Page 18 of Torin

I don’t know what happened there tonight. I don’t know who put her in that white dress, whose scent is all over it, or why she was driving into the mountains alone.

But I know enough about East Ridge to make some ugly guesses.

Was she supposed to mate one of them?

My beast surges hard, and I grip the wheel tight, forcing it back.

Easy.

I take the next bend, and the wrecked truck comes into view.

For one terrible second, I can’t see her. My heart kicks.

Then I spot her sitting on the tailgate.

She’s changed out of the white dress. She’s wearing jeans and a dark shirt now, with a backpack beside her. I slow as I take that in. Clothes packed in the truck. A destination already programmed into her phone. Somewhere she knows she can get into when she arrives.

Whatever happened tonight, Hannah had already planned to run.

Now I need to know why.

Hannah looks up as I pull alongside her.

The relief on her face hits me square in the chest.

She waited for me.

My bear purrs.

“Got everything?”

She adjusts the backpack over her shoulder. “Yeah.”

“Come on.”

She hesitates, just for a beat, then opens the door and climbs into the passenger seat. I leave the windows down, figuring she’ll feel better without me sealing her inside a truck with a strange man.

“Show me where you’re going.”

She hands me her phone. The blue dot marks a spot just outside our territory, on human land that doesn’t belong to any clan.

“I know it,” I say, handing the phone back.

Hannah looks surprised. “You do?”

“Yeah.”

The tension in her face eases.

“You want me to put it in the holder?” she asks.

“No need. I know these mountains.”

She peers out at the wilderness. “Were you… were you raised here?” she asks uncertainly.

“No. My brothers and I moved here a few years ago.”

“What brought you here?”