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Tori giggled at my tunnel-vision attitude as I dragged her to the rental car. Thankfully, people only smirked and laughed at my antics. Our upcoming nuptials probably had them thinking I was desperate to get my fiancée alone. They’d be surprised to learn why I really wanted alone time with her.
“Ridge, slow down,” she said as we approached the car.
I lifted a brow in question. “Are you sure? If we stay, people will want to chat about the wedding.”
Shoving me to the side, she hissed, “Get us out of here. Burn some rubber.”
I shut the door, chuckling at how quickly she had changed her mind. I rushed to the driver’s side and soon had us on the road back to Blackwood Manor.
Grabbing her hand over the center console, I twirled my thumb over her ring finger as I tried to broach the subject of the missing ring.
“Little wolf?” I stroked her finger as if I had just realized the ring wasn’t there.
“Yeah?” She turned her head away from the window and looked back at me.
“I was just wondering where the ring is.” I was going for casual, but wasn’t sure I was successful. “It’s okay if it got lost in all the upheaval,” I said, trying my best not to sound hurt.
It was ridiculous. She’d been fatally wounded, and here I was, questioning her about a ring.
If the ring had gotten lost, I’d have a new one made for her. I didn’t know if she’d even liked my grandmother’s ring, but we needed one to sell our fake engagement. Now, I wanted her to have a ring that she truly wanted.
Tori glanced down at her hand. If the way she squeezed my hand was any indication, she was enjoying my soft caress. “The ring’s fine, I promise. I didn’t want anything happening to it since it’s been in your family for so long. As promised, I plan to return it to you totally unscathed.”
Return it to me unscathed? I wanted to lash out and tell her that she would never return the ring to me, that she’d wear it and pass it down to one of our children one day. But like a good fake fiancé, I kept my trap shut.
The smile she gave me didn’t quite reach her eyes. I wondered what she was thinking that made her look so sad.
I wanted us to talk after the uncertainty of the last few days, but it was still too soon to broach the fated mate conversation with her. I wanted to put us on the path of our happily ever after, but she’d just started accepting her wolf and shifters in general. Talking to her about fated mates and everything that connection entailed, then telling her she was my fated mate, would definitely scare her off.
Not only did I not want her on the run because I wanted her for myself,neededher for myself, but with the hunter climate as it was, she’d need more help to stay safe.
I was also determined to understand my mate’s connection with the hunters, especially since her brother was one. I knew there was more to it.
Either way, I wanted to ensure that the hunters would never threaten her life again. That’d be the only way she’d agree to make our engagement real. Tori had the backbone to be out on her own and believed she didn’t need anybody, but I desperately wanted to prove to her that she needed me, now and always.
When we arrived back at Blackwood Manor, Tori went inside without saying a word to me. When I followed her, she was already in the kitchen. “Little wolf, what are you doing?”
She looked up from the recipe books on the counter in front of her and arched an eyebrow. “What does it look like?”
I leaned against the wall and crossed my arms. “I’m not sure, if I’m being honest. Maybe looking to cook?”
She looked at me as if I’d grown three heads. “Well, obviously, I’m going to cook. We need to eat, and you need to rest. You’ve just been drugged, dragged across the country, fought with hunters, been saved, dealt with the town… have I forgotten anything?”
Her tirade amused me, and I was touched that she cared enough to want to look after me. My wolf wasn’t on the same page, though. He was pacing and ill at ease after being separated from his mate so soon when we’d nearly lost her. He still pictured her bleeding out on the library floor, still scented the silver in the air. I wanted her close to me, to care for her. She’d been through some shit in the last three days.
I should have been looking after her, not the other way around. “Why don’t you take a shower? I’ll cook dinner.”
Tori pointed to the cookbooks. “I’m not really in the mood for rabbit food, and seeing as that’s all you know how to make,Ineed to cook if I want a full belly. I wasn’t taken by hunters; you were. You need to recuperate.”
I laughed at her remark about rabbit food, which I was sure had been her intention, but I wasn’t backing down. I pushed myself off the wall and stalked toward her. Stopping in front of her, I trailed a finger down her cheek.
“Did you forget the spelled pill you gave me, little wolf? I have nothing to recuperate from. Go take a shower. I promise there’ll be no rabbit food on either of our plates. How does a chicken burger with chili fries sound?”
I could see her resolve was wavering, so I pushed a little more. “Tori, I need to do this—to be normal and forget about everything for the evening. No hunters, no mayor, no town tonight. Just you, me, and a good meal.”
Tori looked up into my eyes to make sure I was telling the truth—as if I’d lie to my mate. Okay, I’d lied by omission, but it wasn’t lying if it was for the good of one’s mate. I needed to tell her she was my fated mate and explain the implications, but she needed calm and simplicity now. I’d do everything in my power to provide that for her.
“All right, I’ll go shower.” She’d obviously appraised my condition and believed I was uninjured. “If there is even a whiff of lettuce or any vegetable that isn’t a potato on my plate, I’ll make the hunters look like kittens.”
