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I glanced in the rearview mirror.

He was still watching me as I drove out the gates.

* * *

Warrick

As my dove drove away, I growled, spun, and slammed my fist into the wall. Several of my brothers turned to me, then quickly looked away, going back to working on their bikes.

But not Jagger. No, my lieutenant headed my way, and I worked at calming the fuck down. It wasn’t easy; the animal in me didn’t understand why she kept leaving. Why didn’t she feel as I did?

No, that was bullshit. She did feel it, I smelled it on her. I saw the way she looked at me. Her hunger was written all over her beautiful face. But she insisted on fighting it—on refusing me.

Jagger raised a brow at the hole I’d put in the wall. “Willow’s left then?”

I grunted.

“What are you going to do, brother?”

I had no fucking clue. She watched me fight for her, kill for her. I proved my strength, showed her that I would protect her. That anyone who hurt her would get no mercy, and still she left me. “Fucked if I know.”

“She’s your mate, she’ll come around. Like Elena did. She fought Dirk, but in the end, he won her over.”

I grunted again. Elena was pregnant with Dirk’s second pup now. Jag was right, she had fought him at the start, but she’d also given in quickly. They’d met and he’d instantly known Elena was his. Yes, she’d resisted him, but only a few months. My dove had kept me waiting over a year, with no end in sight.

An image of her in the shower, bleeding, bruised, filled my head. Naked and wet and vulnerable. She’d let me kiss her. Fuck. That kiss.

I thought letting her believe I was bedding other females would make her jealous, that she’d want to claim me as well, it hadn’t worked. The truth was, I hadn’t fucked anyone, not since I met her. Now I knew Willow existed, she was all I wanted. My dick didn’t get hard for anyone else.

And it was getting more and more difficult to maintain my control. Hounds fucked, a lot. And the way I wanted her…yeah, I was near losing my damned mind from the need that tormented me whenever she was near.

I glanced at Jag. “Where’s her familiar?”

“Lothar’s working with him now.”

“Any good?”

Jag shrugged a big shoulder. “He’s catching on quicker than I expected.”

I stared out at the forest surrounding us and frustration slammed through me. “Any sign of Edric?”

“None.”

“And Maddox?”

“We had eyes on him this morning. He’s deep in the woods. Won’t let anyone approach, though, and staying hound.”

I nodded. “He needs time to deal with what happened. Have our brothers stay back, but I want a report on him every couple days.”

“Done.”

We were stretched thin between keeping tabs on Maddox and another team out searching for Edric. Maddox had been easy to find, with the spirit gone, his scent had returned to normal. Edric’s scent was altered in a way that messed with our tracking powers. We couldn’t see him anymore. It wasn’t a feeling any of us liked, not one fucking bit.

I gave Jag a chin lift and headed for the den. I wanted to see for myself how Ren’s training was going. Willow could take care of herself. But that wasn’t enough for me. And if she kept resisting what was between us and kept me at arm’s length, I wanted to make sure someone who knew what they were doing was at her back.

The pup wanted to learn to fight, I was going to make sure he was fucking deadly when he left here.

* * *