Page 53 of Israel

Chapter 20

This mate thing was a lot harder than it looked.

Israel knew they hadn’t finalized the bond yet. That involved sexual mating, giving themselves to each other with the deliberate intention to bond for life.

Maybe that’s why everything was still so fucked up.

He’d tried twice more in the last couple of days to talk Ashley out of trying to deal with this on her own. She’d finally yelled at him, accusing him of not having any faith in her, of treating her like a helpless child just like the rest of the men in her life.

He didn’t know why he’d believed they wouldn’t fight anymore once the bond had been invoked. Nothing else about this whole process had even vaguely resembled anything he’d imagined.

And it wasn’t that he didn’t trust her. If he were honest, he was hurt because she didn’t trust him enough to let him stand by her when she confronted her people. Or even when she just told someone she trusted about him.

His wolf hated being in the dark—hated her going off on her own where they couldn’t protect her.

Which was ironic and hypocritical, because he hadn’t yet told Ashley about the research he’d asked Jesse to do on her necklace. And he knew damned well that could end up with him finding out all the things she was trying so hard not to let him find out.

And on top of that, he had the stalker to worry about. Prior to that last incident, he’d been sending notes about once a week, though he didn’t seem to be keeping an exact schedule. The lilac-filled dressing room had been six days after the last letter Ashley had gotten. They were coming up on a week since then, and if the stalker was still escalating, then he might try something any day. Something even more direct and personal.

The whole security team was tense, and not knowing what might happen, or when, made it worse.

It was another good reason for her not to go off by herself to meet her contact. If the stalker followed her, she’d have two kinds of trouble instead of one.

Being back on the bus made everything worse as well. He was starting to hate the sight of the thing—he couldn’t imagine what had possessed him to think he could live in a tin can like this for eight weeks. He’d barely made it through one.

Once he and Ashley were officially mated, they were buying their own bus, with a huge bed and a slide-out living area and a real kitchen and a fireplace. He didn’t care how much it cost.

He’d gone back to dozing in the lounge at night, watching Ashley’s bunk while she slept and worrying about her. He knew she was worried about him too, and that made his wolf even more upset.

He was supposed to be making her happy, and they were both sleeping alone, miserable and on edge. Or alone and not sleeping, in his case.

He had to be the worst mate ever.

On the third night, he was pretending to watch a movie while he counted the hours until tomorrow—their next two-day stop. This time they were getting an entire day off—no show—plus a night in a hotel before moving on to the next venue.

Which meant he could finally take Ashley on a real date. He’d been looking up fancy restaurants on the web, trying to find someplace she’d like, trying to think of something else special they could do together.

Hoping that the stalker wasn’t going to ruin it. Israel wanted to make her happy for at least a few hours before it all went to hell.

He checked his email again, hoping that Jesse had something for him on Ashley’s necklace. Nothing so far. As far as he knew, she hadn’t set up anything with her contact from home, either. But he didn’t know for sure—after their last fight he’d stopped asking.

He was trying to figure out if there was a better way he could bring it up when he heard a small noise. A soft whimper and a restless movement, as if someone were tossing and turning violently in their bunk.

Ashley.

He stood soundlessly and went to the door, listening. There was no other sound in the bus except sleepers breathing, and the radio playing softly in the front. Only Avery was awake, driving.

There was a sharp movement and another whimper from Ashley’s bunk.

She was in pain.

Israel thrust the curtains back. In the dim light he could see Ashley moving back and forth, her shoulder muscles working as if she were trying to throw off some great burden. He could smell the cold sweat that had broken out on her skin.

He reached in to touch her face. Her skin was clammy. Was she sick? He felt a jolt of fear. Shifters weren’t supposed to get sick, even those who didn’t shift.

Something was very wrong here.

Ashley’s hands moved to her neck, and she muttered something in a language he didn’t understand.