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“I did. But if there wasn’t a girl in the hallway, there’s no way to know whether or not that’s what Rocco was smelling. And if we tell him, he’ll probably go door-to-door looking for her. Which is just a bad idea overall.”
I sighed. “Fine. We have to tell him about it later, though. When we’re away from here, and we know he won’t go door-to-door immediately.”
Ford agreed, and that was that.
I studiedduring the drive back to Moon Ridge, though I interrupted myself to talk to Ford a few times. He didn’t interrupt me, but was cool to talk every time I asked him something or told him something. And as always, his hand lingered on my thigh every chance it got.
Elliot and Rocco helped us carry our boxes in, but Rocco ducked out to take a family call before we finished. When he didn’t come back, we decided we’d have to tell him the next time we had dinner with the pack. Elliot left when the final box was inside, and we went on with our evening.
Ford helped me get everything organized and put away, and by the time we sat down at the kitchen table to eat dinner, his expression was so satisfied that I had to laugh.
“Glad to have me here?” I teased.
“You have no idea.” He took my hand, lifting it to my lips and pressing a kiss to my knuckles.
We played footsie while we ate dinner, trading grins and laughs and sharing food. It was so freakin’ nice.
The day was set up to be the best day I’d had in a long time… until Ford’s phone rang.
We saw Elliot’s name on the screen, but he ignored it, setting it on silent and flipping it over so the screen faced the table.
But then my phone rang, and I glanced down to see Elliot’s name on my screen, too.
My stomach turned.
Elliot wouldn’t have called me after Ford clearly ignored him… without good reason.
Ford grimaced and took my phone, lifting it to his ear. “Hello?”
His expression grew grave as Elliot spoke, and though I couldn’t hear the exact words, I could make out the tone of his voice and it didn’t sound good.
Ford’s voice was low as he said, “We’ll be there in ten.” Then, he hung up the phone.
“What happened?”
“Rocco’s older brother’s been hunting a girl for about a year now.” Ford’s hand scrubbed over his face. “There was a car crash. His wolf bit her afterward, so she changed, and now her wolf’s rejected him.”
My heart clenched. “What does that mean, exactly?”
“It’s a death sentence. Wolves who have been rejected go insane, either quickly or over a number of years. Sometimes they live full, lonely lives. But other times…” His voice trailed off, and he shook his head roughly, standing up and taking my hand. “We’ve got to go. He’s going to need support.”
I wasn’t sure support from a couple in the mating process was going to help given the situation, but I didn’t know Rocco well enough to say that for sure.
Ford knew him better, so I trusted him, and stood too.
We headed out to Ford’s car, and he peeled out of the driveway so fast it almost scared me.
He slowed when we reached a larger residential area, but wove through the town like he knew every damn street. It occurred to me that he probably did, but we hadn’t talked much about our childhoods, so I didn’t really know.
When he parked in front of a normal-looking house, I slipped out of the car without waiting for him to open the door. We got out just as Teagan and Jesse pulled up behind us, parking too.
Teagan gave me a sad smile as Ford took my hand, and he and I headed inside without waiting for the other couple.
Ford didn’t bother knocking, just opened the door and led me into the house. I could hear yelling in the back, and braced myself for some kind of fight. I wasn’t great with confrontation, or arguments. I could stand my ground if I needed to, but usually I avoided the yelling and angry people because I wasn’t really like that.
But something told me there was no avoiding this.
Ford needed to be there for Rocco, and if this really was a death sentence for Rocco’s brother… well, then we definitely couldn’t leave. Even if Rocco didn’t want to be around us or there was nothing we could do, having Ford there to show that we cared might mean something to him.
