Three days after the attack, Becky had reached the end of her tether. Enough of the pain, and also fed up with not being able to do everything she needed to do. A little thing like going to the bathroom had suddenly become a challenge. With the dislocated knee, Doctor Graham had ordered a leg split and she wasn’t allowed to put her weight on it. Crutches were impossible to hold with her broken arm, leaving her stuck in bed unless someone was around to help her.

The loneliness was getting to her more than anything. Jase tried to spend as much time with her as he could and when he couldn’t, Ginger or some of the other members would stop by, but it wasn’t enough. When she was in Crimson Hollow, she was used to being surrounded by everyone. Being stuck in bed with her leg up was making her stir crazy.

Now that Billy knew about her injuries, though they’d sugarcoated how bad they were, he’d stop by a couple of times through the day to check on her. He’d stay for a bit before he grew tired of being cramped up in the room and want to go play with Doug. Ginger and Zoe had agreed to watch over him, so she knew he’d be fine. At least she tried to tell herself that. They were safe there, but after everything she had been through, she’d rather be watching over him herself.

Most of the time she was alone with her thoughts, which gave her lots of time to think about what was happening with her and Jase. During one of the times Ginger had stopped by for a visit, Becky had questioned her about mating. She needed to know everything about it before she could commit herself to Jase. Asking Jase would have given her the answers too but she needed time to sort through it all on her terms, without his influence. Ginger allowed her to do that.

“I’m back.” Ginger strolled into the bedroom, a brown paper bag in her hand.

“It’s about time.”

“Liam wasn’t thrilled with my run into town, so this better be worth it. You’ve got to tell me what’s going on before I give you this.” She pulled a tub of cookie dough ice cream and two spoons out of the bag. “Otherwise I’m going to stand here and eat this whole carton by myself, teasing you with every bite.”

“Too bad I don’t have crutches or I’d beat you with them to get that ice cream.” She tossed the book she had been reading aside and held out her hand. “Get over here and give me a spoon.”

“I’d love to see you wobbling after me on crutches.” Ginger let out a lighthearted laugh as she tossed the bag on the dresser. “Forget that, Jase would kill me if you got hurt over ice cream.”

“Jase…” The very mention of him sent her heart fluttering. “Things are complicated there.”

“You mean because he’s your mate?” Ginger sat on the edge of the bed and pried the ice cream container lid off.

Becky’s jaw dropped open in surprise and she could feel her eyes widen. “How…I mean…”

“Don’t act all flabbergasted. Any shifter could have smelled his mark on you from a hundred yards away.” Ginger held out one of the spoons to her before digging her own into the ice cream.

“Mark? I don’t even know what you mean.”

“He didn’t tell you that he marked you?”

“No.” Becky looked down at the spoon in her hand and suddenly wasn’t in the mood for ice cream any longer. “Does that mean he claimed me as his? If so, why’s he saying he needs to claim me? How could he do this without my permission…without even mentioning it to me?”

“Marking isn’t the same as completing the mating.” Ginger stuck her spoon in the ice cream and set the carton aside. “When he marked you, he did it with his scent. Once you’re mated, his scent will mix with your natural one and it will be something you always carry with you. Any shifter that comes in contact with you would know you’re his mate and that messing with you would bring Jase down on them, not to mention the whole tribe. I know it sounds confusing since marking and mating can overlap, but what he did by marking you was for protection. It would let anyone who could smell you know that you were under his protection. Sometimes, shifters mark friends of the tribe to keep them safe.”

Silence stretched out between them as Becky tried to take everything in. How long had she carried Jase’s mark? Was that why she had been attacked? Had Billy been marked? Or didn’t Jase think that Billy needed the protection? She had more questions than she had answers but she would figure it out. “If friends of the tribe can be marked, then how did you know I was his mate?”

“Being tribe members, we’re connected to Jase; it was just something we knew through the connection. It was never announced to everyone and, to be honest, Jase tried to hide it at first. I think he wanted to see how everyone would react to you without him interfering. Not that he had to worry; everyone here loves you. You fit in like you always belonged. Look at Billy and Doug—they’re best friends.”

“Is this mark the reason we were attacked? I know The Saviors will attack humans if they associate with shifters, guilty by association in their minds, but did they find out because of Jase’s scent on me?” Even though the answer wouldn’t change anything, she had to know. Could she have somehow stopped this all from happening? If he had told her about the mark, maybe she could have done something. She doubted that because it wasn’t like she could tell who was a shifter and who wasn’t just by looking at them. That train of thought led her to wonder how The Saviors knew who to attack. Surely, they couldn’t stalk each prey before they went after them. If anyone knew, it would be Jase. She made a mental note to ask him about that later.

“We don’t know how The Saviors found out about your relationship to us or to Jase, but Jase and the others are working on it. You carrying his scent was just one of the ways someone could find out.” Ginger paused for a moment, as if debating what she wanted to say next. “Every time you left here, another shifter would have been able to tell you had been around us. There would have been a lingering odor of our beasts on you. It would have worn off in a few hours, since it would have just been from brief close contact, but it would have been there long enough for anyone you encountered on the way home to realize where you had been.”

“So, I set this in motion from the start.” It came out more as a statement then a question but before Ginger could reply, Jase strolled into the bedroom.

“Bullshit, Becky. You know better than that. Those assholes look for any excuse to go after us and to them you were just as bad as a shifter because you were friendly to us.” He dropped the bag on the bed and ran his hand through his hair. “Shit, there have been attacks on humans from The Saviors for less than what you did. Do you remember the mechanic that was attacked in his shop after hours a couple of weeks ago? The Saviors did it to send a message. Any association with a shifter will get you killed. All he’d done was change their flat tire. Yet, he nearly ended up dead for that.”

“I should go.” Ginger rose from the bed and grabbed the ice cream carton. “I’ll put this in the freezer for you.”

“Thanks.” A twinge of guilt hit Becky as Ginger got up to leave. The idea that Ginger had gone into town to get the ice cream and they were supposed to talk, and now Jase was here and she was running off, made Becky feel terrible. But they had a few things to discuss.

Ginger paused next to Jase. “Sorry. I didn’t realize you hadn’t told her that you marked her.”

“Go.” His commanding tone left no room for questioning and Ginger scurried past him.

Becky wanted to say something but she didn’t know what would make the situation better. Jase was in charge of the tribe and the last thing she wanted to do was make things harder on Ginger, so she kept her mouth shut. At least until the front door banged shut and she turned her attention to him. “What was all that about? If anyone here should be angry it’s me. Why didn’t you tell me? Better question yet, why didn’t you ask me?”

“I was giving you time to handle—”

“Don’t give me that shit.” She dropped the clean spoon that she still had in her hand onto the comforter and looked at him. “Everything I’ve learned about this mating process showed me it’s not easy to hold back the urges of your animal. You were taking things slow, spending time with me while I was here, coming to see me at my home, and all the while your bear was demanding that you claim me. Why would you suffer with that without even telling me?”

“When would have been a good time? Should I have blurted it out the first time we met? Or perhaps during the court case as you fought to make sure Billy’s father could never hurt him again? Would your mom’s funeral have been a good place? Tell me, Becky, when would you have been open to this news?”

“How dare you?” Angry and not thinking, she grabbed the pillow on the other side of her and threw it at him. Those might have been the worst days to tell her but there had been other days that presented a better opportunity. When her ex had escaped prison and kidnapped their son, she had been shaken to the core. She’d thought he wouldn’t be a threat to them any longer, then all of a sudden, that danger had resurfaced out of the blue. She hadn’t been sure how to deal with that, so she’d confided in Jase.

Now here he was, making excuses. Without hesitation, he grabbed the pillow midair and tossed it back on the bed, but far enough out of her reach that she couldn’t get to it without causing herself pain. “How dare I what?”

“How can you turn this around on me? There were plenty of occasions when you could have told me. What about the countless dinners we shared together? The long chats we’d have once Billy went to bed? The day you were visiting and we took Billy to the zoo?”

“There was no perfect way to tell you about the mating. I’ve considered it a hundred times since you came into my life but I always put it off. Maybe I’m selfish but I wanted to spend the time with you. I wanted those visits to be special. I didn’t want to fight about marking you because I needed to do that for your protection.” He came around the bed to sit next to her. “Becky, it’s not just my bear that wants you. I want you. I love you. Every moment I spent with you, I wanted to be special.”

I love you. With those three little words, the air from her lungs escaped at once, leaving her breathless. If she had taken one of the pain pills from Doctor Graham, she’d have thought they were playing tricks on her ears but she hadn’t had one since the night before. She needed a clear head to figure out what was happening between them and now that he’d just said he loved her, she was glad none of the medication was still circling within her bloodstream. She wanted this moment to be something she would always remember.

“I love you, too.” The words came out in a low whisper but from the glistening in his eyes, there was no doubt he’d heard her. “I wish you’d have told me about all this sooner. If I’d have known I was your mate, it would have changed things. For weeks now I’ve been trying to determine where things were going with us. I knew what my feelings for you were but I wasn’t sure if things were the same for you. There were times when we were alone that I thought there was something happening but other times I wondered if I’d imagined the whole thing.”

He took her hand in his and let his thumb glide over the knuckles. “I never wanted you to question things. You were going through so much that I didn’t want to add to it. Billy’s safety had to be our priority. The last thing you needed during the trial was additional stress.”

“What’s a little stress?” She tried to make a joke of it, but it fell flat. “I was a mess then. After what happened I was terrified to allow Billy to go back to school. I was terrified of a rehash of what had happened. I couldn’t trust them to keep him safe—not until the principal showed up on my doorstep a few days after the incident.”

“I know.” He squeezed her hand. “Kaden and I went to speak with him.”

“You what?”

“Hear me out. We went to speak with Mr. Howell because Billy needed to be in school. Kaden’s presence and the fact his security company is well known helped Mr. Howell accept our suggestions. We had a couple of guys who were able to install the fence around the playground that day. Even though Billy was taken from the playground, Kaden repaired the card readers at the doors so they could be secured. This made sure visitors to the school had to go through the office before gaining access to the building. After the children were dismissed, the teachers were briefed on security measures. There are always going to be threats out there, but we did what we could to make it a safer environment to ensure Billy’s safety.”

Silently, she sat there and took in his words. He had gone out of his way to make sure her son was safe and that meant the world to her. More than that, he’d never told her, never sought out the credit for it. “He never said…you never said.”

“I told him we were there representing you, so I’m sure he figured you already knew.”

“Why didn’t you say something?”

“I didn’t go see Mr. Howell to win points with you. I went because I wanted Billy safe. No parent should have to worry that their child could be kidnapped from the playground during a school day. Billy’s father was back in prison and there wasn’t a chance they were going to let him escape again, but the peace of mind you received from the new security measures made it worth it.” He paused, letting his gaze meet hers for a moment. “I wanted you to come here. Billy could go to school with the other kids and both of you would be safe.”

“Does that offer still stand?” Nervous, she bit her lip. One thing she’d realized since she woke up to find him by her bedside was that she wanted to be there with him and the tribe. Not simply because she was safe there—because maybe it was no safer than anywhere else, except they took extra precautions. She wanted to be there because they were her friends and family. With them, she felt as though she belonged.

“Always, baby. Always.”

He leaned forward to press his lips to her cheek as he had done before. This time, she wanted more. At the last second, so he wouldn’t stop, she turned her head, allowing his lips to find hers.

There’s no going back…