“Doesn’t matter. One of the representatives drove in and witnessed the release of the prisoners. That’s all he needed to see. Fifteen in all.”
“Two teenagers at Reno and Denver’s location,” Austin added.
I twisted to sit up and noticed a thin blanket draped over me. Without looking, I could feel that Wheeler had on pants, thank the Lord. I touched his bare chest and noticed a scar I hadn’t seen before on his shoulder.
“Did you get hurt? What happened?”
“Shot,” he confirmed. “I shifted once, so it’s fine.”
“You were shot? Austin, pull over. He needs to shift again.”
Wheeler smirked. “It’s all right. It’s not the first time. The other one’s beneath my hairline, but this is a scar I’m not going to heal all the way.”
I traced my finger over the wound—the skin slightly puckered and pink—and I curled against him. “Now what happens?”
“We go home.”
Home. That meant an end to this drama, but it also meant ending my time spent with Wheeler. Maybe that’s what made Wheeler holding me in the backseat of Austin’s Challenger so bittersweet. I lifted my hand from beneath the blanket and found his, lacing our fingers together. In the darkness, his tattoos were nothing but shadows, occasionally highlighted by fast-moving streetlamps as we traveled. I listened to the hum of the tires against the road and allowed myself to feel swept away, if even for a moment. I enjoyed him with each passing minute—the feel of his strong arms, the heat of his body, and the way his eyes would twinkle when they looked down at me.
Not once in that cage had I feared Wheeler. When his wolf had approached me with a savage look in his eyes, I’d somehow known everything would be all right. Even now in his arms, feeling his chest rise and fall with each breath, seeing his eyes settle on mine whenever I looked up, I still had that feeling.
And it made me tear up again. Naya James was not a crier, and yet here I was, wrapped up in a blanket in a man’s arms and weeping like a babe. And how could I have ever imagined a man I’d been so rude to—whom I’d spent years bickering with—could be one of the most compassionate souls I’d ever met?
“We’re here,” Austin said. “I have to go back and run some errands, Wheeler. Do you want me to drop you off here, or are you coming with me?”
“I’ll go with.”
My heart sank.
The car slowed to a stop and the engine cut off. Lexi got out and pushed her seat forward so I could climb through the door. When my feet touched the ground, I wrapped the blanket around me and tucked it in like I would a towel.
I glanced up at my apartment, but I didn’t see it. All I saw were trees. Disoriented, I turned around and faced the Weston house, lit up inside as if it had been expecting our return.
“Wait a minute. I thought you said you were taking me home?”
Wheeler hopped out of the car and stood next to me, ruffling his tangled hair. “And that’s exactly where you are, Naya. Home.” He cupped his hands around my neck and looked at me with love shining in his eyes. “I’m not a romantic. I’m scarred, inked, and maybe a little ruined. I regret every shitty thing I’ve ever said to you, because you didn’t deserve it. I’m not a perfect man, but if you’ll have me, I’ll be your man. Whatever that means, I’m yours.”
I glanced at Lexi in surprise. “I can’t, Wheeler. I feel the same, but I can’t live here.”
“Why not?”
“I’m a panther. You live in a pack.”
Austin patted the hood of his car. “Naya, I’m the Packmaster. What I say goes, and if you want to mate with this bastard, then I’m not going to stand in your way. You’ve stretched your neck out for us more times than I can count, and you’ve shown more loyalty than most wolves have with their pack. I don’t know how this is all going to work out when I introduce your animal to the wolves in this pack, but we’ll figure something out. It’s unconventional, but hell,” he said with a loud chuckle, “we’ve already acquired a reputation for being a pack of misfits. Besides, having a panther as an ally is a mighty powerful thing.” Austin winked and slid back inside the car.
“Well?” Wheeler asked, his hands resting on my shoulders.
“Are you asking me to be your mate?”
“Naya, I’m begging. I love you too goddamn much to let you go.”
I smirked and pinched his chin. “Only an uncouth man such as yourself would propose using foul language. I accept.”
“One second, before you go in. I got something for you.”
Wheeler tapped on the trunk and it popped open. He reached inside and pulled out a carrier. I heard a frantic meow and my feet propelled me forward.