Hannah turned to her sharply. “But I thought…you and Ryder…”
Leah shook her head. “We’re choosing not to mate.” Goddess, why did that hurt to say? It shouldn’t. It was a rational decision. Ryder didn’t want to burden her with…whatever secret he held close, and she didn’t want to put a bull’s-eye on his back by mating him. It was better for both of them if they stayed apart.
And if she kept telling herself that, maybe it would make sense.
Gina pressed her lips together but didn’t say anything.
“I’m sorry,” Hannah whispered. “I didn’t mean to bring up such a sore subject. These days, there only seems to be those kinds of subjects, though.”
Leah snorted. “Pretty much. I can’t walk without running into an issue from the past, or one that isn’t quite finished in the present.”
“That’s the problem when you have centuries to live,” Gina said. “Lots of layers of history and not everyone is willing to share it.”
Leah ran a hand over her face. She opened her mouth to say something, only to come up short. The ground beneath her feet shook as a bomb—it had to be a bomb—went off near them.
Gina pulled Hannah under her as she dropped to the ground since the Enforcer was wolf and could handle most damage, while Hannah was only a witch. A witch like Leah. But Leah was too far away for Gina to protect with her strength. Another bomb went off, and Leah fell to her knees, the force of the impact in the air too much.
Bram and Max ran toward her but were thrown from their feet as another bomb went off. Leah pulled on her magic, trying to find out what was going on and figure out how to fix it; only she couldn’t concentrate. Her ears rang and her head pounded. Hands grabbed at her roughly, and she tried to fight; only she couldn’t. Something sharp pricked her neck, and she screamed. A hand went over her mouth, and her body felt heavy.
She tried to blink, tried to do something to save herself; only she couldn’t think enough to function.
She succumbed to the darkness with one thought on her mind.
Ryder.
Chapter Nine
The walls shook as what sounded like a bomb went off right outside the building. Ryder was on his feet in an instant, adrenaline coursing through his veins. His wolf raged, clawing at him to shift so they could find their mate and bring her to safety.
Leah.
Had she been outside when the bomb went off?
Shit.
He inhaled; the scent of burnt diesel and chemicals filled his nostrils and he coughed, trying to expel the odor. He ran toward the door as fast as he could. His family and the Redwoods followed him, their wolves in their eyes.
It was no surprise to him that most of the witches ran toward the other door in the room. The one away from the bomb. A few witches followed Ryder and his crew, worry in their eyes, but their hands raised to use magic. There was even a pregnant witch who looked like she wanted to follow, but someone pulled her back. Ryder didn’t blame them for wanting the woman safe. She had to protect her young. However, he could blame all the other able-bodied witches who didn’t want to see if their own security team outside was safe.
Or perhaps they knew they were safe and this was all a ploy.
“Finn,” he called out.
Finn met his gaze and seemed to be on the same track. “Fuck. Got it. I’ll go with them. Just to make sure. Drake, with me.” The two ran after the witches to make sure they weren’t going to run off, in case they were the ones responsible, but he hoped to the goddess they wouldn’t be hurt in the process. The sheer fact that Finn had trusted his Redwood wolves out front with Ryder spoke volumes.
Ryder made his way through the final door and out into the chaos. Another bomb went off close to the compound, and he was thrown back into the wall, Brandon right next to him. His ears rang, but he just shook his head and staggered to his feet. He was pretty sure he had a few cuts all over his exposed skin thanks to flying debris, but he didn’t care. He needed to find Leah and the rest of his Packmates before it was too late.
As soon as he took a few steps, he spotted Gina on the ground, covering another person. From the curly brown hair covered in a layer of debris and dust, he figured the woman beneath Gina had to be Hannah. Brandon took off running and Ryder followed him.
“Gina!” he called out. He didn’t know where the enemy was, and with all the smoke and broken ground and trees around them, he couldn’t get a scent lock on the bastards. For all he knew, this was like the last time the Talon Pack had been bombed by human extremists. They’d used timed devices that could go off without anyone having to be near.
How they—whoever they were—knew the witches and wolves were meeting there was a question that would have to be answered.
Soon.
But first, he needed Leah and his Pack.