Forbidden Mate Read Online Free PDF Page B

so.”
    He looked like he wanted to reach out to her, but
stopped himself. “You’ve just complicated my life,” he said it with an air of
regret.
    The guy growled , his eyes
narrowed before he turned and stormed away in the direction of the tree line. What
had she done wrong? She’d just played Good Samaritan, and now he was pissed?
    “Wait!” she called out. But he didn’t stop or even
turn to acknowledge her. That was the second brooding hunk to walk out of her
life in the past twenty-four hours. The rejections weren’t helping to build her
self-esteem. It was bad enough she was thirty-five, unemployed, and single.
Never mind the fact her body decided to reach its sexual peak a few months
back.   But finding a good man was like finding
a winning lotto ticket—most were losers.
    Helen collected herself, refocusing on the job at
hand. She boarded the empty bus up the street and waited for the driver and
passengers to join her. It would only be a few more minutes until they showed
up. As she sat alone in the quiet interior, she looked off into the distance
through the windows—no buildings or towers to impede her view. She swore she
saw a wolf pass between two trees, but by the time she could focus closely on
the movement, it was gone. Hopefully mystery man number two didn’t run into it
alone.

Chapter
Three
     
    The queen was scheduled back in less than a week—too
soon. There was another potential threat that needed to be dealt with. During
their nightly patrols they caught two young shifters near the palace’s
perimeter fence. After a lengthy interrogation, the teens admitted they’d been
hired by a wolf to watch the patterns of the Royal Elite. They knew no names or
contact information. What could this mystery wolf want from the royal palace?
Last time they’d caught a fox shifter sneaking on the property, he’d been hired
to kidnap one of the princesses.
    Now things were different. The princesses were all
mated to three or more males each. There was no longer a chance to mate with
any of them, narrowing down the obvious motive. But this wolf was up to no
good, some rebel out for chaos and bloodshed.
    Wesley examined all the secret doorways in the
underground tunnels for weaknesses before Alexander joined him.
    “I hear you’re looking for a wolf this time. Any
luck?”
    He shook his head. “He wouldn’t happen to be a
relative of yours, would he?”
    “If one of my family members was trying to harm my
mate, I’d kill them myself.” Alexander walked toward the small Roman column next
to Wesley and began to pile his clothes neatly atop it. “What you have is a loose cannon. He’s likely out of joint because he has no
chance to bed a princess now that they’re marked.”
    “We’ll find him one way or the other. I’m heading to
town to question the regulars. Those kids were supposed to meet the wolf at the
bar last night.”
    “Well, you have fun with it. Right now, I need to
run.” Alexander nodded once before shifting into his wolf form. The man
exercised his beast like clockwork. He’d kept the same routine for the past
five years he’d lived at the castle. Now that Delia had returned to take her
place as his mate, he continued to run at the same hours. Wesley felt unnerved watching
Alexander’s strong, muscular haunches as he tore off through the open fields. Pure strength. Wolves were not shifters to be toyed with.
The man they were looking for had to be dangerous.
    And the routines at the palace were too predictable.
    He checked the last doorway and then headed into
town to look for clues. One lead was all he needed to get started.
    Wesley scanned the area as he walked along the dirt
paths. Normally he’d have one or two other Elites hunting with him, but they
were short staffed with the queen and most Elites off the property. She was
their priority, her bloodline capable of maintaining all shifter races.
    He shook out his arm, his knuckles still swollen
from slamming his fist into