Page 41 of Tangled Hearts

I looked over my shoulder scanning the area, but I didn't see anything. There was no way mother or Taylin could have found us so quickly. My stomach churned with nerves as I realized I wouldn’t be able to do anything about looking forward until we broke free of Mother. It was time for me to realize that this wouldn’t end until they had both been taken care of. It was then that I finally realized I would have to kill my mother, and possibly Taylin. I didn’t know if I had it in me.

13

RYDER

My entire body was stiff and sore. Opening my eyes, the room was dark, and it smelled musty. I was lying on a couch and I had no idea how I got here. Sitting up, I winced at the sharp pain in my side, remembering that I had been stabbed multiple times.

Dammit, did I pass out in the car?

The house was quiet as I looked around wondering where everyone was. I strained to hear something when I heard rhythmic breathing, and I knew someone had to be asleep in the house. I hoped I hadn’t gotten us caught.

“How are you feeling?”

My body tensed for a second before I realized it was one of the twins.

“I guess better than I deserve,” I groaned, as I tried to get up.

“Yeah, you almost got us into an accident,” he clipped, as he walked into the room, sitting down across from the sofa I was on.

“I wasn’t thinking,” I admitted, finally realizing it was Gray. “I just wanted to get out of there and with Soren making out with Oria and her scent, it wasn’t a good combo for me. I wasn’t handling it well.”

“Ryder,” Gray said, but it sounded like he was scolding me. “Why are you resisting?”

I didn’t know. Blaming Serena didn’t feel right anymore. I did feel guilty, but I also knew that if she found out I had my fated mate close to me, she would have probably kicked my ass. A smile made my lips twitch, but knowing she would want me to move on didn’t make it any better.

“I don’t know.”

Gray sighed. “I’m not going to pressure you into mating with her, that should be your choice. She deserves for you to choose her, but if you know that you can’t do that, I think… I think you should walk away.”

I growled at the thought of walking away from her.

“When we met Addie for that location spell, I kissed her,” I said, looking away. “I've already had a taste of her; I… I don’t think I can walk away now. My wolf won’t allow it.”

Gray smirked. “Well, shit, what are you waiting for?”

I chuckled. “I don’t know, I’m just hesitant about making her mine only for her to be taken away from me. I lost Serena, but I know if I lose her too, I won’t survive. I don’t think I would want to survive without her.”

“We won’t. There are four of us and if we can’t protect our mate, then we are not worthy of the name mate,” Gray said, running a hand down his face.

“Four of us?” I questioned.

“Max and she talked last night,” he said, looking up where I assumed Max and she were. “He feels like he’s a part of our pack, he doesn’t raise my hackles and?—”

“He loves Oria,” I said, finishing his sentence.

“What more could we ask for?” He sighed. “Plus, I know you have this shifter bromance going on, so I think we are squared away.”

I rolled my eyes.

“Come on, Ryder, we all saw how close to Loki you were. It was a match made in shifter heaven,” he chuckled. “A cat and shifter lived happily ever after.”

I tried not to smile, but I couldn’t deny that I felt a weird kinship with the cat. It also helped that I had someone who was in my corner about the bond and now I knew where his hostility had come from.

“I feel like the balance is even. Two shifters and two vampires,” I said, with a small smile.

“Perfect balance,” he said. “We all know you shifters crave balance.”

I rolled my eyes, getting up. “Any food?”

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