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He nodded slowly for a second, then his gaze met mine. “Yes, please. I’d appreciate that. Let me grab my wallet.”
The old man scurried into the house, moving faster than I’d ever seen him move. He wasn’t known for much more than his crankiness and surliness toward the townsfolk.
We were loaded up in the vehicle and on our way when he broke the silence. “Everyone else that was taken, are they okay?”
I smiled at him. “Yes, sir. We were rescued before they could do to us what they did to Zander.”
He gazed out the window as I drove him to the hospital to sit at his unconscious son’s bedside. I couldn’t imagine what was going through the man’s mind.
When Tori and I had cubs, that would become one of my greatest fears. I stiffened in my seat as images of little girls looking like Tori and little boys looking like me—but with their mother’s eyes—flashed into my mind. My wolf rumbled his happiness at the thought.
Forcing myself to focus on the road and give up on those images, I shook my head. I couldn’t afford to think that way right now. Too much needed to be squared away before I could give that potential future another thought. First off, Tori needed to know she was my fated mate, and she needed to know what that meant. Nothing else could happen until that was handled. But I could file the images of our future children away to savor at a more appropriate time.
After dropping off Elliot and checking with the doctor for any updates on Zander’s condition—no updates—I went to the town hall. No rest for the wicked, apparently.
Again, I stayed in the car for a while, watching the people mill around in the town square. Once I set foot out of the rental, I wouldn’t have a moment of peace, so I basked in the silence for a moment. I’d been on the go for three of the most harrowing days of my life, and I needed time to just appreciate that we were home and had made it.
Several minutes passed, and I snuck out of the car and into the back entrance to my office. Only my secretary caught sight of me, and she didn’t say a word as I entered my office and started calling all the town community heads to inform them of the impromptu town meeting.
As I responded to several emails, I noted people I’d have to call back. Then, I made my way to the meeting hall. All the seats were full, and it now looked like standing room only. Everyone was eager to find out what was happening.
Calmly, I headed toward the podium. Usually, I was invested in my mayoral duties and took pride in them, but I wasn’t looking forward to hashing out the unrest. Dealing with people and their complaints took a lot of energy, something I did not have in abundance at the moment.
The crowd was louder than normal, making their opinions known, but I ignored them. When Tori came in with Audrey, Diana, and Margo, the tightness in my body loosened. It was incredible what having a mate did to soothe the nerves.
My wolf was still anxious, wanting to grab Tori and take her to the manor where we could be alone. Better yet, we could get back on my private jet and fly anywhere in the world where nobody knew us and few souls were around. An island, maybe.
Smiling at me, Tori and the other women stood at the back. Nope, not happening. Striding over to her, I grabbed her hand and pulled her behind me, planting her firmly in the seat I’d reserved for her in the front row. Before stepping back, I kissed her forehead and chuckled at her ever-present eye-roll. I didn’t know what I’d do if she ever stopped rolling her eyes at me.
“It settles me when you’re where I can easily see you and get to you, little wolf,” I murmured in her ear.
This time, her eye-roll was playful, as was the little smirk she gave me. I gave her a toothy grin.
The attendees were getting a lot louder, and the noise was becoming chaotic. Needing to get this over and done with, I reluctantly left Tori and went back to the podium. Before I could call the meeting into session, questions flew at me.
“What’s the latest on Deputy Hill’s murder?”
“I heard you have a suspect?”
“Was it really Mrs. Marrow who killed the deputy?”
“Why would she kill him?”
“Are you sure it wasn’t an animal? Mrs. Marrow’s such a sweet old lady.”
I held in my growl at the last question. Mrs. Marrow stabbing my mate and leaving her for dead made the old woman anything but sweet. It took everything in me not to sneak into her jail cell and tear her limb from limb.
“Where have you been, Mayor Blackwood?”
“You and the sheriff were gone?”
“You’ve disappeared for a couple of days. Do we have something to be concerned about?”
Christie Greenthorne’s voice rang out, drowning out everybody else when she said, “Your soon-to-be trophy wife was hauled away in an ambulance the other day, and now she looks perfectly fine. How is that possible?”
Her lips curled into a broad smile as she stood so everyone could see her. The woman would never shy away from drama. Attention whore that she was, if there wasn’t any drama to heighten, she was more than happy to create it.
“I heard that Zander Elkins is in the hospital. It’s no secret that the poor young man has always rubbed the rich mayor the wrong way,” Martin Greenthorne, Christie’s husband, said.
