As if she knew he was there, Karissa moved farther to the right, forcing Bagley to twist back and forth to defend himself from both of them at once. They didn’t make it easy on him, attacking relentlessly, their timing so perfect it was like they’d fought together for months.
Metal clanged loudly on metal and Bagley was forced back step by step, his eyes beginning to widen in alarm. Then Hale caught one of the blades on his makeshift weapon, trapping it for asplit second as he let his body shift further, claws and fangs coming out to their full extension.
Bagley tried to twist away but couldn’t without opening himself up to Karissa’s attack. He had no choice but to move back in an attempt to disengage. He didn’t get it done in time, and Hale’s claws tore into the magically reinforced leather of his chest piece, ripping out whole pieces and drawing blood.
Maybe he would have done better if he’d turned into a full wolf—if he could.
Finally able to break away, Bagley stumbled back, his attention focused completely on Hale as a black, inky cloud began to surround him.
“You’re a werewolf!” he spat in disgust, visibly recoiling as the blackness continued to roil around him. His eyes went flat and emotionless as he turned to glare at Karissa, and then back at Hale, face going pale as he looked back and forth between them. “You two are together? Bonded?”
Hale was too stunned to answer. The werewolf stuff was obvious, but he couldn’t imagine how Bagley could have possibly known about the soul mate stuff. And Hale had no doubt that he knew.
Then the Greek god disappeared into his black cloud, muttering something about coming after the two of them a different way.
And as fast as the fight had started, it was over. But Hale and Karissa were both still alive and unhurt. That was the important thing.
“What did he mean about a bond?” Karissa asked, pinning Hale with a curious look. “Is this what you were just about to tell me before?”
Well, he’d wanted to talk to Karissa about them being soul mates. Looks like that time had come.
Chapter 22
Karissa followed Hale back to his apartment in her car since she hadn’t wanted to leave it at Patterson’s hotel. She was getting more worried by the second about thatbondthing Bagley had mentioned. Whatever it was, it had clearly rattled the otherwise stone-cold killer. Enough that he’d up and disappeared in the middle of the fight. It was also clear that the subject was sensitive to Hale. While he’d assured her it wasn’t anything bad, he’d still wanted to wait until they got back to his place before discussing it in detail.
“Man, I’m starving,” he said, closing the door of his apartment behind them, then heading straight for the kitchen.
“Yeah, I figured that out when you suggested stopping at Keller’s to pick up dinner,” she said drily.
While she could definitely eat—especially after the tussle with Bagley on the hotel rooftop followed by the tedious hour or so attempting to explain the guardrail damage to the hotel security staff—she would rather have Hale explain what the bond was. But after spending time with him and the other werewolves in his pack, she was coming to realizethat food was an integral part of every conversation they had. It was like a werewolf couldn’t think clearly without it.
Karissa followed Hale into the kitchen, unpacking the cheeseburgers and fries while he poured them glasses of iced tea.
“Do you plan on telling me what Bagley meant about the bond he mentioned?” she asked after they both sat down at the kitchen table. “I get the feeling that whatever it is, it’s kind of a big deal to him.”
Hale gazed at her for a moment, then shoved a big handful of fries in his mouth.
Real mature.
She didn’t realize she’d said it out loud until Hale suddenly stopped mid-chew, looking like he was damn near ready to blush.
Picking up his glass, he took a big gulp of iced tea. “Sorry. This is a little difficult to talk about. In fact, I’ll admit I’ve been putting it off because I’ve been trying to come up with the best way to tell you about it.”
Karissa stared at him, her burger halfway to her mouth. “I know you said it wasn’t anything bad, but the way you keep delaying makes me think it is.”
Hale shook his head. “No, it’s not bad at all. At least, I don’t think it’s bad. I hope you don’t think it is.”
She wanted to ask what the hell that meant butforced herself to be patient, even going so far as to take another bite of her cheeseburger and a few fries. She could see why Hale raved about the burgers. They were as juicy and delicious as he’d said.
“Werewolves have this…urban legend…I guess you’d call it,” Hale said slowly. Even though he was looking at her, his gaze was a little distant, like he was struggling to find the right words. “For a long time, the Pack all thought it was merely a fairy tale werewolves told each other to make themselves feel better about being…well…like we are.”
Once again, she wanted to ask him what that meant—because it didn’t sound good at all—but instead she bit her tongue and let him keep going.
“Then Gage found his, and a little while later, some of my other pack mates did, too,” Hale murmured, not making any sense at all. “It was like dominoes. One after the other, each member of the Pack finding theirs.”
“Their what?” Karissa finally asked, too baffled and frustrated to keep silent any longer. But she couldn’t help it. Hale was completely crap at telling a story. Her birthday would come before he got to the important part. “What are you talking about?”
“Soul mates,” he said, his voice soft. “Werewolves call itThe One. As in the one person in the world who will truly and completely accept us for what we are—fur, claws, fangs, and all.”
