Buried and Shadowed (Branded Packs #3)(42)

She snorted. “You’re not my Alpha.”

His wolf instantly howled at her rejection. As far as his animal was concerned, this woman was already his to protect.

And more…

Once she accepted that she belonged to him.

“Hmm.” He leaned down until they were nose to nose. “Who are you trying to convince, sweetheart? Me or yourself?”

She sucked in a startled breath, her eyes wide. “Sinclair.”

Unable to resist temptation, he softly brushed his mouth over her parted lips. Instant heat detonated through him.

Christ. She tasted so sweet. Glorious female enticement wrapped in a luscious body that his fingers twitched to explore.

It was the very force of his hunger that had him lifting his head to study her with a brooding gaze.

When he finally sated his desire, it wasn’t going to be in a nasty parking lot where the SAU might make an appearance at any minute.

“An argument for later,” he said, gently pushing her into the dark room.

“There’s not going to be an argument,” she stubbornly denied the inevitable.

Not bothering to continue a fight he fully intended to win, Sinclair stepped through the door, carefully pulling it shut before he turned on the dim overhead light. From outside, no one would know anyone was in the room.

Not surprisingly, Mira gave a tiny gasp as she actually took in their surroundings.

Unlike the outside of the motel, the inside was scrupulously clean. There was a sturdy oak dresser against one wall with a TV mounted on the paneling. There was also a desk and chair in one corner with a small leather sofa. And in the center of the room was a king-size bed with a hand-stitched quilt to offer a feeling of home.

Across the room, another door opened to a white-tiled bathroom.

It wasn’t fancy, but it was built to provide a place of comfort and safety for those in need.

“Wow, I wasn’t expecting this,” she breathed, moving to place the tablet on the desk. “How long do you think we need to stay here?”

Sinclair prowled toward her, not willing to give her the space she was so obviously seeking.

“Are you in a hurry to get to our Pack?”

“I’m not going to your Pack,” she said, her words and tone a deliberate challenge. “I’m going to the The Great Plains Home of Tranquility.”

He blinked in confusion. “Where?”

“The Great Plains Home of Tranquility,” she repeated, reaching up to run her hands through her hair. Sinclair swallowed a groan. He’d wanted to rub his face in those fantastic corkscrew curls for weeks. “It’s near Omaha, Nebraska,” she clarified.

Sinclair leashed his renegade thoughts. Later, he’d rub his face in her hair, and against the curve of her throat, and down the lush curves to the intoxicating secrets between her legs.

For now, he needed to concentrate on her stubborn refusal to travel to the protection of his Pack.

“Why do you want to go there?” he demanded.

“I told you that I was running traces to locate Dr. Lowman,” she reminded him.

He sucked in a startled breath. He’d assumed that she’d been chasing another vague clue. One of potentially thousands. But something in her expression made him tense with an unexpected sense of anticipation.

Dr. Lowman was the key to proving that the SAU was responsible for the Verona Virus. With him standing at their side, no one could deny that it was the shifters who’d been the saviors of mankind, not their destruction.

“You found him?” he rasped.

She held up a slender hand, clearly unwilling to commit one way or the other.

“Perhaps.”

Reaching out, he grasped the tablet off the desk, studying the sprawling brick building that looked as if it were built in the middle of nowhere.

“This is the search you were running before we left?”

“Trying to, yes,” she said in dry tones, not having to point out that he had been the one to interrupt her efforts.

Not that Sinclair was going to apologize.

As desperate as he was to get his hands on Lowman, he wasn’t about to put this female at any further risk.

She’d done her part.

He hissed as he was struck by a sudden fear. “If it was on the computer, then the SAU has the doctor’s location, as well.”

“No.” An unexpected smile curved her lips. “At least, not unless they manage to repair the damage to their system.”

He studied her upturned face. “What damage?”

“I left behind a virus,” she told him. “It will destroy whatever information was on the computer, as well as any others attached to the same network.”

He gave a slow shake of his head. When he’d first met Mira, it had been easy to dismiss her as being a mousy geek who melted into the background. Now, he understood that beneath her shy nature were a generous heart and an unshakeable loyalty. Two qualities that he valued above all others.

Oh, and she was smart.

And sexy. Lusciously sexy.

“Remind me to never underestimate you,” he said with genuine sincerity.

She shrugged. “Most people do.”

He nodded toward the tablet. “Tell me what this place has to do with the doctor.”

“After I was captured…” Her words trailed away as his low growl filled the air. Then, clearing her throat, she continued. “They demanded that I do the majority of my searches while they could watch, so I created a search with Dr. Lowman’s name and then hacked into various clinics and hospitals to check if he was on their staff.”