Page 57 of In Plain Sight

Figuring Ruby was just running behind, I jumped at the chance to grab a shower instead of just sitting around waiting. When I stepped out, she was there waiting for me.

"You have no idea how bad I want to jump you right now, but dinner's getting cold," she said with a sly grin.

I pulled her into my arms and kissed her deeply. We hadn't been having sex as regularly as we had pre-baby news. She had this unfounded fear that we would somehow hurt the baby. When we did it was slow and vanilla, but I could handle that much better than a permanent case of blue balls.

"Maybe the food can just be reheated later," she said in a whisper against my lips.

My stomach chose that moment to growl. I hadn't come in for lunch since I'd been out on the range and I suddenly regretted that decision.

Ruby pulled back and laughed. "Fine. We'll eat," she teased.

I was disappointed, but my stomach was happy to feast on our meal. I could tell she was bubbling with excitement over something as we ate.

"You said you had something to tell me. What's up?" I asked.

"Okay, I was going to wait till dessert, but I'm so excited I have to tell you. You know I've been talking to Madelyn a lot lately and we've sort of reconnected and she's really been helping me through this pregnancy stuff, navigating the hormones, and all that craziness, right?"

"Right," I said, wondering where she was going with all this.

"Well, turns out Thomas needs a run to Westin and since I've been wanting to get out there and visit Maddie anyway, he's letting us tag along! Don't worry, it's strictly vacation for us, but I can't wait to introduce you to her. Cole and Lizzy will be there, and of course you already know Kyle and Kelsey, too. Anyway, we leave in the morning. I already packed for us."

She continued to ramble on, but I just sat there in shock.Another opportunity for you is about to arise.My Alpha's words were stuck on repeat in my head. How did he know?

* * * * *

The next morning, we were up bright and early. Good to her word, Ruby had us packed and the bags waiting at the front door. She must have been up early because she made breakfast burritos for us to grab and go.

I had barely slept a wink. I was exhausted, grumpy, and terrified. Maybe I was imagining the throbbing of my hand all night, I wasn't even certain. What I did know was that the perfect life I had mustered here in Collier was coming to a crashing end today. There was no way the blood oath would allow me to leave Westin Pack territory with Kelsey alive. Either she died or I died. There was no alternative, and as I stepped on the plane a short time later, there was no going back.

Ruby

Chapter 22

As I sat on the plane next to Bran, I could hardly contain my excitement. San Marco was a beautiful town, so different from Collier. Maddie and I had been talking several times a week and it surprised me how badly I wanted to see my baby sister.

Bran kept looking over at me and shaking his head with a smile on his face. I think my excitement was evident.

He hadn't seemed as thrilled about the surprise trip as I'd hoped. He had friends in Westin. Cole and Kyle would be there. Plus Wyatt, Austin, and Conlin were all joining us, and he was good friends with each of them.

Sometimes it was like there was this darkness deep inside him. I only ever saw glimpses of it, and had never asked. Depression maybe? I had no idea and he certainly went out of his way to try and hide it or battle it down, perhaps. He had never given me any reason to worry, but there was a certain melancholy surrounding him now that scared me.

Maybe he was just a creature of habit, like me. I wasn't a big fan of things like this being sprung on me at the last minute either. It was hard to say, but I felt this wall up between us that I hadn't been able to breech all morning. It was like he was here and by outward appearances he was his normal happy self, but I could feel something wasn't quite right between us.

I bounced in my seat as I looked out the window, part in excitement, part in nerves.

Bran nudged me and smiled, though it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Would you settle down. We still have an hour to go. You're really excited about seeing Maddie, aren't you?"

It was the most he'd said all day and I relaxed, wondering, not for the first time, if I was just worrying too much and seeing something that wasn't there.

"Don't make fun," I teased back. "I am excited. And you get to meet the rest of my family, too."

"Hey, speaking of which, Gage called yesterday. They're coming home today. He asked me to go over this morning and air out the house and pick up a few things before they got there."

"What? Why didn't you say so? We could have done that before we left this morning."

I shrugged. "It was an early morning. Stop worrying. Thomas is taking care of it. I called him after you passed out last night."

"I hope they're home still when we get back. I've missed Clara. They've been gone longer than usual this time."

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