Chapter 43 569 < Chapter 43 18 Points Chapter 43 Kent laid in Riley's bed for a few minutes after she slammed the bathroom door shut, replaying the events of the morning. What did she mean? A slippery slope? She's scared, Pax muttered. She's always a little scared of us. Kent frowned. That was true, but why? He finally rolled out of the bed, deciding it would be best to be out of the room before she came back out. He reached up to scratch his chin when he froze. His index finger smelled of her s*x, right where he had touched her. He could almost feel the way she had arched into his touch. He huffed. He was hard again. He adjusted himself and headed to his room. After some manual relief in the shower, Kent brushed his hair back from his face and threw on a pair of gray joggers and a black sweatshirt. He ambled down to the sitting room and sat on the arm of the couch, looking out the window. He smelled her before he heard her. He turned to see Riley standing in the doorway of the room, her long hair pulled back into a loose braid, wearing a pair of olive green leggings and a deep purple top that made her hazel eyes seem brighter. Kent stood up, smiling as he watched her. "Was that a refreshing shower?" She rolled her eyes. "You were supposed to leave when I fell asleep." "I guess I fell asleep too." He shrugged. "If you recall, I hadn't gotten a lot of sleep when I was rushing back to you." "You could have left once you woke up." He smiled, taking two steps towards her to close the distance. "And why would I do that? I finally had my beautiful mate in my arms." He noted the way she shuddered at those words. "And I wouldn't have wanted to wake you, with as sick as you've been." He raised an eyebrow. But do tell, why didn't you move away from me when you woke up?" She raised her face to him, her lips pressed into a thin line. "I was comfortable." "I bet you were." He grabbed her wrist and pulled her flush against him. He splayed his other hand across the small of her back, leaning down to kiss her neck. She gasped at the contact, which only encouraged him. He began to trail open mouth kisses along her jaw. "Am I interrupting?" Kent tore away from Riley and turned to see Penny standing a few steps away in the hallway, clearly watching them. Riley and Kent immediately took another step away from each other, causing Penny to laugh. "So what's the deal with you two?" Penny asked, still laughing. "Like everyone seems to know but me, and that's not fair. I should be in on the secret." Kent had honestly forgotten that Penny didn't know about them. He glanced at Riley and she shrugged in a Chapter 43 way that said, Might as well. "Riley is my second chance mate," Kent said finally with a sight Penny's hands flew to her mouth. "Are you serious?! A second chance is amazing. This is such a blessing!" She looked between the two of them, the smile suddenly disappearing, her eyes narrowing "But why doesn't everyone know? Are you two even marked?" Riley rolled her shoulders uncomfortably. "We're not making a decision about accepting the mate bond right now. Kent is also my second chance and I... have some hesitations." Penny's brows raised. "Whatever I walked in on didn't look like hesitations to me." Kent couldn't help but laugh. Riley glared at him. "Just let it go," Kent said to Penny, trying to suppress another laugh. "What did you need?" "Max said the new warriors will be here on Monday. I was looking at accommodations and wanted your approval." He glanced at the page she had offered him. The space was getting tight around her, but she had managed to find rooms for all of the new warriors coming in. "Looks good to me," he said after a moment, handing the paper back. Penny nodded before turning towards Riley. "I"m glad you're out of the hospital. I hope you're feeling better." Riley smiled. "I am. Thank you." After breakfast, Kent had taken Riley to the hospital for a check up with Lana, who was amazed by Riley's recovery. She could offer no solutions long term for this mystery illness other than to tell Riley to stay close to Kent. With no choice but to follow Kent around, she accompanied for his morning training session with some of his top-tier warriors. She got into the sparring ring, taking on a couple of his warriors, while Kent worked with a couple others. By the end of the training session, Riley was feeling really good. Kent had walked away to check on some other training sessions while Riley sat in the grass talking to a couple warriors. When the last warrior headed to lunch, Riley got up and walked towards the trees, enjoying the smell of the damp earth. "You shouldn't go too far," Kent called from behind her, weaving between the trees. "I need to know where you are" She turned to look at him. "I usually have some time before I get sick." "Still, the woods are full of rogues and you're not at full strength if you're not by me. I'd prefer you don't wander too far" She wanted to argue, but she knew he was right. She frowned as he drew even with her. "I just wish I knew how to make this illness better," she said after a minute. "I can't go around stuck to your side for the rest of my life." "I don't know," said Kent with a shrug of his shoulder, "that doesn't sound too bad to me." 2/4 Chapter 43 She rolled her eyes. "Sure it does." He took a step closer to her, forcing her to tilt her head back to meet his eyes. "I could think of a few ways we could get closer, if you want." "You're impossible," she huffed, causing him to laugh. "How about that run?" She raised her brows. "What run?" "Remember, when you ran the perimeter with Patrick? You agreed that we would let our wolves have a run together." Yes! Rose howled gleefully in her head. "Sure," Riley muttered. She found a spot out of sight of Kent to pull off her clothes and shift. This time her shift felt normal, not at all like it had the other day. Rose shook her fur out, stretching, before weaving through the trees to find a huge jet black wolf standing where Kent had been. Pax is amazing, Rose said as she approached him. Riley had to agree. He was massive and his fur was slick and shiny. Rose walked up to him, nuzzling against him. Pax returned her affection before Rose turned and ran, glancing behind her to make sure he was following. Pax nipped at her feet playfully as they ran, eventually overtaking her and leading her through the trees. At one point Pax turned suddenly, bowling into Rose and knocking into a pile of leaves. Riley sat back and watched the two of them play, feeling Rose's joy at finally meeting her mate. They eventually stopped at a small stream and lapped up some water before Pax laid down. Rose curled up next to him, Pax licking her nose I wish I could talk to him, Rose murmured. Riley could feel her longing and it hurt. She knew that Rose wanted her mate desperately and Riley worried at what keeping them apart might do to her. Through the bond she could also feel longing, though she wondered if it was Pax's or Kent's or both. After a while, Pax pushed Rose to her feet and they ran back through the woods to the spot where they had shifted before. Riley took over again, shifting back and putting on her clothes. It was wonderful to meet him, Rose said quietly, even if we can't talk yet. I never even got to meet Aries. Riley sat down on the ground, pulling on her shoes. She remembered asking Paul to let their wolves run together, but he had insisted it was a terrible idea, that Rose and Aries wouldn't control themselves. "You ok?" She looked up to see Kent, tentatively looking around the tree. "Just thinking" "What about?" He held out his hands and she took them, allowing him to pull her to her feet. "Rose never got to run with her last mate. Paul wouldn't let them meet." He stood there for a moment looking at her, his expression indecipherable before he stepped forward, closing the space in between them. His smell swirled around her and she leaned forward, resting her head on his chest and wrapping her arms around his waist. He gently returned her embrace, burying his face into her hair. 3/4 Rose purred in her mind and Riley suddenly felt a sense of peace that she hadn't known in a long, long time After a minute, Kent sighed 1 hate to end this moment, but I have a meeting with Max, Penny and Patrick need to take a shower and get something to eat." Riley nodded into his chest. "It's ok." She took a step back and Kent reached out to grab her hand, leading her through the trees. Once they cleared the tree line, he dropped her hand and they walked side by side. "What's your meeting about? Riley asked to make conversation. Kent was strangely silent for a moment. "We just need to discuss some important pack stuff" Is it about what the rogues are after?" She tried her best to sound nonchalant. Kent glanced at her. "What makes you ask that?" She shrugged. "Lucky guess." He stopped, grabbing her elbow to pull her up short. His eyes were narrowed as he considered her for a moment. "Maybe," Riley said casually, "you should assure your beta that I'm not trying to make problems for him." Kent closed his eyes, cringing slightly. "You overheard us the other night, didn't you?" "Yes, I did." She turned and started walking towards the pack house again. Kent fell into step with her again. "I didn't mean to," she explained. "I woke up and you weren't in the room. I was walking to the door when I heard you guys talking in the hallway." Kent ran a hand through his hair, looking at her again. "Just trust me, ok? I'm going to try to make him see sense." Comments Get Bonus (Ad) >