Tempting Ecstasy (The Guardians of the Realms Book 4) Read Free Page A

knew from information he’d dug up in the owner’s home that there would be a new tenant soon. She was moving there. Or he hoped he was right in that guess; his gut told him he was. It could have been that she was there for some other purpose, but he didn’t believe it, not after checking all the dead-end leads for the new female tenant. The only applicant he hadn’t been able to track down.
    She still hadn’t come back, but she wasn’t set to move in quite yet.
    He teleported to the only other place he’d found her scent when he’d started his hunt. His booted feet stood on the dirt and rock ledge where she’d had to have lingered in the foothills. At least long enough to hold a bit of her. She must have stood there or somewhere close when he’d first detected her scent. He relaxed his body and let the night air flow over him, pushing his longish hair out of his face. He let his fingers slide through so his palms rested behind his head, and stood, anticipating finding his mate. His lips curved. She’d be there soon enough, and he’d get his first look.
    He’d never imagined being given a mate, and now claiming her was all that drove him, even with the stress that ate at him regarding his sister Guardian. He took a deep breath and relaxed his tense muscles as he moved his hands to sit on his hips. He’d spent a week cataloguing every inch of his surroundings from that area down to the town below. Now he only had to wait.
    He wondered if she’d come up there for the view of her new home. Standing with his feet at the edge of the steep rock drop-off, he peered down miles to the right where the corner of Cynthia’s property was visible through the trees. It was there on that side of the traitorous Mageia’s property where the cock-wrenching scent of her had hit him. Only a hint, enough to know what she meant to him, and that she wasn’t close to the danger. It had taken every ounce of will to stay there and fight when all he’d wanted to do was go to her, the female he knew in that instant was fucking his. The fight against the Mageia, an evolved human with elemental ability, had been a fucking nightmare.
    His wolf’s senses were strong. One of the strongest in the Immortal races, which meant that her sweet earthy scent was now imbedded inside him, making his beast agitated as fuck at the wait.
    Losing the chance to track her that night might not have been quite so fucked up if he and his brothers had actually taken Cynthia down, but the Mageia had escaped for a second time. She’d screwed with their enhanced senses and blown the place up as she’d exited through hidden tunnels below. The smoke messed with their ability to track her as well. The Guardians’ enemy was smart, had given herself an escape route, and the time to put it to use. He stretched his neck and scented the cool night air again, smelling nothing but the forest and the small creatures that hid inside it. His muscles bunched. He could use a good run, needed to let his beast have a little freedom, since it wasn’t getting what it wanted tonight.
    The rock edge made for an unobstructed view of lights peeking through the trees miles below. The fight had been at night. He wondered if she’d come up there to look down at the lights and smoking chimneys that he was seeing now. The town was filled with old Victorian homes on tree-lined streets with a small park in the center. He checked out every inch. It was quiet, family oriented. He went into the businesses and homes at night; he grinned thinking about how much he would have stuck out walking around the town in daylight. Not that it mattered, but his mate had been cautious in hiding herself; he wasn’t sure if she’d run if she knew he hunted her. His size would have been memorable even if he bothered to cover his tattooed arms and removed his eyebrow piercings. He grinned down at the lights. Fuck, he couldn’t wait.
    He looked back to the right one more time, to the other side of the