“This isn’t the way I imagined things going,” Lark Hayes murmured to herself as she stood outside the crime scene tape with the other looky-loos, waiting for the SWAT cop she’d spoken with to announce her presence to Mike. Like she was here to pick him up for the prom.

Though if she was being honest, she’d be the first to admit none of this was going according to plan. Because in the original plan, she was never supposed to be here. Hell, she was never supposed to see Mike again. Then, their son, Kal, had been kidnapped, and everything changed.

Lark had gotten to the warehouse right before Mike had walked up to the door to confront the bad guys. She’d been waiting for the right time to approach him since arriving in Dallas a few days ago, but never imagined that time would come now, at a crime scene following a shootout.

Then again, when was the best time to tell Mike the son he’d thought was dead was not only alive and well, but had been kidnapped, and that she needed his help to find Kal?

Fear for their son and what might be happening to him gripped her, and she subconsciously played with the engagement ring encircling her finger. A beautiful round solitaire, with two smaller sparkling trillion-cut diamonds on either side, she hadn’t taken it off since Mike had asked her to marry him ten years ago. It was probably crazy, considering she’d assumed they’d never see each other again, but it hadn’t felt right to take it off.

Regardless of how Mike felt about her, she would always love him, and he would always be the father of her child. No matter how angry with her Mike was for leaving him—and he had every right to be furious—he would help her find their son. She knew it in her soul.

“I don’t know what your game is, lady,” a deep voice suddenly said from behind her, making her jump a little. “Because this isn’t funny at all...”

Mike’s voice trailed off as she turned around. All at once, the look on his handsome face went from annoyance and anger to shock and disbelief at the sight of her.

“Lark?” he asked hoarsely. “Is that really you?”

The anguish in his voice made her heart squeeze, and it was all she could do not to break through the crime scene tape and launch herself into his arms.

“Hi, Mike,” she said softly, not able to come up with anything more intelligent right then, even though she’d been rehearsing this moment since deciding to come back to Dallas.

Mike didn’t say anything, his expression going back and forth between confusion and utter devastation. It was agonizing to watch, and it was all her fault.

When Kal had first been kidnapped, her family had been afraid Mike had taken him. As much as she hadn’t wanted to believe Mike would ever do something like that, she knew a good portion of child abductions were custodial kidnappings. But after figuring out he had nothing to do with Kal’s kidnapping—much to her relief—she’d realized the only way to rescue their son was to ask Mike for help. Which had meant summoning her courage to face him again.

Now that she was standing in front of him, she was stunned to see how much he’d changed in the years since she’d left. Some things were the same, of course. Like his dark hair, warm brown eyes, and chiseled jaw. Not to mention the way he made her pulse race whenever he was near her. But whereas he used to be six-foot-tall and wiry, now, he was six-five if he was an inch and weighed at least two-hundred-and-thirty pounds, all of it lean, powerful muscle.

But as she stood this close to him for the first time in what felt like forever, Lark realized something else about him had changed, too.

His scent. 

Cedar mixed with something masculine, almost animalistic, there was no other way to describe it as anything other than mouthwatering. Unable to help herself, she inhaled appreciatively. He’d always smelled good, but now that he was a werewolf, his scent was absolutely intoxicating.

Since Mike hadn’t been a werewolf when she’d left Dallas a decade ago, she couldn’t help wondering when—and how—he’d become one. Lark knew getting bitten by another werewolf wouldn’t do it, and she was only generally aware of how people who weren’t born werewolves ended up that way. All she knew for sure was that it involved a lot of pain. The mere thought of whatever traumatic thing had happened to Mike to turn him made her want to cry.

“We need to talk, Mike,” she added when he still didn’t say anything. “And out here on the sidewalk probably isn’t the best place to do it.”

The muscle in his jaw flexed before he gave her a curt nod. Reaching out, he held up the crime scene tape so she could duck underneath, then wordlessly led her to a nearby pack-and-ship store she assumed had been evacuated during the hostage situation at the warehouse. Packages sat on the counter, some half-taped, while one wall boasted shelves of packing supplies for sale along with a rack of greeting cards.

“I have so many questions for you that I don’t even know where to start,” Mike said the moment the door closed behind them.

She nodded. “I know. And you deserve answers.”

“Damn right I do,” he growled.

“And I’ll answer all of them,” Lark promised. “But first, I need to tell you why I’m here.”

“Because Roman kidnapped Kal?”

Her stomach lurched. “Roman is the one who kidnapped Kal?”

Back when they were together, Mike rarely talked about what he did while working undercover, but he’d mentioned Roman specifically, saying how dangerous the man was. Kal must be terrified.

“That’s what he told me when I saw him in that warehouse a few minutes ago,” Mike said. “I didn’t believe him because I didn’t think my son was still alive. How the hell did he find you when I didn’t even know the two of you were alive? Which begs the question, how did you and Kal survive that explosion? And where have you been for the past decade? While we’re at it, maybe you could explain why you smell like a werewolf.”

“That’s a lot of questions,” Lark said instead, taking a deep breath and trying to push her fear for Kal aside for the moment. “Which one would you like me to answer first?”

Mike crossed his arms over his broad chest. “Start at the beginning, and we’ll go from there.”