Page 23 of Fated to the Wolf Cowboy

Panic welled up within me and bile rose as I frantically looked around for a trash can. She seemed to understand and handed me a bucket to vomit in.

“Better?” she asked, sympathetically.

I shook my head. “Who are you people? Are you experimenting on me? Are you the Raglan?”

She sighed. “No, Tricia, you’re safe here. I promise.”

“That’s what they always say. But I’m not safe anywhere.”

I saw the look on her face that let me know I had just struck her curiosity, but she didn’t press me to explain, at least not yet.

“Do you know where you are?”

“Collier Pack. I stumbled into your territory accidentally and then I was injured and couldn’t get away. Some cowboys rescued me, I think.”

“That’s right. I’m Lily Collier, Pack Mother of Collier Pack.”

I was relieved it wasn’t the Alpha himself.

“You’re safe here. I promise.”

“You can’t promise that,” I told her.

At any second the trackers could burst in. I had to keep moving or they’d find me. I knew it was a ridiculous thought, but it was going to keep me alive at least. Maybe they didn’t care enough to track me halfway across the country, but I knew without a doubt they had been tracking me back in New York. And once a tracker got your scent, it was rare they could let it go.

“Where are you from, Tricia?” Lily asked as if small talk would somehow calm me down.

“Guess,” I said sarcastically.

She snorted. “I like you. You’re a smartass. I can handle that.”

She certainly didn’t sugarcoat things.

Morris wasn’t mated so I had no prior encounters with a Pack Mother, though Lily Collier was hardly what I would have imagined.

“So, New York Pack, then?”

“How’d you guess?”

She laughed. “Accent gave it away.”

In my opinion, she was the one with the accent, but I didn’t bother to mention that.

“So you’re a long way from home, and they found you out there in your fur. Have you been running the whole way?”

“You could say that. Not always in my fur though,” I confessed.

“After talking to Sam, I’m assuming Collier Pack was not your final destination.”

“No. I’m headed further west.”

It was none of her business how much further west I planned to go.

“Look, I really didn’t mean to stumble into your territory. If you could just forgive me and set me free, I promise I’ll be on my way like I was never even here.”

She pouted. “I mean, I can, but why not stay until you’re fully recovered at least. Thomas can contact Morris and let him know you’re safe. It’s really not a problem.”

My heart lurched. “No!”