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I sighed and nodded. There was so much going on in this town, and with me right now. Tori was right. I was stressed and needed to take better care of myself, but that was near impossible when I was wanted and needed in every direction.
“Okay. Let me get my aunt settled and get changed, then I’ll drop by your office.”
I dressed and drove my aunt back to the facility. She was still asleep when I carried her inside. Nurse Rainey and a few other caretakers helped me get her settled, thanking me for finding her—as if there was anything else I’d do.
One of the caretakers brought in a chair for me, so I sat by her bed and watched her. I worried about her, especially when incidents like this occurred. She could hurt herself or someone else one day, and there would be nothing I could do to protect her if that happened.
I hoped to speak with her, hoped she’d have a lucid moment, but those were few and far between. It’d be better if I returned to the manor and got going with my day. Once again, it’d be another long one.
I squeezed my aunt’s hand and kissed it. Just as I got up to leave, Aunt Lucille opened her eyes and smiled at me. “Ridge.”
She was coherent. I returned her smile and sat back down, clasping her hand again.
“Hi, Aunt Lucille.” I tried to keep my emotions from my voice. She wasn’t lucid most of the time, so for me to be here when she was with it was a true gift I didn’t want to waste.
She lifted her hand and stroked my cheek. “You look terribly tired. And you have blood on you. That’s no way to represent the family name.”
I laughed. My aunt had married into the Blackwood family and never once cared about the name, so it was a running joke between us.
“Aunt Lucille, you had another feral episode,” I said gently. “You hurt a caretaker and got out again.”
Her eyes shimmered with tears, and her lip quivered.
“I know you don’t want to talk about things, but it’d be good if you tried therapy. Your wolf needs to relax. And being around so many shifters hasn’t helped.”
A tear leaked down her cheek, and I wiped it away.
“My wolf misses your uncle as terribly as I do,” she said. “It’s an unbearable loss. She has big blanks in her memory, as I do, about when we disappeared. We don’t know what happened to him. Those blanks make it harder for either of us to cope.” She patted my hand. “Ridge, sweetheart, I don’t think I’ll get better. You’ll understand why I want to give up and let my wolf run the show when you meet your own true match. I pray you won’t ever lose her, because then you’d feel exactly what I feel now. There is no word for this. Grief and mourning don’t even begin to describe what it feels like to lose a fated mate.”
I lifted her hand to my lips and gave it another kiss. She was broken and lost. I could see it in her eyes, hear it in her voice, sense it in her energy. She didn’t want to fight anymore.
Tori came to mind, and I couldn’t help but think of how intense my protective instincts toward her were. They were a little overwhelming. I constantly thought of her all day. The idea of her leaving had both my wolf and me on high alert. I didn’t just want her sexually. I wanted to laugh with her, run with her, converse with her. I wanted everything with her.
“Aunt Lucille, how did you and Uncle Vincent know you were fated mates? Was it some big moment of just knowing?”
Aunt Lucille laughed. “We were childhood friends and grew up together, constantly needling each other, and never thought anything more of our relationship until I went on my first date with another shifter. Oh, boy, your Uncle Vincent snapped and just about killed the poor boy, but everybody understood. The easiest way of knowing another shifter is your true mate is by knowing you wouldn’t be able to live without them.” A sadness came over my aunt. “Or you’d just rather let your wolf take control to take the pain away. My wolf helps take my pain away.”
The room grew heavy with sorrow, and I wanted to ask her more questions because I wondered if Tori might be my true mate. The true mate I never thought I’d find because finding one was rare.
But I couldn’t ask more questions. Aunt Lucille had slipped back into her mad ramblings.
I couldn’t get close enough to kiss her, which hurt me. I wondered if this was the last conversation I’d have with my aunt. I prayed it wasn’t.
I spoke with Nurse Rainey and let her know that my aunt was no longer lucid. She promised that she’d take care of her.
As I left the facility, I thought more about what my aunt had said and how I’d lost it when Zander touched Tori. I had been ready to kill the bastard and had no second thoughts about it. I wanted to look more into this, and I wondered if Tori and I were meant to be because I had already tried to protect and care for her in a way I’d never experienced with anyone else.
It felt like our relationship was bigger than both of us. For me, it was more than just protecting Tori, but I wasn’t sure yet where it was taking us.
Chapter25
Tori
The bed sheets were still warm. Curling into them further and inhaling deeply, I found comfort in being surrounded by Ridge’s scent. Contentment eased through me.
I reached out to wrap my arm around Ridge, but I hit nothing. I swayed my arm back and forth, but there was nothing but sheets. I lifted my head to find Ridge’s side of the bed vacant. The side of the bed where he’d slept was empty and the sheets were cold. He’d been gone a while.
“Ugh. I swear if he went to work, I’m gonna do it. I’m gonna use that pen on his face.”
