Page 28 of Found

Which means he’s had time to settle in here and unpack. Maybe this was even his room before he came to Winter Lake to kidnap me.

So he packed up his stuff and left Minnesota to join the Raleighs.

Why?

With Bree dead, he could have still stayed and had a home and a family around him. Surely that would have been better than being an outsider here?

Or did the Raleighs hear about what happened with him and Bree and go to him, offering him more than he’s told me so far?

“You’re my mate,” he says as he dresses.

“Iwasyour mate,” I correct him. “You destroyed us so badly there’s no recovering from it.”

“You haven’t given me a chance to make amends.”

“There are no amends you can make.”

In the silence that falls, I try to tune out the sound of him dressing.

“I’ll change your mind, Aerin.”

I risk looking at him, and I’m relieved to find he’s finished dressing in a pair of blue jeans and a white T-shirt. I try not to think about how I smell after being on the road for so many hours.

“No. You won’t.” Before we can continue a conversation that has already gone on long enough, I glance at the bathroom door. “Are we going to dinner soon, or do I have time to use the bathroom first?”

He gives me a long look. “You have time.”

I walk past him and into the bathroom, closing the door and mentally cursing when I look for a lock on the door and can’t find one. There’s a towel hanging on the back of the door, but I wish there was something more. Something like a big, industrial size lock.

It wouldn’t keep Shane out for long, but it would make me feel a hell of a lot better using the bathroom, knowing I’d done something to make myself feel more secure.

I’m washing my face when there’s a soft knock on the door.

I freeze, relieved I hadn’t undressed to use the shower. “Yes?”

The door opens and Shane is standing there, holding a small bundle of clothes. “These are for you. They may be a little small in the chest because I didn’t remember you being…” His voice trails off.

“So big?” I finish tightly.

He darts a rapid glance at my belly and nods.

I walk over to him, taking the bundle of clothes so he will go away. “Thanks.”

He lingers for a beat then, when I say nothing else, he retreats, closing the door after him.

I look at the clothes in my arms.

They don’t smell of anything and the labels make it clear these are new. More signs he was preparing to bring me here if he thought to fill a dresser with clothes for him and me.

I’d love nothing more than to toss the clothes to the floor, or, better yet, out the window, but my current clothes smell from smoke, stale sweat, and are just plain unpleasant.

After having the quickest shower I’ve ever had in my life, I dress, brush my teeth, use the toilet—again—and walk outside in my slightly too small blouse and knee length black skirt.

Shane, who was sitting on the edge of the bed, gets to his feet with a smile. “Are you ready?”

“Sure.”

Dinner, held in a dining room further down a long hallway, is intimidating.

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