Page 74 of Out of My Flocking Mind

Of course, Ryder was every bit as handsome as his brother, so it wasn’t like he needed it for that particular reason.

Asshole. Just one more reason to hate him—and he’d already given me plenty of those.

“You up?” At first, the sight of Ryder’s face let me relax. It was stupid—I knew this was Ryder, after all—but my brain went back to Harrison. How was it I was close enough with him now that even the sight of him would ease me, would make me feel safe? Ryder tilted his head slightly as he crouched beside me, making me realize I was flat on the floor in the center of a rather massive shop. The large windows at the front were all covered with brown paper, as though the place were getting ready to open.

The scent told me the truth, though. It was almost shockingly sweet, a sure sign that he’d used this place to make Cloud. Part of me was surprised he’d let me come here, but then again, he was probably about done here, ready to move on to the next little hole he’d crawl into. I pushed myself up to sitting as I considered the truth behind that. Ryder expected to destroy Harrison with this. He knew he’d blame himself for my death, and he wanted to take everything from his brother. Between pouring Cloud into the community and destroying me, he’d have finished his plan then slunk off into the sunset.

Which reminded me of the other important thing, so I looked around the room. “Where’s Trey?”

Ryder smiled as though he found my stupidity oddly charming. “He’s over there.” He gestured toward the corner of the shop, where I spotted Trey’s form in a heap. “He’s stronger than I would have expected. Weres usually are, but I’m used to dealing with wolves. He’s the first bear I’ve ever met, and I’d like for it to be the last.”

“Did you fix him?”

Ryder let out a loud sigh as though the conversation bored him. “I did what I could. I told you from the start that it wasn’t a for sure fix, but I patched up what I could.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means I did what I said I would and gave it a shot. He’ll probably not have to get put down anymore, but fuck knows for sure. He’s never going to be totally normal.”

I curled my hands into fists, frustration eating away at me with how little he seemed to care. He’d done this. He’d caused this pain. Sure, I had a hand in it, but he should feel worse than I did about it, yet he spoke as though it was the last thing he gave a damn about.

And fuck if that didn’t make me want to end his pathetic life. I wasn’t all that bloodthirsty normally. I was far more the type who’d get petty revenge when pissed off. I’d screw with people for years when they made me mad, but even with the worst of the worst, I’d never really wanted to kill them.

Maybe Ryder deserved an award for that shit.

“How do I know you’re telling the truth?” I asked.

“Does it matter? You’ve already given up your leverage, so it doesn’t really matter if I’m telling you the truth or not. You can’t do anything either way.”

“You underestimate just how much of a problem I can be.”

“I don’t think I am. I’ve seen just how much you’ve screwed with my plans. Besides there’s no reason for me not to do as you asked. It’s not like I plan on killing you right away, so my life will be far easier if you behave yourself. If I screwed you over and lied from the jump, it’d just create more issues for me.”

I stared at him, trying to determine the truth. I didn’t trust that I could spot every lie from him, but he seemed to be telling me the truth. I had no idea if that meant Trey would recover, if he’d fixed enough to make a difference, but it was better than nothing.

“Okay,” I answered. “I’ll believe you.”

“Good girl. Now, we need to get going.”

“Where?”

“Well, we can’t stay here. I’ve got no idea if you gave anyone else the information or if Harrison could track you somehow. I know you wouldn’t have told anyone right away, but you could have left a note. It’s better to leave the bear here and we go. I’ve finished my time in this area anyway—I’ve managed to take everything away from Harrison, to make sure he knows exactly how I’ve felt all these years. My work here is done.” He rose, then grabbed a stack of clothing off one of the tables. When he tossed it, it landed in a pile before me. “Change into this. I want everything off so there’s no chance of you wearing some tracker. You’ll leave your jewelry, your phone, your shoes, everything.”

“You’re just like all men, telling me to get naked as soon as we meet,” I muttered, then stared at him with one eyebrow lifted.

He rolled his eyes but turned his back on me. Him giving in surprised me, but I’d guess that was a timeline thing. If he had to fight with me, everything would take far longer.

“Don’t think I’m going soft,” Ryder said, his back still to me. “If you cause me problems, I have no problem tearing the bear’s mind apart again. I just want to get this done as fast as possible.”

I stripped, hating again how bright the room was. I’d rather have it dimmed so I didn’t feel like I was stripping under a fucking spotlight. I ignored that, though, I went as quickly as I could. It wasn’t for Ryder’s comfort, but rather I wanted to be dressed again as soon as possible. I disliked the idea of being buck-ass-naked in a room with an unstable Werebear and a drugged-up Mind. Nope, that was about the time I’d prefer a full suit of armor.

However, the black sweats and sweatshirt that Ryder had given me would have to do. At least they were butt-fuck ugly. If he’d put me in some frilly bullshit, I’d have been even more annoyed. No one could see this get up and get an erection, though.

And if they could? They were into shit way too weird for me.

“Done,” I said as I pulled on the second shoe. He’d left sandals for me, ones that used a single strap over the top of the foot. It meant that despite them being a tad too big, they’d work well enough. I scrambled to my feet once I’d finished.

“Keys?” he asked.

---