Page 35 of The Renegade Mate

“Promise?”

“I promise. How's the pain in your arm?”

"Why?" I asked.

"Just wondering if you need a distraction."

Mmm. "What sort of distraction?"

Ryan, his eyes dark, leaned over me, then brought his lips down to meet mine. The kiss was electric, sending pulses of desire shooting through me. I wrapped my arms around him, drawing him even closer.

"I definitely need distracting," I murmured against his mouth.

“Good, coz I’m not nearly done with you.”

Chapter twenty

Ryan

My wolf woke me. The scent of Derek, a mix of pine and moss, hit first, before he started banging on my door. Mai stirred beside me.

I glanced at the clock. Eight in the morning. We’d slept late. I slipped out of bed and pulled on a pair of sweatpants before padding over to the door. My hand lingered on the cold handle, and I took a deep breath, bracing myself for whatever was on the other side.

“What is it, Derek?” I whispered, not wanting to wake Mai. His familiar figure was framed in the dim hallway light.

“You need to hear this, bro,” he said, his voice tight.

My stomach dropped. More bad news. I nodded, stepping back to let him in.

Mai had sat up, her beautiful brown eyes wide and alert, her dark hair a wild tangle around her shoulders. She pulled the sheet closer to her as Derek stepped inside, the chill from the open door cutting through the warm room.

“Sorry to barge in on you guys like this, but it couldn’t wait,” Derek said, his gaze flicking between the two of us. “I’ve been in contact with Evelyn. She was one of our enforcers who escaped the sweep by Brock’s men. She’s staying in an empty house of her cousin’s for now, still inside the Three Rivers territory.”

“She’s got news for us?” I asked.

“Yeah, and we’ve got a problem.”

“The problem being?” Mai questioned, her voice sleep-roughened yet alert.

“Tristan,” Derek said simply, letting the name hang in the air. “I sent the photos of him to all our contacts. Evelyn’s seen him. Says he’s walking around Three Rivers like he’s the Alpha there. That he’s all tight with Brock’s enforcers.”

“Fuck!”

“Yeah. It was too much to hope that he’d crawl into a ditch somewhere.”

“We need to warn Michael,” Mai said. “If Tristan is back working with Brock, then their plans aren’t finished. Tristan is still aiming to take over the Bridgetown Pack, and Brock will be helping him.”

I nodded. “We’ll get dressed and meet you downstairs.”

Ten minutes later, we walked into Michael’s study. He sat at his desk, his head buried in some paperwork. Shya was reading a book near the fireplace and picking at a plate of breakfast food. Michael looked up at our arrival, his calm exterior barely hiding the worry in his eyes.

“You have news?” he asked, pushing aside the pile of papers to give us his full attention.

“Is Camille around? She needs to hear this too,” Mai said.

Michael shook his head. “She’s dealing with Henry and Tucker. There was some dispute over a favorite book of Henry’s found covered in mud and ice cream stains.”

I smiled and made a mental note to buy Henry a book and Tucker some ice cream.

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