Page 19 of Lion Conquers All
“Hey, umm, did he find the map to the blind?”
Aarav watched her with those attentive blue eyes that never missed a single detail. “He’s working on the best way up there. We’ll go in a few minutes.”
“Oh, good. That’s good.” She slipped through the open door, careful to avoid touching him.
She’d made that mistake before and didn’t want to make it again.
According to him, she was his mate. Ava said he’d mentioned the wholesoul callthing and that she glowed. Whatever that really meant. Her skin didn’t look any different to her, but Ava had assured her it wasn’t something she would ever see. Only mates saw the glow. And only Reyleans could see it, not humans.
So accepting it as fact was merely taking him at his word. He could be lying. He was a man, trying to say that shebelongedto him. That wasn’t okay. It didn’t matter that multiple women she knew from town had also found themselves mated to Reyleans and were perfectly happy.
Connie couldn’t. She wouldn’t allow herself to be caught in another man’s web of control again. Never. No matter how kind they appeared. No matter how beautiful. No matter how much that stupid ache in her chest tugged and pulled at her resolve.
She was granite.
She was unmovable.
She would protect herself, no matter what.
Gaven came barreling out of the living room where she stood a couple of feet away from Aarav in the entry. He was waving a piece of paper.
“Found the instructions to the Moss Point blind. It’s not too far. We have to go down to the bridge south of here, cross into the park, and then follow the Red Tail trailhead about five miles. We’ll have to walk that last five miles. There’s not a road for a vehicle.”
“That’s fine.” Aarav said, glancing down at my feet. “Do you need to swing by your house for different shoes?”
“No, I have hiking boots in my truck. I’ll meet you guys at the trailhead.” Connie grabbed the doorknob before Aarav could beat her to it and was gone before either of them could say another word.
She knew where the bridge was.
She even knew that particular trailhead.
She didn’t need them to show her.
It would be stressful enough walking a trailhead with two men by herself. What was she thinking? Why hadn’t she thought of that?
Dammit.
8
RYDER
Ava’s pocket buzzed, drawing his eyes to her curvy hips. He licked his lips, thinking about how good his mate tasted beneath that layer of thick denim. He liked jeans on her. They fit snug and showed off her legs and butt, but they were damn distracting and—
A laugh pulled him from his carnal thoughts. He met her gaze and smiled back.
“Aarav texted. They are headed to Red Tail Trailhead. We need to meet them there.”
He cocked his head and was about to ask why when it struck him like rock falling from the sky. “He’s worried about Connie.”
His mate nodded. “Yup. He said he can already see her nerves fraying and she’s only now putting shoes on.”
“Tough lady though. She’s not backing down.”
“She won’t. Not with a kid possibly hurt. She’d walk barefoot over broken glass to help someone.” Ava locked the closet where they’d stacked all the tables from Connie’s CPR class. “Doesn’t mean she’s not having an internal panic attack.”
“I wish she’d tell us who hurt her so we can eat them, I mean kill them, I mean—”
Ava’s mouth was on his, hard and aggressive. Her hand wrapped around the back of his neck. Their tongues danced for a few seconds before she pulled away. “I love you, but we can’t eat, kill, or maim anyone. At least not yet. We don’t know the whole story. And maybe the one who did…whatever it was…is already dead.”
