Closing my eyes, I leaned my head back on the seat and took in the sounds and smells around me. The heady scent of freshly cut wood was the most prominent, and I inhaled greedily.

  Just as I relaxed, I heard something snap. My eyes shot open, and I was jumping out of the jeep without a second thought. A few of the mill workers were gathered around a truck that seemed to be dropping off fresh logs, and one of the straps holding the load broke.

  I could see the second and third about to give from where I stood. The guys below it had no idea. They were going to get squished in a matter of seconds. Damn it. I couldn’t just stand there and do nothing.

  “Watch out!” I yelled as I ran toward them, but nobody was paying attention.

  Another tie-down broke. This time, they must have heard it as well. Two of the three men were already moving out of the way, but a third seemed to think he could fix whatever disaster was about to happen by messing with the remaining straps.

  Without thinking, I jerked on his arm. “You have to move,” I yelled, but he was twice my size and didn’t budge.

  “Don’t touch me,” the guy barked at the same time I heard the wood start to tumble.

  His dark eyes glared at me with a malice that didn’t make any sense to me considering I didn’t know who he was. He was wearing a mill polo, so I at least knew he was a shifter and should probably be more careful, but I didn’t have time to be cautious.

  “I’m not sorry for this,” I said as I channeled my energy and used the extra strength to shove him out of the way at just the right moment.

  He stumbled, and I followed after, keeping upright as we ran to get out of the way. Nobody else was near us as the first logs began to fall. I heard them splinter as I kept moving toward the safety of the fence, but I didn’t quite make it there.

  One of the logs was quicker than I was. It was a smaller one, maybe four inches around, and most likely one from the top, but it still hurt like hell when I crashed to the ground, bracing myself with my arms while the log rolled over me.

  At first, I thought I was fine—bruised and scratched all over, but nothing time wouldn’t heal. Then, I tried to kick the log off of me only to have a sharp pain race through before realizing I was bleeding. No, not just oozing crimson. There was also a splinter of what I assumed to be bone poking through my skin at my ankle.

  My panic levels rose as I tried not to lose my shit. I heard my name screamed but couldn’t stop staring at my foot.

  The man I’d saved stood over me without a scratch to be seen. Of course, he hadn’t gotten hurt.

  “You saved me,” he muttered.

  “Duh. Care to help?” I snapped, a fury rolling through me from the pain moving up my leg.

  “Jerome, are you okay?” one of the other men asked.

  He nodded as he threw the log off of me. Before I could try and get up, Vaughn and Embry were at my side. Each of them had tense jaws and angry eyes.

  “What the hell happened?” Vaughn asked as he cradled my head in his hands.

  I quickly rattled off my version, and by the time I was done, I could barely breathe from the pain moving through my body.

  My head wobbled when I made the mistake of looking down again. “That’s really not good.”

  Vaughn lifted my chin. “Best not to look, sweetheart.”

  Embry pinched the bridge of her nose. “You couldn’t have just stayed in the office? Roman is going to kill us.” She turned to Vaughn. “Carry her to the jeep. We need to get back to the pack.”

  “Uh, pretty sure I need a hospital, Em,” I said, then screamed as Vaughn pressed on my ankle. “What the hell, dude?”

  “Sorry, I had to, uh, push the bone back in so it didn’t snag on anything.”

  Tears fell freely from my eyes while I tried to breathe through the pain. When that didn’t work, I closed my eyes and imagined sitting on the beach in Australia with nobody else around.

  Embry settled her hand on my shoulder. “There’s a doctor already headed to the house, one whose family has helped our pack on the rare occasions we need it. Normally, it’s for blood or materials, but I’m sure broken bones aren’t a problem for him, either.”

  “Okay, let’s go then,” I said through clenched teeth.

  There wasn’t a graceful way to get me in the jeep, and there was no keeping the tears at bay as Vaughn launched himself into the back seat. He settled me into the seat, then lifted my leg until my foot rested in his lap. I refused to look at it again as I did my best to ignore the sensations pulsing in my foot. Finally, a numbness began to set in and it didn’t hurt as bad as it had just five minutes before.

  Embry carefully drove out of the parking lot before picking up speed on the main road. I focused on the back of the headrest to keep from looking at the blood I knew was getting all over Vaughn. But then, he jostled my leg and I howled in pain. Maybe it wasn’t numbness I was sensing before.

  “You have zero bedside manner,” I grumbled, my gaze going to his face and finding his shirt halfway off.

  “Calm down. That likely scared you more than it hurt. You’re getting blood all over my favorite jeans. Shirt is already ruined, so might as well try to staunch the flow of crimson before a vamp shows up,” he replied, keeping his face serious.

  My jaw dropped, and Embry groaned. “Not something to joke about with her, Vaughn.”

  He shrugged. “I thought it was funny.”

  If I thought I could do it without further hurting myself, I’d have kicked him. Instead, we pulled into the pack driveway, and I hoped like hell the doctor was already there. Though, as Vaughn wrapped my foot, it didn’t hurt nearly as much as I expected it to, considering the glimpse of gore I’d gotten earlier. My pain receptors didn’t seem to know what they wanted to do.

  “What happened?” Roman demanded before we’d fully come to a stop.

  “One of the drivers had shitty straps. They started to break, and Cait saved Jerome from being made into a pancake, sacrificing her safety in the process. She likely saved his life and earned herself a broken ankle,” Vaughn said loudly, and I assumed for the benefit of those around us.

  Voices began to murmur, and Embry added, “I saw the whole thing as we were running to help. Cait ran toward the danger and did whatever she could to help even when her verbal warnings were being ignored.”

  Roman stepped in to separate me from everyone else as the crowd drew closer. Something had happened, and I wanted to know what.

  “For those of you ready to run off and share what you learned here today, make sure your story is right. If I hear anything other than what Vaughn and Embry have said, you’ll be seeing me shortly after,” Roman said, and the other shifters began to disperse quietly.

  Another car pulled in behind us, and an older gentleman got out of the black sedan with a large medical bag.

  “Get her to the empty office so Dr. Sanders can examine her foot,” Roman said to Vaughn before walking to greet the new arrival.

  “Sorry if this hurts,” Vaughn said as he moved to get us out of the jeep.

  I braced for the pain, but it never came. There was plenty of discomfort, but nothing like when I’d gotten into the jeep.

  “Damn, Cait. You’re one tough chick. I expected a lot more tears out of you,” Vaughn said as he carried me into the house.

  Embry smiled next to us. “That’s my bestie. I know an awesome person when I see one.”

  “Or in our case, when you read their comments,” I joked, because we’d been friends for months before we first video chatted.

  Vaughn took me into an empty office and sat me on top of the desk. “Sorry, we don’t have something more comfortable. It’s not too often people get hurt bad enough around here that we need a special room for them,” he said.

  I shrugged, not really knowing how to respond. I wasn’t uncomfortable any longer, and I was pretty sure that wasn’t normal.

  Roman and Dr. Sanders came in a moment later. The doctor came straight to me. “Did you hit your head when this happened?”

  “No, but I did get dizzy afterward. Though, that was probably from all the blood,” I said.

  Roman growled from next to me, his arm coming around my shoulders as the doctor unwrapped my foot.

  I turned away so I didn’t get nauseous again but regretted it as my eyes locked on Roman’s. His gaze was intense, and my heart picked up speed as I tried to decide which was worse: being so close to him again or having my foot shattered from a load of lumber.

  “Well, that’s interesting,” the doc murmured, catching everyone’s attention.

  “What is?” Embry asked first.

  He poked at my foot. “She should be at least wincing when I do that if she had broken bones in there. I can’t even find where all of this blood came from.”

  Roman left my side and joined the doctor. As they both inspected me, I felt tender spots, but nothing horrendous.

  “Unbelievable. Not even a full shifter should have healed that fast,” Roman said in awe.

  “Can you wiggle your toes?” the doctor asked.

  I concentrated more than necessary. They moved without issue or pain.

  The doctor gathered his things, quick to get out of there. “Well, it seems my services aren’t needed. I’ll show myself out.”

  Vaughn moved to follow Dr. Sanders anyway, leaving me alone with Roman and Embry.

  Roman moved my ankle around slowly. “How does that feel?”

  “It’s sore, but nothing like it was,” I said, then remembered something. “I had to use my power to push that guy out of the way. Do you think that helped heal me?”

  “It’s the only logical explanation. It should have taken a shifter a couple of days to get to this point,” Roman answered.

  “How did Cait end up alone out front?” Roman demanded, reminding me that Embry had been awfully shady about things beforehand.

  “She doesn’t listen well, that’s how. We only left her alone for like five minutes,” Embry said.

  I pointed at both of them. “The two of you are hiding something. There should have been no reason why I couldn’t be alone outside the office, so start talking. Now.”

  Embry smirked at him. “I tried to warn you that she’d be after balls if you tried to hide this from her.”

  I raised a brow. “Given that you knew and didn’t tell me straight away, I’m after your tits, too. Tell me what I missed while I was sick.”

  Roman sighed. “Let’s go to my office.”

  “Gladly,” I said as I slid off the table gently. Even though I should have washed the dried blood off my foot first, it was time for answers and full disclosure from everyone.

  Including me.

  26

  Roman

  Something told me I was going to regret having this conversation at that very moment, but Cait had been on pack lands for more than a week. She knew what she was to me. She knew she was no longer human.

  It was time to lay things out in a more direct way.

  I might have been all for claiming Cait, but I’ve been trying to see things from her perspective and I’m worried, my wolf said as I walked down the hallway to my office.

  I am, too. She knows what she wants already. I can see it in her eyes.

  And what if it’s not what you want? What we want? he asked, already sounding defeated, which didn’t bode well for my confidence.

  Then, we’ll deal with it, I said, ending the conversation.

  I wasn’t a patient man. I was an alpha, and when things needed to be done, I got them done. At some point, I needed to take my emotions out of this situation. Otherwise, I was going to fail at more than I was prepared for.

  The three of us silently went up the stairs to my office. With every step, the tension increased. I wished it was just me and Cait having this conversation, but I knew Embry was a big part of things as well.

  “Listen, Cait. You have to understand that things work differently around here,” Embry started as I shut the door.

  “I do understand, but it doesn’t mean I’m just going to fall in line with whatever you guys say. I know I can’t go back to the life I had, but I also don’t want one forced on me, either,” she said, and I knew she meant the mate bond.

  “Have I forced anything on you?” I asked as I moved to stand behind my desk.

  She sighed. “No, but I’m well aware that there are certain expectations of me, and I don’t like that. I just want to be me.”

  “We don’t have any expectations. We just want you to be safe,” Embry replied.

  Cait narrowed her gaze at her. “Really? You don’t hope that I’m going to stay here forever, mate with your alpha, and become whatever this mark means?” Cait waved her wrist for emphasis as her voice rose.

  Embry wasn’t one to back down from anyone. While I might have thought Cait would be an exception to that, I was wrong.

  She got in Cait’s face. “Of course I hope for all of those things, but that doesn’t mean I expect them. You’re my best friend. I won’t apologize for wanting to keep you in my life. Nor will I be sorry for doing whatever it takes to keep you safe. You don’t know anything about this world, but I’m trying to teach you. Can’t you see that?”

  Cait’s stance softened as some of the fight left her eyes. “I’m sorry, Em. It’s just been a long few days.”

  “It has been for all of us. I just hope you’ll remember we’re on your side,” Embry said before turning for the door. “I’m going to go check on things with the pack. There’s going to be talk, and we’ll want to stay ahead of it.”

  Embry slipped out the door, closing it behind her before either of us could object. Sure, I’d wanted to have this conversation with Cait alone at first, but since it had turned in a negative direction already, I wished Embry had stayed.

  Cait settled into the chair in front of my desk, and I took my own seat. “I’m sorry we didn’t tell you everything as it was happening, but I was handling the pack,” I said.

  “And what happened with the pack that affects me so much?” she asked.

  At this point, honesty was the only way to go, so I held nothing back. “Some of them aren’t happy you’re here. They think you’ll make me weak and bring trouble to our lands. I told them that wasn’t the case and that they either needed to be nice to you or keep their distance.”

  She raised a brow. “I don’t imagine they took that very well.”

  “They took it just fine. I’m their alpha. While they’re not forced to stay here, they know if they do there are rules to follow. If I ask something of them, it’s expected they’ll listen or leave,” I said.

  “What about me? Are you going to ask something of me, then tell me to leave if I don’t agree?” she asked, the challenge clear in her bright eyes.

  I placed both of my hands on the desk and took a deep breath. “Cait, I’ve made it very clear that I accept you as my mate. I know this is a weird concept for you, but a bond is something special. The purest form of magic for our kind. I found you attractive the moment I laid eyes on you, even when I thought the pull toward you was fabricated. That is enough for me to want to move forward with whatever is between us.

  “I never wanted to pressure you, but you’re a grown woman. Deep down, you already know what you want, and I don’t need to be coddled. If you don’t want to be here, if you don’t want me, just say the word. We’ll find somewhere else for you to be until you can sort out what the mark means for you,” I said, even though each word was like a new knife being plunged into my heart.

  My wolf whimpered inside at my words, but he voiced no objections. Something with him had changed. He either knew something or had plans he wasn’t sharing. I wasn’t sure how okay I was with that, but it wasn’t a problem I could focus on then.

  Cait’s mouth slipped open in surprise. She hadn’t expected me to give her an out. Good. Keeping her on her toes wasn’t a bad thing.

  Tears filled her eyes, but none fell as she straightened her stance and put on a brave face. “Roman, I can’t be your mate. My mind and heart don’t work like yours. I’m not okay with having my future chosen for me.”

  It was one thing to expect her rejection and a whole other to hear it. My heart slowed as agony took over. My muscles tensed, and I moved my hands beneath the desk, afraid I’d break something and frighten her. Words failed to come out as I roared on the inside.

  This can’t be happening, I thought.

  Trust that if she is really meant to be ours, then she will be, my wolf said, and I snarled at him.

  I didn’t want to hear his acceptance. I needed him to rage with me.

  What do you know? I asked him.

  I’m trusting my instincts. I wouldn’t keep something important from you that had to do with Cait. I promise.

  He was all I had in that moment to keep me from losing my shit in front of Cait. I settled on trusting him like I always had.

  “If you want me to leave the pack, then I will, but I’d like to stay for now. I know that’s selfish of me to ask, but I trust you and Embry,” Cait said softly.

  “But you don’t want me,” I replied stiffly.

  “I’m sorry, Roman,” she said, this time meeting my burning gaze. She didn’t answer my question. She couldn’t without lying. I knew a part of her wanted me. It just wasn’t enough. Her rejection told me that I wasn’t enough.

  I stood up, the chair slamming into the wall from my added force. “I don’t need your pity, Cait. I was fine before you came here, I’ll be fine while you sort your shit out, and I’ll be fine when you leave. Do whatever it is that you’d like. I won’t get in your way.”

  I knew I should have been more careful with my words. There had to be a chance I could still win her over, but the fury storming within me didn’t allow for niceties. At least, not yet. Maybe one day.

  She stood to follow me as I headed toward the door, but I held my hand up. “We’re done here. I’ll send Embry or my mother to find you. They’ll be your points of contact within the pack now. You can trust Ramona, and she’ll help you with Serene. If you want to choose your own destiny, then working with them is the best way to do that.”