Page 50 of A Wolf's Wound
With some attempt at dignity, I push past him to step out of the break room.It’s hard to think whenever he’s so close.
But I don’t step out of the break room, and I don’t open the doors.I stand with my hand on the handle, and he stands so close that I can feel his breath stirring my hair.
“Please.”There’s no demand in his voice, but his tone is almost worse.He’s pleading with me.
Part of me, the most treacherous part, is pleading with me too.He just wants to keep you safe, it cajoles.Why can’t you let him?Can’t you imagine how good it would be, waking up with him in his bed?
But most of me is wondering why he cares so much to begin with.
I don’t know Ryder, not really, and not for long.And sure, waking up to see him snoring with my raccoon on the couch was sweet… but before that?I can’t shake the way he looked last night.
Like he was haunted.
Like he knows more than he’s letting on.
At the end of the day, he might even really like me, but he’s a member of the Stone pack.And I know better than most how tight-knit packs can be.What if he’s not sticking so close to me to keep me safe?
What if he’s covering for someone else?He might know exactly who’s behind all these failed shifts and injured animals.It would explain why, despite all the manpower Gavin’s thrown into this mess, they’ve made such little progress.
I look at Ryder, really look at him.Broad shoulders and an honest face.
Does he know who’s behind all this?
Could it behim?
Chapter 29
Ryder
Igroaninfrustration.But my frustration isn’t just at Hannah.It’s at myself too.There’s so much I wish I could tell her, but where would I even start?
Guess what, Hannah?I think this is all my fault.I’m not just “in on it.”I amit, the whole damn thing.Surprise!
Of course I can’t say that.So instead I say the first thing that comes to mind.“Why won’t you let me help you?”
“You’re not talking about help!”Hannah cries, seemingly just as frustrated as I am.“You’re talking about us being together twenty-four-seven!”
“No, I’m not!Just because you’d be living at the compound doesn’t mean you’d see me.”
“Right, Ryder.I’m supposed to believe that?”
“I wish you would!Why is it so hard to accept that I want you to be safe?”
“And why is it so hard to understand that I wouldn’t be comfortable at your place?”
“Because that doesn’t make any sense!”I say, my words coming out louder than I expected.Hannah looks surprised, too, and takes a step back.“It’s not my place, okay?”I continue in a quieter tone.“It’s my family’s place.”
“Somehow that doesn’t sound much better,” she replies.“I can just hear my stepdad’s reaction to my moving into the Stone pack’s stronghold.It involves a lot of four-letter words.”
“Mason wants you to be safe.I think, under the circumstances, he’d understand.”I run my hands through my hair, half-wanting to just rip it out.That’s how riled up I’m feeling right now.
“Ryder, I don’t want to keep having this fight every time I see you,” Hannah says.“I’m not leaving my apartment, and that’s that.”
“But at the compound… Look, you wouldn’t have to see me,” I plead.“You could stay with my mom, if that would make it better.But at least I’d know you were somewhere that’s protected.”
“And I would feel like a prisoner,” Hannah says.
“You’d hardly be that.”I scoff.“You could go to work, see April, do whatever you want.”
