Page 21

TWENTY-ONE

Reed

“H ey, buddy. Bri says you’re ready to wake up. Can’t say it won’t hurt like a bitch, but if we don’t get you moving soon, I’m pretty sure Galyna’s going to get impatient and stick you with the pointy end of that sword. She’s got a temper worse than mine. Can you believe that?”

Gael’s voice broke through the pleasantly numb fog I was wrapped in, the jovial tone of it doing nothing to distract me from the searing aches all over my body.

I could feel every piece of me, and not in a pleasant way. I squinted my eyes against the bright overhead light, then let them fall shut again. No, thank you.

A groan tore out of my throat when he lifted my arm anyway, turning to a pained hiss when his shoulder came up under my arm, and he used it as leverage to manhandle me into an upright, seated position.

“I’m not a damn airplane seat, I do not need to be in an upright position.” I swatted at his head, trying to get him to let me go, but the bastard just laughed.

“Doc’s orders, and she’s too tenderhearted to manhandle you herself. She’s strong enough now, though. It’s wild. She was arm wrestling Kane the other day, and she almost beat him. Freaky shit. So, here I am instead. You must feel like the luckiest girl at the ball.” His shit-eating grin was enough to make me contemplate murder.

I wheezed a little as my back hit the headboard. “You’re going to sound like a girl when I rip off your balls.”

“Ooh, I love it when you talk dirty to me.” He lowered my arm back to my side with more care than he’d used wrestling me upright, but when he leaned back, his serious expression told me a different story.

“What’s wrong?”

“Uh, nothing, technically.”

“Technically? Would you spit it out before the room starts to spin?”

“All right. Well, for starters, you’ve been out for a solid week.”

A whole week? Shit. My mind immediately started racing, the pieces falling into place quickly. The spell to remove Brielle’s curse, how it accidentally impacted Fiona, and… the fall.

“Is Fiona okay? I tried to catch her, but?—”

Gael held up both hands in a placating gesture. “Fiona is absolutely fine. Landing on you cushioned some of the blow. Also, being her personal trampoline is probably the reason you had a lacerated liver, busted spleen, and about four other severely damaged organs in addition to the myriad broken bones. Myriad was the doc’s word, by the way. Official count was twenty-seven—might even be a new pack record.”

I swore and tried to swing my legs over the side of the bed, but Gael stopped me with annoying ease.

“Hold up, Killer. Talk’s not done yet. Fiona’s fine. She’s been rooming with Oli while you were out and after she got cleared and healed herself. Kari signed off on her right before she left.”

I froze in place, one leg half off the bed, hanging on his every word where it pertained to my mate.

“But she’s got a plane ticket that leaves tonight. She’s heading back across the pond.”

My heart turned to a block of ice at his words. Just like that? She was leaving me, without a word?

“Why?”

Gael looked away, rubbing his hand over the back of his neck. “Says she’s no good for you, for the pack. She’s very determined, so Kane bought her the ticket, since yours had already expired. But before you go hunt him down and do something royally stupid, you should know that we all want her to stay. We like her, and we’ve taken good care of her while you were out. But she’s got it in her head that whatever she is, is evil. Running guess is mer, for the record. She took it really hard, thinks she put everyone in danger, and hates herself for nearly killing you in the process. There’s more news about the ODL and the pack, but it’ll keep until after you convince her to stay.”

He was right. The ODL could wait another day, but that plane ticket was a ticking bomb. I squared my shoulders, ignoring the aches and pangs that pinged through my torso at the small movement, determination replacing my dread. If she thought leaving me was the best thing for us or the pack, I’d disabuse her of that notion immediately.

If she wanted to climb on that plane tonight, it would be over my dead body.

Fiona was mine . And I did not let what was mine go. Not now, not ever.

Apparently, she needed to learn that firsthand.

This time when I swung my legs over the side of the bed, Gael offered me a hand up.

* * *

After a quick shower, shave, and clean clothes, I found her in Olivia’s room, packing. I purposefully tamped down my fury at the fact that she was planning to leave without so much as a goodbye. It was unacceptable, but I’d deal with that after convincing her to stay.

“Mate.”

The word was barely more than a possessive growl on my lips, but she heard it, shoulders tightening as she glanced over at the wide-eyed Olivia.

“I’ll give you two a minute to say your goodbyes,” Olivia said, scurrying past me out the door like a terrified mouse.

A smart mouse, at least. But I wasn’t here to say any fucking goodbyes.

I shut the door behind Olivia, twisting the dead bolt without looking at it. The sound of it sliding home had Fiona spinning to face me.

Her chin was up in defiance, but she had worry in her eyes, worry that softened my resolve to snap and snarl at her. Slightly.

“I’m so glad you’re feeling better,” she said, eyes scanning over me as if to reassure herself I really was in one piece.

“I was, until I got a bit of news this afternoon.”

“Oh?” She feigned ignorance, turning back to her suitcase. Mistake.

My wolf saw her turned back as both a snub and a challenge. He was ready to pounce. Flip her on her back, put his teeth around her throat so she knew who was in charge.

Force her submission .

I was too. The longer I was up and about, the more myself I felt. The aches and pains were fading quickly now that I was out of bed.

Especially because I was so close, I could smell her. Her usual floral-and-amber scent was tinged with a bitter note of regret, and I didn’t like it one bit.

“Indeed. Imagine my surprise when I awoke on my sickbed, only to hear my mate was abandoning me without so much as a how do you do.”

She lowered the shirt she had been folding slowly, but she didn’t say a word. I stalked closer, not stopping until her back nearly brushed my front.

“I thought we were more than that, Stormy. I thought you and I had made some progress, trusting each other, getting to know each other. So why are you packing right now?”

I didn’t touch her, though the temptation was strong to sink my teeth into her, then bend her over the bed and fuck her until she promised never to leave me again. If I touched her, I might do exactly that.

“Because I’m poison, Reed. You’re a good man, the best man. And your pack… Well, they’ve taken me in and made me feel right at home. And I repaid that by putting them all in danger and nearly killing you. No one knows what I am, with control of the weather like that. Turning blue like that. But whatever that other side of me is? It’s bad news. And being close to you brings it out of me. So, I’ve got to go. It’s the right thing.” She lifted her chin, tossing the unfolded garment into the bag and flipping it closed.

I slapped my hand down on the suitcase, stopping her before she could reach for the zipper, boxing her in with my much larger frame.

“Is that what you’re telling yourself? That you’re doing the noble thing, skipping out on us? What utter bullshit. You’re running scared.” She stiffened as I whispered against her ear. “Shit got real, you found out you’re incredibly powerful, and you didn’t like it. So instead of facing up to what happened to me , you’re going to run away with your tail between your legs. I thought better of you, Stormy. I really did.”

I tutted, goading her with every slow click of my tongue.

She spun, fury flashing in her eyes as she glared up at me. For a split second, they flashed amber before her normal color returned. “Of course I’m scared, you ass! I nearly killed you . I’m not leaving because I think it’s going to be fun to figure this out on my own, I’m leaving because I couldn’t bear to live with myself if I hurt you again!” She shoved at my chest, pitifully weak compared to my wolf-augmented power.

I grabbed both her hands, pinning them to the mattress behind her back.

“Stop that,” I snapped, and on instinct, I leaned forward, capturing her lips with mine, nipping and sucking at her lips, demanding she open, give in to me.

Fiona hesitated only for a moment, and then she ground her breasts against my chest, giving as good as she got with lips, teeth, and tongue. Satisfaction, hot and deep, rose within me as she told me the truth with her body that she couldn’t with her words.

She wanted me. Every bit as much as I wanted her. She was just afraid.

My Stormy girl was afraid.

I let go of her hands, sweeping my fingertips into her gorgeous dirty-blonde locks, angling her head and deepening the kiss. Stroking and demanding, taking every single ounce of connection she offered me until she was gasping, chest heaving, eyes wild when I pulled back.

Keeping my grip on her secure, I forced her head back until she was fully at my mercy, staring up into my eyes with need and resignation.

“Stay.”

One word, one simple command.

“I can’t.” Her voice broke, sobs racking her body as she crashed with a different kind of energy against my chest.

I held her close, stroking her back and whispering soothing words as she cried herself out. When the sobs had turned to hiccups, I gently stroked her jaw, urging her to look at me again.

“You can. No one here wants you to go. Especially not me. Discovering your powers is a terrifying time. You can feel out of control, dangerous, guilty… But we’ve all been there. Every one of us was once a young wolf with too much power and not enough maturity to handle it. You’ve actually got a leg up, getting to adulthood before it happened to you. It will get better. I promise.”

“But the pack… I can’t even look any of them in the eye. Not even Olivia. I’m so ashamed, Reed.” She buried her face in my chest, and my wolf was practically preening at the fact that she was turning to us for comfort in her distress. Smug bastard.

“Ah, Stormy. They’re not judging you. You have nothing to be ashamed of. I bet all of them would happily tell you the stupid stuff they did as young wolves, when their powers first came in.”

She sniffled but had a slightly more hopeful expression when she looked up at me again. “Really?”

“Really. Now, about this plane ticket. You’re not going. You want to see destruction? I’d go feral if you tried to leave me at this point. My wolf… He’s not willing to let you go.”

One side of her mouth twisted into a wry smirk. “Just your wolf, huh?”

“No, Stormy. You’re mine. I want you by my side, forever.”

“Just like that? We still know so little about each other. What if you hate the way I eat spaghetti or how I say the word fakakta ?”

I snorted at the idea that I’d be put off by something so petty.

“Not even the seizures? They don’t happen super often, but… I’ve had epilepsy since I was a kid. It’s not going away. And now that my powers are stronger, I don’t know what I might do when I have the next one.”

I shook my head, searching for the right words to explain to her how I felt. “I don’t think you get it yet. But you’re it for me. There is nothing about you that could put me off or deter me. If you’re really set on going home, I’ll go get my own suitcase and tell Kane he needs to buy a second ticket because I’m going too. Seizures are part of you, and I want all the parts of you. Even the ones you think are broken or scary.”

A stray tear ran down her cheek at that, and she dashed it away. “I can’t tear you away from your pack right now, Reed. That would be just as bad as… well, before.” She ducked her head, refusing to meet my eyes as she continued. “There’s been stuff happening the past week while you were out. I didn’t understand all the details, but… something’s wrong with the barrier. It’s got a big crack down the center of it, and some group called the ODL? I don’t know precisely what’s happening, but apparently, someone’s castle was set on fire yesterday. They need you.”

I ground my back teeth as I listened, cursing my stupid body for taking so long to heal. That would have been Kane’s father’s castle—his ancestral home—which they’d torched like low-rent vandals. It made my blood pressure rise, and I vowed there and then that we were going to nip this problem in the bud, once and for all. They’d get their recompense, no matter what it took.

But I couldn’t do anything about that if I was splitting my attention between that and worries about my mate running off and getting herself hurt or being chased by other wolves.

I tipped her chin up, using my fingertips. When her eyes met mine, I couldn’t help but smile. Even tearstained, she was the most stunningly gorgeous creature I’d ever seen. My other half, my perfect match.

Pressing a kiss to her forehead, I grabbed her suitcase, zipping it and then plucking it off the bed. “What’s it going to be, Stormy? Is this suitcase coming back to my room, or do I need to go pack?”

“Back to your room,” she whispered, sliding her hand into mine.