Page 12 of The Renegade Mate

For a moment, there was silence before I heard her take two deep breaths. Then her voice changed. It was calmer. Not completely calm, but like the steadiness you get after you are all cried out. “Don’t come back here, Mai. There’s nothing for you here.”

Then she hung up before I could reply.

I stood there for a moment, not sure what I was feeling. Rage, pity, frustration?

All of it swirling through me. Then a tidal wave of grief came out of nowhere and crashed over me, threatening to pull me under. Hearing Hayley’s voice had cracked open the wound of losing Jem, raw and bleeding once more. I sank to my knees, sobs tearing through my chest as all the sorrows I’d been holding back broke free.

My big brother, my protector, my family—gone forever. The pain was unbearable, an endless abyss of anguish that I saw no way out of. It clouded my vision, stole my breath, consumed every part of me until I didn’t know how I could take another breath in a world where such vital light had been extinguished.

And then Ryan was there, his strong arms surrounding me, holding the shattered pieces of me together. Through our bond, I felt his love envelop me in a soothing embrace. He couldn’t take away my pain, but he eased it, his presence giving me the strength to ride the storm of grief.

I clung to him as the sorrow crested and finally began to recede, leaving me weary but intact. Ryan had anchored me through the worst of it, promising with his silent comfort that I would never have to face such darkness alone. Not anymore.

I clung to that, to the love pulsing through our bond. I didn’t know how I was going to move on without Jem. How we were going to keep on living when he didn’t get to. There was a lot right now that I didn’t know. But I knew one thing for certain, and I grasped onto it. I couldn’t let Hayley lead the Three Rivers Pack.

I took a deep breath, steeling myself, then looked at Ryan. “It’s okay. I’m alright now.”

“It’s going to take time, Mai. Grief is going to hit you unexpectedly, but I’ll always be here when it does. I promise.” He ran his fingers through my hair and kissed the tip of my nose.

“I know. But we can only make it work if we do this together. As a team.”

A small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. He nodded, his grip around my waist tightening slightly. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“Really? Well, I want to tear my hair out sometimes, you make me so mad. That or kick you in the head to get you to see how stubborn and unreasonable you’re being.”

“I’ll admit I can be overbearing and obnoxious sometimes.”

“Sometimes?”

“I’m not used to having a mate. I’ve been alone, knowing you’re out there and thinking I’d rejected you for four years, Mai. I’ve had to learn how to deal with that. I’m used to making decisions by myself and them being obeyed without question. You coming back, us sealing our bond, that changed everything. But it’s going to be a learning curve for both of us.”

I nodded. He was right. This was something we were going to have to work out as we went along. “I just wish we could do that in our own time.”

“Me too. But we don’t have a choice anymore. Brock and Hayley will be coming for us. They are in charge of the Three Rivers now, and I can’t even begin to imagine the damage they can cause to our Pack. They’ll take us back to the bad days when Oliver was in charge. They’ll undo all the good that Jem did. We can’t let that happen, Mai.”

His expression turned playful. “Plus, I'll let you kick me in the head anytime I cross the line.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. "You'll let me?"

His grin widened. "I'll probably enjoy it."

I shook my head, a small laugh escaping me. Maybe, just maybe, we could do this. And if he did start to get too bossy … Well, I knew how to throw a kick that Ryan would most definitely not enjoy.

I turned as the study door creaked open. Elise, one of the Bridgetown Pack’s enforcers we’d been introduced to earlier, stepped in with a tray of food. I looked at her, and her eyes, which had seemed alert and wary before, now had a different kind of intensity.

“Thought you two might be hungry,” she said, her voice oozing casual friendliness. She placed the tray filled with sandwiches and drinks on the table near us.

“Thank you, Elise. That’s thoughtful of you,” Ryan said, his eyes meeting mine for a brief moment.

Something didn’t sit right. Her scent was off—it was tinged with a sharp note that set my inner wolf on edge. Before I could give a warning, Elise’s hand shot under the tray and pulled out a knife. Then, with one swift movement, she dove toward Ryan.

Chapter seven

Mai

The gleam of Elise’s blade sent a chill down my spine. Before I could even register the danger, Ryan had pushed me back and leaped toward Elise, using his body as a shield to protect me. I stumbled back into the arm of the sofa seat and flipped over it onto my ass.

Fucking brilliant.

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