“Just a bit freaked out,” I admitted.
“I wanted to kill him,” Eric growled. A dark shadow lingered across his face. “But I figured your pack wouldn’t appreciate that.”
“He hurt you,” Colton murmured. His voice was soft, but loud enough for everyone to hear through our telepathic shifter link.
“Not that badly,” I said with a reassuring smile. The blood on the back of my neck was already drying.
“No. Not physically.” Colton pressed his forehead against my chest and I carded my fingers through his fur. “He betrayed you.”
“Oh. That. Yeah, I guess he did,” I muttered.
“Was that really what he was trying to do?” Ramsay asked, frowning. “Trying to make you love him?”
I buried my face in Colton’s fur. “Yeah. He was jealous of you three, especially since we were… intimate. I think he wanted to… You know.”
Eric’s hands curled into fists. “I wish you hadn’t told me that. Now I regret not tearing his throat out when I had the chance.”
“Not too late,” Ramsay added in a dark mutter, glancing in the direction the guards had gone.
“No, I don’t want that,” I stated, lifting my head. “What he did was wrong, but I don’t want to waste my time thinking about him anymore. I want to spend it with you guys.”
Ramsay sighed and moved in closer. “You’re right. Sorry, Mathe.”
Eric leaned his forehead against mine. “We’re not going anywhere. We promise.”
We,I thought with a blossom of hope in my chest.Eric said ‘we.’
“All right, you big lugs,” I said with a blush after the group hug was over. “So what was this big piece of information you discovered?”
Colton wagged his tail. “Oh, right! Come on, I’ll show you!”
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“Colton wasn’t impressed with my library. Apparently it’s nothing compared to the one in North Pack,” Eric explained. “He has an idea, and he says we can find the information we need there.”
That surprised me. “We’re going to North Pack?”
“Yep,” Ramsay said, putting his arm around me. “Road trip for Mathe and the guys!”
“You’re coming too, Eric?” I asked.
Eric smiled, then--surprising me even more--he put his arm around Ramsay. “Of course I am.”
Hope bloomed within me, and something stirred, like an unexplainable feeling of happiness.
We were going to make it through this.
Together.
