Sheba shook her head before slapping Ray’s arm. “No need to go all dramatic on me, big guy. If we sense danger then we go around it. There’s no need to go stampeding headlong into it unless we need to. Okay?”
“Yeah, we’ll see.” Ray shrugged. “Sometimes a good fight is just what we need. And if it’s your mate that’s the one that’s in danger, well, there’s no escaping it. Is there? From what Tilly said, it appears he may be in need of rescuing.”
A brief vision of a huge, majestic Lion flashed across Sheba’s mind, her stomach filling as if a swarm of bees were flying around inside but the feeling wasn’t altogether unpleasant. It was strange, certainly, and unsettling, but it brought with it a sense of excitement and something else that was new and which she couldn’t quite put a name to. Tilly’s voice cut into her thoughts, bringing her back to the here and now.
“Before you go, I need to know, as your Healer, have you and your beast come to terms with what you must do? I can’t let you leave until I know this, Alpha. I must know that you are safe from the advanced stages of the Hunger . . . and that everyone else is also safe.”
Tilly’s eyes flitted to Ray’s before dropping, but in that split-second look, Sheba saw so much. The Pack’s Healer was pleading with her Beta for support in case the Pack Alpha went nuts. Great! Sheba was about to snap an angry retort but thought before she spoke, knowing that Tilly was thinking of her well-being as well as the Pack’s. So she took a deep breath in, exhaling slowly and counted to ten before replying.
“I’m fine and yes, my Wolf and I are both all right.” Sheba looked between the two then back at Tilly. “I promise I’m not about to go all loco on you. In fact, my beast is excited, and I am a little too. Not quite as much as she is to be honest, but that’s because I’m still worried about the renegades and the timing of this sucks. And I’m still saying if the guy is a numbskull then he can go jump off a cliff, that’s not up for debate, guys. But I’ll go with Ray and we’ll see what happens. All right?”
Both Tilly and Ray visibly relaxed, more so Tilly, who smiled, her eyes twinkling as she cheekily quipped, “And remember, if you need any lessons on what to do with him when you find him . . . come find me.”
Sheba couldn’t help but chuckle as she made her way to the door, throwing over her shoulder, “If he’s man enough for me, and the right man, then I’ll not need any lessons. I just hope he can keep up with me!”
Ray’s hearty laughter followed her as she left Tilly’s cabin and walked back home. Now she had to explain to her mother what was going on and that wasn’t a conversation she was looking forward to. Hell, maybe she would put it off until they’d found this elusive mate and just spring it on her. After all, maybe this was a wild goose chase and there was nobody out there waiting on her.
A loud howl in her head pulled her up short, her Wolf disagreeing vociferously. “No! Our mate is there and will need us!”
Her beast had never been so clear or spoken so long. Usually her beast was a two or three word kinda gal so for her to speak like that to her was, well, unusual wasn’t even close. It was downright weird and definitely a first. Sheba was surprised and shocked at the certainty of her Wolf’s words and she just prayed that she wasn’t heading out on a fool’s errand. Or worse . . . she’d end up finding some guy who just didn’t live up to her expectations.
Yeah, that would be just her luck. The Goddess would send her some redneck asshole who expected her to wait on him hand and foot. Well, he’d get one hell of a shock when she kicked his sorry ass to the curb and walked away, because she would do that and not think twice about it. Hell yes, she would.
“What are you smiling at?” Ray asked.
She jerked, forgetting he was there. “What? Nothing, nothing at all.”
“Right,” he replied, shaking his head. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine!” she snapped. “Stop asking me that. Go home and leave me be. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“I’ll let Dion know we’ll be heading out first thing—alone.” Ray scowled down at her, obviously unhappy. “But he’ll want to send extra men with us, you know he will.”
“I’m sure you’ll come up with something to stop him,” Sheba retorted. “We can’t have anyone else with us, Ray. I’ve no idea what’s gonna happen so the less people that see it, the better.”
“I’m aware of that and yes, I’ll make something up. I’ll be here at five but I’ll tell him we’re leaving at six, just in case he tries to have us followed.”
“Sneaky,” Sheba chuckled. “I like it. See you then.”
“If you need me just call through the link.” Ray tapped his temple. “And I’ll be right over.”
“I won’t say it again . . . I’m fine. I’m going home to sleep and then we’ll go a-hunting in the morning.” Sheba shook her head. “I can’t freaking believe it . . . me doing this. It’s surreal, and I’m still not sure about it all, although my beast sure is, so I guess we do it and see what happens.”
“Indeed we do, little one.” Ray gave her a huge smile before he veered away toward his cabin and she heard him chuckling as he went.
Damn if she found it funny but she didn’t
