I filtered through the messages in my inbox, trying to concentrate. I had been feeling distracted and unproductive all morning so I took an early lunch in hopes that my brain just needed some more fuel to get to work. I ordered a sandwich from a great italian deli down the street, which I would normally devour within minutes and often even go for a second. Today, however, even the sandwich that normally made my mouth water could not keep my focus. I kept zoning out and after twenty minutes and two bites taken out of my sandwich I gave up and tried to turn back to my desktop. 

With a long exhale I let a full breath out of lungs. This was so frustrating. I was trying to take things slow with Sonja and had not texted her yet today. After our date this past Saturday she had texted me to let me know she arrived home safely and we had been texting pretty consistently since. I had tried to call her once the following Monday evening, but she didn’t picked up and then responded by text an hour or so later. We exchanged details about our day and our lives in general. I learned that she was a bit of a picky eater, drove a manual transmission, and seemed to not get out much apart from work. I stored every detail I learned about her in my memory bank and couldn’t wait to see her again. We had plans to meet again this Friday and considering it was only Tuesday I thought I might be certifiable by then if I didn’t at least hear her voice.

It wasn’t unusual for my thoughts to wander a bit and find themselves tangled up in Sonja but today it wasn’t just that my thoughts were wandering here and there. I couldn’t get an ounce of work done and I just felt uncomfortable. I couldn’t pinpoint the source of my discomfort either. The full moon wasn’t coming up anytime soon, I was thinking about Sonja but that still didn’t provide a reason for my discomfort. It was like my entire body couldn’t stand to be where it was.

I quickly made a decision and started packing up, almost without being fully conscious to what I was doing. I told my secretary that I would be out for the rest of the day and honestly had no idea whether she responded or not. I couldn’t be bothered by waiting for the elevator and jogged down the stairs into the parking garage. Before I had really made any decision as to where to go, the keys were already in the ignition and I was on my way to somewhere. Maybe I just needed some time away from the office, I had no idea, but rather than worry over it I just let my extincts take over. I was on the highway, speeding to God knows where, but it felt right. The longer I drove the more comfortable I felt. My muscles, which I hadn’t even realized were tensed, slowly started to relax. I suddenly became conscious of the fact that my thoughts were completely enthralled in everything about Sonja. Her scent, her eyes, the way she bit her lip, how all of her features seemed to compliment each other perfectly…

Without warning a shock went through my body, jolting me in my seat. Adrenaline pumped through my veins and I felt something like a tornado full of emotions that I could just barely decipher were not my own. Sonja. Something was wrong. I grabbed my phone and dialed her number as quickly as my werewolf reflexes would allow for without breaking my phone. The line rang for what seemed like an eternity only to forward to her voicemail.

“Dammit!” I knew something was wrong so why wasn’t she picking up? Was she hurt and not even able to answer?! I tried her number again and again I only heard her voice through her voicemail. I felt like I was going crazy. In a moment of desperation I sent a text to her, even knowing that if she couldn’t answer her phone, she wouldn’t be able to text either.

“Are you ok??” I managed to type one handed with my other hand on the wheel. I took the next exit, figuring that even with my werewolf senses and abilities that I shouldn’t be driving in my current state. And now of all times my damn brain was just obsessing over her scent! I couldn’t even focus enough when she needed me to be able to come up with a solution, how could I ever be her mate? A sharp ding from my phone broke me out of my self-loathing. It was a text from Sonja! I opened in quickly, cursing my phone for the .1 second it took to open the message.

“No,” the little bubble held only that one word. My mind rushed through thousands of scenarios of what could possibly be going wrong as I typed my response.

“What happened? Where are you?” I had no idea where in the hell I was but I would get to wherever she was if she told me. Her scent flooded my mind again and I almost cursed myself when I realized that it wasn’t in my head at all, in fact, it was in my nose. Without even questioning it, I continued speeding through what were now becoming more residential streets, following her scent.

“Home,” her reply came surprisingly quickly this time.

I followed her scent to an apartment complex and my tires screeched to a halt in the closest spot. I grabbed my keys and my phone and started toward the complex before quickly doubling back and grabbing a first aid kit. All pack cars had a first aid kit in them as a rule from Lay, who doubled as our pack healer. It was enclosed in a smart black leather doctor bag and included some basic first aid items, but was mostly full of remedies directly related to werewolf diseases and issues.

I glanced at the elevator on the main floor, but could not yet determine which floor she was on by her scent so I took the stairs. I could now differentiate which heartbeat was her among the hundred people or so in the vicinity. It was pounding hard at a speed much higher than normal. This was it, the fourth floor. I d