Page 65 of A Wolf's Wound
“Good idea,” his father says.
“You’ll be safe there, dear.”Lori nods.She grabs my hand again and squeezes it.“I’m so glad you were here tonight.”
“Thank you for everything,” I tell her as Ryder scoops up Shadow.And then we’re in the car and driving deeper into the compound.
“Where is this cottage?”I ask after we’ve gone a few miles on the pitch-black road.Our headlights are the only lights I can see anywhere around us.
“It’s on the edge of the compound.It’s more like a safe house than a cottage,” Ryder explains.“It’s been part of the Stone pack for generations, but we’ve updated the security and reinforced all of the locks.No one gets in or out unless they’re supposed to.”
“Why do you think I need to be there?Wouldn’t it be just as safe to stay in the same house as your parents, so they could hear if anything happened?”
“That would be safe,” Ryder says.“That also could put them in danger.”
“I didn’t mean to imply I’d want that,” I say quickly, and Ryder smiles.
“It’s okay.You didn’t.I know that was the original plan, and I promise I didn’t lure you out to the compound under false pretenses,” he says.
“I believe you,” I say.And I realize, looking at his profile, that I do.Being around his family and the rest of the pack tonight has helped me start to see Ryder in a different light.He’s not as arrogant, closed-off, and imperious as I first thought.He’s also passionate and caring, and will clearly go to great lengths to protect those he cares about.
“Good,” he says.“I don’t think I have the energy for another argument tonight.”
“It has been a long one,” I say, stifling a yawn.I look in the back seat and am reassured to see Shadow curled up in a ball and snoring softly.“I can’t believe everything that happened tonight.”
“The cottage is comfortable,” Ryder says.“It’s small but we made sure that whoever stayed there would have all the amenities they needed.Sometimes members of the pack or humans have had to stay for a while,” he adds.
“Do you think I will?I know we keep talking about how this is just for tonight, but I have to admit that now that I’ve had time to think more about what happened earlier, I’m a little freaked out,” I confess.
“Oh-ho, a crack in the armor!”Ryder grins.
“Not a crack,” I protest mildly.“Just trying to be logical here.”
“I appreciate that,” he says.“And I can’t say how long you’ll have to stay, or will want to stay, at the cottage.If your apartment door can be fixed and the security in your building beefed up tomorrow, you could be back in your own bed tomorrow night.”
“But it could take longer,” I say and he nods.
“I don’t want you to feel like a prisoner here,” Ryder says, looking worried.“But I also don’t want you to go home unless it’s as safe as possible.”
“I mean, are you going to tell me I can’t go to work, or call April, or do whatever I want tomorrow?”
“No,” he says, looking horrified at the mere suggestion.
“Then I won’t feel like a prisoner,” I assure him.“I’ll feel like a guest.”
“A guest in a very exclusive property,” he teases and I smile.
We lapse into silence, but it’s not uncomfortable.In fact, as we drive deeper into the night, I feel safer than I did in my apartment.Something about Ryder does make me feel protected.
But will that feeling be enough if another attack happens?
Chapter 37
Ryder
“There’sabitofa dip coming up.”
That’s putting it mildly.My dad’s always talked about hiring someone to smooth out the road to the cabin or even having all of us take a few days to fill the dip because when the rains come, it becomes uncrossable.
The way things are going lately, though, I wouldn’t mind some rain.
