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RILEY

It felt like forever with me trapped in the kitchen with a killer.

He’d ordered me to sit at the kitchen table, so I hadn’t had a chance to sneak a knife from the drawer. I was desperately trying to come up with a plan for when Cody got here. A way to create a distraction, so Cody could disarm him. Or to bring him down while Cody distracted him.

There was a shotgun in the hall closet. Maybe I could pretend I had to use the bathroom.

Or there was the chair I was sitting on. It wasn’t a deadly weapon, but it was better than nothing .

I heard the sound of a car pull up in the driveway and tried to look out the window as I gripped the rung of the chair back.

“C’mere.” The guy yanked me by the hair out of my seat.

So much for using the chair as a weapon.

He wrapped an arm around my neck and pressed the barrel of the gun to my head.

Fuck. This was going to be tricky.

The front door opened. “Riley?” Cody’s deep rumble sounded strained.

My captor propelled me forward into the doorway between the kitchen and the living room.

For a moment I thought it was my dad because the man in the living room wore a sheriff’s shirt and hat. But it really was Cody.

He kept his head lowered, hiding his face behind the brim of the hat as he tossed his keys on to the side table.

“Welcome home, Deputy.”

Cody froze, only lifting his head partway.

I had to do something. My captor planned to execute me in front of my dad. The moment he figured out it wasn’t him, he would pull the trigger.

“Dad!” I said, trying to keep the illusion for just a moment longer. At the same time, I cocked and back- jabbed my elbow into his solar plexus as hard as I could, then grabbed the pinky finger on the arm wrapped around my throat and yanked outward, breaking it.

Cody was already on us when the gun went off.

I screamed as I went crashing to the floor. Glass shattered. More gunshots sounded.

I was pinned to the wood floor but didn’t fight. It was Cody’s body covering mine. I knew by scent. By feel.

I knew by the way I wanted to weep in relief.

He was protecting my body with his, as I knew he would do.

How was it that I didn’t trust that this man loved me when I knew at the same time he’d risk his life for me? That he’d do anything to save me?

“Riley!” This time it was my dad’s voice.

“He’s dead,” another person announced. “Know the guy, Kyle?”

“Shit, that’s Daryl Kobchek’s brother,” Dad said. “I don’t know his name, but he was at the trial.”

Cody eased off me, and I looked up. The sheriff had arrived. Both he and my dad had their guns out, aiming at the body on the floor by the shattered coffee table.

“Neil. He’s always been vocal about how his brother was framed. Angry, too, but I never imagined this.”

“Dad?” I asked, and he turned to me. As if he knew the threat was gone.

“No!” My dad shouted in horror when he saw me. He dropped to his knees beside us. “Riley!”

“Wha–” I looked down and sucked in a breath. I was covered in blood.

“Not…hers,” Cody supplied, his voice no more than a gasp. His hand covered a wound in his chest, blood seeping from it.

“Cody!” I screamed, throwing myself at him. Oh my God, he’d been shot.

“Hold up,” the sheriff said evenly, putting a hand on my shoulder. “Give him some space.”

“He needs help!” I cried, shrugging off the contact.

“Looks like that bullet punctured a lung.”

Punctured a–

Cody struggled to breathe–each inhale was a rasping, sucking sound, and the exhales barely moved. My eyes flooded with tears. Shock turned me ice cold. Oh God, he was dying! I yelled at him and told him it was over and now I would lose him.

“No!” I cried, settling at his side but afraid to touch him. “Cody…please. ”

Then I remembered Cody had said bullets didn’t hurt him although he looked really hurt to me.

I looked up at both men. “Call an ambulance.”

The sheriff shook his head. “He’s going to be okay without one.”

Was it really true? He wasn’t requesting medical help on his radio, so he must know something.

“He’ll… he’ll be all right?” My voice was clogged and tears streaked my face. I wouldn’t have thought I would have any left after breaking up with Cody, but it turned out, thinking he might die produced another storehouse. I’d called him instead of my dad. Maybe I shouldn’t have because he’d come in without a gun. Without a bulletproof vest.

“He said bullets don’t hurt him,” my dad said, but he looked uncertain as he stood over us. I had no idea when the two of them talked without trying to kill each other. “He knew going in what would probably happen.”

The sheriff nodded, calm. He knelt beside Cody and ripped open the uniform shirt to reveal the wound. Blood covered his skin and oozed from the hole in his chest. “Can you shift, bud?”

Cody wheezed. Sweat coated his skin and he looked pale. Too pale .

“Shift,” the sheriff ordered in a deep, commanding tone that sent a shiver down my spine.

There was a tearing of fabric as Cody’s pants split, and then he was in wolf form, panting, blood soaking his fur.

“Damn,” my dad muttered, his eyes wide, but he didn’t sound surprised.

“Will he be all right?” I asked again, flicking my gaze between the sheriff and Cody. God, I just needed someone to tell me he would live, so I knew I could go on living, too.

With Cody .

“Yes. He’ll heal faster in wolf form.”

“I’m so sorry,” I cried. “It doesn’t matter why you want to be with me. You do, and I know it. Please live. Keep breathing.”

I’d be his mate if he still wanted me. That I’d even give up all my hopes and dreams for a family if he didn’t want more kids.

God, please just let him breathe.

The sheriff beckoned me closer. “Come sit near his head, so he can breathe the scent of his mate. Know what he has to live for.”

His mate. The sheriff knew I was Cody’s mate. Obviously, since he ordered Cody to shift, he was one of them. The way he spoke of me was with reverence. Like I was everything to Cody. What he has to live for.

“Can I… can I touch him?” I reached out a tentative hand.

“Yeah. But let him focus on healing.”

I curled up beside the giant wolf, lightly stroking his muzzle and ear. Cody’s eyes were closed. “You heal,” I murmured, trusting what the sheriff had said. “Heal up because I love you.”

The sheriff took a few steps back and gestured for my dad to follow. Since there was nothing they could do for Cody, there was a dead guy to deal with.

“I’m your mate.” A tear rolled across my nose as I leaned in close and murmured in his ear. “I’m in.” My voice was watery. “Okay? Oh look–” I gazed at his chest, shocked to see that his wound had stopped bleeding. “You’re already healing.” I laughed through my tears, lifting my gaze to the sheriff who was kneeling beside the dead guy, a wallet in his hand.

He nodded. “That’s good.”

“Just focus on healing now,” I murmured to Cody, feeling more confident. More like I could be strong and do the comforting instead of falling apart at the thought of living without him.

Cody was going to live.

We were going to have a life together .

We probably had a lot to figure out, but he was worth it. I didn’t want to give up a love so palpable I could feel it pulse between our two bodies.

“I don’t care if you did seduce me in a week,” I told him. “It’s a little humiliating knowing everyone knew about your bargain, but I’ll get over it.”

Cody’s eyes opened, like he was listening to me, and I remembered that the sheriff had told me to let him focus.

“We can talk later,” I told him. “When you can breathe again.”

His eyes fell closed.

I continued stroking his soft fur. “I love you,” I murmured again. “You’re the perfect man for me. Everything I didn’t even know I wanted.”

Cody’s panting breath started to sound less labored. Less like he was on death’s doorstep.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to have more kids,” I whispered. “I will throw myself into my teaching.”

Cody’s eyes opened again. He let out a whine.

The sheriff came over to examine the wound. “Looks like his healing abilities were unaffected. His body is already starting to repair itself.”

I looked up at my dad, who was in just his undershirt and uniform pants. His eyes were serious but haunted. “Did you know? ”

“That your boyfriend is a wolf?” Dad shook his head. “No. Not until tonight. Didn’t know I was working for one, either, did I, Levi?” He lifted his brows at the sheriff.

“Seemed like you knew we existed, though,” Levi said.

Dad nodded. “There are old wives’ tales in Cooper Valley. My Gram used to tell us to stay in on full moons, or I might see my best friend turn into a wolf.” My dad gave a half-smile. “I always thought it was nonsense.”

“You’re going to be part of our pack now.” Levi dipped his chin toward me. “Riley is Cody’s fated mate. I know you assumed he was just screwing around where he shouldn’t be, but I can assure you, there’s nothing more serious than a fate-match.” He gestured toward Cody’s wound. “He would take a thousand bullets for her. He will never leave her. He will dedicate the rest of his life to her happiness.”

I wasn’t sure how Dad was processing that news, but it brought a flood of fresh tears to my eyes. I fought back a sob.

How had I doubted Cody so easily?

“Cody could go mad if Riley rejects him,” Levi continued. “They both will need your support to make this work. ”

“Fuck,” my dad muttered, shaking his head slightly. He looked at me. “You knew this, sweetheart?”

I tried and failed to swallow around the tight band constricting my throat. “I…sort of. I don’t know if I fully understood until now.” I stroked Cody’s head, leaning down to kiss his silky ear. “We have some things to work through, but I’m not going to reject him,” I choked.

“Well.” My dad rubbed the back of his neck. “I guess I’m not going to stand in the way of this. Or I’ll at least reserve judgment until I’m convinced.”

Cody shivered, and he cracked his eyes open again.

“I love you.” I whispered the words in his ear.