Page 30 of A Wolf's Wound
“You can’t.”Ryder dashes my hopes.
“Oh, please.I can take care of myself.And I’m not an idiot,” I continue heatedly.“I’ll meet him in public, bring April with me, and all that jazz.”
“No, I mean, you can’t because he’s dead,” Ryder tells me, and my heart plummets.Oh, shit.Did Ryder…killhim for attacking me?As if he can read my mind, Ryder shakes his head.“I don’t know what killed him,” he fills in quickly.“I found his body outside your building the same night he attacked you.”
“How did you know?”I ask.
“That he was dead?It was pretty obvious.”
“No.”I wave his words away.“How did you know that he was attacking me?You were in the middle of a date with April.Right?Blocks from our apartment.And you didn’t know who I was.How did you know to show up when I needed you?”
Ryder shakes his head again, his dark eyes looking pained.“I wish I had an answer for you, Hannah.I really do.All I can say is that I had a feeling that someone—you—needed me.I felt you asking for help.Asking for me.”
“That sounds crazy.”I flop back into my chair.
“I know.”His eyes remain fixed on mine.
“You keep saying you…feltme.”I shake my head.“But I’m human.”Whatever is going on with him has to be a shifter thing.Right?
“I know.”He nods.“I can’t explain it.I’m drawn to you, Hannah.”He rubs his chest, over his heart, as if it were just as confused as the man, er, wolf.
I lean forward and prop my forearms on the edge of my desk, my fingers loosely entwined.“I don’t want to get into anything serious.Especially if that means giving up my freedom to just be another mate in a pack.”
“Hannah, you’d never bejustanother anything.”
“But still.What you want is something I’ll never be able to give you.”I swallow, still unable to look away.“I think you need to stay away from me.”
“Really?”he asks, standing up and walking toward me.As if in a trance, I rise, too, and walk around my desk until we’re standing so close to each other, I can feel his hot breath against my cheek, the warmth of his body sinking into mine.
“Really.”I nod, my cheek gently brushing his.“I mean it, Ryder.I can’t do this.”
“Okay,” he agrees softly, and I have to look away from the pain on his face, the ache etched into his every feature.“I’m sorry.”
I don’t say anything.I feel like I’m going to cry, which makes no sense.Instead, I remain silent and simply stand utterly still until Ryder sighs and leaves.
I wait ten minutes and then lock up the clinic to begin my walk home.I’m moving on autopilot, feeling numb—hollow.Which is why it takes a block before a tingle creeps up my spine and I realize…
Someone’s watching me.
Chapter 17
Ryder
Ileavethevetclinic and head to the nearest bar.I just want to be alone, nurse a whiskey, and figure out where things went so wrong with Hannah.But of course, as soon as I enter the dimly lit bar, I see Gavin and Michael at a table in the far corner.
“We were about to call you,” Michael greets me.“Evan, Thomas, and Jackson are on their way now.”
“What happened?”I frown.“What’s with the all call?”
“We’ll fill everyone in together,” Gavin informs me with a somber tone.I sigh, last night’s lack of sleep catching up with me, and head to the bar to get that whiskey.
My other brothers arrive within a few minutes, and soon enough we’re all at the table.Gavin looks at each of us in turn and then begins talking.
“More bodies have been found,” he says.
“Fuck.”Thomas sighs.
“Are they also… like the others?”Evan asks.Gavin nods.
