CEO's Runaway Mate and Her Cubs

She didn't like eating out because of the kids' bad habits, and she surely wouldn't do it that evening! The pups had eaten with him, so she had no reason to leave the apartment.

Just like he did with the gate, he pressed his hand on the wood of the door. There was no one inside, so he could try to open it.

Since the door didn't oppose him, he allowed himself to start worrying for real. If before it had been just a hunch, something that he didn't like, from that moment, he allowed fear to take over.

Where was his family? Where could they have gone so late without the phone and keys? Leaving the entrance door unlocked like that?

Even the open gate had some sense: they weren't going to be away for long. Something must have happened.

Most likely, Lara had left to do something fast. Something that didn't require keys or a phone. She was expecting to be back in a few minutes at most. But then, when she didn't come back, the pups must have left as well to look for her.

They had left the gate open to be able to snuggle back in after checking on their mother, but whatever happened caught them as well.

He walked inside and looked for clues, but nothing caught his eye. The apartment was in order, recently cleaned and tidied. Lara had eaten and washed the dishes before leaving, for the plates were still drying.

He found the phone on the table, his calls signalled on the screen.

Whatever had happened, it didn't happen long before he came. The staircase had Lara's scent; the plates were still a little wet...

He dialled a number on his phone while walking down the stairs.

Oh, maybe his worry was stupid. What if they came back at that very moment? He would have been caught by Lara, but he didn't mind it anymore.

«Bass,» he said as soon as the call was answered. «We have a situation. Come to the address I'll send you in a moment. Immediately. Also, contact the others and let them know that Mayford has made their move. They might have found out about the pups...»

«Already?» Bass moaned. He got up, making the chair he was sitting on fall back. «What happened?»

«I'm still hoping it's a false alarm, but be ready to react if it's not. I can't find Lara.»

«And the pups?»

«They're not here as well.»

Nate heard Roxy's voice on the other side, asking Bass why he was so pale.

«Tell everyone to be ready to act. And inform your wife about the situation.» In the end, he couldn't leave something so delicate to Bass alone.

«Yes, Alpha.»

Nate followed Lara's scent to the trash bins, and there he found traces of four other wolves. Of Mayford pack, most likely.

The pups had reached that place as well, and they had been pushed towards the corner. From there, their scent was lost in the wind. They had been kidnapped while he was busy dealing with work.

«Damn it,» he cursed, clenching the phone until it cracked.

He stopped just in time before breaking it, for he needed it whole for the moment. The situation was delicate, and he might have needed to be reachable.

«Where are you now?» he asked the dark wall in front of him.

Someone had dared to touch his mate, to push her in a car and take her away.

She wasn't safe anymore, all because his enemies were ready to target his family just to hurt him.

«Damn it, I'm so sorry,» he whispered, rubbing a hand on his face. It was his fault, after all.

Was it too late to have her back? What would that madman ask in exchange for Lara?

Not after so many years... He wasn't ready to lose her again; not in such an awful way. If she wanted to leave, he couldn't stop her. But he shouldn't have allowed anyone the chance to get to her.

She was in danger, and it all happened because she was linked to him. That blissful bond all of a sudden didn't look so awesome.

Before he could have a breakdown, Bass and Roxy appeared from the corner and stopped in front of him. The others were on their way, apparently, and they were ready to help him.

Bass patted on his shoulder, waking him up from his daze.

That's right. He wasn't alone. There was a pack ready to back him up, to follow him to the end of the world. They swore to follow his lead, and he promised to guide them well.

«Let's find them,» Bass said.

«They took them away in a car. We can't follow their scent, and I can't feel where Lara is.»

«Is that so?» Bass murmured.

Indeed, Nate wouldn't have spent years alone if he was capable of sensing his mate. Still, it felt weird to hear him admit it.

The Woods were a dynasty of powerful Alphas, but they had some small drawbacks. Starting from how they couldn't sense their mates, or how some of them couldn't control their wolf form as well as a regular wolf. However, all of that had been kept a secret not to endanger their leadership over the pack.

It was one of his father's last lessons: weakness doesn't make a good leader, and the most troublesome wolves in the pack were ready to take advantage of every detail.

«We don't need scents, Alpha,» Roxy pointed out. «Just like with the company: there are plenty of human ways to do things. This world is theirs, after all.»

Even if weak, her words created a little hope.