“You’re so brave doing it by yourself.”
She shrugged. “I try not to think of it that way. I didn’t have much of a choice.” Tension hung in the air, and she knew what Sabrina wanted to talk about. “I know you’re on his side with him being Cross’s friend and all, but you don’t know what it was like.”
“I’m not on anyone’s side, Isabelle,” Sabrina said. “You were kind to me. I just want to be able to do the same for you. I’m here if you need to talk. And as for being Cross’s friend, well, I guess you could say Cross is the closest thing Ransom can call a friend. But he’s a good man, I’ve seen it.”
“He left me,” she said. “Just … packed his bags and left. I wouldn’t have even known if I didn’t catch him in the act.” The bitterness seeped into her veins. “When we met, it was explosive. We couldn’t get enough of each other and … and he’d been my first.” And only. “But I didn’t know anything else about him. Didn’t even know he had a sister.”
“Did you ask him about his family?”
Her head snapped up to meet her gaze. “Are you saying it’s my fault?”
“No, no.” She walked over to Isabelle and placed a hand on her arm. “I’m not. I’m sorry it came out that way.”
Isabelle shifted Evan to her other arm and sighed. “I guess I didn’t. We just … we didn’t talk a lot.” Her cheeks went hot, thinking of that week with him. How much she craved his touch. “But then he tossed me aside. Accused me of being ashamed of him and …” Her throat closed up at the memory. “I wasn’t. I swear I wasn’t. I was just caught up. You understand, right? With Cross. That feeling when you’re with him.”
“I do. I know what you mean. It’s like nothing else matters and it’s all perfect and …” She wrung her hands together. “I shouldn’t be telling you this …”
Evan had finished his bottle, so she put it aside and placed him over her shoulder, then leaned forward. “Shouldn’t be telling me what?”
Sabrina glanced around. “What I’m about to tell you is what Cross told me. About how he and Ransom met. Well, kind of met.”
Isabelle wrinkled her nose. She had to admit, she was curious how they had known each other all this time, since as far as she knew, Ransom had never even been to New York until that night they met at Blood Moon. “What did he say?”
“It was about a year and a half ago. Cross said he was taking a walk in Riverside park one morning when he spotted someone floating in the water.”
Isabelle gasped. “Ransom?”
“Yes,” Sabrina said. “He was half dead. Cross managed to transport him out, but when he realized Ransom was a Lycan like him, he couldn’t just take him to the hospital. Ransom still had his wallet on him, so he brought him back to Kentucky, to his sister.”
Her breath caught in her chest. “What happened to him? Why did he end up in the Hudson?”
“Cross doesn’t know to this day,” Sabrina said. “But I think … from what he just told us, I wonder if it has anything to do with you.”
“Me? I didn’t do that to him. After I left him at his hotel, I went home.”
“Not literally,” Sabrina said. “I mean … could he have felt guilty?”
“And tried to kill himself?” She shook her head in denial. “I don’t think so, he’s not the type.” Ransom was stronger than that. “It doesn’t make sense.”
Sabrina smiled at her sadly. “Unfortunately, the decisions men make don’t always make sense. And sometimes they think they’re doing what’s best for us, without even asking how we feel about it.”
If that was the same night he left, then it would make sense why he didn’t call her back right away. Had he been attacked? He was a Lone Wolf, and there were some Lycans who didn’t like their kind. Was he afraid of the blowback of them dating from her clan?
“Will you talk to him, Isabelle?” Sabrina asked. “Just listen to what he has to say. I know you don’t owe him anything, but all he wants is a chance to say sorry.”
“I …” She felt conflicted. All this time, she’d hated him for leaving her. What if he did have a good reason for walking away from her? Her heart soared and her wolf yipped, but she quashed them both down. “I’ll let him say his piece,” she said. “But that’s all.”
Sabrina clapped her hands together. “Thank you, Isabelle. That’s all he wants.”
“Tell him to give me half an hour,” she said. “I need to put Evan to bed.”
As Sabrina left, Isabelle got up and finished burping Evan and then placed him in the crib. His eyes were heavy, and though he fought sleep, he eventually succumbed as she stroked his head and hummed a tune.
“I love you so much,” she whispered. “More than you’ll ever know.” How was it that she fell in love with him even before meeting him? Evan was the only good thing to come out of this whole debacle. She supposed she would always be grateful to Ransom for that. That’s the only reason I’m willing to hear him out, she told herself.
When his breathing evened and she was satisfied he was deeply asleep, she padded out to the living room. Just as she was about to sit on the couch, a knock made her freeze. You can do this. She took a deep breath and marched toward the entrance.
Slowly, she opened the door. Her pulse picked up at the sight of Ransom, still looking devastatingly handsome in his dirty T-shirt and jeans. Her wolf
