Lift Her Up (Kaid Ranch Shifters #3) - T. S. Joyce Page 0,3
slightly as she looked down her nose at him. “A careful answer. I like it. And I think you killed them because I pay attention. You were a fighter when you were human, and I’m betting you are really damn good at fighting now that you’re a shifter.”
“You think you know a lot about a lot, don’t you?” he asked.
She shrugged. “I’m a better hunter than you and your brothers combined. Obviously. You would’ve gone your whole life thinking Sam was dead because you don’t pay attention to the bonds like you should.”
“My bonds are fine.”
She inhaled deeply. “Can you even feel them? My bond to you exists because you made me into this creature. It attaches me to the people you care about, too, Hunter. Some big predator shifter you started bonding with a couple months ago. A she-wolf. A human. Your pack. But it also lets me feel Sam. I always felt him. It took me forever to figure out what these bonds are about because I didn’t have a teacher.”
“Wait, back up. You can feel Sam?” he asked softly.
“You can, too, Wesley.” There was a flash of sadness that washed through her eyes, but it disappeared as fast as it had appeared. “You were never good with feelings.”
He swallowed hard and wished he could go back, do it all over again so he could carry less guilt. That’s what a selfish man like him did—worried about his own comfort first. “I wish I would’ve never changed you,” he admitted low.
“Well, you did, and now I have the wolf. No take-backs on shit decisions.”
“That’s not what I meant. I mean, I wish I would’ve never changed your personality.”
Her lip snarled up, and a growl escaped her. “My personality is fine.”
The threatening sound she made in her throat lifted the fine hairs on his arms. He wasn’t scared of anything, but this she-wolf was off. She was sick. She was ready to bleed something. Someday, Summer was going to end up as a man-eater, if she wasn’t murdering humans already. Sometimes a shifter got a bad animal. She got a bad wolf, and there was no one to blame but her Maker. Wes.
She stood, tall and strong, crossed her arms over her chest. “He’s in the Wichita Pack. He’s Leif’s enforcer.”
No.
Wes shook his head. It was a lie.
No.
Sam would never join Leif. Not after what that monster had done to them. He wouldn’t.
Chest heaving, Wes closed his eyes and focused on the bonds he’d worked so hard to shut down completely. Being open hurt. He could feel wisps of those bonds to Hunter, to Bryson, to their mates, Sadey and Maris. To…to…Summer. The cloudy black one was to Leif. But… “I can’t feel Sam at all.”
“I told you,” Summer said as she passed by and ran into his shoulder hard enough to jolt him backward. “He ain’t Sam anymore. He’s Bones now.”
“What do you want from me?” Wes asked, choking on the words.
“To free Sam. To kill Leif’s entire pack or die trying,” she said lightly as she disappeared down the hallway.
Oh, was that all? She just wanted his death?
“Why would you care so much about Sam being avenged?” he asked.
“Because…” She swallowed hard and cleared her throat. “Because,” she said softer, “once upon a time, you three Kaids were my family. And maybe we aren’t that anymore, but I still want all of you to be okay and be happy.”
She could’ve knocked him over with a feather right now. His chest was on fire with ache, but he didn’t understand all the emotions flooding him. “Summer, who said you aren’t family still?” he asked in a hoarse voice.
“There it is,” she whispered. Summer lifted her chin higher, and anger flashed through her eyes. “There’s that sincerity in your eyes I used to pray for when I belonged to you. Pity you couldn’t find it back then when I could still be saved.”
“Summer—”
“No, Wes. I don’t need your pity. I want one thing from you, and that’s for you to kill Leif. Do it slow if you can. I’ll watch.”
“And if I die going after Leif and whatever army he turned his pack into?” Wes asked darkly.
She didn’t even flinch. Her eyes remained emotionless as she murmured, “Then I’ll watch that, too.”
The sweet Summer he used to know was dead and long gone. He’d killed her, so he supposed this was fair—a death for a death.
“I’ll pack my things.”
Chapter Two
As quietly as she could, Summer Rayne blew out a