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Though I’m sure he’ll think the worst, I close off my half of our bond. With him being so close, I can’t risk him picking up on how much I’m suddenly freaking out.
He loves me. When he tells me that, I believe him. I believe him when he says that he’s wanted me since he was seventeen and he knew in an instant that I was meant for him. But I also know that Ryker is fanatically loyal to his pack. He might’ve seen Trish Danvers as an unfortunate sacrifice, but what would he do if the Wicked Wolf really does threaten the entire Mountainside Pack?
Would he agree to let Elizabeth touch him then?
No. My head shaking turns almost violent. No.
Ryker would never break our bond.
I believe that wholeheartedly. He wouldn’t reject me again. He has to know I’d never survive it.
He wouldn’t...
Right?
* * *
The next fewhours are Luna-damned awful.
He’s here. No denying that. I keep tugging on our bond, making sure that it feels as close as it did a couple of minutes ago, and I keep getting the same reassurances sent down the line to me. I can’t quite trace him—another mystical barrier that Wolf District seems to have—but so long as it feels so close, I know here’s and that he’s all right.
I don’t know what to do. I pace around the cabin, wearing a damn hole in the floor, hoping, praying, wishing that Ryker would show up. When my nerves get the better of me—and my wolf urges me to check—I peek out of the window. Theo was replaced by Christian almost immediately after I saw the back of Walker, but the last time I looked I saw an unfamiliar blond packmate lurking out there and I jerked the curtain closed so quickly, I tore half of it off the curtain rod.
My wolf is furious. Now that we know what they’re doing out there, she has the instinct to chase them away from our territory. She’s already chosen her mate, and she’s willing to fight off any poachers.
It might have been easier to rein her in if it wasn’t for the moon. Night falls, with the Luna rising. Every inch of me feels electrified, and I’m hot. Like really hot.
Like, suffering from moon fever, hot.
Damn it.
I refuse to head out of the cabin. Control is tentative with the moon ruling me, and I tear through Elizabeth’s kitchen, hoping she has some ice cream to cool the burn. Luckily, I find a pint of some local brand, and I scarf it down. It helps a little, and the half-gallon of milk I chase it with makes it so that I can dare one last peek outside without worrying I’ll go feral on the latest male who actually thinks he has a chance with me.
Lifting up the torn curtain, my heart skips a beat. My wolf goes from deadly to docile in an instant.
The moon shines down on the most beautiful sight I’ve ever seen.
I don’t know how I missed him approaching the cabin, but he’s there. With a deadly stride, and warning that I can pick up on even inside the cabin, his long legs are eating up the ground, heading right from me. He’s dressed all in black, his dark eyes beaming like a pair of headlights in the dark. A stuffed duffel bag is gripped in one hand, the other clenched in a fist.
Rushing for the door, I throw it open.
His head jerks up. He looks so fucking sexy when he seems ready for murder, but the way his expression softens when he sees me?
I melt like butter.
“Ryker!”
My mate freezes. The duffel bag drops from his suddenly slack hand. A pulse of pure relief coupled with love slams into me as he holds out his arms in an open invitation.
I don’t even hesitate. I run right to him, throwing my arms around his neck as my inner wolf yips gleefully to see her mates.
He closes his arms around me, pulling me up against his body as he bows his head over me. His shaggy hair tickles my cheek as his lips go unerringly to the jagged white lines that curve around my throat.
Ryker’s mark.
I shudder out a breath as he nuzzles it gently. He kisses it, lathing it with his tongue, before he lifts his head.
For a few poignant seconds, we just stare at each other. I can’t believe he’s here. This is all I’ve wanted for ages now, just to have him close, but when Ryker grips my chin in his claws before slanting his mouth over mine, I realize that I was wrong.
