Chapter 14: Lance

I couldn't keep my eyes away from Chiara's silver choker. It was delicate, snuggly hugging her neck, studded with tiny diamonds with etched silver lacings. If one didn't look too closely, it would appear to be titanium-made jewelry.

Silver was a weakening metal to shifters. Any close contact with it would immediately suck a shifter's strength. I would know since Adrian's patrol dragged me in silver cuffs to their party. Prolonged exposure to silver could prove severely detrimental.

So why the fuck was my mate wearing a silver choker?

I scrambled my head, trying to recall the times I'd seen her in it. I could only come up with our first meeting, but my memory of that was quite hazy, too drunk in my fated mate's scent and the shock of finally seeing her.

Was this Adrian fucking Galway's doing, then? How psychotic and obsessive could that bastard be to intentionally make his wife wear a silver choker?

But what if Chiara was wearing it to her own volition?

I was still too deep in thought when I felt someone pulling my sleeves. Looking down, I saw Chiara staring at me questioningly.

"I've been calling your name for a while. You're not responding," she said. "Lance, is everything okay?"

My eyes automatically slid back to Chiara's choker, the doubts and questions fighting to spill from my lips like a rushing landslide. "Why are you wearing a—"

"Hurry up!" Connor's loud voice suddenly interrupted me. I growled and flicked my gaze ahead, where I could see Connor jumping before a food stall.

The three of us, or maaaybe I should say it was mostly the pup, decided to explore the bay walk first. Rows of various stalls lined the long pathway by the sea, offering various goods and activities. Chiara had yet to pick a dress to change into, which was Connor's fault for being easily distracted by Hoult's delicacies. I swear the pup had an appetite. He's probably in his fifth round of snacks.

"Slow down, Connor," Chiara said, sighing. She didn't let go of my sleeves and pulled me after her as she approached the excited puppy. I rolled my eyes but let her drag me along, although I felt I was being dragged around more times than my supposed reputation should allow.

"Try this food. It looks so weird, but it's super, SUPER tasty. Try it. Try it."

"Alright, calm down." Chiara accepted the stick Connor was holding out to her. Grease trailed down from her lips, coating it in a white sheen. All thoughts fled from my mind, the question I was supposed to be asking momentarily forgotten.

I could easily picture her mouth around me... sucking me... tasting me...

A low moan escaped Chiara's mouth as she chewed the food, her head bobbing.

I was undone. Obliterated. Dead, deceased.

"This actually tastes good. What do they call this?"

Focus, Lance. Fuck it.

Connor shrugged while grinning. He handed the other stick in his hand to me, and I accepted it distractedly. My eyes were still glued to Chiara's lips. She caught me staring, and I quickly swiveled my head away. My cheeks and ears felt hot.

"Couldn't catch the word they used, but they said it's ground meat mixed with cheese, seasoning, and... and... was it flour? Breading?"

"Like a corndog?" I supplied.

"You know what a corndog is? You do?" Connor asked, eyes twinkling.

I scoffed and cuffed the puppy in its head. "I'm a Rogue, not a fucking caveman."

The pup just shrugged and turned around to get another round of snacks. We waited for him, but suddenly, a group of rowdy kids crashed against our triad. I hurriedly grabbed Chiara's arm to keep her with me while the noisy kids passed.

My arms banded around Chiara's shoulders. Her body pressed against mine felt right and natural. Her breath came out in puffs, and we were so close together that I could feel the rapid drum of her heart. I almost didn't want to let her go when the kids were finally gone.

Unfortunately, there's this thing called professionalism. Chiara extracted herself from my hold. I tried to catch her gaze to get a sense of what she was feeling and thinking, but she firmly kept her eyes down on the ground.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled. Her food was gone, likely dropped when those kids bumped into us.

I held my untouched stick to her, and she accepted it without any protests. I smiled as she began munching on the snack again. "Let's get Connor to buy you another food."

"And clothes. Let's not forget about the clothes."

She didn't even reject the offer of additional snacks. I chuckled. This time, I was the one who grabbed her hand and pulled her after me. Our fingers intertwined, sending my wolf howling in glee when she didn't pull away from me.

But maybe I did something terrible in my past life because I hadn't even basked in my small win yet when I got smacked by another wrecking ball.

I led us back to the food stall where we last saw Connor, but he wasn't there. Looking around the sea of people, the pup was nowhere to be seen.

"Shit," I cursed, gripping Chiara's hand tighter. "I think the pup's lost."

Chiara also began looking around, only noticing now that Connor was indeed gone.

"Do you think Mr. Bossman will get angry if his first cousin disappeared?" I asked her.

Chiara weighed her response, but the fact that she even had to think about it was an answer in itself. "Adrian believes everyone in the pack is either disposable or replaceable, but Connor is still his first cousin. It will cause an uproar if he just ignores his disappearance."

"Sooo, you mean he needs to keep up appearances."

"Yes."

I tongued my cheek and continued surveying our surroundings. "Naaah, you know what? I think we're overreacting. Didn't the governess say the city is safe? He's probably just around somewhere, snacking on stuff."

Chiara looked doubtful. "This will be much easier if I have his number."

"Let me guess, you only have your husband's contact in your phone." Fuck, even recognizing Adrian as my mate's husband was nauseating.

"...Yes."

And Chiara's answer wasn't any better.

I sighed and ran a hand over my face. "Okay, here's the plan. We'll do a quick shopping spree, buy your spare clothes, then look for Connor. Any questions, comments, violent reactions?"

"None. Let's do your plan."

I continued leading Chiara through the crowd, eyes set on our goal. My gut told me something else was happening, but I couldn't just voice my suspicions for fear of making my mate panic. After all, how could just a grown man simply disappear in broad daylight? It didn't matter that we got distracted or separated. Things were just too odd to simply ignore.

My wolf bristled, senses sharpening even more as he looked for danger. I had no idea if this was something that could seriously harm us or not, but we wouldn't be caught unprepared.

I would protect my mate. I swore that in my life.