Page 44 of A Wolf’s Wound

Hannah

The drive back to the compound passes in silence. Ryder looks preoccupied, and I know I am.

Now that the shock of the encounter has worn off, I’m struggling to make sense of everything that’s happened. I can still feel that man’s hands on my arms, his hot breath in my face. He was so close, and then he just…vanished.

I’m not upset that he fled. But it makes the entire episode that much more confusing. Had he just wanted to scare me? If so, why? And what does Ryder have to do with it? Was this guy the same one who left the notes?

Ryder pulls up to the cottage before I’ve made much headway in sorting out how I feel. He shuts off the ignition and gets out of the car, but I stay where I am. “You okay?” he asks as he leans down to close his door.

I look at him, and he gives a crooked smile. “I mean, I know neither of us are actually okay ,” he says, and I smile too.

“If we’re grading on that curve, then yes, I’m okay,” I say, opening my door as he goes around back for Shadow.

“That’s good enough for right now,” Ryder says. He leads the way to the cottage, disarms the alarm, and then unlocks the door. “Welcome back.”

“Looks the same,” I remark and grin. “It feels nice being here.”

“Good.” Ryder puts Shadow down on the floor and comes back to me. “I’ll put this in the bedroom,” he says, taking my bag out of my hands.

“Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.” He stops and his mouth turns up in that same half smile. “Just promise me that you’ll stay put this time.”

“Okay, Dad ,” I say, and he gives an exaggerated wince.

“Ouch! That hurts,” he says, and I can’t help it. I giggle.

“Sorry, I couldn’t resist.”

“Tease me all you want. Just don’t leave again without telling me. Okay? Or, if not me, someone. Or leave a note. Or send a passenger pigeon, or something.”

“Okay, okay. I promise I won’t pull another vanishing act.”

“Thank you!” he says and actually fist-pumps.

“Oh my god, you are so dorky.” I laugh.

“Just around you,” Ryder says, but then his expression grows more serious. “Seriously, Hannah, don’t run away again. I can’t lose you.”

My heart leaps into my throat as I look at him. I never expected Ryder Stone to be so nakedly vulnerable. The knowledge that he is—and that I’m the one that brings out this part of him—is almost as overwhelming as everything else that’s happened recently.

I feel like I need to say something, but what can I say? “Sorry” seems inadequate and there’s no way I can make a joke right now. Instead I just keep staring at him as the silence stretches and fills the space around us.

“Okay,” Ryder finally says softly. He doesn’t sound disappointed or mad. Rather, that one word carries so much care and protection that I almost want to cry. He leaves and I sink down to the couch.

Has anyone ever cared for me so intensely? Anyone that’s not my mother or Mason, that is. They pretty much have to. And that was familial love, familial protection.

This, though, seems to be driven by pure love. And maybe lust, too, I think, remembering what we got up to last night.

“Does he love me?” I wonder out loud. Shadow, who was busy making a nest in the rug, looks at me and rolls his eyes. “Oh, come on!” I protest. Shadow shrugs and returns to burrowing.

“He can’t love me,” I mutter to myself. “We hardly know each other. We haven’t even gone on a real date! Half of the time we’re together we’re arguing, and the other half we’re trying to figure out what’s going on.”

But I remember how happy and relieved I was when he found me earlier. Even though the guy had already vanished, hearing Ryder’s voice had filled me with a sense of safety.

He really seemed to care that I had left. I mean, I figured he’d be pissed off. And now that I’ve calmed down I can see why he was so angry. I should have told someone I was leaving. Or at least left Ryder a note. I acted hastily and apparently sent the whole pack into an uproar.

Thinking about it now fills me with embarrassment. I make a mental note to find Gavin later and apologize to him myself. The pack really did just want to keep me safe, and I took that for granted. I won’t make that mistake again.

It’s funny. Until recently, I would have sworn that Ryder wanted a mate he could control.

He certainly seems to like bossing me around enough!

But the more time I spend with him, the more I think he likes how independent I am.

When I told him I was planning on using the moves he taught me against that creep, I swear I saw a flicker of pride in his eyes.

“Maybe I misjudged him,” I mumble. “Maybe he’s just trying to look out for me, for my best interests.”

Or maybe I only think that because I actually like spending time with him. And because last night was so freaking fantastic.

Could my feelings for Ryder be clouding what’s really there? Or was that what I was doing before? I can admit now that I made some assumptions about Ryder, about the entire Stone family, before I got to know them better.

Did those assumptions make me unable to see that Ryder is really capable of being a caring partner? Or am I only thinking that now because that’s what I want to believe? Since, I finally realize, I’m starting to fall for him?

“Shit,” I groan softly. “I cannot be falling for Ryder Stone!” But even as I utter those words, I feel the truth of them deep within me. I am falling for Ryder Stone. I can’t lie to myself about that anymore.

And the way he’s been acting around me is something I’ve seen hundreds of times before. It’s the way shifters care for their mates. He’s treating me like I really am his true mate. He’s treating me like Mason treats my mother.

But if I was his true mate, he would know. He would have told me. I know that for sure. The fact that he hasn’t seems like evidence that I’m not actually his true mate. Which means he’s treating me like this because he’s a decent guy, and I’m reading way too much into things.

“You okay?” Ryder asks, appearing in the doorway. I look at him, at his broad chest and muscular arms. At his rumpled hair, and his smile that I always want to return, even when I’m irritated with him. And I know that I’m in trouble.

Maybe I am reading too much into his actions, into his words. Maybe I’m making up something that’s not really there and I’m going to get my heart broken. I don’t know.

But it’s too late, I realize as I gaze at Ryder. Because I haven’t just started to fall for Ryder. I have fallen for him, and I’ve fallen hard and deep.

Whether he feels the same way for me, though, is a question I can’t answer.

I think he does. I’m almost certain he does.

His words earlier— I can’t lose you —echo through my mind.

Those are the words of someone who cares deeply for me.

They might even be the words of someone who’s fallen for me as hard as I’ve fallen for him.

But will those feelings matter when he finds his true mate?

That’s one question I do know the answer to. And it’s not the answer I want.