Free Chasing a Wolf: Moonbound Series, Book Four by Krystal Shannan, Camryn Rhys

the enforcer. His anger built in wordless rumbles as the whipping wind howled behind him. “He was grooming her.”
    The bottom dropped out of Tomás’ stomach and he fixed his eyes on Lani. Nine years old. She was only a child . Anger began to bubble up from inside him. “I don’t want to know,” he managed, clenching his jaw. “What’s the plan now? Do we call Rain?”
    “I already did.” A tense pause with an animalistic hiss. “I wanted to kill the guy. But Rain said…the alphas said…we have to proceed with the plan.”
    “We’re going to capture Adrian?” Tomás’ heart flipped and Lani perked up, turning her head to catch his eye. Was she reading his emotions now?
    Dammit . He was going to have to watch himself.
    “Capture. Not kill.”
    “How long until you get here?”
    Alex and Maggie conferred under the howl of the wind again and Tomás reached for his mate. She didn’t draw away from him, and he pulled her into his side, cradling her as they walked, trying to calm her. But her heart was racing out of control.
    “Maggie says it will be maybe half an hour. The rest of the team is all on their way. We haven’t been able to reach Niko yet, but he’s so far east, we’ll have to start planning without him.”
    Planning. Tomás hugged Lani tighter into his side and pushed calming thoughts toward her. She needed to slow her heart rate. For his sake, as much as hers.
    “Then you’ll come to me?”
    “No, I want you to meet us at the hotel. Adrian owns it. It’s called the Puerto —”
    He cut him off. “Yeah, I know. I got Maggie’s message.”
    “Do you know where it is?” Alex asked.
    “There’s something I have to do first. I’ll meet you alone…” Tomás felt the rush of Lani’s heartbeat again. “Wait.”
    He glanced down at his feet and stopped. They had been walking nearly the whole time he was on the phone, and were farther into the city than he realized. He could only see the tops of the trees that had produced them. “Stop.”
    “What?” Alex asked.
    “Not you.” He pulled the phone away from his ear. “Lani. Stop.”
    But she kept walking. Tomás turned to yell at Zolin to follow her, but the big man had stopped to pick at something between his toes. He was hunkered down on the dusty street with his foot in the air.
    “Zolin,” Tomás called. “Can you get Lani? I’m trying to—” When he turned back to point at his mate, he saw only an empty street.
    “Who’s Zolin?” Alex asked. Loudly. Only Tomás didn’t have the phone up to his ear anymore. And they’d been speaking in Spanish. Shit.
    Lani had heard the whole conversation.
    He whirled in a circle. “Lani!” But there was no answer.
    “Who the hell is Lani?” Alex’s voice carried out into the open street, but Tomás had lost all sense of what was happening. He yelled her name again and still heard no response.
    Silence and city noise and nothing.
    She was gone.

Chapter Eight
    C itlani dashed toward the street catching a signpost with her hand to yank herself to a quick stop. A large mechanic creature, a car her mom had called them, whirred past her at a breakneck pace. Dozens of them filled the streets. Their smell burned her nostrils and she dashed down the sidewalk, looking for a way across.
    The tug of magick was growing with every step. Her mother was at that hotel and Tomás wasn’t going to take her. Not only could she feel his fear as he spoke with the man on the phone more, he’d forgotten he was speaking in Spanish. She’d heard everything. Her mom was at a hotel called Puerto Villa .
    A man riding a small contraption pulling a wagon of sorts stopped just ahead of her. The passenger in the wagon got out and handed several pieces of paper to the rider who’d been pulling him around.
    She swung Tomás’ bag off her shoulder and dug inside it for the wallet she knew was there. When he’d gotten dressed earlier she’d seen him put it back. She fiddled with it until she found several