Page 53 of Wild Fires

I glared at her. “How long did my brother pine after you before you finally let his raven meet yours?”

“And I'm just gonna keep my mouth shut.”

“Good plan, babe.” Elias winked at his mate.

“I want to know how Elias and Kim knew about this but I didn’t,” Gia protested.

“Ryan just likes to keep things to himself,” David told her as he wrapped an arm around her like he was trying to protect her from getting hurt or something.

“I'm not in the habit of introducing you to every woman I sleep with,” I blurted out.

“Oh dear Lord. Do you have to be so vulgar?” Mom chastised. “I expect that from the rest of my kids, but not you, Ryan.”

“Well, it's the truth.”

“But you also don't bring flings back to your apartment, and you've had her over for more than one sleepover.”

“Shut up,” I warned him.

“Wait, she came to your apartment? Wow, she really is your mate, isn't she?” Gia asked.

“No. Yes. I don't know. Maybe.”

“I'm confused. How do you not know?”

Elias stepped in and explained it all so I didn't have to keep repeating myself.

“Ryan, get your ass up right now and you go to the girl and find out if you really are mates or not. Because if she is, then she deserves better than this from you,” Mom said.

“Language, Mom,” Gia warned with a smirk on her face.

“Oh, shut the hell up. It's not like everyone in this house doesn't curse once in a while. Just try not to make a goddamn habit of it. Ryan, get out of my house and face this like the man your father and I raised you to be.”

“You heard your mother. I'll let the Congress Council know you're okay and just needed some personal time off. Take a few days to get this mess sorted.”

“Mess? A true mate is not a mess,” Mom insisted.

Dad pointed to her behind her back and then made a circle with his finger next to his head to signify that he thought she was crazy.

We all stared in shock as he backed out of the room.

“You really should go and talk to her,” Gia said.

“I know. I just don’t know if I can do this. I'm more than a little freaked out. You weren't there and didn't see how horrific it was. I watched her die.”

Gia looked over at David and reached out for his hand to give it a squeeze. “I have a bit of an idea what that feels like. I thought I'd lost David forever, remember? But when he came back to me, there was nothing standing in my way of getting to him. So what are you waiting for?”

“He didn't even know who you were when you found him. Hell, he still doesn't. What if Gracie loses her memories when she's reborn or whatever Elias called it?”

“What are you talking about?” David asked. “All of my memories are intact.”

“Wait, what?” Elias asked.

“When did that happen?” Dean demanded.

“Yeah, why didn't you say anything?”

He shrugged. “I guess I didn't really think it mattered to anyone but Gia. They weren't gone all that long. Everything came back to me when we went on our trip. The doctor said the swelling in my brain just needed to go down some first.”

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