The blond took a step closer to the door. "Oh, I think he wants me to leave."
"Can you go tell Alpha Rob that Randal is awake?" Luca asked.
"Yeah, I'll just go do that." The man darted through the doorway, closing the door behind him.
"Can you shift now, Randal? I'd really like to see you."
Randal turned back around to face his mate. He still wasn't sure if Luca was safe, but he couldn't deny his request. Randal thought of his two legged form and then let the shift roll through him. It hurt, and he was surprised it hadn't when he shifted into his bear. Maybe it was because he'd been too afraid for his mate and the instinct to protect him had overridden the pain.
"There you are," Luca said as he scooted closer.
Randal grunted as he fell to his side on the bed. A moment later, Luca's face came into view as the man hovered over the top of him. Randal closed his eyes and leaned into the hand Luca pressed against his cheek, moaning at the silky soft touch.
How he had missed it.
"Mate," he whispered reverently.
"I'm here, Randal. I'm not going anywhere."
Randal opened his eyes and looked up into the deep green eyes of his mate. "How are you here? Raymond was—" Randal sucked in a breath. "Raymond is here!"
"Not here, Randal. We're at Alpha Rob's house."
"No, no, he's here in Silver Lake. My father and brother were waiting for me when I came home. My father took something out of his office and then he ordered my brother to teach me a lesson I wouldn't walk away from."
Luca swallowed hard. "I don't think you were supposed to. You were in pretty bad shape when we found you. I think they meant for you to die."
Randal cocked his head to one side. "How did you find me? We weren't supposed to see each other for forty-eight hours." Randal gripped Luca's wrist gently, as if his life depended on it. "If Enforcer Jeb finds out you're here—"
"Randal, that forty-eight hours has come and gone. You've been unconscious for two days."
Randal's eyes rounded. "Two days?"
"Two days is nothing. I'm surprised you weren't unconscious for two months. You had a broken arm, a couple of broken ribs, whip marks up and down your back, and some internal bleeding." Tears flooded Luca's eyes. "Rob had to use his alpha power to force you to shift because you wouldn't so you weren't healing. He had to do it twice. He wouldn't let me in the room when he did it because he said it wasn't a good idea to see a forced shifting, but the healer he brought in said it was the only way to heal you."
"Am I okay now?" Randal started patting his hand down his chest.
Luca's smile was a little shaky, but it was there. "This last shift should have taken care of everything. You might be a little tender, especially your ribs and arm, but the bruises are gone, as well as the whip marks on your back."
Randal let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding before glancing at his mate. "So, the restitution Jeb required is over?"
He had to be sure.
Luca's eyes narrowed. "Rob made me promise not to demand restitution from Jeb for what he did. Instead, I'm letting his mate deal with him."
Randal growled before asking, "Restitution for what? What did he do?"
"He did the same thing to us that he demanded restitution from you for. He separated us and you almost paid the ultimate price."
"Luca, Jeb didn't do this to me. Raymond and my father did."
"He didn't physically put his hands on you, but if he hadn't demanded we be separated, you never would have been there and you wouldn't have gotten attacked."
Randal was thrilled to death that Luca was so vehement about what had happened to him, but it was really not the enforcer's fault. Randal grabbed both of Luca's hands between his and brought them up to his mouth, pressing a kiss to Luca's knuckles.
"Listen to me, Luca. This is not Jeb's fault. The blame lies fully on my father and brother's heads. And as much as I hate the fact that I was hurt and you were forced to see me like that, at least now we know that they are back in town."
"Why does that matter?" Luca asked.
