Chapter 2

Ryan watched the woman of his dreams run away from him yet again and laughed. God, she was so adorable it shattered him. Long, powder-blue curls, pale blue eyes, and a tongue that would make a harpy blanch; she was everything he’d ever wanted and more.

Too bad all she ever did was run away from him.

Too bad for her he would follow no matter how far she ran.

“Hi, Heather.” He paused long enough to kiss his sweet little cousin on the forehead. The shy smile he got in return always made him want to protect her from the world. Thank God Julian’s mate had taken a liking to her. Heather was blossoming at Cynful Tattoos, despite Eric Bunsun’s objections. Eric was very protective of little Heather, and snarled at anyone who made her so much as frown.

Ryan followed Glory into the back room, laughing harder when he found her hunched over the unwrapped sandwich and muahaha’ing in her best evil overlord voice. “Do I get a sandwich?”

She glared at him. “Mine.”

He shook his head and took his sandwich anyway, aware she wasn’t going to try to keep it. The woman was insane, but she wasn’t nearly as mean as she pretended to be. He pulled a bottle of water out of the mini fridge and sat across from her at the small table the girls had set up for their breaks. “So.”

“Mm?” She had a mouth full of ham and cheese. A smidgeon of mustard was on her lip, and the urge to lick it away was nearly overwhelming.

“I want to take you out.”

She blinked and swallowed. “Like a hit man?”

“Yup, because I’m a total Mafioso.” Ryan did his best fake Italian accent, her little snort of amusement his reward. “No, SG. I want to go on a date.”

She tilted her head in confusion, for once ignoring his nickname for her. He’d totally lied when he said it didn’t stand for Super Grover. He liked his nuts right where they were. No, he’d agreed that it stood for Super Glory, and in return she let him get away with it. “Why?”

This time he was the one who was confused. “Huh?”

“Why do you want to go on a date?” She bit into her sandwich, her expression curious, almost wary.

How the hell to answer a question like that? Because you’re my whole world didn’t seem like something Glory wanted to hear. You’re my mate probably wouldn’t cut it either. So he decided to go with the simplest answer, the one he hoped would get her to say yes. “Because I want you.” He held up his hand when she started to speak. “Not just in my bed, but in my life.”

“Because I’m your mate.”

He smiled, trying to convey what he was really saying. He’d known Glory for almost a year now, and he’d fallen for her, quirks and all. He couldn’t imagine having a life without her in it, even if she chose not to accept him as her mate. “Because you’re Glory.”

Her cheeks turned bright red. “I’m not that great.” She couldn’t meet his eyes. “I have…issues.”

“Want to tell me about them?” He put his hand over hers, surprised when she started. “Glory?”

She took a deep breath, obviously gathering herself together. “No. I don’t want to tell you. Not yet, anyway.”

That hurt. “Haven’t I earned a little trust?”

The sandwich paused halfway to her mouth. “If you hadn’t you wouldn’t be back here with me.” She bit into the ham and cheese with all the concentration she usually gave to her craft.

Glory was the piercer for Cynful Tattoos, and she took her job seriously. It might sound like a simple little job that didn’t require much thought, but Glory was always looking for a way to improve not only her skills but her stock. She attended conventions held just for piercers to learn new techniques and was utterly dedicated to her craft. She kept abreast of all the safety and health regulations, and stayed on top of the latest trends. She’d had to learn anatomy to determine where to safely pierce, such as where saliva glands and ducts were, and where nerves ran so that she wouldn’t do any permanent damage to her clients.

Ryan was in awe of her. She worked just as hard as he did at something she loved, and didn’t let anyone give her crap for it.

Her own piercings were subtle. She had a pretty, glittery diamond nose stud, a delicate silver ring in her eyebrow, tiny silver rings up her right ear

and another diamond stud he’d heard called a Monroe, right above her upper lip on the right side. As far as he was concerned each piercing only enhanced her beauty, made her more exotic. He wanted to lick each one, to strip her and see if she had any piercings in places he hadn’t discovered yet. Did she sport studs in her nipples, or little hoops he could tug on? Were her labia pierced, or her clit? He shuddered with need just picturing her sweet pink flesh decorated with gold and silver.

Speaking of piercings, perhaps it was time he asked for one. “If you were going to pierce me, where would you do it?”

The grin she shot him was so full of evil he nearly backed up. “You sure you want me to answer that?”

“I’m serious.” He sighed, not sure how to get through to her. It always felt like he took one step forward, but she’d take two steps back. “I want you to give me a piercing, but it will be my first one. What should I get?”

She sat back, her expression becoming serious, professional. “How adventurous are you feeling, and how will a piercing affect your work?”

“I’m pretty much stuck in the office, doing paperwork.” He was the head accountant for Bunsun Exteriors, Pennsylvania branch. Thanks to Bunny, he didn’t have to return to Oregon. When Bunny opened the Pennsylvania branch he’d brought Ryan in as the money man and head paper pusher. So far, business was slowly growing, partly on the reputation of Bunsun Exteriors and partly due to the hard work of Bunny, Ryan and Eric.

She studied him intensely.

He decided to push a little bit. “Pick something you’d like to look at.” She gave him that innocent look that always spelled trouble. “But, Ryan,

they don’t make a Chris Hemsworth piercing.”

He growled, but she just laughed. “Think of something else, SG.”

She grumbled a bit under her breath at the familiar nickname. Her head tilted left, then right, then left again, and all the while she just…stared. He squirmed under her gaze, wondering how she’d try and emasculate him this time. But instead she surprised him. “I think, considering what you do for a living, we should keep it simple. Do you want one ear done, or both?”

He was almost disappointed. He’d thought she’d suggest an eyebrow ring or a nipple piercing, though he’d probably balk at a Jacob’s Ladder. “That’s it? An ear piercing?”

She giggled, the sweetest sound he’d ever heard. He could listen to Glory’s laughter for the rest of his life and never get tired of it. “You want a

gauge? I can get one that looks like a tire rim.”

“Those are the huge ear piercings, right?” That was one piercing he knew he didn’t want. While he didn’t mind the look on other people, it just wasn’t him. “I think if I’m doing my ear we’ll stick to a stud.”

She made a face, and he wondered if he’d picked wrong. Maybe she’d been testing him, seeing how far he’d go to fit in with her life. “Any particular kind of stud?”

He shrugged. On this, he could be flexible. “You pick.” Glory bit her lip. “I…”

“You?”

“I have something. Wait here.” She got up, her sandwich half finished, to root around in her piercing stores. She pulled out little drawers, rooting through the jewelry within them until she pulled something out with a satisfied “Ha! Found it.” She held out the little stud by his eye, nodding in satisfaction. “It’s a titanium stud with a London blue topaz. What do you think?”

She held out a stud much larger than he’d thought it would be. The dark metal made the blue of the gem stand out. It was unique, just like his mate. “I like it.”

“It matches your hair and eyes.” Her startled expression was quickly suppressed. She must not have meant to tell him that.

“I’ll wear your stud with pride.”

She rolled her eyes at him, but that delicious pink tone raced across her cheeks again. “It’s not an engagement ring, Mr. Williams.”

He kissed the fingers holding the stud. “Not yet, anyway.”

She snatched her hand back, but he could tell she was wavering in her resolve not to go out with him. “I’m so charging you full price.”

He grabbed her hand and held it between her own, the stud digging into both their palms. “Go out with me.”

“Ryan…”

“Please. We’ll make it a lunch date rather than a dinner date, something nice and casual.” He put some of the desperation he’d been feeling for months behind the plea. “Please, Glory.”

Her shoulders slumped. “I’m going to regret this.” “Yes?”

Those pale blue eyes were full of uncertainty. “Yes.” Ryan leapt from the table with a war cry. “She said yes!”

Immediately Glory was surrounded by her friends, all three women chattering a mile a minute. Ryan stumbled as Alex pounded him on the back. “Congratulations, cuz. How did you get her to agree?”

“I used the Williams charm.”

“Oh,” Alex drawled. “You dazzled her with bullshit.”

“Exactly.” Because if Glory thought Ryan was going to stop at a single date, she had another think coming.

Ryan didn’t stay in the back for long. Oh, no. He had that look in his eye, the one that said he was up to something and Glory had better watch out.

The last time he’d gotten that determined look he’d nearly ripped the head off of Cyn’s ex-boyfriend, the one Glory had chosen to flirt with.

Glory pretended not to notice when Ryan pulled Tabby aside for a little chat. Too bad she didn’t have that super-shifter hearing her friends now had, because she’d love to know why Tabby suddenly shot her a sly look before whispering in Ryan’s ear.

This couldn’t be good.

It got worse when Cyn joined them, also whispering in Ryan’s ear. Ryan grinned at something Cyn said, laughing out loud when Tabby added a quiet remark that Glory barely heard.

So Glory pasted on her most innocent smile and strolled over to them. “What are you three talking about?”

“Uh…” Tabby shot Ryan a look chock full of guilt.

Ryan took hold of her hand. “I have to go home to Oregon for a week or so, and I was asking them to keep an eye on you.”

Glory’s blood ran cold. He was leaving her again. “Glory?”

She could barely hear him over the roaring in her ears. Her chest hurt, her hands and feet tingled. God. She hadn’t had one of these in years, but she recognized all the signs. She had to calm down.

“Shit. What’s happening?” Ryan’s voice, so distant, was thick with fear.

She doubled over, unable to catch her breath, nausea racking her until she began to dry heave.

“Glory!”

She couldn’t catch her breath, damn it. “…panic attack…”

Spots danced before her eyes, blocking her vision. The edges went dark, and Glory knew she was about to pass out. Cyn and Tabby must be freaking the hell out.

“…lay her down…”

The voices of her friends barely registered, but Ryan’s arms, his scent, enveloped her. Dizzy, she clung to his shoulders, barely aware he’d picked her up.

No. She had to leave, had to find a place that was safe. Ryan was leaving.

Leaving.

She needed to get away.

She began struggling violently, desperate to run, to flee from the knowledge that the man who was supposed to stay by her side, had promised her he wouldn’t leave, was once again going away.

A deep hum shattered the fear, the notes off-key yet soothing, a masculine lullaby that slowly but surely chipped away at the edges of her terror. Glory blinked, the spots receding, her breath coming easier as that hum enveloped her in warmth. She could feel it moving inside her, soothing her pain, helping her find her center.

When she could focus enough to see past the panic, she realized she was firmly on Ryan’s lap, being rocked like a child. He held her close, her head under his chin, her arms firmly around his waist. He was humming something that was probably a lullaby but sounded more like a cat with a hairball trying to purr.

“You okay, sugar?” Tabby was kneeling beside Ryan, her hand stroking Glory’s curls.

Glory’s breath was coming a bit easier now. “How long?” When Tabby frowned, she explained. “I lose my sense of time when…” She couldn’t finish. She was just too embarrassed that this had happened again, especially after such a long period of time had passed since the last attack.

“When you have a panic attack.” Cyn’s no-nonsense tone was almost as soothing as Ryan’s off-key hum.

“Yeah.” There was no sense in denying it. She’d had panic attacks frequently when she first moved in with Cyn and her family. Cyn knew the signs of one, and had helped head one off while Glory was in the hospital. Hell, she’d helped calm Glory down when they’d met with the Halle Puma Alpha and Curana, Max and Emma Cannon, to discuss how to deal with the man who’d shot Glory.

Ryan hadn’t been there, either.

“What happened?” Alex, his hand on Tabby’s shoulder, was studying her closely. “I get you had a panic attack, but why? What set it off?”

Glory refused to answer. There was no need to share her shame. “Ryan talked about leaving.” Cyn sighed as Glory started to lose her

breath again. “Glory, he’s not going anywhere.”

Glory flinched. She couldn’t let Ryan know he was the reason she’d— “I did this?” Ryan tucked his fingers under her chin and gently lifted her

face to his. “Oh, sweetheart. I’m so sorry.”

She struggled again to get out of his lap, but he held fast, refusing to let her go. “Let. Me. Go.”

“No.” He began rocking again, humming under his breath.

Damn it. Why did the sound of his voice, the way his chest vibrated against her cheek, soothe her so much? Not even her mother, who’d left soon after Hope disappeared and divorced her father in a bitter battle that left the family in ruins, had been able to calm her the way Ryan did.

“I won’t leave you. I give you my word, Glory.” Ryan’s vow was made in a voice that could have chipped diamonds. “I’ll stay here and get someone else to take care of the problem.”

She took a deep breath, aware that Ryan understood what had set her off.

Damn it, she didn’t need to be even weaker in front of him. “I’m fine.” “Bullshit.” Cyn scowled down at her, but Glory could see the concern.

“Glory, you have an anxiety disorder. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

Yeah, right. Glory didn’t see Cyn panicking every time Julian went somewhere.

Cyn growled. “Ryan, Glory’s had episodes off and on for years. They’re always triggered by the fear that she’ll be abandoned.”

“I’m fine.” Glory was going to kill Cyn.

He tilted her face up again. “No. You’re not. But I’m okay with that.” “Ryan…” She sighed, cuddling up against him. The sound of his

heartbeat, the knowledge that he was right there, solid and real, began to destroy the last of the fear. “I’ll be all right.” She had to be. She’d gone through this before, and she’d live through it again.

Everyone left her eventually. Everyone.

Her heart pounding, Glory shook her head. “I can’t.” “Can’t what, SG?”

Part of her was humiliated that she’d had an episode. The other part was so relieved he wasn’t leaving she was almost giddy with it. “I can’t do this. I need… I need to go.”

The low, feral growl was barely audible, but it rumbled through his chest and shook her to the core. “You aren’t going anywhere.”

She risked looking up and found his normally blue eyes had gone dark brown. Fangs peeked over the edge of his bottom lip. Five-inch black claws scraped across her gauzy top, catching in the thin fibers. “Um. Down, boy.”

He cocked an eyebrow at her. “I won’t leave you alone.”

Now she was going to panic for a whole other reason. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

“Watch me.” His voice was low, gravelly. Ryan must be close to losing to his Bear.

“Calm down, Rye. She’s fine, she’s in your lap. It’s a panic attack, nothing more.” Alex helped Tabby to her feet. “Take her into the back room and get her some water.”

Before she could protest Ryan was on his feet, Glory cradled in his arms as if she weighed nothing. He carted her into the back room, refusing to let her down when she struggled.

“Don’t.” The low warning was barely human.

She must have frightened him, more than she thought possible, because Ryan was right on the edge of changing. “Are you all right?”

He stared at her, his expression surprised. “I should be asking you that.” A little bit of blue peeked out from the dark brown of his Bear’s gaze. Ryan was gaining some control back. He leaned forward, holding her steady. “Grab a bottle of water?”

She did as asked, her hands shaking too badly to open it.

He sat at the break table, keeping her in his lap, and took it from her. He opened it and held the bottle to her lips. “Drink.”

Taking a sip of water, Glory studied him from under her lashes. The brown was slowly seeping away as the shakes that had racked her body subsided. She cleared her throat and handed him back the water. “I told you. I have…issues.”

“I noticed.” He took a sip himself before recapping the bottle and placing it on the break table. “I want to know what happened, but not if it will set off another attack.”

She bit her lip. Did she want to give him that much power over her?

“Please.”

The pain, the plea in his voice, gave her the power to speak. He was practically begging to shoulder her pain. “Everyone leaves.” The words came out in a rush, surprising her. She hadn’t meant to say it quite that way.

Ryan’s eyes went wide before closing. “Oh, shit. Your family.”

“Hope disappeared, my mother left, my father took the rest of my family out of state and left me behind.” The words wouldn’t stop tumbling out of her mouth. “Everyone leaves me. Brittany left when she found out what Tabby was.”

Ryan pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. “I won’t leave you, I swear.” “You already did.”

Ryan froze. “What do you mean?”

She shrugged, clamping her lips shut before her diarrhea of the mouth took over again.

“The hospital?”

She huffed out a breath. Damn perceptive Bear. Wasn’t she allowed to have any secrets?

“I didn’t leave you voluntarily. You know that, right?”

She refused to look at him, and he didn’t force the issue. Instead, he pressed her head against his chest again.

“The hospital staff wouldn’t let me in.”

She knew that, but it didn’t matter. He should have waited for Julian or Dr. Howard instead of taking off. When she found out Ryan had gone missing she’d damn near lost it. To find out he’d disappeared voluntarily?

She’d been furious and terrified at the same time. The word rogue had been whispered when they thought she couldn’t hear. From the sound of it, that wasn’t a good thing to be labeled in the shifter world.

He rubbed his chin against the top of her head. “I will never leave you again.”

“Ryan—”

“Never.” His tone was firm. “From now on, I’m stuck on you like glue.” Wonderful. Half of her was doing the Snoopy dance of happiness, while the other half was terrified out of its wits. “I told you not to make promises

you can’t keep.”

“Sweetheart, I hate to tell you this, but now that my Bear knows about your abandonment problems I can’t leave you alone, even if I want to.” He sighed deeply. “We can’t stand the thought of you hurting, let alone being

the cause of it. So, please. Trust me when I say, you’ll never truly be alone again.”

Hell. She almost believed him. “Okay.” “I mean it.”

“I know you do.” Strangely enough, she did. The last of the panic began to recede, Glory relaxing in his embrace. “But you can’t follow me into the ladies’ room.”

He chuckled. “Try and stop me.”

She bit back a grin, refusing to acknowledge how right it felt to be cuddled up in his lap. “You’re such an ass, Ryan.”

Her sappy tone belied her words. He was getting to her, the big oaf, and if she wasn’t careful she was going to fall in love with him.

Admit it. You’re already in love with him.

“Your ass.” When she glared up at him he kissed the tip of her nose. “Give me a chance to prove to you that not everyone leaves, all right?”

She bit her lip. “I keep telling myself that Cyn and Tabby are still here, but part of me believes even they’ll go away eventually.” God, she’d been terrified when her family up and left. The fight had been huge, the bruises her father had left behind a reminder of why it had been a good thing in the end.

But she missed her brother and sisters with a ferocity that would have shocked anyone who didn’t know her well. Temp, Hope and Faith had been the only things that made living in the Walsh household bearable. When Hope disappeared, Glory had been devastated.

It was the first of many losses she’d suffered over the years. Her twin had never been found.

“Glory?”

“Hmm?”

“Tell me about Hope.”

Glory winced. “Another time?”

He studied her for a long, uncomfortable minute before nodding. “I want to know. Maybe we can ask some of the shifters to help find out what happened to her.”

For the first time in a long while Glory felt some hope. Why hadn’t she thought of that? “You think they’d be willing to?”

Ryan smiled. “You’re technically a member of the Halle Pride. I think Max and Emma would be willing to help you out.”

Glory smiled. “Maybe it’s not such a bad thing, having you stick around.”

“Yup. I’m like Super Glue. You’ll never get me off your skin.” He sounded far too happy about that. “You’re crazy.”

He hummed under his breath. “Leave everything to me. You worry about our date, and I’ll worry about setting up a meeting with the Alpha and Curana. Deal?”

Jeez. She was going to regret this, she just knew it. But what else could she do? She kissed his chin, knowing that sooner or later she was going to give in to him. “Fine. Deal.”

The soft, sweet kiss she received in return made her think that belonging to Ryan might not be such a bad thing after all.