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Ryland rushed to her and took Caroline in his arms. “Yes. Yes, I’m here, love.” He ran his hands up and down her body to check for any injuries. “You’re okay, you’re okay,” he repeated.
“I would have been better if you would have told me you’re awolf.”
“Now isn’t the time,” he jutted his chin toward Wilder.
“By all means,” the elder Wolverton said. “Take the time to have a heartfelt conversation during a rescue. It’s not like we’re on a time crunch here or anything.”
“How did you even find me?” she asked.
“It’s a long story. We need to get you to a hospital to get checked out.” Ryland helped her out of the truck while Wilder helped Salvatore.
“I’m okay, but he definitely needs to see a doctor. I tried to keep him awake as much as I could. I don’t even know how long we were in that truck.”
Ryland winced and held her to him again. “Too long, close to fourteen hours. I’m so sorry, love. They drove the truck across Italy and right into Paris. We had a hell of a hard time finding you.”
“Wow, howdidyou find me?”
Ryland gave her an abridged version of the whole ordeal. Caroline kept interrupting with questions, but he did his best to stick to the facts.
“Thanks for finding me,” she whispered.
“Always,” he replied fiercely. He wanted to tell her that he loved her. That she was his mate, and he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.
Once again, it wasn’t the time.
There was still a killer out there.
Despite her protests, Ryland insisted that Caroline see a doctor when they took Salvatore to the hospital. She was so upset by this that she demanded that Ryland wait for her outside the room while the doctor checked her over.
He paced the hospital hallway nervously.
“Would you stop?” Wilder asked. “You’re making me crazy.”
“Why didn’t she want me in there with her?” he grumbled.
“Probably because you didn’t tell her you’re a wolf. Maybe because she wants privacy? If you haven’t told her she’s your mate, why do you expect her to act like she knows?”
Ryland stilled. “Youknow?”
“Of course, I know she’s your mate,” Wilder snapped. “Mom called. She figured it out the second she saw you with Caroline.”
“How could she possibly know?”
Wilder’s already dark eyes darkened impossibly. “Who knows how that woman knows half the things she shouldn’t.”
Ryland shook his head with a sigh. “Thanks for coming. For helping.”
Wilder shrugged, but the emotion that passed over his features was gone in a flash. Wilder had never been big on emoting, but that shrug said a lot.
“I’d do the same for you if your mate were in danger,” Ryland vowed.
“Yeah, that’s not gonna happen. No mate for me.”
Ryland clapped a hand on his back. “Don’t say that,” he chuckled. “I used to say that. Then I met Caroline. It isn’t so bad once you get used to being irrationally worried about another human.”
“Your matewasin a position of danger. It’s normal to feel insane with worry. It’ll calm down. Eventually,” Wilder said with a far-off look in his eyes.
Ryland’s brows shot into his hairline. “Whoa. Haveyou alreadymet your mate?”
