“Um, what are people going to say if they see the three of us all holding hands?” she asked.
“They’ll think we’re in a weird religious cult,” I joked, and her steps faltered. “Don’t worry, I’ll drop your hand like a hot potato if we see another human. Does that make you feel better?”
“Um… sort of?” She peered up at me. “I’m not sure. Why you? I mean, I like both of you. This is all so weird.”
Landry pushed the door to the diner open and I dropped my hold and followed them in. Landry was alpha in our triad. He could play her boyfriend in public. I’d be happy to pretend to be the third-wheel friend always tagging along.
For a moment, my mind wandered into a fantasy that involved Caitlyn bearing our pups and the three of us attending school functions this way. The thought of it sent tingles skittering across my forearms, raising the hair there.
Once we were inside, though, my mood plummeted.
Bob Jenkins and Tim Hollaroy were there, along with their crew, seated around one of the long tables.
Ranchers.
I couldn’t stand the sight of any of them. I didn’t know specifically which one fired the rifle that took away everything I had loved at the time, but one of them had. I knew that for sure.
“You okay with sitting outside, Caitlyn?” Landry asked, his voice calm for our mate’s sake, but I heard the words threaded with anger. Thankfully, he knew how I felt. He led Caitlyn through the interior of the diner and directly out to the covered patio. A creek meandered down a rocky embankment, and the sound of it carried.
I followed them out to the pretty spot, my appetite suddenly gone.
Landry picked a four-top and we sat down beneath a sun umbrella. A harried waitress dropped off three menus before scurrying away with a promise to return with glasses of water.
Caitlyn must have noted the change in my mood because she touched my hand. She turned toward me, eyes full of concern. “Are you okay? What’s going on?”
Landry cast a dark look toward the inside of the diner, his jaw clenched, eyes narrowed. “I’m sorry I suggested this place. We can go.”
I held up my hand. “Don’t be,” I said. “I’m fine.”
I wasn’t, but the ranchers weren’t going to ruin my time with our mate.
Caitlyn split a look between the two of us. “What’s going on?” she asked again.
“Nothing.” I scrubbed a hand over my face. “I just hate running into those ranchers.”
She looked through the big window. “That group in there? Why? What’s going on?”
I didn’t want to tell her the story. It was a shitty one, and talking about it did no one any good. Especially not when I had to be in the same restaurant as the assholes. But she was our mate, and she ought to know my story. Even the bad part.
I took a deep breath, let it out. “The one in the blue shirt is Tim Hollaroy. He’s the leader of their little gang. One of the reasons our pack is so sensitive about outsiders coming on the land is because…” Fuck. I couldn’t even say it. I’d actually never had to tell this story before. Everyone in the pack knew what had happened, and I didn’t keep many human friends. Even then, they wouldn’t understand. Caitlyn would, since she knew we were shifters.
“The ranchers believe wolves hunt their cattle,” Landry supplied, coming to my aid.
Caitlyn grimaced, but nodded. “Yes, human-caused fatalities in the wolf population are—” She slapped a hand over her mouth with a gasp. Her eyes went wide. “Tell me that’s not what we’re talking about here.”
I ground my molars.
“Wade’s mother was shot in wolf form,” Landry supplied quietly.
Caitlyn’s big, beautiful eyes swam with tears. “Oh Wade, oh my God. I’m so sorry.” She grabbed my hand and pulled it to her chest, kissing the back of it. “I’m so sorry.”
“Fuck,” I cursed, feeling like shit. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to ruin our lunch.”
Caitlyn tipped forward out of her chair and wrapped her arms around my neck, dropping a few kisses along my temple. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “That’s awful. Really awful.”
“Sugar,” I murmured, touching her hip despite the farce I’d been trying to enact that we weren’t lovers.
The waitress came by but Landry shooed her away, saying we weren’t ready, even for water.
I gently guided Caitlyn’s hips back into her chair. Her pain for me, her open sorrow for a female she didn’t even know, opened all my old wounds. But at the same time, it also bathed them in… I don’t know—love. I could feel her caring wrap around me like a blanket, and it soothed me in a way I hadn’t let myself be soothed.
Maybe she was the only one who could do so.