Finding Ryder

Prologue

Conner POV

The ripple of agitation pulses around the base of my neck. Normally I would ignore the feeling. But the need to scratch away the pulsing itch of agitation is overwhelming. Where is she? My sister is as impulsive as she is brilliant. Courageous to a fault. In moments like this one, when she disappears without a word, well stupid is the only adjective that describes these actions.

The nagging guilt of negligence sits on my chest like a fucking weight. I should have known she was up to something. Last week she was the most docile female. Taking on pack responsibilities that never held her interest before. Visiting new mothers, elders, spending time in the nursery, even training the juveniles. Jessica fights and hunts, then fights some more. I shake my head in disgust.

The moment she baked me my favorite cherry pie and served it with the shit eating grin of innocence.  I should have known she was up to something. Played like a fiddle, by the one person who I know inside out. 

She knows me inside out too, and her plan was genius. I was distracted with the hunt of the century, while she was executing her own plans. Pushing away from the large dining room table. Stretching to my full height, fingers digging into the corded neck muscles, I force slow measured breaths between each rib.

Bones and ligaments grind and click, my muscles tense while I will my body to relax.

"Fuck! Settle the fuck down. She is fine!" my second in command rasps. Narrow eyes meet his green gaze. His relaxed demeanor is all wrong. He looks like a fucking cat. Lazing about, stretched on an oversized chair without a worry in the world. The mirage he portrays is ridiculously deceiving to anyone who doesn't know him. This wolf is one of the most dangerous predators on the planet.

I manage is a low grunt. He ate her fucking pie too. She got us both. Again.

"She has been gone for 2 weeks Brute. No word, no sign, all bond communication blocked. I am in the fucking dark."

The heat coming off me is leaving a sheen of sweat on my body. If I don't get my shit together the meeting with the Eastern Alpha heir will go to a shit storm before we exchange formal greetings. Not that I am known for my pleasant demeanor. That's J's department. And the Other reason for my higher than normal level of agitation.

Brute lifts his boot feet to the table, stretching his long legs amongst the litany of dishes prepared for arriving guests, pissing me off to an unnecessary degree. In two strides I am on him, flipping the solid wood chair in the process. Canines out, nose to nose.

"Shoes of the table, asshole."

"I am wearing boots bitch." The greens the color of moss flash an invitation of violence and blood. Malice and menace meet. It is exactly what I need to get this energy out of my body.

"Boys" stern voice of Aliah, Brute's fated mate, reaches us before fists start flying. Caught like a bunch of youth with their hands in the cookie jar before lunch. Reprimand and mirth in equal measure look down on us. Brute is instantly transfixed, the need for blood forgotten. I am not unaffected either. Seeing her, her plump rounded belly with growing life inside, it curves a blade of jealousy around my sternum. An understanding passes between us males. We will not be meeting our violent needs today.

Mournful of that loss I help Brute off the ground and go about righting the chair he was sitting in. In my periphery i cannot help take in their loving embrace. I am not a jealous wolf, but the need for my own mate is ridding me harder with each passing moment without her.

Brute nudges Aliah's neck with his nose, inhaling her, devouring her, as a mate only can. I should give them privacy from my eyes, but I cannot hide my gaze.