Page 65 of Lost Mate

Eli smirked at him. “Be prepared to be reamed out and smothered in one call. But your feeling about the alpha was spot on. The previous alpha was thrown out for assaulting a lower ranking member of his pack.”

Dylan absently touched his kidney and Ross felt that ache in his own kidney. “You mean me?”

“Yeah. Your father challenged the alpha and won. They know a little of what happened to you and want you to come home. You know what moms are like.”

Dylan blinked, then turned to Ross. “Will you come with me? Not to stay, but to reconnect. I owe them that.”

Ross leaned into him. “You know I will.”

Dylan turned back to Eli and Niles. “You said you had two bits of news.”

“We’ve found the shifters that went missing with Dylan,” Niles said.

Dylan clutched Ross’s hand painfully. “You’ve found them?”

Eli’s smile was the brightest Ross had ever seen.

“They contacted us today. Ross, you didn’t know but when you called one hospital to find Anderson, you spoke to a shifter from this pride. They’re lions. She didn’t trust you enough to give you the information until she’d checked us out and talked to her pride last night. Her alphas knew us and contacted me this morning.”

“So what happened?” Dylan asked.

“We don’t know all the story yet, but you saved them, Dylan. You drove them to the pride before the hunters could kill you all. You found out what the hunters were planning and rescued them all.”

Dylan furrowed his brow. “Why didn’t I drive them here? That would have made more sense.”

“Because you told the pack the ranch wasn’t safe because of something the hunters had planned. I think maybe it was Owen’s abduction. You thought they’d be safer with the lions. I guess you’d intended to call us but then something happened to you.”

“So what went wrong? Why did I lose my memory and get separated from the pride?”

“We don’t know yet. One of the shifters said not long after you got there, you went out for supplies and didn’t return. They didn’t know what happened to you. They thought you’d been captured by the hunters.”

Dylan licked his lips. “I didn’t betray you?”

Joe shook his head. “You saved all those shifters.”

Ross enfolded Dylan in a hug. You realize what this means? You’re a hero, not a traitor.

Fuck. Dylan sounded bewildered. I don’t know what to think.

Just lean on me, baby. You don’t have to think yet.

“The alpha and one of the shifters you saved is driving up here to talk to us now. They’ll be here soon,” Eli said. “I wanted to give you the heads up rather than spring it on you.”

Ross felt Dylan press back against his chest. “It’s okay. I’ve got you,” he murmured in Dylan’s ear and felt him shiver.

“I don’t remember any of this.”

“I know you don’t. That’s okay. You don’t have to. These shifters can give you back parts of your memory.”

“It doesn’t tell me what happened to me.” Dylan sounded wrecked.

Ross understood. This should be good news. The Cavalry knew their man had done a good thing. But for Dylan, it just reminded him he still knew nothing about his life. The man who had saved the shifters was a stranger to him. “Let them talk to you and give you some of the pieces. The shifters might know more about you than you think.”

Dylan nodded but he didn’t pull away from Ross.

“We’ve got the names of all the shifters,” Niles said. “Some of them have returned to their own packs. Others don’t want to. The pride they’re in can’t support them for much longer. They’re too small. Joe and Cal want to hold a meeting to talk about inviting them into our pack.”

Our pack. Yes, Ross noticed that, but he kept his face blank. He saw Eli’s and Joe’s eyes widen, but they didn’t call Niles out on it.

---