Ryan had sprinted over to the tray with Lucie in his arms. “You made these, Lucie?” He watched her nod her head slowly, confused. “Then they’re not for anyone else to eat but me.” Ryan possessively began bagging the cookies up.
“No, please! I’ll do anything, anything! Just don’t take her cookies away,” Tonya cried dramatically.
“Ryan, give her some!” Lucie scolded, giving him a feigned stern look.
“Fine.” Ryan reached into the bag and took one cookie out. “There. I shared.”
“I better be getting one of Luce Luce’s cookies too,” Jasper said, laughing loudly. Lucie was covered in a layer of white flour. It was all over her body and in her hair. “Halloween came early, huh Lucie?”
“Jasper!” Lucie squealed and wiggled to get down from Ryan. She felt him reluctantly lower her and she jumped into Jasper’s outstretched arms.
“I told you to stay put and wait for me.” Jasper sighed into the top of her head.
“You know I don’t listen to men.” Lucie smiled up at him. He stepped back and looked her over. When his eyes landed on her wounds, he frowned.
“What happened?” he asked, kneeling to look at the worst wound on her leg.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m fine. It’s just taking me longer to heal because of the vervain. Really, it hardly bothers me.” Lucie watched as his eyes flickered at her angrily.
“It shouldn’t have happened, Lucie. What were you thinking?! How could you leave the pack borders? I can’t believe you would be so reckless.” Jasper said in a low tone, pressing his lips together disapprovingly.
“Who do you think you are lecturing? I let myself get caught so I could?—”
“YOU LET THEM TAKE YOU?!” Jasper shook his head dramatically. “Unbelievable. Unbelievable. Do you realize what could have happened?!”
“I was trying to get answers. When I heard they were after the Black Ice Pack, I knew I needed to protect my people.”
“Yeah, I can see how being dead would really help them,” Jasper said, rolling his eyes.
“Am I dead? No, I’m not.”
“She saved us, Jasper. She saved me and Zach from our cell. We weren’t able to escape like we’d planned.” Tonya said quietly, making sure to give Jasper the respect he deserved.
“I’m glad she was able to help you two. But her life … she is someone whose life shouldn’t be risked.” Jasper frowned and sighed. “Everyone was so worried, Lucie. I’ve never felt so much fear. I thought …” His voice trailed off in a whisper.
Lucie smiled at him. “I understand you were worried. But you don’t have to yell at me, right? You know when you yell like this it makes me want to rebel more.” She listened to him chuckling and walked back into his arms, hugging him gently.
“Alright, that’s enough.” Ryan grabbed Lucie and pulled her back into his chest.
Lucie turned and looked up at him. “What’s your problem?”
“My problem is my mate is hugging the wrong man,” Ryan said with an almost adorable pout.
“Ugh, Ryan, we’ve been over this,” Lucie said, rubbing her forehead.
Jasper stared at Ryan for a moment before lowering his gaze to Lucie. “Let’s go and talk. We have a lot to discuss.”
“Yes … we do,” Ryan said quietly, his eyes never leaving Jasper’s. He lifted Lucie gently against his chest and slowly carried her out of the kitchen, with Jasper trailing right behind him.
CHAPTER 18
Jasper followed Ryan into the bedroom and closed the door. He looked over at the broken bathroom door and quirked his brow.
Ryan chuckled as he slowly lowered Lucie down in front of him. “We had a spider incident earlier.” He rubbed his hands over Lucie’s shoulders gently as a warm smile rested on his lips.
This was a bit awkward for Lucie. Ryan being touchy and Jasper not ripping him apart didn’t make sense to her. She wondered what was talked about before they came back. Jasper seemed to be well aware of the fact that Ryan was her mate. But he was Derrick’s cousin and right-hand man. Wouldn’t he be opposed? Or did Ryan really have something that would allow them to be together?
She looked over her flour-covered self. She needed to get a quick shower, but there was no door. And the evil killer could still be in the bathroom.
