CEO's Runaway Mate and Her Cubs

Nate called Lara that evening to check on her. He had disappeared soon after delivering the kids because there had been an emergency at the company. He needed to fly back and check what was happening with their titles.

LY Corp was owned by wolves, so the shares weren't on the market. However, the other titles - such as their bonds - had depreciated during the last couple of hours in the afternoon. Just before the end of the working time of the stock exchange.

It turned out it was yet another trick played by the Mayford pack. They wanted to make them have losses no matter the cost, and they had dumped a bunch of LY Corp bonds while spreading a rumour they were struggling to pay their debts back.

It was solved in a couple of hours, for the company was stable and safe. No one in their sound mind would have believed that they were struggling with bonds. In the morning, when the stock exchange would open, everything was going to be back to normal.

If not for the panic of losing money, the stakeholders wouldn't have made so much chaos in the late hours of the afternoon.

Nate sighed. His blood pressure had risen while dealing with the matter, more because of the annoyance than any real worry. The Mayford pack indeed was troublesome. He had to deal with them, sooner or later.

Even though avoiding conflicts was his favourite strategy, the Alpha of the Mayford pack was particularly bothersome. No matter what, he wanted them to have damage, even if it meant losing money. Just like with the incident of that day: Nate had lost less money than the opponent in the end.

He dialled Lara's number again, for she didn't answer the first time, wondering if the world had something against him that day.

First, the stocks, and then his mate. Had they agreed on making him lose his patience? Or was Lara offended because he dumped the kids and disappeared without a word?

But she had barely looked at him! She wouldn't have given him any attention even if he had stayed, for she was completely swayed with the pups.

Since she didn't reply at the second call, he figured she must have been busy. He didn't like that she didn't see him as a priority, but he couldn't force her to consider him as one.

Human women were so complicated, but that meant one wasn't working hard enough if he couldn't get her to answer a call. Or, most likely, she just forgot her phone in another room or was dealing with the kids and couldn't reply.

If only he had the skill to feel his mate even at a distance, he wouldn't have been so clingy.

The other wolves would know how to find their mate, but he had taken from his father: they couldn't sense their other half just like that. They needed to be close enough, which had caused him to fail at finding Lara all that time. It was a family legacy, and he hoped the pups didn't take after him.

They would have lived an easier life if they could find their mate at least during the Dark Moon.

At the third unanswered call, Nate collected his things and drove to Lara's home. He wouldn't have visited that late. It didn't make sense, and it would have frightened his mate. He would have checked she was all right through the door and left, leaving the task of scolding her for the following day.

How could she dare not answer him?

He sighed, wondering if acting like a jerk CEO would have made her angry. But she needed to realise that not answering three calls in a row made him worried! She could, at least, write a text if the pups were sleeping and she didn't want to disturb them.

She parked a little farther than usual, for he didn't want to risk Lara spotting his car from the window. He walked to the building and realised he needed to pass the gate if he wanted to eavesdrop at her door.

Could he come up with an excuse to come to visit so late? After he left in a hurry?

In the end, nothing came to mind. He reached the gate and looked through the glass like an abandoned puppy. He came that far: there was no way he could give up and go back.

Desperate, he leaned a hand on the glass of the main door. To his surprise, and a little worryingly, the door opened. He could cross the gate without alerting anyone, but that meant anyone could do that. Wasn't it dangerous to leave the gate open in the evening? What if it stayed open during the night?

He went up, step by step, sniffing his mate's scent on the stairs. She had walked through there not long before. He could even sense the pups, but that was no surprise: they went up when he brought them back. Their scent still lingering in the staircase wasn't so worrying.

When he finally reached the door, he listened to the sounds from the other side.

There was a clock ticking. It was so loud, in the silence, that he couldn't sense anything else. Except for a drop of water falling from the sink in the bathroom. Did Lara need help to fix it? He had no clue how to do it, but he could always learn... Or find someone who knew how.

There was no breathing. There were no steps. Not even the beat of three hearts. The flat was immersed in an eerie silence, except for that damn drop hitting the ceramics every three to four seconds.

It was so silent that the clock, which he hadn't even noticed before, was loud and clear. There was no one in the apartment. It was empty: Lara and the pups weren't there, none of them.

Could she leave without taking the phone with her? Oh, it was possible. But he didn't like that event.... He would have scolded her so badly in the morning.