Ryan stood in his kitchen in a pair of gray shorts, the smell of bacon wafting in the air. His mother had gone out to feed the horses, and he was standing over the stove, making breakfast for Kate. The whole day stretched out ahead of him, like an opportunity that had yet to unfold. Usually, his days were full of work with Bracken. He hadn’t had a real day off since… Well. It was hard to remember that far back.

Someday, he would have a real day off, with Kate. He’d never wanted that before. To just have a whole day where he did nothing but stay in bed with a woman. Make her breakfast. Make her come. He couldn’t get enough of it.

After more sex than he could imagine they’d be able to handle in a couple of short hours, Kate had finally jumped in the shower, but he’d turned down her invitation to join her. He’d wanted to cook, of all things. Really, he’d wanted to take care of her.

This was all new territory for him.

By the time he heard the shower turn off, he’d gotten through the packet of bacon and started on the pancake recipe his mother had in her little yellow recipe box. When Kate’s arms slipped around his waist, he could smell the familiar scent of his own body wash and shampoo. She’d used all of his stuff in the shower, and now she smelled like him, something that made his wolf growl in satisfaction.

A surge of emotion went through him, and Ryan turned away from the pancakes, taking Kate in his arms and kissing her until she protested. But it was just so heady, having her here in his kitchen, smelling like him, looking more pleased than he’d ever seen her.

He could live off this feeling. Bottle it up and save it for rainy days.

“It smells amazing down here,” she said, sidling up to him and grabbing a piece of bacon. She’d put his Sooner stuff back on, but he knew she wasn’t wearing a bra or panties—her panties were back by Dee’s truck somewhere. He bra and dress were in shreds from her shift, just like his clothes.

“We need to get you some more clothes today.” He kissed the top of her head and flipped the almost-burnt pancake.

“I’m good in this,” she said with a little growl in her throat.

“But you can’t wear my clothes for the rest of your life.” And yet, her rounded ass swaying in his shorts as she walked over to the coffee pot alongside the refrigerator was maybe the best thing he’d ever scene. “Okay, never mind. You wear my clothes forever. I’m good.”

She turned, giving him a giggle over her shoulder. Little minx. He was only wearing thin workout shorts, and if he started to get hard in these shorts, they would have to abandon breakfast and go somewhere private, where his mother wouldn’t walk in on them.

“There’s cream in the fridge and sugar in the little blue thing by the pot,” he said as she searched for and found a coffee mug.

“You want any?” she asked, pulling another cup out.

“Nah,” he said, transferring the pancakes to a plate. “I’m not much of a coffee drinker.”

“Oh, Ryan,” she sighed, putting both her hands around the big mug and sniffing. “Coffee is life.”

“No.” He slipped over to her, sliding his hands around her waist. “You are life, Kate. You’ve brought me back to life.”

She made the most intoxicating sound when his lips latched onto her neck and she put the coffee on the counter, threading her fingers through his hair. She smelled so damn good. Spicy and clean, and so familiar, but underneath it all, she still smelled like her. He could never get enough of that smell.

The old phone on the wall gave a sad jingle and Ryan glared at the thing, angry for the interruption.

“Do you need to get that?” Kate asked, breathlessly, as his fingers closed over her breast.

Ryan groaned, pressing his body against hers. He felt like he’d been thirsty all his life and finally found water. He could drink her forever. Forget the rest of the world.

“You should get that if you have to,” she said, patting his cheek. “I’ll always be here.”

He ripped his mouth off her neck, still not assenting to the hard stop the stupid electronic gadget was putting on his plans. But she was right, he should get the phone. However much they wanted to hide from the world, there were real issues he couldn’t ignore. Responsibilities they both needed to see to. He kissed her cheek and pointed to the plate of pancakes. “There’s more batter, but if you’d like to start eating now while they’re warm…”

Ryan picked up the receiver as Kate looked over the plates of food, coffee cup in her hand again. He loved how normal this felt.

“Hello?” he said into the phone.

“Ryan?” came his alpha’s voice, and he stiffened. “I’ve been calling your cell all morning. Why haven’t you been answering?”

With a smack of his own forehead, Ryan remembered they’d lost the phone after grabbing Christian. He’d never picked it up. And Kate’s phone was back in Texas. Shit, he’d blissfully forgotten about all this mess for too long.

“They were tracking my phone,” Ryan finally said, as though that was an excuse. “I had to leave it in Durant so they couldn’t find us.”

“Who’s they?”

He paused, glancing at Kate. She’d taken one of the plates and filled it with bacon and pancakes, and was busily looking through the refrigerator for something.

“You know who,” he said.

“Well, it can’t have been Phillip Quade, because he was on the run with the VonBrandts last night and he just went crazy on one of his wolves here.”

Kate’s eyes popped open. Her wolf hearing had allowed her to hear Bracken’s side of the conversation. She stared at him, abject fear in her eyes. “Which wolf?”

Ryan repeated the question to his alpha and got back a gruff, “One of the girls.”

The full plate Kate had been holding clattered onto the counter and she rushed over to him. Ryan handed her the phone and stood beside her, holding her waist as she talked to his alpha.

“What happened?” she asked, panicked.

“I wasn’t there for it, but he stripped her of her alpha bond.”

Ryan felt all of Kate’s turbulent emotions flip around inside her. Fear, laced with anger, mixed with sadness. It almost overwhelmed him, and he had to bear down on the connection, trying to push some calm toward her.

“Who was it? Was it Gretchen? Or Helena? Jessa?”

“I’m not sure,” Bracken said with a sigh. “I heard second-hand from Aaron. But VonBrandt bonded her to him, so she’s safe now. Still, tensions are running pretty high here and I wanted to check on the two of you.”

Kate’s mouth hung open, tears forming in her eyes. Ryan took the phone from her and said to his alpha, “Where is the grandfather now? Has he said anything about Kate?”

“Didn’t speak a word about it all day yesterday. We sat through the rest of the alpha meetings like nothing had happened.”

Kate clung to his side and Ryan stroked his hand up and down her back. She was worried about her cousin. But she was probably even more worried about her grandfather. Even though Ryan could kill the bastard with his own hands if he tried any nonsense with Kate—that was his right as her bonded mate—she still wouldn’t be truly safe until she had a new alpha bond. That needed to happen pronto.

“Where are you right now?” Ryan asked.

“We’re all packing up to leave. Jace and Judson are gonna stay to load up Black Guardian, once we can find Adam VonBrandt, but everyone else should be ready to leave within the hour. Dee wants to know when she can expect her truck back.”

With a long sigh, he looked down at his mate, held tight against his body. Her hands on the bare skin of his chest made him feel at least a little secure. She was with him. Her grandfather was far away in Somewhere, and for now, she was completely safe.

“What do you want me to do?” he said to his alpha, almost afraid of the answer. Even as a mated wolf, he was still responsible to Bracken.

“Can you get in that truck and drive back? We need to get Dee her vehicle, and I’ll handle Phillip Quade if it comes to that. Honestly, though, I think he’s going to lick his wounds for a while. Aaron said he got a pretty bad beating.”

Ryan thought about that scenario for a long moment. He couldn’t leave Kate here without protection. They still didn’t know where Christian Kyle was, and even though he couldn’t bond her anymore, he was still a problem. Ma would find him, if anyone could, and she’d spread the word for the rest of the pack to be on the lookout…

But he still didn’t want to bring Kate to Somewhere.

Her grandfather was still there, and he wouldn’t take her within nuclear blast range of that asshole.

“What about if you meet us in Tyler?” He smoothed his hand down his mate’s back when she tensed. “That seemed to be far enough away from Phillip that he couldn’t use his magick on her. But I need her to bond to you so we can break his hold on her.”

“I thought Aaron was going to take Kate into his pack.”

“There’s been a change of plans.”

“You’re going to fill me in on this change, Ryan.” That was an alpha order.

“I will. I promise. Just meet us in Tyler.”

“We might get there a little after you,” Bracken said. “There’s still a bit of packing up to do here, and Aaron wants to speak with me one more time before we take off.”

“That’s okay.” Ryan kissed the top of Kate’s damp head. “We’ll wait at Terry Polaski’s place, outside of Tyler. That back entrance by the corn field. I may still not have my phone—I’m not sure where it is—so we won’t be reachable. We’ll just wait for you there until you arrive. We’ll do Kate’s alpha-bond, and Dee can take her truck.”

“One of the Quade girls brought us all of Kate’s stuff. I think her name was Gretchen. We’ll bring that with us.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Ryan hung up and turned Kate in his arms so he could hold more of her. He could still sense her distress, and he wanted more than anything for her to feel peaceful and safe.

“We’ll get my mom to take us out to Jace’s cabin so we can get Dee’s truck.”

She didn’t speak for a second. Did she not like the plan? He almost asked her, but she finally spoke.

“Thank you for taking care of me, Ryan,” she whispered. “No one’s ever done that for me before.”

“I don’t want you to be in the same state as that asshole if I can help it, but the faster we get you bonded to a real alpha, the safer you’ll be. I don’t want you to have any tie to him anymore.” He stroked her damp hair and held her, melding their bodies together. “I just want you to be safe…and part of this pack for good.”

“I love you, Ryan Travis,” she said on the edge of a sigh, and the words caught him by the throat, because he could feel inside her how true they were. A warm, content feeling bloomed inside him, and he opened his mouth to return the sentiment—to let her know how much she had opened his heart—when she pressed her lips to his, backing him up against the counter and practically attacking him with her kisses. He surrendered to her need, and before he knew it, he was inside her and they were checking kitchen off the list of places he’d never had sex in his house.

There were a lot of them to get through.

But even after they both came, mostly clothed, he still felt angst inside. She still wasn’t safe, and he needed to make her safe.

After they ate, he called his mother, asking her to come back in and take them out to Dee’s truck. They needed to get on the road. Ryan ran upstairs to change his clothes and got into jeans and boots and boxer-briefs and a plaid shirt. His usual outfit. When he came back downstairs, Rosalee was standing in the kitchen, hugging Kate.

His mate had on a pair of jeans, a Durant High School T-shirt, and a pair of cowboy boots. Her hair was dry. He couldn’t help the smile that came across his face, seeing his two favorite women together, in his kitchen, even if they were about to head back toward the lion’s den.

“I stopped over at Ellie’s and got Kate some clothes,” said his mom, beaming at his mate. “She wasn’t around, so I just grabbed some stuff. But she’s about Kate’s size.”

“Close as twins,” Kate said, turning in a circle.

His heart caught in his throat. Somehow, despite being afraid for her life, she could still smile in that open, sunny way. It practically brought him to his knees. This woman.

Ryan pulled her close as they followed his mother out of the house and toward her truck. He’d never thought he would find a mate. It hadn’t occurred to him that Fate might have a different future in mind for him than the one he’d crafted for himself. Now that they were together, though, his priority was to make sure Kate was safe and happy. Forever.