Chapter 41

Dash POV

Zora was curled up in a ball on her bed. I climbed out slowly so I wouldn't wake her. In a few hours, this place would be a construction site. Zora loved this house but I wanted her to live with me when construction got heavy. This place needed new pipes and electricity. I should have moved her out of here a long time ago but I was too stubborn to accept my feelings for her.

I loved Zora. A part of me would always feel guilty for letting Gunner make her life hell. My Dad made me leave and I knew it had something to do with Zora. He found out I was seeing her and shipped me off to the next town.

I never tried to communicate with her but I was also heartbroken because I tried to mark her but found out she already had a mate.

I struggled to open the balcony doors. They hadn't been open in years they had practically been glued together.

It was a weird situation because Zora didn't have a mate mark on her body. Though, I could feel that she belonged to another wolf. It wasn't Gunner or Kaleb that's for sure. Gunner hated her more when he figured out he couldn't mark her.

Bastard, I thought.

I gripped the handrails on the balcony. They nearly came apart in my hands.

"This place is falling apart," I thought.

Though, there's nothing I can do to make my girlfriend move. Now that she was unemployed she was putting her all into this bed-and-breakfast idea.

I wanted Zora to be more than my girlfriend I wanted her to be my forever. We had to sit down and seriously talk about who her mate could be and where the hell he was. If I was lucky then he was dead but then they couldn't be mates so the guy was still alive and attached to my Zora.

She stirred and I grinned. Seconds later I heard her soft footsteps tiptoe behind me. She wrapped her arms around my middle and pressed her face against my back.

"Good morning, Dash," she said.

The joy in her tone soothed my wolf.

"Good morning, mate," I replied.

I brought her to my front and tangled my fingers in her messy morning hair.

"I'm your mate now?" she raised a brow.

I smirked. "You've always been mine, Zora."

She blushed and buried her face in my chest. "Don't hide from me. You know you're mine. My wolf's wanted you since the day I saw you."

"I want to see him…" she said nervously.

"You want to see my wolf?"

She nodded. "I barely see it."

"True. I just don't want you to baby him. He's an Alpha beast and an aggressive monster."

She rolled her eyes playfully. "We'll see about that. What are we doing today?"

"You're coming to my house so the guys can work on the house," I said.

"Oh, but I wanted to be here while they worked so they don't mess up."

"Zora, these guys are professionals. No one's messing up your home."

She bit her bottom lip. Gosh, I wished she wouldn't do that. Just watching her in her petite pyjamas was a turn-on.

"There's a lot we can do at my place. Privacy and so much room to do naughty things."

She bit her lip harder. Fuck. She turned me on.

"Well… when you put it like that-"

Her ringtone cut her off. She turned and walked back into the bedroom. I followed her inside and flopped on the bed. The old bed groaned under my weight.

"Hello?" Zora said into her phone.

I picked up mine and scanned the missed calls. I closed off my link to the Pack last night. I was with my mate I didn't want any distractions. Gunner tried to get a hold of me several times so had Kaleb and Rachel. I've been avoiding Rachel. She didn't like Zora and I didn't want to strain my new relationship.

It was the most valuable thing in my life right now.

"You keep calling me, say something." The frustration in her voice made me set my phone aside.

"Give me the phone," I said, holding my hand out.

"Are you okay? Do you need help?"

I growled. How naïve. It could be a stalker on the other end. I snatched the phone.

"Who the hell is this?" I demanded.

I stared at the phone. The line went dead.

"They hung up," I said. "Zora, you could have a stalker or it could be the guys we've been trying to catch."

"I-I didn't think of it that way."

I pulled her into my arms and kissed her forehead. "You have to be careful. When was the last time they called?"

"Yesterday."

"Texts?"

She shook her head no.

"We'll figure it out. I love you."

"I love you, more Dash."

I tightened my hold on her. I wished she wasn't tangled in this mess. Now that she wasn't at the old folk's home they would try to attack her here. She was definitely coming home with me.

"Okay, I have to take a shower. I'm meeting Cassidy so I can tell her about us and then I'm going to tell Kaleb."

I frowned deeply. "You don't have to tell him."

"Dash, it's only fair I do."

"He'll figure it out. You're mine."

She rubbed my arms to soothe my rising temper.

"Yes, I'm yours. I just want to do the right thing. Are you joining me in the shower?"

"Of course. Go ahead."

She pressed her lips against mine before she left. At least Gunner and Kaleb would know to back off now.

My phone rang and I groaned. When I read the caller ID I contemplated letting it ring until the caller gave up but I answered instead. Might as well get this over with, I thought.

"Rachel," I responded.

"Finally, you pick up the damn phone."

"What do you want, Rachel?"

There was a brief moment of silence on the other end.

"So you don't want to learn about your Dad's death huh?"

"We've been doing this for over a year now. You don't know anything and the trail's gone cold."

"That's not true! I know something."

"Then spill it or else I'm ending this call." Rachel's been using my desperation to find my Dad's killer to get close to me but we hadn't gotten anywhere.

"Fine… I spoke to my Dad and he's adamant he knows who the killer is. Or the man who ordered the hit."

"Why is he talking now?" I demanded. "I swear this better not be one of your tricks-"

"It's not, Dash. I wouldn't lie to you."

That's a lie, I thought.

She continued. "There's a man called The Serpent. He's a dangerous man. No one even knows what he looks like."

I groaned. More useless information. How could I look for a man without a face?

"Star City is his stomping ground. I think we should check it out immediately."

That meant leaving Zora. We've just gotten together I don't want to leave her.

"This is our only chance," Rachel pressured. "He moves quickly. We have to use the element of surprise on him."

"I'll call you back, Rachel. I need to think."

"You owe me one and I know exactly what I want in return." She ended the call before I could protest.

"Dash, are you coming in or what?" Zora called.

I'd been given a second chance with Zora and I didn't want to waste it but finding my Dad's killer was something that haunted me plus the killer might be connected to her parent's murder.

"Yeah, coming babe."