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Milo closed his eyes. So much had happened in such a short amount of time, but he was too mentally exhausted to sort through his thoughts. What mattered most was that Colt cared deeply for him. Everything else could sit on a back burner for now.
Chapter Nine
Colt woke to an empty bed. He lay there, listening to see if Milo was in the bathroom, but after a few minutes of silence, he got up. The bathroom door was wide open, and Milo wasn’t in there.
Had his mate gone to the kitchen to get something to eat? Colt pulled on a pair of underwear and some pajama pants, along with a white T-shirt before he left his bedroom. The house was eerily quiet. When he found no one in the kitchen, Colt pivoted and searched every downstairs room.
“Milo?” Colt shouted, but his mate didn’t answer him.
He hurried to his bedroom and snatched up his phone, dialing Milo’s number as he grabbed some jeans from his drawer. His call went to voicemail.
“Goddamn it,” Colt snarled as he tossed his pajama pants aside and slid into his jeans. He pulled on socks and shoved on boots before he grabbed his phone again and headed for his truck. Maybe Milo was with Kellen and Atlas. Colt dialed his brother as he shot through the kitchen.
“What’s up?” Kellen asked when he answered.
“Have you seen Milo?” Colt bolted out the back door and jumped into his Range Rover.
“No,” Kellen said. “I just dropped Atlas off at work. Milo’s gone?”
Colt tore down the driveway, nearly colliding with a passing semi as he turned onto the main road. The person laid into their horn, but Colt was too busy panicking. “I just woke up, and he’s nowhere in the house. His calls are going straight to voicemail.”
“Breathe,” Kellen said. “I’ll turn around and check to see if he’s at work. He also might have gone home. Do you know where he lives?”
“Yeah, I’ll check there. Let me know if you see him.” Colt hung up and raced toward Milo’s house. Why would his mate take off without waking him first? He was in no condition to walk anywhere. Now that they were mated, Milo’s body would heal much faster but not in a few hours.
Colt trembled when he spotted Milo walking down the side of the road. He pulled up behind his mate and jumped out, still in the grip of panic as he slammed his door shut. “What the fuck are you doing out here walking?” he demanded.
Milo jerked around and pressed his hand over his chest, his eyes wide. “Damn it, Colt! You just scared the shit out of me! I heard a car door slam and…” He took several deep breaths. “I’m on my way to work.”
Colt could only stare incredulously at Milo. “So you slipped out of the house? I woke up to find you gone, and my calls went straight to voicemail,” he snarled.
So many things could have happened to his mate walking on the side of the road. Milo could have been hit or his attacker could have spotted him. A million things could have gone wrong. Colt had seen a lot of horrors in his two hundred and twenty years.
The expression in Milo’s hazel eyes went from surprise and fear to downright anger. “I wasn’t aware I needed your permission to leave.”
“It’s not about permission,” Colt argued loudly as he took a few steps toward Milo. When his mate quickly backpedaled, Colt froze. Did Milo think that Colt would hurt him? “Don’t be afraid of me.”
The paralyzing fear in Milo’s eyes shredded Colt. No one had that look unless they’d been through some shit. His mate had bruises, but Colt’s gut told him it wasn’t the first time the human had suffered at someone else’s hands. What in the hell had Milo been through in his life?
“I have to get to work.” Milo spun and hurried away.
What the fuck? Colt took a deep, cleansing breath, feeling guilty for scaring Milo. That hadn’t been his intention. He’d just freaked when he’d found his mate gone, and he was still spiraling.
He caught up to Milo and moved in front of him but held up his hands when his mate stopped and took a step back. “I didn’t mean to lose my cool. I’m sorry.”
Milo glanced toward the field to his right. “I’m used to walking, Colt. My body actually feels better. Your calls went to voicemail because I forgot to charge my phone. It’s dead.”
Colt watched as a car came down the road, and then it veered into the other lane as it passed them by. “Can you please get into my truck? It’s dangerous standing out here.”
It was as if Milo couldn’t let go of his anger.
“You might say I belong to you, but you don’t own me.” Milo crossed his arms over his chest, fury in his eyes. “I don’t have to check in with you before I make a move, Colt. I’m a grown man and can come and go as I please.”
Colt gritted his teeth as he forced back a growl. “Letting me know you’re leaving is just common courtesy, Milo. We sealed our bond last night, and then I find you gone when I wake up.”
“I didn’t want to wake you,” Milo argued. “I managed to get where I needed to go before you came along.”
Why couldn’t Milo see his point of view? Why was the human so hostile? Colt just explained why he was upset, apologized for it, but that didn’t seem to matter to his mate. It was as if Milo saw only one side to this. His own side.
