"Our killer shot him?"
Savannah nodded. “With white ash."
Trista's gaze flickered to where the bloodied arrow still lay on the ground, right next to the gleaming pool of Cade's blood. “He or she means business."
"It was a she. And she didn't mean to kill him, just maim.” She pointed to the crossbow and specks of blood still gleaming wetly on the roadside not far up the road. “I tore that from her grasp as she sped off. The blood is hers."
Trista glanced at the weapon. When her cold, golden gaze returned, it was tinged by a hint of surprise. “You attacked a moving car in wolf form?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because the wolf is faster than the human.” A fact Trista undoubtedly knew.
"Then you weren't in the immediate area?"
"No.” Savannah bit back her impatience as her gaze followed the stretcher bearing Cade toward the ambulance. “I was heading back toward town."
"Then how did you know he was in trouble?"
She hesitated. How had she known? She shouldn't have, not with her shields on full. Yet she'd felt his desperation, his fear, had almost fallen in pain the moment the arrow had rent his flesh. Only anger and her own fear had kept her going, had kept her attacking. And the worst of it was she would have killed that woman if she'd had the chance. Would have ripped out her throat as easily as she'd torn through the woman's arm. A wolf defended its mate at any cost, and she'd been more than ready to do just that.
Except Cade wasn't her mate. Not in that sense, anyway.
She shrugged with a casualness she didn't really feel. “Look, I just did. Do you want to go with your boss to the hospital while I seal off this area?"
"You go. I'll start proceedings here.” Trista reached down into the bag she was carrying and pulled out the crime scene tape.
Her matter-of-fact tone and actions released the tension that had been imperceptibly tightening Savannah's muscles. She smiled wryly as she climbed into the back of the ambulance. Okay, so maybe Trista wasn't bedding her boss, despite the rumors. But her reaction to the mere thought that Trista might be one of Cade's lovers, on top of her instinctive attack on the woman in the truck, proved one thing. She wasn't anywhere near ready to get over the man.
So the question was, as Neva had asked, what was she going to do about it?
Fight for him, the wild part of her said. Fight to keep him, and don't let go. Not this time.
But the part of her that had offered him her heart, only to have him abuse it, trembled in fear. Was she really ready to do that to herself again?
I don't know.
Was that the truth, or was she just lying to herself?
She braced herself as the ambulance took off, wincing a little as the siren's howl seemed to echo through her aching head. But it couldn't stop the questions tumbling endlessly through her mind.
Was she lying to herself?
Maybe.
Was she ready to face hurt again?
No, not really.
But if she didn't open herself up to the possibility of hurt, how could she open herself to love? She'd spent the last ten years cocooned in the safety of Ronan's arms, but the time had come for her to step free and take a risk again.
And maybe the simple truth was she had to take that risk with the one man she'd never really been able to forget. While Cade might not feel anything more than simple lust, she owed it to herself to at least find out. No matter how much the end result might hurt.
Because she still loved him. She could lie to her sister. She could even try lying to herself. But her instinctive reactions here tonight showed the truth.
Despite the ten years that had passed between them, despite her anger at his actions—then and now—her heart still lay in his unfeeling hands.