Page 25 of Unforeseen Mate

“Colby has a jet waiting. He said the pilot has instructions to take you wherever you want. I know you would be welcome in the Highlands.”

Hayden shook his head. “No. I didn’t have the opportunity to kill Strode on his turf. When we meet, I’d rather it be on mine and to know my mate is with my people.”

“Understood,” said Dougal, nodding. “Look, I know who and what you are. Hellhounds have always been a kind of hobbyhorse with me. I think she’ll recover, but not if you take her through your realm.”

Hayden feared Dougal spoke the truth. He needed to get Fallon home—to the Hollow, but to travel the world in between might well kill her in the shape she was in.

“Tell the pilot to fuel for Anchorage. If he has to refuel, I want it to be in Canada and I want a plane waiting for us. The samein Anchorage to go to Mystic River. I don’t want to be on the ground long enough for Strode to catch up with us.”

“Good thinking. I’ll set it up with Colby’s pilot. We’ll get you home, Hayden.”

Hayden shook his hand and joined Fallon in the ambulance.

“Where are we going?” she asked weakly.

“Home. We’re going to Mystic River. Nora will be there.”

“Why didn’t she tell me?” Fallon looked as if she was going to cry. The raw sense of betrayal was easy to see.

“Sometimes, especially if you’re a shifter living in the human world, it’s difficult to find a way to tell a non-shifter about our existence. I suspect that was even more true for Nora. She was The Ghost.”

“I find little comfort in knowing my best friend is an assassin.”

“Two things about that. She isn’t one anymore, and her reputation was such that she never killed innocents. In other words, she only took on those who were trying to kill her or deserved to die. She turned on everything she had ever known to save a life. Strode believed she’d comply—that she’d fall into line and follow orders—if he threatened to kill you.

“He would have killed me anyway.”

“No. I don’t think so. If she’d killed Hutchinson, Strode would have needed you as leverage to keep her in line and to keep her from killing him. He needed you alive. Probably still does. Promise me that if something goes sideways, we get separated, or you end up as his prisoner again, that you will do everything in your power to stay alive. I will come for you.”

She nodded and took his hand in hers. “Don’t leave me.”

“I won’t. Everything will be fine, Fallon. You just focus on healing. I’ll take care of the rest.”

Once they were airborne and it was safe to do so, Hayden placed a call to Cayetana South. All hellhounds bore the surnameof one of the compass points—North and East for males; South and West for females, with siblings carrying the surnames of opposing directions.

Not many people knew that Colby’s fated mate was the famous—or infamous, depending on your point of view—Aubry Hawthorne, the leader of the Shadow Sisters. The Shadow Sisters had existed even longer than the Shadow League. There were whispers about their origins and existence stretching back to beyond the time when history was first written. There were those who believed the first leader of the Shadow Sisters had been a hellhound.

“Caye?” he asked when she answered.

“Hayden. Thank the gods. Do you have her? Strode must be going out of his mind.”

“I do, but she’s been hurt. She should recover, but she’s not well enough to travel between the realms, and I need to get her to the Hollow.”

“I can’t be party to a kidnapping…”

“Think that through. Hellhounds have never operated that way. We might kidnap a woman, but to date no other being has ever been turned without her consent.”

Caye laughed. “Only because the lot of you knew the female warriors would rise up against you. Although I have to say, none of you has been above kidnapping a female and turning your considerable charms against her.”

“What can I say? We’re a miserable lot.”

“I hope you aren’t expecting me to disagree with you. What do you need, Hayden?”

“I need the help of the Shadow Sisters. Fallon is, after all, female…”

“How very convenient for you,” said Caye humorously.

“Isn’t it? Colby thinks we’re headed to Windsong. That’s the last place I want Fallon.”

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