And for just a moment, she was certain she knew what it was like to be in love.
Then she pulled away and knew she had a stupid smile on her face.
Riley smiled back hopefully.
“No.” Her voice was a croak that she had to force out. “Your world and mine, they’re not so different. Your world has predators in it too. If I stay in my world, I know the predators here. Most of them at least.” She shook her head. “And I don’t trust you. Not now and not ever. You can’t just fix trust when it’s been broken. I can do a lot of things, but I can’t do that.” She turned and walked away from him, knowing her answer had hurt him but that it had been true.
Stampede stood beside Daisy and waited.
“What?” Hella grinned at him. “Did you really think you’d be rid of me that easily?”
“I wasn’t sure.”
“You didn’t like Riley from the beginning.”
“Not when I saw he was interested in you.”
“If I decide to spend time with a guy, it’ll be one you approve of.”
“We’ll see.”
Hella vaulted onto Daisy’s back. “I’m ready to shake the dust of this place off me.”
“Me too.” Stampede called out to the rest of their group. Scatter and Ocastya walked hand in hand, but Colleen and Alice—very excited by the prospect of riding the mountain boomer—joined Hella on Daisy.
Together they headed west down the mountain. Hella looked back at Riley standing apart from the rest of the team, but she had no regrets.
THE END
Cover
Other Books by This Author
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Epilogue