Tricked: A Dark Protectors Novella Read Online Free PDF

vodka bottle. “I mean, if your mate is prepared to go underground for weeks, if not months.”
    Jared leaned back to study his brother. “She’s my mate. She’ll go where I tell her to go.” While they had an arranged mating, that fact was absolute. Speaking of whom, he should check on her. He reached for his phone and stared at the screen. “Humph.”
    Theo looked up. “What?”
    Jared bit his lip. “I don’t have her number.”
    Theo barked out a laugh. “You don’t have your own mate’s phone number.”
    “No.” Jared shook his head. “I should probably get that.”
    Theo started laughing too hard to reply.
    The door opened, and the hair on the back of Jared’s neck stood up. He slowly turned.
    Theo stopped laughing. “Ah, shit,” he muttered.
    Jared almost stood, but the woman who’d entered quickly crossed to reach his table. “Ginny,” he said, his mind nearly blanking.
    She pushed a red hood off her white-blonde hair, scattering snow. “Jared. I’ve been looking for you.” Her eyes were the clearest blue, and right now, they were scared.
    “Where’s your mate?” Theo nearly growled.
    She shook her head. “Dead. Nearly a century ago in a witch-shifter battle. We weren’t allies with the shifters then.”
    Dead? Her mate was dead? Jared tried to concentrate. Shifters and witches were barely allies now, even though the most current war had ended. Jared studied her. She was so small. Tiny, delicate, and obviously frightened. Where had she been? Why hadn’t she contacted him before now? “Why are you here, Ginny?” he asked, his senses reeling. The woman had broken his heart two centuries ago, and he hadn’t prepared for seeing her again.
    “I’ve been on the run and this is the first time I was able to track you down.” Her hand trembling, she reached out to touch his wrist. “I couldn’t find you before.”
    Theo leaned back in the booth, irritation sizzling across his skin. “What a coincidence that you’re here now. How did you find him, anyway?”
    She turned toward Theo, her gaze dropping. “He just came back on the grid a few days ago. I’ve had feelers out for years, and this was the first chance I’d gotten to find him. Stop being mean, Theo.”
    Jared swallowed. Hell. This was crazy. The witch was correct in that he’d been off the grid since he’d given up being a pirate on the high seas. Theo had never liked the woman, for some reason. “Ginny, why are you scared?”
    She fumbled with her wrap. “The shifter who killed my former mate is after me. He wants to finish the job.”
    Jared’s breath caught. “Former mate?”
    Her gaze lifted, so blue and deep. “I took the virus to negate the bond. I’m free, Jared. The mating bond is gone.”
     

Chapter 4
    Ronni rushed into the back room of the coffee shop, her files in a backpack and a tall latte in her hand. Her steps were sure and steady. Energized and healthy. Yeah. She was back, baby.
    Two of her friends were already seated, files and papers scattered in front of them. Olivia hurried in from the bathroom, her pretty face breaking into a wide smile. “Ronni!” She rushed forward for a hug.
    “You weren’t kidding about making the meeting.” The cabbie must’ve sped from the airport to the shop. Ronni hugged her best friend and leaned back to look. Olly’s eyes were a sparkling blue, and she all but glowed. “You’re happy.”
    “Yeah.” Olly laughed out loud. “You will be, too. I just know it.”
    A man cleared his voice from the table. “What’s going on? Ronni? You look tons better.”
    Ronni turned toward the off-duty detective. Lance Peters was about thirty with sharp green eyes, an angled jaw, and a pissed-off expression. His skin was a dark mocha, and unlike the month before, it now had a healthy glow. He’d been angry since his partner had died—supposedly of a suicide. “So do you. Is your shoulder healed?” Ronni asked.
    “One little bullet won’t stop me,” Lance said, rubbing