Chapter 44
Chapter Forty-Four
T he trip back was tense and quiet and horny as hell. Hiking back to the truck had only taken a few hours, so they decided to forgo another campout and just drive home.
Now that it was all out there, Ruby didn’t want to waste any more time. Mates were forever. And that felt so right to her, so exactly right, she couldn’t wait another minute for it to start. For Rafe to be hers.
Ruby hadn’t stopped touching him the whole trip, even as he drove. She ran her fingers over his arm, through his hair, up and down his thigh until Rafe had grabbed her hand and warned her with a low growl that she needed to stop or they wouldn’t make it home.
She’d voted for pulling over and fucking on the side of the road, but he said no. Not in the truck, not in the middle of the day on the side of the highway. He kissed the back of her hand while she pouted, and she soaked in every lopsided grin he sent her way. It was the longest hour ever.
But now they were home, and Ruby dropped her bag in the living room, leaning her back against the front door.
She closed her eyes and sucked in a deep breath.
Her whole body was vibrating in anticipation.
Rafe was hers. And they were about to seal the deal.
She was ready to mate the hell out of her werewolf.
It was like some part of her had known all along, like the little girl who loved ghost stories and haunted houses, who liked to stay up late watching old werewolf movies, had known exactly what was waiting for her.
A small, smug part of her was vindicated by Rafe’s existence.
She was right. Things did go bump in the night and they were sexy as hell.
“Hey, you’re back!” Theo’s cheerful voice snapped her out of her thoughts.
Ruby opened her eyes to find him smiling at her as he came down the stairs. “Hey, Theo.”
“Where’s Rafe?”
“Unloading the truck.”
Theo nodded. “How did everything go?”
“Uh?… well, I met your mom.” It was the first thing that came to mind that didn’t involve entering into a mating bond with Rafe or bringing up their terrifying third brother.
The smile fell from Theo’s face. He ran a hand over his curls. “Oh yeah? How is she?”
“I think she misses you.”
It was the wrong thing to say. Theo’s expression darkened and for the first time since she met him, Ruby could imagine him as an animal.
“Lena’s a little shaken up,” he said, gesturing up the stairs and bypassing Ruby’s comment. “But I think she’ll believe you now.”
“What did you do?” All other thoughts left her mind as worry for her sister crowded back in.
Theo shrugged, his casual charm returning. He flashed Ruby a smile. “Seeing is believing. So, I showed her a few things.”
“You shifted in front of her?” Ruby strode through the living room, already heading for the stairs. “I wanted her to take me seriously. I didn’t want to kill her!”
Theo laughed. “She’s not dead. Just a little?… surprised.”
“Surprised? Shit, Theo. You’re the worst babysitter ever.”
He laughed again before opening the front door. “She’ll be fine. I gotta go. See you around, Ruby.”
He was gone before she could tell him he was an asshole like his brothers.
She took the stairs two at a time until she reached the top.
Lena’s door was closed, and Ruby hesitated, not really wanting to face her yet, but also needing to know if she was alright.
Or as alright as she could be after witnessing a man turn into a wolf and back again.
She knocked and held her breath.
“I’m not letting you in.” Her sister’s voice was strong and angry from the other side. At least she wasn’t cowering in fear or, worse, slipping into another episode.
“It’s me. I’m back.”
Stomping footsteps approached, and then the door swung open. Lena’s eyes blazed bright and her hair was a wild halo around her head.
“Jesus, Lena?—”
“No.” She held up a trembling hand in front of Ruby’s face. “No, Ruby. I’ve had enough for one day. No more of this?… this?… whatever the hell this is.”
“Okay, Lena, I’m sorry. I just?—”
“Nope. No more. No more strange men staying here with us. I don’t need a babysitter. I need everyone to leave me the fuck alone.”
The door slammed in her face before Ruby could speak again. Shit. Ruby had never seen her sister that angry before, especially not lately, not with all her strength leached from her body. Maybe anger was better than submission to whatever this power was that was eating her from the inside.
Ruby knocked again. “Lena, I know it all seems crazy but?—”
“Go away, Ruby.”
She blew out an impatient sigh. “I tried to tell you.”
“Ruby, I swear to God…”
“Okay, okay?… you need a little time to process this.”
Her sister scoffed and Ruby heard it loud and clear through the door. “I did warn you,” Ruby muttered. “Just try and remember you liked Rafe before. And he’s the same guy now. And you have to admit, Theo is pretty charming.”
“Ruby…”
“Okay.” Ruby held up her hands in surrender even though Lena couldn’t see her.
“I’m going. We can chat more about this?…
uh?… later.” She hesitated a minute longer outside Lena’s door in case she changed her mind.
At least she was safe for the moment, Ruby told herself as she backed away from Lena’s room.
Safe and sound. And Ruby had unfinished business with Rafe.
Business she intended to finish very soon.
She hurried down the stairs and into the kitchen.
Rafe was still out front with Theo. Ruby paced the small kitchen, her heart thundering in her chest. What the hell was he doing out there?
Holding some kind of werewolf summit? Her foot knocked into the cat dish as she walked, and it rattled across the floor.
“Shoot,” she muttered. The dish was empty, so she pulled out the cat food and gave it a shake, expecting Lucy to come running, but the little demon was nowhere to be seen. She poured it and still no cat. That was odd. The glutton always came when he heard the kibble hit the dish.
“Lucifer? Where are you? Did you return to the depths of hell?” She made the universal cat kissy-face noise, but still no cat.
Ruby blew out a long sigh and opened the back door.
It wouldn’t be the first time he got out.
Damn cat had a deep love for sparrows. Not to eat, just to stare at for hours on end.
Sometimes he liked to get a closer look.
“Lucy? Lucy, where are you?”
How long had he been gone? she wondered as she stalked out into the yard. A small stab of guilt hit her at not realizing sooner he was missing. She was a horrible cat mom.
“Lucifer, come on home. Who wants belly scratches?” she cooed.
She walked to the edge of the yard where she’d let the grass grow far too tall.
“Is that you?” She peered into the darkness between the trees, and a set of golden eyes peered back. “Holy shit,” she whispered.
“Looking for me, sweetheart?” Wyatt’s eyes flashed and his mouth tipped into a wolfy grin. Ruby’s skin crawled at the endearment. It held none of the teasing familiarity it did when Sal used it.
“What are you doing here?”
Wyatt leaned against the nearest tree, his posture deceptively relaxed, like the edge of the woods was a perfectly reasonable place to chat.
“You’re a hard woman to get a hold of. I wasn’t expecting you’d hire a bodyguard.”
“He’s not a bodyguard.”
Wyatt smirked. “Call him whatever you like, sweetheart.”
“Don’t call me that.” She tried backing away. She needed to get closer to the house, out of the shadows. Could anyone see her back here?
But Wyatt grabbed her by the arm. “I don’t want to hurt you,” he said, even as his fingers clamped down on her bicep.
“Then what the hell do you want?”
“We want your help.”
“For what?” If she kept him talking long enough Rafe would come looking for her. Wouldn’t he?
Wyatt tugged her arm, pulling her further into the darkness.
“Our Alpha thinks your little talent could be very handy for our pack.”
“I don’t have any talents.” She still didn’t know if he thought she was Lena or if he even knew they were twins.
Or if he thought?they were both seers and he’d take either one.
But what she said was true. She didn’t have any talents that could help this wolf or his Alpha or anyone.
One lousy dream over a decade ago didn’t make her omniscient. This guy was sorely misinformed.
“We’ve heard stories that suggest otherwise.”
“You can’t believe everything you hear. Especially around here.”
He’d been tugging her slowly into the woods. The hulking shapes of two giant wolves hovered in the shadows.
Fuck.
Where the hell was Rafe?
Wyatt let out a low chuckle. “I like you. After you talk to our Alpha, me and you can have some fun.”
Ruby shuddered. “What does he think I can do?”
“You can see things.”
“So?”
Wyatt smirked. “The County pack is trying to fuck with us.”
“How?” Keep talking, Ruby, keep stalling .
“Knox wants to make us a deal, and we need to know if we can trust him. My guess is no. The County is filled with lying bastards but…”—he shrugged—“I’m not in charge.”
“What kind of deal?”
“He wants us to… How did he put it? Combine our assets.” Wyatt chuckled like the whole thing was a joke. “After fucking centuries of being enemies, the Alpha of the County pack wants us to become business partners .”
“Why?” Ruby was still trying to stall but now she was also genuinely interested in what Knox was up to.
“He wants to merge the packs so we can buy the land.”
“That sounds like a good idea.”
“That’s because you’re a human. We can’t bury generations of hatred just like that.”
Ruby scoffed. “Humans have plenty of our own hatred. I still think it sounds like a good idea.” Especially after seeing how the wolves lived, how precarious their lives were on borrowed land.
“But it doesn’t matter. I can’t see anything about that,” she said. “I swear. I only ever had one vision, one dream. That won’t help you at all.”
“That’s not what we’ve heard.”
She was not about to inform him that it was her twin sister he’d heard about. And she was running out of time. She could see Wyatt’s patience wearing thin. He stepped toward her, his grip tightening on her arm. He was done with their little chat.
“Wyatt,” she said with a slow smile, closing the gap between them even further. She let her gaze rove over him, pretending she liked what she saw. “I’m sure we can work something out.”
His blonde brows rose like he was suddenly interested in what she had to say.
“Oh yeah?” He smirked. “Like what?”
She yanked hard, catching Wyatt by surprise. His hand slipped from her arm. His growl joined the growls of the wolves in the shadows.
“I really wish you’d stop making this so hard,” he said.
Ruby turned and ran.
But wolves are faster than humans could ever be. One of the creatures pounced before she could think. Her scream tore through the quiet evening as the werewolf knocked her to the ground.