Worth A Shot

Dominik waited impatiently for the pups to disappear, his eyes never leaving Raphael. As soon as the last door slammed shut and he could hear the tires of the sports cars squealing in their rush to leave, he opened his mouth.

"When did you come across my mate?" He meant to ask it nicely, to be polite to his alpha, but the words came out in a low growl instead.

"I suggest that you walk away for a minute and then try that once again," replied Raphael as he adjusted the cuffs on his shirt. He was frantically trying to push down his wolf, who had risen at the challenge in his beta's voice. However, he refused to show his inner struggle anywhere on his face.

"You have been with me all day; when did I have a chance to brush past someone that you wouldn't have already known about?" he asked once he was sure that the words would come out in a growl of their own.

"But—" answered Dominik, shaking his head. "Her scent is faint, but it is there. I don't understand."

Lucien let out a long, tired sigh as he walked up to Raphael and took in a deep lungful of air. However, as soon as he caught the scent, it was like a punch in the gut, and he took a couple of steps back, trying to regain his equilibrium.

"I don't know about Dominik, but you smell like my mate," growled Lucien, his eyes flashing bright sliver as his wolf wanted to come out and hunt down the sweetest smell he had ever scented. It was like the smell of freshly made coffee and old books.

He had never been one for libraries, and it was probably a good thing. If the scent of old books could give him a hard-on right now, going into a library would be borderline public indecency.

Raphael turned to look at the enforcer and tried once again to control his temper. But right at that moment, there was an elusive scent that seemed to vanish if he moved too much. His wolf froze inside of him and let out a low whimper.

'Mate,' he growled, and Raphael could see his head moving from side to side as if trying to pinpoint that scent again. 

Raphael wanted to remind his wolf that they had agreed that having a mate was not a good thing and that they were supposed to reject her the second they found her, but that was before he got the scent of her.

In theory, it was a good plan. In reality, the very idea caused him so much pain that it felt like someone had reached into his chest and had grabbed his heart.

Yeah, he wouldn't deny himself his mate. But it was now a matter of finding her.

"Did everyone forget that we have a scared, human waitress to look for?" demanded Damien, causing the other three to turn and stare at him.

"More important things to do," grunted Lucien, running his tongue over his teeth, only to wince when one of them cut him.

"There is nothing more important than finding her," disagreed Damien as he walked away from his friends and toward the alley where Jamie and the pups had come out of. If they weren't going to look for Adaline, then that was fine. He would.

"I have to find my mate," disagreed Dominik with a shake of his head.

"What he said," added Lucien.

However, Raphael just remained silent, as still as his wolf while the scent danced around on the wind. He opened his mouth, and some of it landed on his tongue, causing him to almost moan out loud. The only thing better than her scent was its taste.

Damien didn't bother to slow down; he just raised a hand with his middle finger up as he disappeared into the darkness.

"What do we do?" asked Dominik, staring at Raph. If he left, then his mate's scent would go with him.

"Clearly, she isn't here anymore," snarked Lucien, raising an eyebrow as he looked around. "There is no one here but us. Maybe she brushed against Raph and we just didn't notice it. We'll retrace our steps tomorrow and try to find her then."

"Fine," grunted Raphael, not having a better idea. "Then we better help Damien to find his waitress before we have to listen to him bitching all day tomorrow about it."

----

Damien looked up at the only open window and tilted his head to the side. "There is no way she came out of there," he said as Raphael and the others stopped beside him. He pointed up to the window that was little more than a foot tall and three feet wide.

The pups were absolute idiots for thinking that she managed to escape that way.

"Then she must be safe," shrugged Lucien, not that worried. All he wanted to do right now was go back home, figure out where Raphael could have come across his mate, and think about a gift that he could give her. "Let's go."

Damien was about to protest when Raphael stopped him. "She could be hiding inside of the restaurant. Seeing us outside might scare her even more."

"Fine," agreed Damien, "But I'm coming back here tomorrow morning to make sure that she is okay."

"And we will be more than happy to come with you," shrugged Dominik like it wasn't that big of a deal. However, this was the place that they started their day today, maybe if they returned tomorrow, his mate would show up then, too.

Anything was worth a shot.

Raphael nodded his head and spun around, walking out of the alley. The scent of his mate was driving him absolutely crazy. Sometimes, it was strong, and other times, it was so weak that he had to search for it.

But it was following him.

He looked forward, gently sniffing the air to try to figure out which direction he should take, but it was useless. Every time he looked around, there was nothing to be seen.

Undoing the buttons of his suit jacket, he ran his fingers through his hair. He was too tired to think straight right now. He would come back to it tomorrow.