hunting the desert sun. ******COMPLETED******

#6 Liam

her scent was driving me crazy. s**t her brain worked so fast I was amazed by it. she definitely had me hooked and I couldn't deny it. she had briefed Alpha Gray on everything we currently now knew and then she gathered up the files and pictures and her lap top and headed back to her room. Watching her leave my room made my heart tighten a little. I felt jeousy and anger over not being allowed to be with my mate. I still wasn't sure how she had so much self control when all she did was run through my mind the rest of the night. My dreams were filled of her and I woke up constantly trying to stop myself from dreaming of her.

I was now standing here in the desert with her as she moved gracefully through the two sights that the bodies were in. I was admiring how thorough she was and how she paid attention to every detail. I couldn't help how different she was from other women I have met. she didn't bother with needing to look better than everyone. she was naturally beautiful and classy. she didn't throw herself at me or want what my title could give her. she just wanted respect like any other person in her field. she was smart. most women in our pack stopped going to school after high school. very rarely did someone go of to college. most opted to stay and mate and get married. not Cara. she was leagues above other women. it intrigued me. She intrigued me. This was not going to be easy. Alpha Gray stood there letting her do her thing as I stood next to him. "Liam whats going on with you? Something is off."

"Gray I swear I am fine. Just exhausted. I haven't slept since this started. It is all just unnerving."

I could see him looking at me so I forced myself to look away from her. I needed him to not ask anymore questions right now. Her beig my mate needed to remain a secret. " I have been watching you since the day she got here. You can't stop watching her. Something is wrong. I looked at him trying to hide the surprise in my face. I was begging for him not to peice it together. I knew I was screwed. Something came over him and he didn't remove his eyes from me. "s**t! Liam is she..." he paused looking around as warriors stood around us. his voice became lower. "is she your mate? crap, your face says I am right. We will talk about this when we get back to the packhouse and in the privacy of my office. Just keep it all quiet for now."

my face became somber. was this it? Am I losing my place in the pack because of who I was fated too? it wouldn't be the first time something like that has happened. Some have even died for their mated because of who their mated with. This was probably not good. "Alpha?"

"don't worry. We are just going to talk. She should probably be there too. We have work to do right now." I shook my head and went to help gather anything that would be needed. I would need to be more careful. No more long stares in her direction and I need to keep my head focused on this case. Working right next to her was going to be hard enough no need to make it worse for myself. "Look here at these tracks. they head in that direction. Is there a road nearby?"

"There is a road about fifteen minutes inthat direction. Unfortunately, the wind has taken most of the evidence we couldn't determone where the tracks came from. the wind took a lot."

We need to get to that road. Follow me." she started walking in the direction of the road like she knew where she was going. It was like she was following imaginary tracks that were no longer there. I wasn't sure what she was sensing but if I didn't know any better I would have thought she had a wolf. Her eyes never met mine she kept them down and kept moving fast. I stayed close by following her to wherever she may land. then right at the edge of the road she stopped and knelt down to the ground. "It is a ford truck. I would guess f 250. It also was being driven by a larger person. Can you see how the impressions here are deeper on the driver side. i am thinking a very significantly larger man. At least three hundred fifty pounds. See these tire marks. They went towards the larger city. It looks like whoever it was has sat here watching this territory and possibly the neighbors. Your pack has been watched. Whoever it is knows the working of your security details and it's weaknesses. I suggest Alpha Gray change that up and make sure there is more border patrols in this area. Security in this area has been to lax. Also, the truck has a pretty significant oil leak so either this is a throw away vehicle or it is not used often. My guess right now would be a tosser."

"you learned all that from these marks"

" I was also up all night studying the photos but this definietly put a peice of the puzzle in place. I will show you when we get back but the foot prints you had showed a deep impression and definetly male shoes. The deep imprint indicates a larger man and the fact that the driver side area tires were deeper than the passenger confirms it. Details mean a lot in these types of cases. I'm not getting any scent wolf or human though not even a faint one." She definetley had my full attention. I missed a lot of those details and I am considered to be one of the best in our pack. I didn't hold a candle to her abilities.

"where did you train? I may need to spend some time there."She laughed at my words and I couldn't help but feel satisfied it was because of me. I wanted to hear more of that sound. I needed to not think of her right now. "Oh, by the way. When we are done here we need to meet at the alphas office. He requested a private meeting with us both." her bornw eyes bore into mine as she mulled over what I had just said.

"what did you tell him?" she was too smart.

"Nothing he peiced it together since I have been purposely avoiding you."

"Why avoid me? Yes we are mates but that doesn't mean we have to act on it. I would hope to think that we are stronger than that and can conduct ourselves in a proffessional manner and get our job done. If not let me know now so that I can make other arrangements." I could tell she was dead serious. If I couldn't keep myself together she would change the dynamics in a heartbeat to better suit her working environment. She somehow was able to control herself in spite of the mate bond but not me. No I was here looking like a love sick puppy wishing I could touch her.

"I think our working environment will be just fine. I will make sure to get my s**t together. I'm sorry Princess." I meant that last bit to sting. I waas irritated she could control herself the way she did when all I wanted was to feel her lips on mine again. She scrunched her nose up indisdain at me and moved by brushing her hsoulder into my gut. "did you just shoulder check me?"

"Did it hurt? thats how you know when I have done something like that. Now lets go meet the Alpha back at the pack house and get this over with." Her annoyance with me was evident in the tone of her voice. She was not happy with my bit of news or the way I called her princess. At least I could annoy her and get a reaction. It seemed like the only time I did get one from her. We made our way back to the pack house and to our meeting with the alpha. I was nervous and my stomach was turning. This was not a good start to my day. we knocked on the office door and entered into the office. I watched as she slowly sat in the chair she had sat before. she looked like she couldn't care about what the alpha wanted. I suppose in reality she had higher authority thatn the alpha so whatever she said would be followed over the commands of Alpha Gray. Alpha Gray sat behind his desk not looking up at either of us. I had only ever seen him like this once before when he had to kick someone out of the pack forcing him to become rogue. I took a deep breath and ssat down next to her unsure of what else to do.