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

thought I knew. Right now, he was no more than a concerned father holding on to a bit of hope.

Hesitantly, I lifted a hand and picked up the cufflink. It felt wrong to take it, and I almost suggested he should keep it and give me something else, but we had no time for that. “It’ll do.”

Ulfen’s eyes flicked toward Jake, then he cracked his neck and sniffed, his face returning to the impenetrable mask he always wore. “How long will it take you to track him?”

“A few hours, at most.”

He frowned, looking worried or skeptical, I couldn’t decide which.

“That fast?” he asked.

I nodded. “When I have an item from my mark, I can find them quickly, if there are no... aggravating circumstances that is.”

“Aggravating circumstances,” he repeated. “I can assure you, with Bernadetta Fiore at the bottom of this, aggravating circumstances are guaranteed.”

“Are you sure it’s her?” I asked without thinking.

“Of course it’s her.” Ulfen pounded a closed fist on the table.

I flinched.

“Who else would dare mess with me?”

I had no answer for his question and instead held up the cufflink. “I’ll get this back to you along with Stephen’s location, I hope.”

“How much?” Ulfen asked.

I shook my head. “It’s not about money.”

He huffed but didn’t press the issue. “If you want, you can do your... thing in my house. We could leave now and—”

“No, thank you,” I said emphatically. “I have to do this in my own space or it won’t work.”

This was a lie, of course, but since every tracker works differently, he had no choice but to believe me. Very few knew how my skills worked, and I liked to keep it that way.

Ulfen pulled out a business card from his breast pocket and flicked it across the table. It slid over the smooth surface, and Jake caught it before it fell to the floor.

“Call me as soon as you know. That’s my private cell phone number.” Ulfen gestured toward the card.

I stood, the cufflink held tightly in my fist. “We’ll find him.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.” He seemed vulnerable as he said this, as if he were afraid of hope.

“I’ll do my best. That, I can promise.”

Chapter 21

“I thought he didn’t give a shit,” Jake said as we drove back to the police station to pick up his ride.

“Me, too.”

I never thought Ulfen capable of feeling anything but contempt and greed, but it seemed his old rock of a heart had a tender spot. I huffed at the thought.

“What?” Jake asked.

“I guess Stephen was wrong. He said his father hated him.”

“I honestly thought he did. The things Stephen told me about him...”

“Maybe he only cares about the family’s future. Stephen is his heir, after all.”

Jake stared at his hands pensively. Maybe, like me, he had started reevaluating what he knew. Maybe Stephen was nothing more than a rebellious son going against his father. God knew Stephen wasn’t a humble man. He had grown up spoiled and rich. He’d been a total wild pup in high school and early years of college. A balls-to-the-wall rager with a couple of DWIs and arrests due to drugs. The man I’d met later on had been nothing like that, though. He still loved to party, but responsibly. His friends said he’d finally turned the corner onto the good path. I hadn’t dated him long, but I had to agree. But perhaps, family disagreements still lingered despite Stephen’s improvements. Or maybe the change hadn’t been enough for Ulfen.

Who knew?

In the end, the specifics didn’t matter. Blood is thicker than water. Family always comes first, especially among werewolves. They stick together, protect each other, and are loyal to their pack mates.

I glanced over at Jake. He chose to be a lone wolf, which had always puzzled me. He’d left his pack after his parents died, and it was hard for me to understand why he would isolate himself when he could have that kind of loyalty.

We passed in front of the police station. It was eerily quiet, no lights inside the building. Both Jake and I stared at the torn door, blasted windows, and sooty walls. Three police cars sat in the front, keeping guard of the exposed building.

Echoes of the explosion and people’s screams rang in my ears. I tightened my hands around the wheel and kept driving, wondering how Tom and the others were doing.

I went around the corner and shifted the car to neutral. Jake didn’t get out. He just sat there, staring straight ahead, his chest rising and falling with each deep breath he took.

“Are you sure I can’t come with you?” he asked after a long quiet moment.

“You know how it works.”

“Do I?” He glanced at me, his eyes dark and serious.

“Yes, it won’t work if you’re there. Your aura will interfere.” This was the lie I’d told him before, and the lie I would stand by, now.

His mouth twisted to one side. “And your coworker’s aura doesn’t?”

“Rosalina? No, not really. But she’s not a Skew so... not much of a supernatural aura.”

Something told me he didn’t believe me. In the past, he had, but something was different now. He didn’t trust me, just like I didn’t trust him. But whatever, he could take a major hike up Screw-You Mountain, for all I cared.

Moving slowly, not a word of thanks or anything, reluctance dripping off him, he got out of the car and walked toward a badass Harley, a softail with a low seat and leather studded saddlebag. So now he drove a motorcycle instead of a beat-up truck. Good to know what to look for, so I could run the other way.

Jake threw a leg over the bike. He had no helmet, but it didn’t matter. If he splatted and cracked his head in half, it would heal quickly. He could afford to be irresponsible.

I shifted to first and headed to Rosalina’s, watching him get smaller in the rearview mirror.

When I got there, I found her awake, curled up