True Wolf (Bennett Pack #3)

5. Zion

CHAPTER FIVE

ZION

T he heavy glass doors of the building slid open with a soft swoosh before I stepped inside the building. The familiar scent of amber and citrus washed over me like a warm tide. It was a stark contrast to the wild, untamed forests I had roamed for the past few months, but there was something unsettling about it today. I paused, letting the sensation of the place settle around me. Xander walked ahead, his long strides echoed softly against the marble floor as he glanced back at me.

“You good, Zi?” he called, his tone a mixture of impatience and concern.

I nodded, forcing myself to move. Unease tightened in my gut. It was more than just the reminder of the last time I moved through this same lobby. A feeling, primal and undeniable, thrummed beneath my skin. As I stepped further inside, the sensation intensified, wrapping around me. My heart raced and my wolf came to the surface.

I had experienced this before. An inexplicable pull. An unshakeable connection that could only belong to my other half. Mate. I was mistaken once already, so instead of giving in, I pushed the feelings somewhere deep. The last time I felt this urgent whisper of fate I spent months chasing a dead end that left me hollow.

Xander paused, glancing at me with a knowing look. “You alright?” he asked. The impatience was gone and now concern fully consumed his features.

“Yeah,” I replied, forcing a casual shrug. “Just…feeling out of place.”

“I had that same experience when I came home.”

“I wasn’t gone that long,” I argued, feeling annoyed by the comparison. I kept the thought to myself and followed Xander to the elevator where we both paused but my senses were still going haywire.

The air was thick with a scent both intoxicating and foreign. There was a hint of something that made my gut twist with longing. It was unmistakable. My fated mate was here. I could almost taste the connection, electric and alive, but doubt tugged at my resolve.

You have no fucking clue how to sense her.

I took a deep breath, letting the moment wash over me, trying to discern if I was truly sensing her presence or if my mind was playing tricks on me again. It was a dangerous game to let hope creep in, especially after the last disappointment.

“Zi, what the fuck is wrong with you? You sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine,” I growled.

“Then let’s go,” he urged, motioning toward the elevator. I could see the impatience in his eyes, but I hesitated again as soon as the elevator doors opened. My instincts flared out of control.

Mate. Mate. Mate.

My wolf took over, clawing under my skin.

“Wait,” I said, my voice barely audible. “Something feels off.”

“Off how?” he asked, crossing his arms.

I clenched my fists, trying to ground myself. “I’m not sure yet. Just… a feeling. It could be nothing.”

Xander narrowed his eyes, studying me like I was losing my shit. “You’ve been out there too long, Zi.”

Maybe he was right, but as I stepped closer to the elevator, the sensation sharpened, pulling me toward the stairwell. I couldn’t ignore it. Deep down, I felt a gravitational pull.

“I’m taking the stairs,” I said suddenly, and Xander raised an eyebrow, but he followed my lead. Each step felt heavier than the last. The scent was stronger now but it made no sense.

As we reached the second floor, I paused, eyes scanning the hallway. Heart pounding, I could feel it, the unmistakable presence of her , just beyond the door at the end of the corridor. My fated mate was close, had to be, but doubt still lingered in the back of my mind. What if this was just another moment of my mind playing tricks on me?

I turned to Xander, a mixture of fear and need tightening in my chest. “Give me a minute.”

“Jo is going to murder both of us. I had explicit instructions, the top two being, don’t show up without you and don’t be late. We’re already fucking late, Zi?”

“Jo will be fine. Just go, I’ll meet you up there.”

I stepped forward and approached the door but before I could knock, it flew open and a woman stepped out, fumbling with several large shopping bags. I lifted my chin, inhaling deeply before I dropped my eyes to her and stepped closer expectantly but…

Nothing.

I tapped into this woman’s unease and smelled her fear, but that was all I could pick up, which further pissed me off because I also sensed her …

Dark brown eyes widened and blinked several times before they shifted over to Xander at the same time he was in my head.

You want to tell me why the fuck you’re scaring the shit out of this woman. - Xander

It’s nothing. - Me

“Who lives here with you?”

“N…no one.”

She was lying.

I took a step forward but Xander grabbed my arm. “You can’t just go in her unit, Zi. What the fuck?”

When I swung my head in his direction, I snapped out of my confusion. They already thought I was crazy after the Keerah mix up. If I told my brother I sensed my mate again, he and Lazar both would have me committed. “Nothing, let’s go.”

I yanked away from him and stalked down the hallway but this time toward the elevator. I heard him apologizing to her before he stepped into the car, barely avoiding the doors as they closed.

“Are you sure you’re…”

“Stop fucking asking me that. I told you I’m fine.”

He stepped in front of me so close that we were chest to chest. The scowl on his face was enough to have my wolf erratic and ready to pounce.

“I hear you saying you’re fine but doing shit like that contradicts what you’re saying. Do you know her?”

“No.” I shoved him back and attempted to step around him but he had me pinned to the back of the car in a matter of seconds. My eyes changed and I sneered through my teeth but Xander didn’t falter.

“Then tell me what the fuck that was, Zion? Is she a problem?”

He assumed she was a threat, which was the last thing I needed. She hadn’t done a damn thing and if I didn’t clear this up, she would find herself on my family’s radar.

“I don’t know her; she’s not a problem.”

I kept him out of my head while he searched my face. When the doors opened to the rooftop, he stepped back and nodded. “Let’s go and don’t do any weird shit like that around Laz or Jo. I don’t believe you, which means they won’t either, but at least I’m willing to give you space to work through whatever the fuck that was without being on your ass.”

He stalked off the elevator and headed straight to his wife Toyin who was waiting with a huge smile but their son Rafe barreled into him first. My chest was tight watching as Xander lifted him into the air and kissed his wife’s cheek before motioning to me.

Maybe I was losing my damn mind because I never cared about a family before. Even when Xander left and I stepped up to help Toyin with my nephew in his absence, I handled the role unbiasedly like I should have, as an uncle. Watching Xander with his family felt different now but I pushed the thoughts aside, plastered on a smile, and lifted my sister in law from the ground into a big hug when she approached me.

“I missed you,” she whispered lowly against my shoulder, causing me to hug her tighter.

“Of course you did. You’ve recently downgraded.” I set her on her feet and tossed my chin toward Xander who narrowed an angry stare in my direction.

“Don’t do that. You know he’s sensitive about the time we spent together while he was away.”

“You want me to coddle his feelings because he was a fucking child and left you and my nephew?”

Toyin’s smile expanded. “He wasn’t being a child. He thought he was protecting me.”

“Yeah.” I smirked, leaning down close to Toyin. Her short height forced me to bend to an uncomfortable, exaggerated rate. “He should have stayed gone and we would be a happy little family without him.”

I only said that to fuck with Xander because he was listening extra hard to our conversation. When I lifted my head, I winked, and he growled his displeasure with my taunting.

Toyin punched my arm. “Don’t be a dick, Zion. You and I have never and will never be anything other than family.”

“I know but it still pisses him off and I live to fuck with his peace.”

“Well, I’d rather you here, fucking with his peace, than out there where we have to worry about you.” Her tone softened and I didn’t bother arguing that they didn’t have to worry. I was more than capable of taking care of myself. Toyin’s concern came from a place of love, so I refused to give her a hard time.

“Zion…” Jo’s high pitched squeal right before she collided with me, throwing her arms around my waist, had me grinning again.

“I don’t know what’s with these Bennett wives. You act like you married and mated the wrong brothers. Maybe I should be reconsidering my position in both of your lives.”

Jo laughed, shoving me in the shoulder after she let me go. “You better not let your brother hear you say that.”

I chuckled, doing a quick scan to find Laz. He was never far from Jo. “Speaking of, where is the Alpha?”

Jo’s brows pinched slightly. “Not sure, he had a meeting with Izan. I’ve been trying to reach him for the past hour but he blocked me.”

I arched my brow. “Trouble in paradise?”

“No…” She rolled her eyes. “Izan needed to speak with him privately without my input about territory stuff. We’re fine.”

Jo’s eyes moved past me briefly before they were on me again. “We’ll talk later.” She paused and her gaze narrowed. “Which means I’ll fuss and you’ll let me but right now I need to go help Mina before she drops the last of the table settings.” She was about to move around me when she halted her steps. “And make sure you tell her thank you at some point tonight. She single-handedly pulled all of this together last minute to save my ass. I owe her big time.”

I kissed Jo on the cheek. “I will and thank you too for all this. It wasn’t necessary but I appreciate it.”

“We take care of family, Zion.”

She rushed away and I turned just in time to catch her grabbing bags from the same woman I’d threatened just before we came up here. I stared, trying to figure her out while she and Jo began pulling things from the bags, fussing over them as they reached the long wooden table positioned in the center of the rooftop.

Leave her alone, Zion. Don’t ruin this dinner or Laz is going to be pissed that you upset Jo. – Xander

I turned to find him staring. When my eyes met his, he arched his brow and I nodded my understanding and walked toward the bar to get a drink, deciding to leave this alone for now. But I would damn sure be doing some digging later.