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“I freaked,” Ryder admitted. “I reached for you through the bond, and you didn’t answer. I was just going to tell you to bring Benny back in. And you didn’t answer. I bolted out of that room, trailing bikers and McKenzies, and freaking them out too. But my wolf knew where you’d gone. And I kept getting this sensation of wanting good coffee. I mentioned it to Duncan, and he laughed. Then he took us to the nearest Tim Hortons, and there you were. Worst 15 minutes of my life.”
“I’m sorry,” Jessie repeated. She squeezed his arm. “We need to experiment with the bond more. It never occurred to me that distance matters. And you were going to tell me something about dominance? Duncan said something about not thinking you were more dominant than the old Alpha?”
“Something Benny suggested to me,” Ryder said, his eyes tracking Amanda and Benny. They were moving quickly, which helped, because he was going slow enough to be noticed. He pulled over to let them get farther ahead. “Cujo had told him about his sister and her husband. They are close in dominance and have a mate bond. And when needed, they’d merged it somehow, so that it was as if they were one person —with the combined dominance. I think we did something similar. I felt this flow of energy from you, but then, it was as if I could tap into your dominance as well. Good thing. He pushed his dominance at me and it was like a battering ram. Together, I could push back, and attack him physically.”
She stared at him, open-mouthed. “What?” he asked. He started the car and slowly drove down the street following the two ahead of them.
“I’m nowhere near as dominant as you are!”
“You are,” Ryder said, most of his attention on the road. “You have to be, or you wouldn’t have been able to take down Bjorn Hansen. I find it really difficult to tell a woman’s level of dominance, to be honest. Take Alpha Stafford? There she was at the ferry dock in sweats that looked like she pulled them out of Goodwill, that red hair of hers flying every which way — she looked like the professor she is — not one of the most dominant wolves in the country.”
Jessie giggled at his description. “I was there the night before when she killed an attacker,” she said. “Did you hear about that? On the way to her home after that meeting. I followed her to ask her about a place to stay, and this shifter rushes out of the bushes. She whirled, changed just her hands — which was way cool — and took him out. He was on the ground, bleeding out, before I could even blink.”
“She did the same thing when that wolf attacked at the campground,” Ryder said. “But I didn’t get the sense of her power at all — not like Jake Lewis. Youknowhe’s dominant. And Cujo?” He whistled.
“Benny hides it,” she said thoughtfully.
“He does,” Ryder said. “Or he did. He likes being the charming playboy, and it was a good cover for his intelligencer years. But it’s not working as well for him now. He worries me. Something is bugging him.”
She nodded. “I saw it when he was working with the women at Margarite’s,” she said slowly. “Something about their experiences. But I don’t know what. And we haven’t had time to talk about anything except the next crisis.”
Ryder snorted. “You think? This might be the longest conversation we’ve had.”
She grinned at him. Then she scooted over to sit on the console between the seats so that she could lean her head against his shoulder. He heard her sigh contentedly.
Mate, his wolf said. Ryder chuckled. Yes, he said, smiling, she’s our mate.
Chapter 13
Day 159 of the re-emerged Hat Island pack, Wednesday, Nov. 13, Penticton
Benny tried to projectsecurity and calm toward Amanda Chen, but he didn’t think he was getting anywhere. And he could hardly blame her. She had been held captive for months? And no one noticed she was missing?
He was having a hard time believing that. “Amanda? Your parents? Did they know you were gone?”
She shrugged. “I suppose so,” she said. “I suspect Grandfather must have told them something — like maybe I was part of a household that was being set up out here? Something?”
