Page 38 of Tolerated By the Sigma (Mate Hunt 7)

“Did it, though?” Del tilted her head to the side a bit. “When was the last time you met a werewolf who didn’t believe in fate, Charly?”

Never.

I didn’t want to admit it, but… never.

Werewolves believed in a higher power that determined fate, and well, so did I.

“No one in this whole damn town likes Lisa. I’m honestly not sure why she hasn’t left yet—though I think it has something to do with the fact that she’s living in Ryder’s old house, which is paid off and now owned solely by her thanks to his ridiculous kindness. Everyone thought he got the short end of the stick with her, but now we can see that fate didn’t just screw him over; it gave him you, to make up for that shit show. So yeah, you’re his miracle. And for a town like this one, that makes youourmiracle. So get used to the name, ma’am.”

“Wait, what?” My forehead wrinkled. “What do you mean, his ridiculous kindness? He gave her his house?”

Del’s eyebrows lifted. “Yeah, a while ago. Why? You didn’t know?”

I sat back in my seat, no longer hungry. “No.”

She leaned toward me, an expression that screamed something between “shit” and “fuck” on her face. “The house went to his parents when he let people think he was dead. It’s… they…” she raked a hand through her hair. “Well, long story short, they didn’t sign it over to Lisa right away, because she’s Lisa and they weren’t ready to let go, but let her live there rent-free anyway. When Ryder came back from the dead, she demanded he sign the house over to her because she had dealt with him for an entire year and become a monster because of him. Her words, not mine. He resisted for a while, but ended up signing it over to her.”

“That’s the shortened version of the story?” I demanded, my voice raising a bit.

“Unfortunately.” Del heaved a sigh. “Look, it was a big deal at the time, but that was ages ago. I’m sure he didn’t mention it because it just doesn’t mean anything to him. Homes here aren’t expensive at all, and the community makes them even less so for unmated werewolves so they have something to offer their mates—their tradition and wording, not mine. So it wasn’t detrimental to him, and he wanted to be free of her, and… well, I’m just rambling myself into a pit. I’m really sorry for spilling that information, I’m sure he would’ve told you,” she said quickly.

Her anxiety was spiking a bit, I could see it on her face.

“Don’t apologize. You expected him to tell me, and I expected him to, too. This is the same as the kiss thing—he could’ve told me the entire story from the beginning, and he didn’t.” I shook my head, frustration and stress and… sadness, welling up in my chest. “I know he’s your brother-in-law, and I don’t want you to feel like you need to get between us. I’ll talk to him. Obviously, like you said, we’re shitty at communicating.”

Del reached across the table and grabbed one of my hands. “I can tell you don’t want me to argue with you about this, so I won’t argue—but I want you to know that he’s just a guy, okay? I know he seems jaded, and larger than life, and well, kind of scary, but I think he’s still struggling to process this the same way you are. So don’t rule him out yet. Neither of you had time during the hunt to come to terms with everything, so now you’re having to do that while also trying to get to know each other, and that is a really difficult position to be in. So just… give each other time?”

I nodded, though I think we both knew exactly what I was thinking.

Mainly, that patience wasn’t one of my main virtues.

Did I really have any virtues, though?

I’d overthink that later.

But patience and I? Not friends.

I hoped that didn’t mean Ryder and I were screwed, because I wasn’t the girl who could sit around and wait for things to get better. I was all in or all out; there was no halfway for me.

And if Ryder was going to keep shit from me, or lie about things… well, then I’d stick around long enough for my wolf to bite him so he’d stay alive, and promptly tell him to buy his own house. I was not going to be the miracle chick that a guy thought he could lie to and keep things from and hang off his arm just because it was so gorgeously inked.

He would be completely and entirely honest with me, or we would end.

Period.

And he wasn’t going to get many more chances after this one.

Del changed the subject after that, and we talked about Felix, and the kids at school, and a million other things. I stayed as long as I could possibly keep her there, and then when she was done, I finally forced myself to head home and face the music.

Or the werewolf, I guess.

FIFTEEN

RYDER

I pacedthe living room for a solid twenty minutes after Char left. My wolf was fighting me, and I felt like I’d done something wrong, but for the life of me I couldn’t come up with a solid answer as to what that was.

Things weren’t going as well as I wanted them to. I’d hurt Charly by accident, which was the last fucking thing I’d wanted to do. But after so many months focused on just trying to survive my wolf’s constant attempts at taking control of my body, I was shitty at conversation, emotional connection, and… well, everything that was even somewhat human. And even though Char wasn’t a human anymore, she had been one for long enough that it mattered that I couldn’t figure out a way to be humanish too.

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