“What’s tomorrow?” Leah asked.
“You’ll see,” Bram said and smiled, surprising her. He didn’t smile often, but damn, he looked damn sexy when he did. If he and Charlotte were truly mates—no matter how they were handling it—Charlotte was one lucky woman.
Leah found herself alone with Brandon and Ryder and felt awkward. She was always awkward around Ryder. She may be living with him, but she didn’t spend much time with him. He had things to do with his family, and she’d been healing and grieving.
Now she was as whole as she was going to get and she had to figure out what she was going to do with him. She might not know what she was going to do about the world knowing about witches, but she could at least figure herself out. Or try to.
Her heart ached a bit and she wasn’t sure why. It was Brandon who came to her, though, not Ryder. The Omega studied her face and stopped right in front of her. She sucked in a breath as he cupped her cheek with his hand.
“What worries you, Leah? Your heart hurts so much, I can feel it.” He tilted his head. “How can I feel it, Leah? You aren’t Pack? Yet I know your pain. Why is that?”
She didn’t understand it either. Didn’t understand how she felt so close to not only the Talons but the Redwoods, as well. How was it that she could feel a connection to people so quickly, and yet never have had that before?
A low growl filled the room, and Brandon’s eyes widened ever so slightly.
“Get your hand off of her, brother,” Ryder growled from his spot in the dining room.
Leah didn’t move, didn’t dare to breathe. She’d heard of wolves and their possessiveness, but she hadn’t seen it.
Until now.
And that pissed her off. What right did Ryder have to be possessive of her? He may have kissed her—once—but that didn’t mean she was his.
She’d survived on her own all this time.
She was no one’s but her own.
She pulled away, rather than let Brandon lower his hand. “Perhaps you should leave,” she said softly. She didn’t want to get in the middle of brothers, but damn it, she needed to set a few things straight.
Brandon looked over his shoulder at his brother. “We’ll talk later. But know you’re not alone.”
“Go.” One word. One growl. And yet, Leah couldn’t help the shivers that went down her spine.
Damn, she wished she understood what the hell was going on.
Brandon left after giving her a look of…pity? No. Anticipation maybe? Either way, as soon as he closed the door behind him, she was left in a room with Ryder.
The man who didn’t want her, yet wanted her.
The man who she wanted, yet didn’t want.
Ryder stalked toward her, his gaze on hers and his hands fisted at his sides. He stopped right in front of her as Brandon had, but instead of freezing, her body tilted toward him of its own accord. She wanted to wrap her body around him and never let go. Yet she also wanted to push him away.
“You’re messing with me, Ryder. You can’t growl at your brother for touching me. You can’t think you own me when you told me yourself you wanted nothing to do with me.”
“I never said that.” He breathed in through his nose, his chest lifting. “I said I can’t mate with you. There’s a difference. I fucking want you, Leah. I want you beneath me, over me, around me. I want to sink into your heat and fuck you hard against the wall. I want to grip your hips while I pump into you. I want you so fucking much, Leah. And I can’t have you the way my wolf wants you.”
She blinked. Shocked. “But…”
“I can’t mate with you no matter how much I want to.”
“You need to explain that, Ryder. It’s not fair to either of us if you don’t.”
His hand shot out and gripped her hair. He tilted her head back, and she licked her lips. “I will tell you. One day. What do you want, Leah? Because I don’t know if I’ll be able to hold myself back. I want you. Do you want me? Do you want me as we are? Just for now, just until we can breathe? Maybe the constant want, the constant need will be gone by then. Can you handle that?”
She wasn’t sure if she truly understood what the answers to any of those questions were, but she knew she wanted him. That had to count for something.
“So, just for now? Just to take off the edge?” Her voice was breathy, needy.
He traced his other hand down her arm and up again before going across her collarbone. “No promises. But I won’t hurt you, Leah. We’ll take what we need, but not too much.”
She wasn’t sure if either of them believed that, but she didn’t know if she cared. All she wanted was to forget the pain, forget what had led her here, and forget what might be coming. If she could give in, if only for the moment, she might be able to live again.
“Okay,” she said. “But I want to go slower than a hard fuck against the wall. I’m not sure if I’m ready for that.”