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My wolf, however, was in strong disagreement and prowled inside my head. Well, he’d just have to get over it. We couldn’t force Tori to submit and become our mate. It didn’t work like that, especially not with her. The more I pushed, the more she’d dig her heels in.
“Let me tell Tori I’m leaving,” I said to Clawson, then walked back to Kyle’s cubicle in the emergency room. I could hear her and Kyle bickering as I approached.
“I’m fine, Tori. I need to get up and get dressed.”
I grinned. It seemed neither of the Summers siblings made good patients.
I opened the curtain surrounding the bed. “Hey, how’s the patient? Is he behaving?”
Tori was perched on the end of the bed, arms crossed. “No, not at all. He’s a terrible patient. The nurse told him he has to rest so his body can heal, but he’s insisting he needs to get up.”
I moved across to Tori and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “Sounds much like another Summers I know who doesn’t like listening to medical advice.” I felt Tori tense under my hand. “I have to agree with your sister, Kyle. If the nurse says rest, you need to rest. The medical staff aren’t giving instructions for no reason. If they’re advising you to stay in bed and rest, maybe you should heed their advice. If for no other reason than to keep your sister from worrying.”
Tori looked up and gave me a relieved smile. It pained me to think she didn’t believe I’d have her back, but I had a lifetime to prove to her that I’d always support her.
“Can I have a quick word?” I asked her.
The smile faded from her eyes, and she twisted her mouth. Whatever was going on in that head of hers, I wished she’d tell me so I could reassure her and do whatever was necessary to erase that look off her face.
As we went to step outside the cubicle, she turned back to Kyle one more time, pointed to the bed, and said, “Stay.” He rolled his eyes, but made no further attempts to get out of bed.
“I just spoke with Clawson,” I told Tori. “There are a lot of new shifters in town. Diana Bogford is swamped at the bed and breakfast, and Clawson upped the patrols around the perimeter of town, where a lot of the new shifters are camping out in the woods. Let’s hope the weather holds. I’m going to go out with Clawson and meet as many of the new shifters as I can and check for any questionable characters.”
“Please be careful, Ridge,” Tori said. “You don’t know all these shifters or what their intentions are, and we can’t be sure all the hunters are out of town. Some of them might have stayed behind.”
Tori’s concern warmed my heart. If she was concerned, then she cared. If she cared, then there was hope for us yet.
“I won’t take any risks, and I’ll have Clawson with me,” I said. “We’ve canceled the pack meeting tonight. I’m going to try to spread the word, but can you pass it on to any pack members you see?”
Tori nodded, her eyes filled with worry. Despite her attempts to appear calm and collected, I could tell from the furrow in her brow that her mind was preoccupied. There was no guessing what thoughts were causing the strained expression. It could be Kyle, or it could just as easily be our unfinished conversation. My wolf and I craved to wrap her in our arms and ease every fear, but Tori didn’t work like that—as much as it pained me.
“Hey.” I nodded toward the injured hunter. “Kyle could use one of those witch capsules.”
Kyle shot me a cold glare that reeked of sarcasm. “Wow, genius, I never thought of that when I was shoving one down Audrey’s throat. What a concept, using one for myself. Gee, thanks.”
Rolling my eyes, I tried not to let his attitude get under my skin. Tori lightly smacked her brother’s arm. “Be nice,” she snapped. She leveled a stern look at him, then turned toward me, her expression a mix of concern and frustration. “I’ll see you later, Ridge,” she said, clearly just as unhappy as I was with our being apart.
“Later,” I agreed, forcing a small smile before kissing her forehead. Her not wanting to be parted from me was a small step, one I was happy to accept as long as it led to our happily-ever-after mating.
My wolf grumbled, clearly frustrated with our decision to give Tori space. He wanted to protect and care for her like a mate should, but we had to be patient. Mentally sighing, I worried about the other news I had for her—good news, I hoped—and how she’d handle it.
I hadn’t had a chance to tell her about the shop I’d bought for her to open a tattoo studio—a gesture meant to make her more independent and self-reliant. She didn’t want me to take care of her, but I couldn’t resist the instinct that demanded I do so. It was the best compromise I could think of that would allow her to make a good life for herself here in Blackwood Creek and be independent. However, I was sure that my buying the shop would not make her feel independent at all.
The growls and grumbling in my head werenotdoing me any favors.Quiet,I snapped at my wolf, trying to calm him down.We have a pack to take care of first. Everything else will be worked out later. Patience is key with Tori.
Chapter 3
Tori
As I sat and watched Kyle sleep, my mind swirled with a thousand thoughts and emotions. Ridge’s revelation that he truly believed we were fated mates was stuck like a barb in my brain. I shook my head. No way was I ready to think about that. Instead, I tried to process the fact that I could have very nearly lost Kyle when he'd just come back into my life. We’d been so close when we were young, before Mom was killed and our father outed the shifter world to us.
But through it all, Kyle and I had remained tight. In fact, our bond had only deepened whenever he ran interference between me and our father, protecting me from the worst of his wrath. In retrospect, maybe Dad had suspected what I was—I certainly never knew. Believing myself to be the very monster we hunted, I ran. I ran and ran. My only regret was that I hadn’t been able to explain to Kyle what had happened, why I’d been forced to leave. At the time, I’d thought he was such an indoctrinated hunter that he’d kill me on the spot, and for that, I’d forever feel ashamed. I should’ve known he’d never desert me.
But I had to get over that, because here and now, I had him in my life. And he accepted me—all of me. He’d left the hunters and was willing to work with Ridge to protect the shifters fromour father and his men. I needed time to reconnect with my sibling. Hell, we both needed to familiarize ourselves with this new normal.
But the knowledge of how close Kyle had come to being killed by hunters, how I’d almost lost him all over again, haunted me.
The sounds of screams and shattered glass mixed with the image of Kyle kneeling over Audrey’s bloody, lifeless body amidst the destruction and chaos would forever be etched in my memories. Despite the heartache, my appreciation for Audrey ran overwhelmingly deep. She’d taken a bullet for my brother—a hunter, the enemy of all shifters. That someone we’d been taught all our lives was a monster had saved his life amazed me.
