AllFreeNovel
Share Us
RAMSEY
The sun had started to stream between the blinds when I heard Kace call my name from upstairs. I couldn’t bring myself to move, though. My small reserve of energy was long gone, draining from my body as someone scratched at all the windows and rattled the knobs on both the doors.
Rapping his knuckles against the door that led down to the basement, Kace called, “Ramsey, the house is clear. I know you’re probably freaked out right now, but you need to know that it was just a member of our pack and nobody got inside. Are you okay down there?”
“Yes,” I whispered just loudly enough for him to hear me.
“I need to talk to you about what happened.” He twisted the knob, but the stool didn’t allow it to turn far. “Can you unblock the door?”
“Yes,” I repeated, crawling up the steps to tug the stool just far enough for him to be able to open the door.
“Shit.” His wolf flashed in his eyes as he stared down at me. “I’m so fucking sorry, Ramsey.”
Leaning my shoulder against the wall, I gave him a weak smile. He lifted the stool and turned to place it in the hallway before stomping down the steps to sit next to me. He was careful to make sure he wasn’t touching me—which was a good thing since I wasn’t at the point where I could handle that yet—but I took comfort from his nearness.
“Who was trying to get into the house?” My gaze darted toward him as my heart raced at the possibilities plaguing my mind ever since I woke up. “Is it someone who figured out I’m here? Are they angry? Do they want me gone because I’m putting you all at risk?”
The questions kept spilling from my mouth until he answered the first one. “It was Aero. He’s a falcon shifter and a member of my pack.”
My brows drew together. “You have a falcon in your pack?”
“Yeah, we’re kind of a mixed bag. Peppa is a lioness, and she brought him and a polar bear with her when she moved down here to open Timber Treasures.”
Peppa…that was the woman who owned this house and lived next door. Maybe I had freaked out for no reason. “Was it her mate checking to make sure everything was okay over here?”
“No, she’s mated to Cason. He’s a wolf shifter who was already a member of my pack.”
“Oh, you might’ve mentioned his name earlier, and I forgot.” I ducked my head and stared down at my hands. “Sorry, my brain is still a little foggy.”
“You have nothing to apologize for, Ramsey.” He gently bumped his shoulder against mine. The contact was brief enough that I was able to keep my cool, and my falcon perked up at the brief touch from such a dominant shifter. “You went through an ordeal that would’ve broken most people.”
“Yeah, well, I’m one of those people because I’m definitely broken.” Tears welled in my eyes. “If it’d been someone here to hurt or recapture me, I wouldn’t have been able to defend myself.”
“Which is nothing to be ashamed of,” he reassured me. “With enough time to heal, you’ll be back to fighting form again.”
I stared down at the basement, which had felt like a safe place until the falcon shifter he’d mentioned tried breaking in this morning. “Does Aero want me gone? Is that why he wanted to get into the house? To tell me to leave?”
“Ah, no. He definitely doesn’t want you gone.”
His voice sounded strangled, and when I looked up, his expression was a weird mixture of hopeful and confused. “Then what did he want?”
“If I had to guess, he wants you.”
“Me?” I echoed, pointing at my chest. “Because I’m a falcon like him?”
“No.” Kace shook his head. “He’s acting like a shifter who’s caught the faintest whiff of their mate’s scent. Just enough to set off their inner beast, but not enough to realize why.”
I jumped up so quickly that I almost fell over and had to hold the wall so I didn’t tumble down the steps. “You think this Aero guy is my mate?”
He nodded. “It’s the only logical explanation I can come up with for how he’s acting.”
Finding your fated mate was supposed to be the best day of a shifter’s life, but I was terrified to believe that Kace was right. I’d lost so much weight that I looked like a skin-covered skeleton. My hair had to be cut to just below my jawline because of how brittle it had been when I finally shifted to my human form after almost a year. My falcon’s wings were still a mess from the butcher job my captor had done when he’d tried to clip them. I could barely handle the briefest moments of contact with another person. I was in no condition for a mating. “How long can you keep him away from me?”
“I locked him in one of the holding rooms in my basement.” His voice softened as he added, “But I can’t keep him there for long. He didn’t break any pack rules, and he’s not rabid.”
I winced at the thought of someone being locked away to keep me safe. After what I’d gone through, that was the last thing I wanted. Especially if he really was my fated mate. “I’m not ready to face him yet. Not like this. I need more time to heal first.”
He heaved a deep sigh. “I had a feeling you’d say something like that.”
