Page 91 of Tangled Hearts

“You can trust her, Kel,” he said to her.

She nodded at me.

I whispered the incantation, setting the gem on her chest. Her eyes fluttered close and she slept.

“You can’t offer assistance like that,” Ryder scowled at me.

“Excuse me?” I was taken aback by the tone of his voice.

“No one can know about your magic, the less people that know, the better,” he said, pacing the room. “So, if for some reason one of my family gets greedy or taken, they have no information to give.”

“She could end up blind, do you expect me to just sit here and do nothing?” I snapped.

“If it means saving you?—”

“Ryder.” I whispered.

“We are also shifters so she should heal up just fine. I don’t know how long it will take her, but our bodies heal themselves quicker than humans,” he said, looking over at his sister.

“Oh, I didn’t know that,” I said, now feeling embarrassed.

“Heaven, everything we do is under a microscope, one wrong move and this could end up with you being taken away,” he said, stepping closer to me. “We have to be careful because I won’t lose you. If they take you, we might never see you again and I’d hate to see what would happen if the four of us had to look for you. We would tear the world to shreds and have no remorse for it because your life is worth more than this measly world we live in.”

“Ryder,” I said, as he touched our foreheads together.

“I love you, Heaven, and if I have to be the bad guy, I have no problem being that person,” he said. “I know you want to save everyone, but their life is not worth yours in any fucking lifetime.”

The bond was humming with intensity.

“Ok, but I’d like to save whomever I can,” I said, looking up at him.

“Once we figure out how to defeat Laima and Taylin, we can save whomever you want, but right now it's too risky,” he said, capturing my lips in a kiss.

It was passionate, a little unhinged and enough to make me want to wrap my arms around him and tell him to fuck me right now.

He sucked on my bottom lip before pulling away. “I want to be able to kiss you like that for the rest of our lives. I don’t want to have to stop because I’m worried or we aren’t in a secure location. I never want to hold back with you, and for that to happen, we need to be alive and ready for them.”

He kissed my forehead before he let me heal his sister and we finished breakfast with his family. They were so close you could feel the love between them, and I craved for this someday. A room full of the people with whom I loved, sharing a meal.

26

GRAY

Balder parties are something else. The entire pack shows up for it. They have a big potluck with two grills going at the same time. It always happened when Ryder came home and I can see how much my friend hates the attention, but also misses his family.

My heart twinged a little wishing I had had this growing up, but grateful that I got to experience this now. It was a rocky relationship when Ryder first brought us here, but most of the family has grown to tolerate us while his immediate family loved us.

We were in the pack square where they held most of the parties and also pack meetings. The picnic tables they had out were full of shifters and two tables full of food. Oria sat next to me leaning against Ryder as she watched with rapt attention at all the people around us.

“Are you hungry, love?” I asked, seeing Samira and Wyman getting up for food.

She nodded, looking back at me with a small smile.

“Come on, Heaven, let's get some food,” Ryder said, lifting her up as he stood up, setting her on her feet. “Come on, Max.”

“I can wait,” he said. “I don’t want?—”

“Come on, let's get you fed.” Samira grabbed Max’s hand, hauling him to the food, and while he looked a little uncomfortable, it made me happy they hadn’t discriminated against him.

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