She couldn’t be married.
He gulped in a silent breath and put her hand down on the bed. He stood and backed away from her just a little.
How could Fate be this cruel?
3
Ryder
He tried not to hold his breath. This could be a chance at a real job in this town, not just filling in here and there at the grocery store or making food deliveries for the café where Ava worked. This was the possibility of having a place of his own in this town. A job that would allow him to contribute to his life here in Mystery with Ava.
“I’d be very interested in working for the bar, Liam. Security would be second nature to me.”
“Ex-military?” Liam asked. “What branch were you? Army, navy?”
Ryder had learned enough to know Army meant a foot soldier. That was by far his safest answer. “Army.”
Liam nodded, satisfied with the answer. “Come downstairs with me and we’ll fill out some paperwork. I hate to hire you without talking to Dawn first, since she’s here, but since she was a victim of the bar not having security, she better not have a problem with it.” He waved Ryder to follow him toward a door near the edge of the kitchen.
They descended down a stairwell that opened up in the bar near the kitchen entrance. He followed Liam into the kitchen and into an office in the very back corner.
Liam sank into the chair behind the desk and gestured for Ryder to take a seat in the chair on the other side.
Ryder shook his head. He could hear and pay attention better to his surroundings from the threshold of the office much better. “I’m good, but thanks,” he said.
Liam gave a slight shrug but didn’t order him to move. “Fine by me. Here’s an application. Just need your basic info. Name address. Whether or not you’ve been arrested before.” Liam watched him carefully. Ryder knew he was looking for a weakness.
“Never been arrested, sir.” He stepped forward and took the offered pen. He scratched out the information needed for the form, grateful his mate had made him practice it over and over. His magick had helped him pick up the language for conversation, but writing it was a completely foreign concept. Wolves lived most of their lives in beast form. Being a ‘man’ more than being his wolf had been a hard transition.
He pushed the completed paper across the desk.
Liam looked it over with a couple of grunts. “You work for Lily?”
“When she has deliveries.”
“No college?”
Ryder shook his head. “No, sir. Will that be a problem?”
“Nope. Not for me.” He shoved the paper into the top desk drawer and met Ryder’s gaze. I need you to start tomorrow. No more deliveries for Lily. Tell her to find a new errand boy.”
“Of course. And thank you.”
“Very welcome. Be here by noon. You’ll work til close.”
“Yes, sir. Not a problem.” Ryder turned to the doorway and headed out.
“You don’t live out near Denali where the rest of the newcomers moved. How come?”
“Why would you assume I would?” Ryder said, turning around.
“Your names all have a similar sound. You all showed up about the same time during the winter. Just makes sense to an old man like me.”
“Col and I had a—disagreement,” he said, searching for that last word.
“Ah, so he’s in charge.”
Ryder winced. He shouldn’t talk about the Tribe. He shouldn’t give away any information. It would only drive a larger wedge between them. Col was a dragon. A prince, nonetheless. Forgiveness wasn’t in their nature.
He wanted his mate to be reunited with her brother, Owen. As much as Ryder liked being on his own, he would prefer a pack—a Tribe. It was the Reylean way. He missed having a family. He knew Ava missed it too.
Tor had told him to be patient. The tiger shifter had been a friendly bridge between the icy wall the dragon had placed between he and Knox and the rest of the Tribe. Fiery wall would be more accurate since the Reylean dragon could literally breathe fire.
Patience wasn’t one of Ryder’s strengths. Action. Loyalty.
At least he had been loyal.
Until he’d abandoned his pack to save the life of his mate. Now he wrestled with their deaths and loss of his family. His alpha had led them wrong. He didn’t doubt that for a second, but the loss still ate at him. Nightmares plagued him constantly. The faces and mourning howls of his packmates. The whole pack hadn’t survived the run up the mountain and through the portal. Now after the war with Col, only a handful were left alive.
He and Knox lived in town with their mates. Several other younger pack members lived out in the wilderness on the east side of town now, so that they stayed far away from the Tribe’s territory on the east near Denali.
The prospect of protecting the bar, truly being a part of the family of the business appealed to him immensely.
“Dawn has my loyalty, sir, and you. Thank you for this opportunity. I won’t let either of you down.”
Liam raised an eyebrow. “Thank you, son. I appreciate those words. I know Dawn will too.”
Ryder nodded and then exited the office. He went back up the stairwell to the apartment to check on Ava and see what the plan was for the evening.
His mate was waiting for him at the top of the stairs. He slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her close, claiming a kiss from her lips before she could get a word out.
“What was that for?” She asked, nipping at his bottom lip.
“Liam hired me as security for the bar. I have a place now.”
Her eyes lit, flecks of gold dancing in the whiskey depths. “That’s wonderful. You’re going to do great as security for this place. They are lucky to have you and don’t even know it.”
Tor stepped into the threshold between the living area and Dawn’s bedroom. “He hired you?”
Ryder nodded.
“Good. If Knox didn’t already work with his mate at the Community Center, I would’ve recommended him too. Would one of the other wolves…the ones who live outside the town…”
“No. They don’t want to be men. I’ve spoken with them on several occasions. After everything that went down with Raish and Kai, they are hoping to find a natural wolf pack to assimilate into. ”
“They’re just going to disappear?” Tor asked.
“Yes. That was their choice.”
“Did they know we would’ve found places for them in town?”
“Yes,” Ryder said, assuring the Tiger he hadn’t chased his own packmates away. In fact, he’d done the opposite and tried to convince them to stay. “I tried. Believe me. One of them is my nephew.”
“I’m sorry,” Tor said, his voice softening.
Ava laid her head on Ryder’s shoulder.
“I’m fine. They will be fine. But I’m ready to have a place to call my own. Not that I’m ungrateful to Lily for providing the work. But, delivering food is not what I want to do forever.”
“It helped you get to know the town and the people, though.”
“Yes,” he answered. “But this will be better for me.”
“I know,” Ava said. “When do you start?”
“Tomorrow at noon,” he said.
“I’m staying with Dawn tonight,” Tor announced and turned on his heel, disappearing back into her bedroom. Ryder and Ava watched as he moved a few pillows from a chair in the corner and settled in.
“Well, we can stay here too. The couch is big enough and I’m calling the recliner,” Ava said. She wandered into the kitchen and started opening and closing cabinets. “Ugh, I’m going to run over to the grocery store and grab a few things for the poor girl. There’s nothing here but an old box of crackers, some cans of peas, and condiments in the fridge.”
“Ava, here,” Tor emerged from the bedroom with a handful of twenties. “Take this. Would you get her anything you think she might need, in addition to some food please? Are the Jenkins still open?”
“Yep, they should
be.” She shook her head. “I have money, Tor.”
He grabbed her hand and put the money in her palm. Ryder’s wolf growled and he took a step forward. The tiger shouldn’t have touched his mate.
Tor stepped back quickly. “Sorry,” he said, looking squarely at Ryder. “She’s my mate. I can’t have her, but she’s still mine.”
Ava’s fingers curled around the money. “What do you mean?” She stuffed the bills into her back pocket.
“She’s married,” Tor said, the words slow on his lips. Ryder could hear the anguish in his friend’s voice. His mate noticed it too.
Ava’s face darkened. “How do you know? Did she tell you?”
“Ring,” he said, his voice deepening.
Ava nodded. “I’m really sorry, Tor.” She backed toward the door of the apartment. “Be back in a bit, guys.”
Ryder took a step toward the door, following his mate.
“You stay with Tor,” she said. “We have no idea if those assholes are going to come back or not. I’m perfectly capable of chowing down on anyone who halfway thinks they are going to mess with me.”
He smiled. She wasn’t kidding. Ava’s beast was a ten-foot grizzly-esque bear who didn’t take shit from anyone. Her claws alone were the size of dinner plates. No human would mess with his mate and live to tell about it.
Still, it didn’t mean he didn’t have the urge to protect her. He always would. And she indulged him most of the time. But they were here to help Tor. To protect Dawn.
He could do that.
He locked the door behind Ava and turned around to face Tor.
His friend’s eyes were dark and sad.
He understood the pain and frustration. Ryder remembered seeing Ava glow for him the first time during the battle between the wolf pack and the Tribe. He’d saved her and then run. He knew he couldn’t have Ava.
Ava had thought differently—lucky for him.
“You going to be okay?”
Tor rubbed a hand over the stubble on his face and sighed. “Probably not.” Then he walked back into the bedroom and sat in a chair in the corner, leaving the door open.
Ryder sat on the couch to wait for Ava. He wouldn’t shut an eye until she returned.
Ava
The Jenkins grocer was still open when she got there. Henrietta waved as she crossed to the bread section. She only had about fifteen minutes, but she could be quick. She hurried down the aisles, grabbing the necessities—bread, milk, cheese, peanut butter, and some crackers. She’d have Ryder go hunting later and bring her some fresh caribou or moose. No need to pay money for frozen beef when you were married to a wolf who could hunt regularly.
They always went together. And always at night, to avoid other hunters. She watched with binoculars and he hunted as his wolf. Her bear got restless and some nights they traded ‘watch’ so she could roam a bit and scratch her beast’s itch. Hunting wasn’t really a thing she missed. But shifting regularly helped her moods a lot.
“Ava, I’m locking the door, but you go ahead and get what you need, sweetheart,” Henrietta said, her voice carrying from the other side of the store.
“Thank you,” Ava answered back. She grabbed a couple boxes of cereal and then hurried over to the women’s rack. Tampons and Pads were amazing inventions. One thing she didn’t miss about Reylea at all.
“I’m sorry, we’re closing, sir.” A hint of panic tinged Henrietta’s voice.
“I need some bandages.”
“Oh, my. Of course. Here, just follow me.”
The tension in Ava’s muscles relaxed with the shift in Henrietta’s voice. She was back to sounding like her mother-hen-normal-self. Even if it was a stranger. If he needed help, he’d come to the right place.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to call our EMT? I’m sure Connie could fix you up better than what I’ve got here.”
“No. No. I’m good with this. Thank you, ma’am. I’ll get myself checked out tomorrow. I promise.”
Ava’s lip curled. The honey-sweet tone of the stranger grated on her beast’s nerves. He was lying. She could feel it in every single bone.
“Those look like they’re from an animal. Don’t wait too long. That looks like it will get infected. Here, take this ointment too. Especially if you’re not headed to the clinic tonight.”
Ava waited on the other side of the aisle until she heard the cash register ding. Then she came around and took a glance. The guy was huge. Tall as Ryder, maybe a little thicker. Short light hair buzzed to his head. Heavy pants and a dress shirt with rips in the sleeves and blood stains.
She took a step closer. Cat claws got him good. Had to be the guy who attacked Dawn.
He took his card back from Henrietta and turned, glancing at her, giving her that once over that guys did that made a girl shiver from the inside out. Creep. Her beast wanted to give him a matching scratch on his other arm, but she refrained and kept her face neutral.
“Evening,” he said, took his bag from Henrietta and followed the shopkeeper to the door.
“Be right back, sweetie.” Henrietta unlocked the door, let the man out, then locked it again behind him. She scuttled back to the counter and started unloading Ava’s basket.
“You doing okay?”
“I’m good, thank you. Did you know that man who was just in here?” Ava asked, if Henrietta had gossip, she would share it with very little prodding.
“No, I don’t know his name, but he got into a nasty tangle with something big. I was on the phone with Patsy Lewis earlier today, you know Katherine’s mama. She said there were some strangers who came into the community center yesterday asking a bunch a questions.”
“What kind of questions?”
“They asked Katherine if she’d consider selling the MCC.”
Ava took a quick breath. “Really? She’s not going to, is she?”
“Oh, heavens no. Patsy said her girl told them to take a hike. But they’ve since been asking all over town, looking for property to purchase.”
“Did they find any?”
Henrietta frowned and shook her head. “Even if it was, nobody in this town is gonna sell to a stranger. We like our town the way it is. None of that resort crap and tourist nonsense.”
“I hear you,” she said. Nothing sounded better than keeping Mystery exactly the way it was. New people meant more she had to hide what she was from. The more crowded the town got, meant hunting would get harder too. None of the Tribe would like that either, though they were a bit spoiled since they had private land to hunt on.
She handed some cash to Henrietta and then took her bag.
Henrietta walked her to the door, just like she had the stranger. “See you later sweetie. Have a good evening with that handsome man of yours.” The shopkeeper gave Ava a wink and locked the door behind her.
Ava couldn’t stop the heat that for sure flushed her cheeks. She shook her head and walked at a steady clip back down the road toward the Watering Hole and Lily’s Café. They were caddy corner to each other. Best food and only bar. It was a popular corner. Of course, right now the bar wasn’t open late, but with Ryder coming on as security. This little spot of Mystery would be bubbling with life again. It would be good for the town. Attitudes had been souring ever since Lars had gotten ill and then passed.
She got back to the apartment door upstairs on the side of the bar. Ryder had it open and was waiting for her by the time she got the top stair.
“Hey,” she said, flashing him a smile. “Has she woken yet?”
He shook his head. “No. Any gossip gathered?”
Ava chuckled. “You know me too well.”
“I know Henrietta too well,” he said, a grin splitting his face.
“She said there were strangers in town looking for property to purchase. She wasn’t sure it was the guy in the store with us, she hadn’t seen them personally.”
Ryder tensed in front of her and his eyes flashed gold. “Wait. The guy that attacked Dawn was in the store with you. Just n
ow?”
“Probably. He had some big claw marks on his arm. Shirt was torn. Little bit of blood. He’d definitely had a bad day.”
“So, they are looking for other property to purchase, not just the bar. That sounds about the same as what Liam said.” He closed the door behind her and turned the deadbolt.
“Always nice when gossip matches up. Henrietta was talking to Patsy, Katherine’s mother. And if anything is going on, you know she would know. Katherine might know more. She spoke with them too. They offered her money for the Community Center.”
“I hope she doesn’t sell.” He growled and took the bag of groceries from her.
“They won’t. Nobody will, except…”
She had been going to say Dawn. Ryder knew and she didn’t have to say it. Dawn was a stranger to town. She didn’t have loyalty. So, it made sense that she was the main target like Liam had said. “Let me help you with this.”
She followed him into the kitchen and they quickly had the bag unloaded and things into their proper place.
“Is Tor still awake?”
Ryder nodded. “He gets up every ten minutes or so and paces the room. Or touches her. Or both.” He chuckled. “We can probably just get some rest. I don’t think he’ll sleep at all. The doors are solid. No one is going to get in without us hearing them long before they succeed.”
“Sounds good, I still call the recliner. I hate sleeping on a couch.”
“I would sleep on the floor for you, my love. It doesn’t matter to me.” He grabbed her around the waist and pulled her flush to his hard body. He smelled so good—all male and woodsy. His face was covered with a little scruff. His hair was growing out past his ears now. She loved it.
He captured her parted lips and she let a quiet moan slip out.
This man. She could never get enough.
He cupped her cheek and ran his lips across hers, nibbling at her bottom and then the top.
“You can’t do this. I won’t be able to sleep,” she whispered across his lips.
He smiled against hers and slowly released her. “You won’t sleep with me on the couch. Now you will think of me all night.”
All's Were That Ends Were: Soulmate Shifters World (Soulmate Shifters in Mystery, Alaska Book 6) Page 3