Page 9 of Ronan's Charming Mate

“On it,” she said, the truck accelerating.

Alanah’s last thought as she succumbed to the darkness was that she felt safe, really safe, for the first time in her life.

Chapter Four

“She okay?” Taryn asked as she banked hard to the left to avoid a giant pine tree.

Ronan rocked in the back seat, his shoulder hitting the door.

“She passed out.” His fingertip was pressed lightly to her pulse, mentally counting the beats to reassure himself that she hadn’t died so soon after he finally found her.

He’d had no idea he would find his truemate in a jail cell, or that she would appear to be at death’s door. She had dark circles under her sapphire eyes, and her golden hair was disheveled. Her skin was dirty and she had cuts and bruises on her exposed skin, of which he could see a lot since she was only wearing a tank top and shorts. He grabbed a blanket from the floor and covered her, holding her gently against his chest.

Alanah.

A beautiful name for a beautiful female.

“Shit,” Sylas cursed gently.

“What?” he asked.

“The damn bird pecked my palm.” The little bird flapped its wings, but one was bent oddly like it was broken. Ronan reached out and cupped the bird in his palm, bringing it to the headrest of the seat next to him. It chirped, more in question than anger this time.

“She’s just passed out,” he said.

“Who are you talking to?” Taryn asked.

“The bird.”

“Why?”

“I… have no idea.”

He looked at the bird for a long moment, then turned his attention back to his mate. She looked haggard, like she hadn’t eaten anything in a few days. Despite the clear mistreatment, she was still gorgeous, still called to his beast with a deep fervor.

They reached the main road without issue, which meant the unconscious guards hadn’t been discovered yet. He had a million questions for his mate, mainly how she’d wound up so mistreated in the cell, and also why she wanted to bring along the bird.

“The hotel’s about ten minutes away,” Taryn said. “What are we going to do about Alpha Black? He’s expecting us.”

Ronan leaned back in the seat and hugged Alanah a little tighter, his saber thankful to have found her. “I’ll call him after we figure out what’s going on with Alanah and her sister.”

“I’m going to go out on a limb here and say your mate’s a fairy,” Sylas said, turning to look at him.

“Yeah.”

“So we were in their commune?”

Ronan hadn’t given it any thought until now. “That makes sense. I wonder what happened that landed her in a cell so mistreated.”

“Hopefully her sister can help clue us into things,” Taryn said.

Ronan agreed. He listened to his siblings talk about Belle Terra, and what it meant that he’d met his mate so suddenly after coming into the area. He was just thankful they’d come to town when they did. He didn’t want to think what might have happened if they’d been delayed.

* * *

It was nearly lunchtime when they reached the supernatural hotel.

Alanah was still unconscious in his arms.