Abandoned and Unseen (Branded Packs #2)(43)

And what?

Grab her by the shoulders and shake her for not calling to tell him that she was going to be late? Or wrap her in his arms so he could reassure himself that she wasn’t hurt?

Neither was acceptable.

Instead, he folded his arms across his chest and watched as she placed her large purse on the bed so she could shrug out of her coat.

“Sorry I’m late,” she muttered, pushing back the dark, corkscrew curls that were already escaping the tight braid that fell down her back. She had a pale, heart-shaped face and hazel eyes that were unremarkable at first glance, but Sinclair had slowly developed a fascination for the rapid-fire emotions that flickered over her features. He was closed off and aloof. Mira was open and dangerously vulnerable. “I circled around a few times to make sure I wasn’t being followed.”

The concern he’d been trying to dismiss exploded into full-fledged alarm.

“Why would you think you were being followed?” With three long steps, he was at the window, peering around the edge of the curtain at the dark parking lot. The hotel was miles away from the nearest town, which meant it was easy to track any approaching cars. “Did you see someone?”

“No.” She tried to smile even as her arms wrapped around her waist in an unconsciously protective motion. “I’m just feeling jumpy.”

This time, Sinclair couldn’t resist his instinctive need to move to the young woman and gently smooth his hands over her shoulders and down her rigid arms.

“Mira.” His brows snapped together as he felt her tiny shivers. Christ. She was terrified. “Take a breath.”

“Sorry.”

He pressed a finger to her lips, halting her ridiculous apology.

“Relax and tell me what has you so upset,” he commanded.

She hesitated, almost as if she were thinking about denying her obvious unease. Then no doubt seeing the grim determination etched on his face, she heaved a small sigh.

“It isn’t one thing, but a bunch of little stuff,” she grudgingly admitted.

“Like what?”

She shrugged. “Monday, I thought I’d lost my phone, but when I searched for it, I found it in the seat of my car. I assumed it must have fallen out of my purse, but I always keep it in a side pocket that zips.”

Sinclair had to consciously prevent himself from tightening his grip on her shoulders. He rarely touched human females, so he constantly feared that he might bruise Mira’s pale skin.

“What else?” he prompted.

She wrinkled her nose. “Wednesday at work, I noticed that someone had tried to access my private information.”

Sinclair bit back a curse. It was one thing for Mira to misplace her phone. It was another to have someone snooping on her computer.

Suddenly, he wished to hell he’d never asked Mira to help.

It’d been one thing to charm a sweet, innocent female into using her talent with computers, combined with her access to the CDC’s private files to search for the original research on the vaccination. The information that would prove the shifters were the saviors of the human race instead of the monsters responsible for the virus. What was more important than freeing his people from the brutality of the SAU?

But now that he actually knew Mira, even liked her, he was acutely aware of the danger he’d placed her in.

“How do you know?” he demanded.

“We all have sensitive projects that we’re supposed to keep protected with passwords,” she said. “I’ve added extra layers of security to my computer. I can tell if anyone has used my computer when I’m away from my desk. I also keep track each time my name and password is used to log onto the CDC. If someone pretends to be me, it leaves a digital trail.”

“Could you tell what they were trying to search for?”

She gave a firm shake of her head, her curls bouncing. Sinclair had a sharp, unreasonable urge to tug her braid loose so he could see the glorious ringlets tumbled around her face.

Or maybe across the pillows…

Shit. He stiffened, slamming the door on the renegade image.

“No. They couldn’t break through my encryption.” She paused, forcing herself to take a deep, steadying breath. “It could have been one of my supervisors checking on my work. Or a random hacker who hoped to piggyback my computer to steal private info from our payroll files.”

Sinclair’s wolf snarled. At the beginning, his animal had been wary of this female, unable to trust a human. But now that it suspected she was in danger, it was eager to hunt down the threat and destroy it.

“I don’t believe in coincidences,” he told her. “Now that the SAU knows the shifters have found the link between the Verona Virus and the human clinic, they’re going to do everything in their power to destroy any actual proof.”

She instinctively took a step closer, unconsciously seeking the comfort of his hard body.

“But how could they possibly know I’m searching for the same information?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted, his hands smoothing up and down her arms.

She grimaced. “Like I said, I could be overreacting.”

Sinclair hardened his jaw. His role as Alpha meant he possessed a fierce need to protect his Pack. And, somehow, Mira had become a part of that Pack.

“I’m not willing to take the risk.”