Leo's POV

I arrived in Mexico less than 12 hours after Luca called me and it had been one of the worst half days in my life. I'd been away from Ella before not knowing where she is but the difference this time was that there was no question or doubt about it. Her life was in danger.

Nobody knew much about Andrea Martinez. He was a master at hiding and secrecy which only made him more dangerous and this situation more difficult. How do you find rescue your mate when she's with a man that can't be found?

Most of his men only knew him as the boss and had never actually seen his face. Everything we knew about him in the Stella pack was through what Luca had learnt from Guillermo (one of his most trusted, yet surprisingly easily paid off employees) and even his knowledge of who he was working for was incredibly limited. And just to tick it all off, Mexico was a huge country and we didn't even know where to start.

I stepped out of the airport into the bitter dry air and scanned for Luca's car. The sun was beating down onto the dusty road and radiating back up the most unpleasant way. Besides the odd limp whisp of weed or scuttling beetle, there was hardly any life and when you looked out beyond the runways of the airport, there was only sand and desert for miles.

"I fucking hate the south," I said to myself as I thought back to the deep green forests and glistening blue lakes of my pack lands in the North.

A few moments later, a dusty grey car pulled up in front of me.

"Morning, Alpha," Luca's voice said as he rolled down the window.

I blocked the sun from my eyes with my hand and looked in at him, instantly noticed the dark circles under his eyes and his unbrushed hair.

"You look like shit," I told him.

"And you look hot and sweaty. Get in, I have the AC on," he replied.

Luckily for him and his vital organs, since he informed me that he had got my mate involved in a drug gang, I had had a long flight to cool off. But that didn't mean he was safe to test me.

"Shut the fuck up," I snapped before getting into his car.

It was cool but there was a suffocating smell of musty corn and unchanged socks.copy right hot novel pub