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I look up at Elise. I do what I said I would do because she has her arms crossed and is glaring at me in a way that says, “I won’t hesitate to hurt you if you say anything.” I wouldn’t want to get in the way of a witch as strong as she is. I also want to show her that she can trust me deep down. That I’m honest and that she can trust me with all this new information about werewolf mates. When I found out Jaxon was my mate, I was all by myself. I only want her to have someone.
“I can’t tell you where I am, but I’m fine. Elise needed to—”
“I’m going to kill that bitch the next time I see her,” he says in a low voice. I can see him with long canines and black eyes when he’s angry. I wish I could have given him a hug.
“Calla, where the hell are you? Tell her I’ll give her anything she wants. Tell her to—
Someone takes the phone out of my hands.
“Whenever I want, I’ll give her back.” She hangs up.
“That’s it,” she says. “He knows you’re safe.” She paces around some more, and I can tell that she’s never been this upset before. I don’t really know Elise very well. She makes this point even more clear when she looks at me and then swears.
“Shit. What am I doing?” She sits down on the couch and rubs her hands over her face. “I’m sorry for this. I just really needed to talk to you about it, and I knew you wouldn’t agree to talk to me if I asked you directly.”
I sit down next to her on the couch.
“You could have asked instead of kidnapping me? Felix did the same thing once,” I say in a light tone, trying to make the subject funny.
“Don’t talk about him,” she says in a cold voice.
“Okay, I understand that you’re not ready. But really, just ask. I’m not that scary, am I?
“You’re probably the weakest and least scary person on Earth.”
At least she grins a little.
“Calla, I’ll portal you home if you want me to. I have one of the worst hangovers I’ve ever had, and I don’t know what the hell I was thinking when I kidnapped you. Sorry, I guess.
I’m shocked that I’m getting an apology right now. Her behavior is so unpredictable right now. One minute she says I have to stay and talk to her, and the next minute she says she will take me back to Jaxon. Whatever is going on with her, I need to find out what it is. She clearly needs some advice, some life counseling, and some therapy. She also needs to learn how to be a better person.
“I’ll stay if you promise not to portal me somewhere without my permission again.” I don’t know why I’m agreeing to help her. She’s never been very nice to me. She helped plan Maisie’s kidnapping. What’s up with her family and kidnapping me and mine?
“Depends on how helpful your advice is,” she grins, and I see a little bit of her old self peeking through. Then I remember why I want to help her—she looks so much like Felix. Of course she does; she’s his twin. I miss him, and she loved him so much. I saw the devastation on her face when he died. I know she cared for him; he was probably the only person she really cared about. I can’t imagine what she’s going through without him. It must explain her behavior and how unhealthy she looks.
I don’t agree with everything she’s done today, but maybe there’s a little bit of hope for her.
“So, can you show me how to be human?”
*****
Elise tells me that her mate is the werewolf representative and then threatens to hurt me if I tell anyone. She also says that she can hide her scent to look human, which is how she’s been able to stay hidden for so long. It makes sense that no one has been able to find Elise or Marlowe.
She tells me everything about how she met her partner, Timothy, and how she got away by portraying when he wasn’t looking. I tried to explain to her that Timothy’s plan to think that Elise had been kidnapped by herself wasn’t the best one, but she said she wasn’t sure if she even wanted to “keep him,” as if he were a pet she could just return.
Timothy doesn’t know that the witch he ran into one night is the same one he’s been looking for. It’ll be interesting to see how that all plays out.
She asked me for advice on how to deal with finding out that Jaxon was a werewolf. I told her everything, including how I freaked out and cried for days, called him a monster and didn’t want anything to do with him. I also told her how ashamed I was when I realized he was a good man—the best—and how heartbroken he was because of it.
Elise sat through it all, and if she hadn’t been so desperate earlier, I would have thought she wasn’t interested in what I was saying because of how much emotion she showed. But she listened to everything I said.
A few hours have passed, and it’s almost evening. After Elise calmed down from her anger and violence, she became fun to be around. I’m not saying that we’re friends or will be friends anytime soon. I’m just saying that maybe this friend of hers can help her with her trauma and loss. She needs someone, and I think Timothy is just the person she needs.
“I’m not sure I’m keeping him,” she says again. “I just want to see what all the fuss is about this mate bond stuff.” I’m out if I don’t like it. He can think I’m a useless person for now.
“Thanks,” I say with a hint of sarcasm, then I look out the window and see the sky getting darker. I need to get home. Jaxon is probably going crazy.
“Elise,” I say softly. “Let me tell you something. I’ll give you my number. Call me if you ever need help or someone to talk to. I’d rather that than you taking me without my permission.
She nods, then gets up and offers me her hand.
“Thank you.” Sorry for being a jerk before. I just…
“I know,” I say, knowing exactly what she means. She needs to get over Felix’s death and work on herself. She needs love, friendship, and stability.
I take her hand and hold it, knowing more about her situation now that I know it.
Time to go home.
*****
Elise drops me off a few minutes from the pack house. It’s not a long walk, and Jaxon can sense me on the territory in just thirty seconds. I see him running toward me with five-pack guards behind him. The mind link is back up and running, and I can feel his panic-like pressure on my lungs and brain.
He picks me up right away and holds me tightly with his arms, which feel like steel bands.
He half-whispers, “Calla.” He looks me over to make sure I’m not hurt, and when he’s sure I’m not, he hugs me tightly.
“F**k, baby. I was very worried. Are you really okay? “When I get my f*****g hands on her, I’ll—”
“Please don’t.” I know you don’t like her right now, but she had to talk to me.
Jaxon looked angry, but I stopped him.
“Did I say that Felix was going to change?”Trust me, Elise won’t be a problem anymore,” Jaxon says, still angry about what happened. “I’m not happy with how she dealt with the situation—
“She f*****g took you! What the hell is she doing? He grabs me by the hips and pulls me closer. My hands rest on his chest. The other pack members nod at us and then go back into the forest, probably to look for signs of Elise. They won’t find any.
“She probably didn’t want your pack to attack her. I hate that she took me away from you, Jaxon. I hate that she was so lost and desperate that she thought the only way to get in touch with me was to take me hostage. I don’t like how it happened, but I’m glad I talked to her.
“What did she say, anyway? The High Council will want to know anything-
“I can’t tell you.”
Jaxon growls.
“Not yet, anyway. I promise to tell you. Soon. “She just needs to take care of something first.”
Jaxon doesn’t look happy, but he doesn’t push me either. I think he’s still in shock about my kidnapping and is so grateful to have me back that he doesn’t want to fight me right now.
As the Luna of this pack, I am in charge of our safety and keeping us informed about what’s going on outside. Jaxon doesn’t tell me everything, not because he’s trying to hide things from me, but because I don’t need to know everything. For example, he never tells me how he “interrogates” prisoners, but I trust him to be a good judge of character and to know how to handle those situations. He should also trust me to make the right decisions.
“Did you tell the High Council what happened? I cringe inside, hoping he didn’t tell Timothy about Elise’s behavior. He just thinks of her as a powerful witch who has lost control and may know where her criminal mother is. He has no idea that Elise is his mate.
“Of course,” I told them first. But they didn’t do anything.
I smile, but it looks more like a grimace. This isn’t good news. It will be even harder for Timothy to accept Elise if she ever tells him who she really is instead of pretending to be a person.
“Come on in, baby.”
He picks me up and holds me close. I don’t mind when he rubs his face against my neck and breathes in. I love this guy so much; it’s crazy.
He says, “After dinner, I’m going to f**k you so hard that you’ll never want to leave my side again.” Let’s see that bitch try to take you again when I’m right next to you.
I swallow hard and ask whatever higher power there is to have mercy on me.