Ryder smiled because he thought he already knew the answer. “Who?”
“Mason. You are nothing like that soulless asshole, Ryder. You never were. He couldn’t even keep one woman happy his whole life. That ain’t your destiny.”
Ryder frowned at the stark honesty in Weston’s tone. “What do you mean?”
“I mean Lexi is your mate. She always was.”
“You’ve seen her for me?” Hope and confusion swirled around in Ryder’s chest as he sat up straighter and stared at his best friend.
“I lied when I told you I stopped having visions. I had a dream about her the night before you met her in that coffee shop.”
Ryder’s hands were shaking, so he clamped them together to make it look like he was holding his shit together. “What was the dream?”
“It scared me at first. It was zoomed in on you, sitting in the rocking chair in front of ten-ten, clutching your stomach like you’d been shot. You were lookin’ down at your hands, and I could see a tear fall. Just one. I thought you were dying, but then you opened up your hands and you were holding this little baby owl. Little gray and white fluff ball with gold eyes just like yours.” Wes sniffed and said, “You looked up at me, and you smiled. I mean the real kind, not the one you use to hide your hurt. The happy kind. And when I looked down, Lexi was sitting on the ground between your legs, resting her cheek on your thigh, looking up at you like you hung the moon and all the stars.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Ryder croaked, ducking his gaze so Wes wouldn’t see how choked up he was.
“Because I tried to change Alana’s fate, and I missed. And thank God, because if I would’ve succeeded, she and Aaron wouldn’t be bonded like they are. They wouldn’t be getting married. She wouldn’t be a Bloodrunner. Wyatt told me once that it wasn’t my job to change the future, and he’s right. And you were doing so fucking good. You bonded Lexi to you just fine on your own. You didn’t need my prophesy, Ryder.”
“You think it’s a real bond?”
Wes bellowed a single laugh that echoed across the mountains. “Ryder, anyone with eyes can see it’s the real bond. You both light up when you’re around each other.” He rocked away, pulled something from his back pocket, and handed it to Ryder. “Here.” A pocket knife rested on his open palm. The polished woodgrain shone in the sunlight. Etched neatly into it was R + L. “My dad taught me how to make these when I was a kid, and when I was ten, he told me that someday, I would make one for you.”
“R plus L. Ryder and Lexi?” Ryder asked, taking the gift carefully.
Weston gripped his shoulder and shook him slowly. “Now I know what my dad meant. You’ll need this.” With a slight smile, Wes ruffled his hair and stood, then sauntered back down the trail without another word.
Just as he disappeared completely, another face appeared, looking worried and uncertain. Lexi.
Of course she would find him. She knew him, heart and soul.
She didn’t say anything as she approached slowly. Only stepped over the log and stood in front of him, her pretty green eyes worried as she cupped his cheeks. Her arm was still bandaged, and he winced away from the sight of the thin crimson line that had seeped through. He’d done that—hurt his mate.
Lexi slipped her arms around his neck and held him until his body relaxed completely against hers.
“Will you tell me now?” she murmured.
And he did. He unloaded all his secret memories onto her, and she was strong. She didn’t flinch, gasp, or cry—not until the end. She stood there, rocking him gently as he told her about the abuse and the shame that his dad made him feel about his inner animal. He told her about his struggles to cope as he was growing up, and about the hole he’d always felt in his middle. The one he hadn’t figured out how to fill up yet. He told her about the guilt he’d shouldered all these years for letting Robbie’s actions hurt him, while Mason was working so hard to make him feel loved. He told her about yesterday, and about the genetic cleansing Robbie had tried to do.
And when he was finished, he felt so much better.
It wasn’t his burden to bear alone anymore. Lexi had come in and offered to shoulder half and, God, his soul was better for it.
“I’m sorry about your arm,” he whispered.
“I looked at it,” she squeaked out. “Harper said I should so I didn’t imagine the worst.”
“And?”
She huffed an emotional laugh and eased back, showed him the emerald green in her pretty eyes. They were rimmed with tears. “At first, I was so sad because it’s not something I’ll ever be able to hide. Not even in my chef uniform. But…” She ran a knuckle over his jaw, feeling his scruff there. “I thought about something.”
“What?”
She swallowed hard, pulled the collar of his shirt aside, and brushed a light touch over the scar Mason made all those years ago. “I know you don’t bite to claim a mate, but you let Mason cut you to show that you were his family.”
Ryder kissed her palm hard, let his lips linger there because he could see where this was going and it made him love her even more.
“So if it’s okay…this?” she said, holding up her bandaged arm. “This is my claiming mark from you. You gave it to me saving my life. I know you would’ve gone right to the ground with me. I saw it in your eyes. You weren’t going to give up on me no matter what.” Her face crumpled, and tears streaked down her cheeks. “So if you say it’s okay, I’m gonna love these scars because they mean I’m yours.”