Page 23 of In Plain Sight

Lily had insisted on joining us, and it took her no time at all to lose enough to get drunk. She had a friend with her, and Thomas insisted they’d be fine. I’d also learned that her friend, Sydney, had almost been Thomas’s mate. Not a true mate, but he’d obviously cared about the girl enough to go through compatibility testing with her and be approved for mating by the Council. That story had led into another round of the importance of true mates, and I’d learned more about Thomas Collier than I’d ever hoped to know. The most important thing, though, was that his biggest weakness was Lily.

I had left their house and stripped to shift to my wolf. I gathered my clothes in my mouth and ran back to the apartment. I looked around and, finding no one in the area, I shifted back and didn’t bother getting dressed.

When I reached for the handle to the front door, I stilled. A shudder ran through my body. I hadn’t seen Ruby since that morning. It was the longest I’d gone without her since the first moment I’d laid eyes on her. I felt her nearby and it excited my inner wolf. I could literally feel our bond had begun to grow and knowing Thomas’s weakness now, I was terrified that Ruby would quickly become mine.

I took a deep breath and turned the knob. It was unlocked. I cursed under my breath. I knew it would be, but I hated that she refused to lock the door or show any concern for her own safety. I needed to remember to order new locks. I wouldn’t be comfortable leaving her alone in this world until that happened.

She was asleep on the couch, snoring lightly and looking so beautiful. I stood there watching her, feeling myself grow hard with desire.

“Ruby,” I said softly, but she didn’t budge. I leaned down and shook her lightly, but still nothing. “Ruby, mate?” I tried again a little louder, shaking her a little harder.

She screamed, then shot up and started wailing her arms out in front of her like she was swatting a swarm of bees away, then she began kicking out, alternating legs and continued to spastically come after me. I wondered for a moment if she were having a seizure or something.

“Ruby,” I said in a stern voice and she stilled. Opening her eyes fully, seeing me for the first time, she hauled off and punched me in the arm hard enough for it to sting.

“Don’t scare me like that. You can’t just sneak up on a lady while she’s sleeping,” Ruby yelled.

Confusion, then anger, then fear set in, and I pushed my wolf down as he sensed my emotions and needed to protect our mate.

“Sweetheart,” I said, choosing an endearment I thought would soothe her and defuse the situation, but in truth it felt right to call her that. “What if I had been a stranger walking in to attack you. You never lock the doors. It could happen. Is that how you’d fight them off?”

“What?” she asked.

“You looked like a fish out of water having a seizure when you tried to attack me. Don’t you know how to fight?”

She laughed at my description. “I can hit if I need to,” she insisted.

I rubbed my bicep where she’d punched me. “I learned that, but one punch isn’t fighting. Have you never learned to fight?”

“Why would I need to?” she said honestly.

“Well, I just scared you. It would have been in your right to fight back just now,” I said.

Ruby frowned. “I thought I did.”

I gave her a blank stare. “That was not fighting, Ruby. I don’t have a clue what that was, but it definitely was not fighting.”

She gave me a snort of indignation.

“Look, I just need to know you can take care of yourself if I’m not around. Just in case something bad happens.”

“Bran, this is Collier. We’re in the Middle-of-Nowhere, Wyoming. What bad stuff do you really think is going to happen?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. You don’t know. That’s why you train and learn to be prepared for anything.”

She didn’t look like she was buying it and crossed her arms over her chest in defiance. I tried to ignore them as they pushed up her breasts, inviting me to close the gap to claim my mate and forget all about this conversation.

“Well?” she asked. “What sort of danger do you foresee happening in Collier?”

I scrunched up my brow. “When the Bulgarians attacked Westin Pack, do you think they had time to stop and learn to fight? No. If they hadn’t already been prepared who knows what would have happened in that battle.”

“But we’re not at war with anyone,” she tried to point out logically.

“They weren’t either, that’s my point. By the time something does arise it’s too late to start training. You have to prepare in advance.” I could tell she wasn’t entirely sold. “Okay, how about something closer to home, more realistic. What if it hadn’t been me who walked in and instead someone wanted to force himself on you? You were asleep and vulnerable, Ruby. I could have had my way with you before you even knew what was happening.”

She shuddered. “My sister Madelyn was gang raped,” she said softly.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know that. I’m not trying to terrify you, I just want to keep you safe, even when I’m not around to do that for you,” I said honestly. I knew there would be a day much too soon when I would no longer be here to protect her. Every ounce of my being needed to know she was going to be okay after I was gone.

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