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The first week I spent with the Wilderness Pack, I barely left my cabin. Peppa had packed enough food to last me for a couple of weeks—even though I was eating five meals a day—and I’d barely made a dent in the pile of chopped logs stacked next to the wood-burning stove. My eighth day here, I finally ventured past my front porch, and Keane took it as a sign that I was ready to be introduced to the rest of his pack.
Leyton, his brother and beta, was the most talkative of the bunch. Booker, a wolf shifter who used to belong to Kace’s pack and still had family there, shared a few stories about life in Timber Ridge. Artemis headed back to his cave as soon as the introductions were over, and Keane explained that the dragon shifter mainly kept to himself. Garner was in the cabin next to mine, but the cougar shifter left his place only a little more often than I did. I connected best with Rome, a wolf shifter who’d spent a decade as a loner before he joined Keane’s pack.
We’d just shared a lasagna Peppa had packed for me and were sitting on my back porch. My belly was so full it ached. But the food had done its job. I’d already gained back about half the weight I’d lost.
“That was so good, but it was the last container of lasagna.” I patted my stomach. “I wonder if I could talk Peppa into sending me some more.”
“That woman is a damn miracle in the kitchen.” Rome lifted his plate to lick it clean. “Haven’t left the wilderness since I joined Keane’s pack, but I just might need to go along with Booker the next time he visits his hometown so I can go to Timber’s Treasures.”
I leaned back in my chair and stretched my legs out in front of me. “If the stuff she sent with me tastes this good after being frozen and reheated in the microwave, can you imagine how amazing the dishes they serve in the restaurant must be?”
“Good enough for me to talk Booker into making a trip soon.”
I couldn’t help but hope that they wouldn’t go until it was safe for me to travel with them, but I doubted that would be possible. The more trips I made between the two packs, the better the chances were that I’d leave a trail for one of my captor’s friends to follow. Or that he’d be able to hunt me down when he got out of prison. It really pissed me off that the human authorities were the ones who’d dealt with him. Shifter justice would’ve meant his death, but the local alpha hadn’t cared what happened to me since I wasn’t a part of his pack, and he didn’t have to worry about anyone coming after him since I didn’t have a tower to protect me.
If I’d been able to shift into my human form, at least the bastard would’ve gotten a much longer sentence. Humans took kidnapping and false imprisonment seriously. Not so much the illegal owning and mistreatment of animals when it was a first offense and the person pled guilty.
But even if I didn’t need to worry about my captor and his friends, I still wasn’t sure what would happen if I showed up in Timber Ridge. My mind had drifted toward the falcon shifter who Kace thought might be my mate more than I cared to admit, and I was worried that he might not want me there after how I’d left.
It was virtually unheard of for a shifter to reject their fated mate, but Aero might have taken my running off while he was locked up in a holding cell as a rejection of our potential bond.
“Don’t look so sad. I didn’t mean while you were here,” Rome assured me. “I won’t leave while you still need protecting, Ramsey. Nobody’s gonna get you on my watch.”
“What?” I shook my head to clear my thoughts. “Sorry, I got lost in my head for a minute.”
“I understand that you’ve got a lot on your mind. But one thing you don’t need to worry about is me taking off while you’re still healing.” He flashed me a mischievous grin. “Us former loners need to stick together, after all.”
I rolled my eyes. “Although Keane offered me shelter in my time of need, I’m still a loner.”
Rome crossed his arms over his chest. “If he allowed me to join his pack, he’ll definitely let you. I was a loner a lot longer than you were. All you gotta do is ask.”
Thinking about Aero, I mumbled, “As much as I love it here, I’m not sure this is the place for me.”
His brows drew together. “But why?”
I’d talked to Rome about my time in captivity, but I hadn’t explained my reason for leaving Timber Ridge. Keane hadn’t shared it with anyone, either, so all the guys assumed it was for my safety since I’d be a lot harder to find up here in the wilderness. And I wasn’t ready to talk about the man I hadn’t met who could possibly be my mate.
But it looked as though I was going to have to because before I could come up with an excuse for why I wouldn’t be thrilled to join Keane’s pack, a falcon circled overhead with a screech. Then he made a spectacular dive, shifting to human form as soon as his claws landed on the deck next to the table.
With his light brown hair, blue eyes, and tall, lean frame, the falcon shifter was drop-dead gorgeous. And looking at the ample package between his legs that started to harden while I stared at it did what no man had ever accomplished before…brought my dormant libido to life. Which could only mean one thing—he was my mate. “Aero?”
Rome jumped out of his seat to stand between us, glancing over his shoulder at me. “Do you know this guy?”
“No, but I think he’s the reason I left Timber Ridge to come up here.” Rome’s wolf flashed in his eyes, and I realized that he misunderstood what I meant. “Not because he’s one of the bad guys. He’s a part of Kace’s pack and might be my fated mate.”
Rome’s eyes widened. “What the hell, Ramsey? You ran from your mate?”
“We never met until now, so I couldn’t be sure. But he tried to get into the house where I was staying, and Kace thought that was the reason.” My gaze darted over Rome’s shoulder to meet Aero’s bold stare. His gorgeous blue eyes had turned brown with a golden ring around them, a sure sign that his falcon was close to the surface. “I’m so sorry. I needed time to…”
While I was trying to come up with the right words to explain why I’d left Timber Ridge, he circled around Rome to kneel in front of me. Taking my hands in his, he growled, “You don’t need to apologize, bright eyes. I wasn’t happy that Kace hid you from me, but he explained what happened to you and why you felt you needed to leave. I waited as long as I could, but I couldn’t hold my falcon back any longer. We had to come for you.”
“How did you find me?” I couldn’t imagine his alpha would have broken his promise to me, but it was the only explanation that made sense. “Did Kace tell you where I went?”
He shook his head. “No, my alpha wouldn’t betray your secret. No matter how many times I asked, and it was a fuck of a lot. It took me awhile, but I finally realized there was only one place he’d deem safe enough to hide you. I figured Cason wouldn’t confirm it for me since he’d refused to give me the keys to let me into Peppa’s old house while you were in there, so I went to Booker’s parents and asked them about his new pack.”
I grimaced at the thread of frustration in his voice. “I’m sorry.”
He released my hands to cradle my face in his palms, his thumb brushing against my cheek. “I’m the one who should apologize for not being able to give you the time you needed.”
