Angie had tried to track down every report of a sudden death in Florida, but between natural happenings, the car accidents that happened daily on the major highways, and the frightening number of shootings, the list was extensive and they finally had to give that up as a lost cause. Baron went to every show and did his absolute best each and every time, hoping to impress his bosses, coworkers, and – just maybe – his mate as well. Between television tapings and house shows, instead of flying home, he spent time driving from city to city in order to lay down his scent and take stock of the local Omega populations.

Baron followed the same pattern for nearly a month. He would finish taping Smackdown on Tuesday evening, eat and crash for the night, and then spend the next two days searching for the faceless woman whose scent tormented him every time he unzipped his luggage. Driving and staying in cheap hotels also allowed him time to contemplate his future, and he began considering the possibility of buying a real home.

Traditionally, the Alpha was tasked with finding a suitable location to live while their Beta or Omega mate would be in charge of making it a comfortable home for the pack. While he loved living in the apartment he currently rented within a few blocks of the WWE performance center, he was reasonably assured that he would soon be in need of more space than the one bedroom offered. On the other hand, simply because most Omegas desired children, he couldn't be certain that his mate would be one of them, or if she would like to have only one or two later in her breeding lifetime. Frowning, he made the turn into the hotel parking lot late one Sunday afternoon as he fought against the instinct to take his mate – once he found her – and lock her in the home of his choosing.

Perhaps discretion really was the better part of valor here. Simply because the primal, wolf part of his brain was telling him something was the right thing to do, didn't mean that it actually was. After all, laws were written all the time that contradicted the natural order of the wild. He was pretty sure that forcing a woman to leave her life and locking her in a house somewhere would result in a kidnapping charge in every civilized country on earth. Baron might consider himself to be violent and dominant, but his mother worked hard to raise him to be a gentleman.

And a gentleman would never do such a thing.

"Hey, Corbs!" Sami Zayn waved from across the parking lot.

Baron grinned and gathered his luggage from the trunk of his rental before wheeling it over to shake the other man's hand. "Hey, man. You got the main event tonight, right?"

"Yeah, man. Get to get beat on before this guy," Sami jerked his thumb at the dark haired man climbing out of the passenger seat, "does a run in for the save."

"Finn!" Baron smiled and held his hand out for the other man to shake. "Didn't know you got the call!"

"Just got it two days ago. Goin' to be pullin' split duty with this and NXT for a few weeks."

Baron nodded. "Did the same thing, man. Exhausting, but fun."

The three men continued speaking as they made their way through the hotel doors and into the lobby. Sami and Finn were rooming together, the two men having become friends while in NXT. Baron was, as usual, taking a room for himself. He disliked how messy a lot of his coworkers tended to be, and no one wanted to put up with him being grumpy first thing in the morning. He had been known to literally snap at people who spoke to him too soon after he opened his eyes.

Checking the time – just after 5:00 – he decided to grab some food before settling in for the night.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"Madeline," the woman on the phone purred in greeting. "It's been far too long!"

Maddy grinned and shook her head. "Diana! How are you today?!"

"I am quite well, though I must admit that I would be much better if I had a few chapters to read!"

Grimacing at the mild scolding in her editor's voice, Maddy sighed. "I know! I'm sorry, but this book is just being so difficult!"

"Well, you're deadline is in six months you know." Diana managed to tread the line between stern and unprofessional with the ease of a classically trained ballerina. "I can give you until the end of next month. Then, I'm really going to insist on having the first four chapters."

"Yes. Yes, of course. I have three finished already, but this fourth is being an issue." Maddy said goodbye, repeatedly reminding herself that the other woman was only doing her job and had helped her many times in the past. When the phone rang once again, she sighed and answered before the second ring. "Hello?"

"Well, hello to you too, Sunshine." Lyssa greeted. "Who pissed in your Cheerios this morning?"

Maddy giggled. "First, let me just say 'ew'. And my editor is getting a bit impatient with my lack of output."

"Well, I will be at your place in about ten minutes, if my GPS isn't lying to me again. We'll head to the city, have some fun, watch some damn fine individuals doing bad things to each other, and unwind. When you come home, you'll be more relaxed. It can only help you, at this point."

Maddy nodded and looked over her small suitcase and purse, purposely ignoring the empty laptop bag. She was leaving her work at home this time, though she did have a notebook in her purse for jotting down ideas or bits of story that popped up. "I'll be waiting!"

Thanks to the relative emptiness of the roads on a Sunday afternoon, and Lyssa's loose interpretation of driving laws, the two women made the normally two and a half hour drive in less than two. Pulling up to the William Penn Hotel's front door, they giggled over the valets' deep navy blue uniforms and smart caps and then made sure to thank the older doorman as he smiled at their exuberance. The lobby was a testament to the beauty of art deco, and Maddy was so glad she had chosen the opulent old hotel over something more modern.

"Hello, ladies," the middle aged woman at the front desk smiled politely as she folded her hands on the mahogany in front of her. "May I help you?"

Maddy smiled in return. "We have a reservation under Decker. First name is Madeline."

"Yes, Ms. Decker. We've been expecting you!" Her eyes flickered over the sigils tattooed on Maddy's knuckles and the ink running up her right arm, but her smile never faltered as her fingers flew over the computer keyboard with practiced ease. "One room, two queens, with a lovely view of the gardens in the square?"

"Sounds perfect," Maddy glanced at Lyssa, who gave her a nod of approval.

After getting their keycards and leading the bellhops to their room, the two women kicked off their shoes. Glancing at each other with matching grins, they launched themselves onto the beds, shrieking with laughter as they bounced. Jumping around and throwing pillows at each other for a few minutes, they finally collapsed with happy sighs.

Lyssa grinned over at her friend. "We need food."

"Hell yeah, we do. Primanti's?"

"Yes!"

The two drug themselves off the comfortable beds and decided to dress up a bit for their evening out.

Sunday usually wasn't the busiest time for restaurants, but the original Primanti Brothers in the Strip District never closed for a reason. The two women waited in line and placed their order before finding a small table in the busy diner, the smells of French fries mixing with meats and vinegar bathed slaw until it swarmed the sensed and had their mouths watering in anticipation.

Lyssa took a few photographs of the diner and of Maddy while they waited, laughing when the other women crossed her eyes and stuck out her tongue. "You are so not right."

"You're the one taking photos of me waiting to eat!"

"I get bored," Lyssa shrugged. "Want to wonder around and explore after this?"

Maddy nodded, but waited a moment to answer as their food had arrived. "Sure. We'll see what kind of trouble you can get us into."

"Nothing too exciting, I'm sure," Lyssa snorted. "I'm not jumping any fences or running from cops in three inch heels!"

Both women laughed and dug into their sandwiches piled high with meat, slaw, and fries.

0-0-0-0-0-0

"This place," Baron leaned down so his friend could hear him better over the din of a hundred conversations and red hot jazz, "is awesome."

Bobby grinned and nodded. "Hell yeah, it is!"

Baron had tweeted about being in the city, and Bobby had been quick to hit him up. There was no way Baron was going to turn down the chance to hang out with the maker of Blackcraft Cult Clothing, and the two of them eventually ended up at the Speakeasy Lounge nestled beneath the lobby of one of Pittsburgh's most posh hotels. The walls were covered in a grey paper with black velvet designs, while the chairs at the round tables were straight-backed with deep red cushions. Benches lined the walls with more low round tables placed within reach for drinks and the small plates of food made to accompany the era-specific cocktails.

"Corbin!"

The jovial voice broke through the noise, and Baron turned to see that it belonged to Sami Zayne. Finn grinned and waved from his place at this friend's side.

"Hey, man." Baron shook their hands and then introduced them to the others sharing his table. "I was just about to go grab another round. Who's in?"

Standing at the bar, waiting for the tumblers of scotch to be filled and placed on a tray for transport, it hit him. Honeysuckle and rain on a warm summer night. He would know that scent anywhere.

Whipping around, he nearly collided with a tiny woman, her hand landing on his lower left ribcage in an attempt to keep her balance in the low heeled boots she wore. Her emerald eyes, wide with surprise and a hint of fear as the emergence of his Alpha mark tingled against her palm, stared up and up and up at him through a few curls of long, dark hair. Her lips were stained a pretty, light plum.

"I've been looking for you," Baron felt him lips twitch up into a small smile. "You've kept me waiting so long, girl."

As he watched, she raised a delicately tattooed hand to mouth. Her breath came out in a barely audible "Oh."