Page 38

THIRTY-EIGHT

Reed

W e met back in the family waiting room of the medical center the next morning, eager for word of Elodie’s condition overnight. But what we found was an impatient Cysernaphus, arms crossed over his chest and an imperious expression etched into his jowls as he stood next to Gael. Leigh was asleep on the couch, her back to us, face pressed against a throw pillow.

“I’m pleased you’ve enjoyed the accommodations, but you’ll forgive me if I have no desire to extend your stay.”

“Why, King Cysernaphus, I’m offended. I feel we’ve been exemplary guests.” It was a snide response, and I mentally chided myself for the slip even as I enjoyed the slight purpling of anger high in his cheeks. I was in a good mood, dammit, and I refused to let his surly attitude kill my happiness at having gotten my mate marks last night.

It was a joy nothing could touch, not even someone as insufferable a prick as him.

“Yes, well, tell that to my architects who are repairing the ceiling today. Do you understand how much magic it takes to regrow and install the aura quartz on the ceiling? No, I’ll happily see the back of you. Today .”

“We will excuse ourselves as soon as you’ve told us what you require in trade and our pack mate is well enough to travel.”

He grunted, seemingly having forgotten that our wounded pack mate could be a hindrance to his plans to boot us. “I have need of a favor from Carmine. He has something I want—and you’re going to get it for me.”

Goddess’s hem. Turns out there was one thing that could dampen my joy after all.

The thought of dragging my mate into the heart of vampire territory, unbonded. And from a quick glance at Gael’s livid expression at the mere mention of the vampire, without backup. And the smug bastard knew it too, from the look of him.

Fuck, fuck .

I straightened my sleeve and adjusted the shining gold cuff link before dignifying him with a response. We had each other over a barrel now, and he knew it. But I’d be damned if I gave him the satisfaction of acknowledging it.

“Consider it done. Negotiations are easier to accomplish if I know the value of the thing I’m trading for.”

The king grinned viciously, a baring of teeth any wolf would be proud of. “Surely you don’t think I actually want to make it easy on you? See yourselves out the second your maiden is cleared for travel.”

He let the door slam behind him, making Fiona flinch and Leigh stir on the couch.

Gael placed a hand on her shoulder, and she settled back down. His voice was low when he finally spoke. “No way in the Goddess’s nine realms am I taking my pregnant mate to Las Vegas. It’s practically hunting season on wolves, and that’s when there isn’t already a target on our backs.”

“Umm, can one of you fill me in? Who’s Carmine, and what’s wrong with Las Vegas?” Fiona’s question was sincere, and if a hint of worry edged her tone, I couldn’t blame her.

“Carmine is the son of one of the oldest, meanest vampire sires. Heir of the blood and vicious as they come. He owns half the Strip and runs all of it with his undead minions.”

Gael’s furious delivery left a little to be desired, but the summary was accurate.

“I take it wolves and vampires don’t get along? That isn’t just modern myth, like the rest?”

“Unfortunately, no. We’re not mortal enemies, as we’re painted in some fiction. But definitely not allies either.”

She nodded, biting her bottom lip. The sweet amber of her scent was muted, tinged a bit acidic with her anxiety.

I wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her in tight to my side and pressing a kiss to her hair. Her arms slipped around my waist, and some of the furious tension inside me eased, washing away like it never existed.

Mate bonds—and the way they could instantly settle a furious alpha wolf—were nothing short of a miracle.

I mentally shook myself. We had a task now, and that meant we needed a plan of action, and those I could handle in my sleep.

I turned to Gael as the plan began to unfold in my mind. “Someone’s going to need to get Elodie safely back to the enclave, and I think it should be you.” I started with the most obvious point, a strategy already building as the words poured out. “You can escort the three females back, and I’ll take my larger jet to Las Vegas. I can get a meeting with Carmine under the guise of wanting to invest. After all, a Vegas Strip restaurant is a crown jewel in many a restaurateur’s portfolio. Perhaps it’s time I got myself a ruby.”

It was clean, simple, and the least disruptive. Traveling alone would keep me under the radar and my pack mates out of the line of vampire fire. Most importantly, keep Fiona off the vampire’s radar.

“You should take someone with you. You’re strong, but they’ve got the numbers. We could take the females back together, and then I’ll go with you.”

“Wait a damn minute, you’re seriously going to talk about me like I’m not standing here? We all agreed when we started this not to split the mates. I get that Elodie has to go home. She needs to recover after almost dying. But… you’re not going without me. Especially not after last night.” Fiona’s fury was palpable, her eyes turning amber and a blue flush starting to suffuse the skin around her eyes.

“Last night?” Leigh asked drily, sitting up from the couch with a yawn and an epic case of bedhead. “Do tell, and don’t spare the juicy bits. Pregnant ladies sleeping on couches don’t get any, even though the door locks.” She shot a pointed frown at Gael, who rolled his eyes.

“Pregnant ladies who can’t be quiet don’t, no.”

“I don’t need that many details about your bedroom activities, and I certainly won’t be providing any details about ours.” I’d seen the two of them get hot and heavy from the start, and while I had no doubt they were happy with their relationship, I didn’t need to hear about it while we were trying to strategize. I certainly wouldn’t share private details about what Fiona and I had gotten up to. What was between mates was sacred, and I didn’t take that lightly. Although, they would appreciate the fact that we’d gotten our marks.

“Do you want to tell them?” I looked down at Fiona, knowing she’d know what specifically I meant.

“Can I show them, or is that a taboo thing for someone else to see?” She looked excited, and I didn’t want to stop her from sharing the joy with Leigh, who I knew she’d come to like and trust.

“Nudity is almost meaningless to shifters, so show them whatever you’re comfortable with.”

I ignored Leigh making striptease sounds while Fiona lifted the back of her shirt, stopping at her neck so only her back was exposed, and the stunning blue marks it now bore.

“Oh, Fi! I’m so happy for you. They’re beautiful!” For all her usual bluster, Leigh’s words were completely sincere, and a moment later, she wrapped Fiona up in an exuberant hug.

Gael clapped me on the back with a grin. “About time, old man. I was starting to think you were staying single out of sheer stubborn will.”

I elbowed him in the ribs a little harder than was necessary for the “old man” remark. “Not at all. Just waiting for her.”

We stood shoulder to shoulder, watching our mates celebrate the milestone, and despite the enormous task ahead of us, in that moment, I was at peace.

* * *

My peace was short-lived.

“So help me God—I am going to pitch a fit the likes of which you’ve never seen if you try to mansplain it to me again why I can’t come with you to Las Vegas.”

“Fiona—”

She was stuffing her clothing into her overnight bag with such fury, I was worried she was going to puncture the bottom of the backpack.

Or possibly cause a tornado on the surface.

“Don’t Fiona me! I told you before we left, and I meant it. We are equal partners, or we’re nothing. If I can trust you to go and come back to me, you can trust me to go too. Right?”

“Right, but?—”

“No! No buts, no more talking around it. Elodie’s in recovery, and she can go back to the enclave in four more days, according to the doctor. Gael and Leigh can wait here with her. The only question left is whether I’m going with you or am I going home to Philly?”

My hands shook with fury over the idea that she would leave me, leave the pack, and put herself in danger going to her old home alone, where her mark would make her vulnerable to every male wolf in a ten-mile radius.

“You don’t get to make threats like that, not anymore. We’re mates, we bear the marks. It’s done.”

“Oh! Is that how it’s going to be? You’re the big bad alpha, and I’m the little woman you get to boss around because I’ve got some new ink? Fuck that. Fuck. That. ” She crossed the space, abandoning her packing to poke me in the chest with a finger. “If I don’t get to make threats, you don’t get to make unilateral decisions!”

“Fine!” I threw up my hands, furious she was being so unreasonable when all I wanted was to keep her safe. “Fine! If you want to put your life in danger for no reason, then I won’t stop you.”

She shook her head, sadness in her eyes as she backed away from me. “How can you be so brilliant and so blind at the same time? Why do you think it’s reasonable for you to do everything for me, deal with my dangerous powers, the whole enchilada—but the second you need support, I’m not allowed to give it? How can you ask that of me? And then claim it’s for no reason. It’s insulting, honestly.”

That little crack in her voice at the end undid all my anger in a rush, and shame filled me as quickly as the anger receded, the two emotions like the ebb and flow of the same tide.

I’d royally fucked up this entire conversation, and I had no one to blame but myself. No, that wasn’t entirely true. My wolf was relentless, clawing at me to keep her safe, keep her far away from dangerous enemies.

I didn’t want to fight with her. I wanted to shove her overnight bag off the bed and make her scream my name the right way. With her ankles locked behind my neck and my face buried in her pussy.

I ran my hands through my hair, took a moment to pace off the jangling demands of my wolf, and tried again.

“Stormy, you’re my everything. I don’t want to keep you locked away, but the vampires aren’t neutral to us like the dwarves are. This is much, much riskier. And my wolf…” I let him shine through my eyes for a second so she could see what I meant. He was right there, simmering below the surface, testing my decades-long control with ruthless determination to keep our mate safe.

“Your wolf wants to protect me. I know, and I love wolfie for that. Isn’t that right, wolfie? We’re friends,” she cooed, taking a step closer and pressing a hand to my cheek as she stared into my wolf’s eyes.

There were only three people on the planet who could do that—her, Kane, and Gael. Nobody else had the dominance or the importance for my wolf to accept a direct stare without seeing it as a challenge. But from Fiona? He practically preened under our mate’s attention. He was putty in her hands.

“Now listen, wolfie. We’re not going to take any unnecessary risks, but I’m safer with you. You won’t let the big bad vampires hurt me, will you?”

“Never.” My voice was all gravel, the wolf pressing the word through my lips, though he rarely spoke with me, even internally.

“That’s what I thought. So now I’m going to finish packing, and we’re going to hope wherever we stay in Las Vegas has a good laundry service, because everything I own smells like feet. And if you’re a very good wolf, I’ll read you the next book in that series we started back at the enclave.”

I snorted at her cheeky smile, resisting the urge to plant a kiss on her lips and follow through on my desire for good old-fashioned make-up sex. But the blue flush was still there, her amber eyes still blazing, and I knew it was risky.

“I will see to it that your laundry is taken care of us as soon as we land. But, I have a question for you I never asked,” I said, sitting on the bed next to her bag.

“What’s that?” she asked, mollified now that my wolf had agreed to let her come along.

“Did you make the ceiling fall when the trolls were attacking us? You said you’d worn yourself out, but I never followed up with what happened.”

“Because you were blown away by my sex appeal?” She waggled her eyebrows at me suggestively, and the last of the tension of our fight left me, my shoulders finally relaxing without the pressure.

“Blown away is putting it mildly, Stormy girl. But usually when your powers flare up, it’s impossible to miss.”

She sighed. “I’m not really sure, but it was difficult to get anything to happen down here. Maybe because we’re underground?”

I pondered that, staring at the heavy book on the side table that she still hadn’t been able to read.

“When we were on the bridge, you said ‘By the power of water, our bond be sealed.’ I didn’t question it at the time, but it rained on us as we left the bridge until we were soaked to the skin. I think your power might require water to be the most effective.”

She pursed her lips, considering, then shrugged. “It’s as good a guess as any, and it could explain why I turn blue.”

“Maybe you need access to water to read the book.” I stood, pressing a kiss to her forehead as I reached for my own luggage.

“Maybe so. But I’m not going to test that theory while we’re on your jet.”

“Probably for the best.”