Jake’s name while she comforted me and came up with creative insults to make me laugh. Cunning canine, bloody bitch, lousy lycanthrope. She loved alliteration.

“Toni, I understand you’re in pain,” she’d said once. “You love him, and there’s nothing wrong with that. All our lives they teach us to give, to nurture, to put ourselves last, but I’m telling you that this notion is all wrong. I’m not saying you shouldn’t love, just that you should love yourself a little bit more. Men can be real assholes.”

“Jake isn’t like that,” I blubbered.

“Still, he left you without an explanation, and now look at you. You’re falling apart, but you still have a life to live. For yourself, whether or not he’s here. And you have to choose to live better than this because you’d better believe he’s out there having fun and not bawling his eyes out to a friend.”

At the time, I had wanted to believe that he missed me as much as I did, but why would he inflict that kind of pain on himself when he could’ve come back and told me he loved me, and I would’ve welcomed him with open arms as if he’d never left.

It took a couple of weeks, but Rosalina’s advice finally started to make sense. I’d felt less than whole without Jake, but I finally learned that I wasn’t. I was still one-hundred percent Antonietta Luna Sunder. With or without Jake, I had a life to live, and it could be a good one. Then time showed me that, indeed, it was. I still had a heck-of-a-lot to live for, even if I didn’t think another man could ever measure up to Jake, even if I suspected he’d broken my heart for good, and it would never function properly again. Hell, it hadn’t functioned properly with Stephen. I had liked him, but without passion.

And now, here he was, sitting in front of me, looking hotter than he ever had, and resurrecting all kinds of memories from the mental attic where I’d stuffed them.

God, this is a terrible idea.

Maybe if I didn’t look at him. My eyes flicked to Rosalina as I figuratively strapped on my big girl panties and reminded myself that, for a year, I’d been happy because I’d taken care of the person who mattered most in the world...

Toni.

Rosalina smiled at me. All in all, she was handling this well, though the slight pinch of her eyebrows didn’t escape my notice. Behind her nonchalant exterior, she was judging. Hard.

I cleared my throat and met Jake’s gaze. “Okay, so... I will help you, but first, I want to understand why Ulfen won’t give the kidnappers what they want. If he can bring his son home, and he’s just being an ass about it, I’m not going to risk my life.”

“Ulfen can’t give them what they want because their demands are ridiculous. They aren’t made in good faith.”

“Why not?”

“They want his pack to leave St. Louis.”

“What?! That is ridiculous.”

Werewolves and their packs were territorial as hell. If Erickson and his people left their homes—which was as likely as the Fae leaving Elf-hame—they would find conflict everywhere they went. Other packs would chase them away the moment they tried to settle in their territory. Not to mention that, as an alpha, Ulfen’s job was to protect his pack, above everything else, even his family. Besides, who gave Bernadetta the right to try to kick anyone out of their homes? The nerve!

“Okay, I’ll play,” I said, “but you have to promise that, after this, you’ll leave me alone.”

Jake’s eyes narrowed. He wasn’t a promise kind of guy. In