by L. P. Dover
Smile fading, she stands and sets her empty bowl on the table beside her rocking chair. "I think I know what this is about." She slowly walks toward me. "Sebastian told me about the meeting. You think Laila is your mate, don't you?"
I shake my head. "I don't think, I know. I saw her tonight. The second she looked in my eyes, I felt it."
"Did you talk to her?"
"No. Laila saw me through the window. I was helping watch over her."
Tyla nods and starts for the door. "Let me get you some clothes. Then, we can talk as much as you want." She disappears inside and comes out carrying a T-shirt and a pair of black tights.
I hold them up. "Seriously? What the fuck is this?"
She bursts out laughing and rushes back inside, this time bringing out a pair of Sebastian's pants and throwing them at me. "I wanted to see if you'd wear them."
"You just wanted to see me look like an idiot," I growl, throwing the black tights at her.
She catches them and drapes them over the railing, trying her best not to smile and failing miserably. "Okay, fine, I was hoping it'd make you laugh. I guess this whole mate stuff has you stressed."
There's another rocking chair beside her, so I slip on the clothes and sit down. I run my hands through my hair and over my face. "You have no fucking idea. She's never officially met me."
"And that has you worried?"
I glare over at her. "Really? I saw how you were with Sebastian before you two were mated. You gave him hell."
She shrugs. "That's because he was an ass. Hopefully, you learned what not to do."
Sebastian did make some mistakes. He thought making Tyla jealous by parading other women in front of her would make her act on their bond. All it did was push her away and drive him insane. I'm not that fucking stupid.
"I don't want to make her jealous, Tyla. That's the last thing I want to do."
"Good," she says, sighing with relief, "then you shouldn't have any problems. I know how you boys get before you complete the bond. It's like all common sense escapes you."
Huffing, I lean back in the chair. "What am I going to do? Laila's different. Not to mention, she doesn't even fucking know me. How the hell can I expect her to want to complete the bond?"
Tyla places a hand over mine, and I look over at her. "Simple. You get to know each other. Spend time together, and everything will fall into place."
I shake my head. "That's easier said than done, Tyla. I've already heard from everyone how she's more fae than a wolf. What if she doesn't feel the bond as much as I do?"
Tyla blows out a sigh and looks off into the woods. "Good question. I don't know. Laila's a strong woman with a shit ton of power. She doesn't have all the animal instincts we do with her, not being a full wolf. In our minds, we live and die for our mates. I have no clue what's going on in her mind right now."
That doesn't sound too promising. All I can do is try to be worthy of her. "What is she like? I want to know everything about her."
Tyla turns back to me and smiles. "For starters, don't be impatient. She just got away from a pack who tried to control her. You don't want to piss her off, not with the kind of power she has."
I've heard of her powers, how she has an affinity to the earth. "What else?" I ask.
"Let's see," she replies, pursing her lips in concentration. "Laila loves gems and stones, just like her mother. They hold magical properties. She also loves interior design. Zayne's been introducing her to some of his clients." It's not much, but it's a start. Now all I have to do is figure out when I'm going to approach her.
"And you also know she has a protective father and two uncles," Sebastian calls out. He appears from out of the woods and joins us on the porch. Tyla tosses him the black tights and gives him a wolfy grin. He looks at her, then at me, and then down to the pants. After a few seconds of contemplating, he slips them on, stretching them until they are almost see-through, and it's damn near the funniest sight I've ever seen.
"You're actually wearing those nut crunchers?" I ask him.
Tyla bursts out laughing, and Sebastian walks over to her, kissing her on the lips before turning back to me. "Hey, when your pregnant mate gives you something, you take it without question. I've learned my lesson with this one."
"See," Tyla quips, "that's good advice."
Sebastian crosses his arms over his bare chest. "I'll go to Zayne and talk to him. I think he suspects something after you the way you were at the meeting."
"He won't try to keep me from her, will he?" I question. If he does, we're going to have a severe problem.
Sebastian shakes his head. "No. He knew this was bound to happen. I just want him to have a heads up so that he can give you both your space when you're around. Right now, he's her protector, but if you are truly her mate, there's no other person she'll be safer with." He clears his throat. "However, you will probably want to ask his permission to be with her. He's old-fashioned like that."
Tyla snorts and glares at Sebastian. "Yeah, I remember someone going behind my back with my parents."
Sebastian looks at her and chuckles. "Didn't have a choice. One way or another, I was going to make you my mate."
"Again," Tyla says, focusing on me, "whatever you do, don't force the bond. It'll come naturally. Just get to know each other like normal people. It'll happen, and you'll both be happy."
She makes it sound so easy, but deep down, I don't feel like it's going to be anything like that.
All night, my mind drifted to Laila. Sleep wasn't my friend. Every time I closed my eyes, visions of her red hair spread across my pillows and having her naked body beneath me tormented me. My wolf wants to claim her, to mark her as my own. How the hell am I going to be patient when all I want is for her to be mine?
Ryker and I finish surveying the trails early, so I head back home to get ready to watch over Laila. I volunteered to take as many shifts as possible. Basically, I don't want anyone else around her. When I get home, I toss my wallet and keys on the counter just as my phone rings.
I pull it out of my back pocket, and Sebastian's name pops up on the screen. "Hey," I answer.
"I talked to my brother," Sebastian replies.
"And?" I walk into my bedroom and kick off my boots.
"And he's okay with backing off a little bit. Laila and Faith are on their way to go hiking at Leigh Lake. He says he'll keep his distance while you watch over them, but if you screw up, he'll skin you alive. Trust me, he'll do it. I've seen it before, and it wasn't pretty."
"Nice to know."
"You'll be fine. I have faith in you."
"So do I!" Tyla yells in the background.
Chuckling, I unbutton my pants and kick them off. "Thanks." We hang up, and I take off the rest of my clothes. The Leigh Lake trail isn't too far away, but it's still several miles through the woods away from my house. Fully naked, I walk out the back door and into the snow. Thankfully, I don’t live around humans that could spot me getting nude and turning into a giant wolf. Closing my eyes, I can feel the magic take over my body. In movies and TV shows, when werewolves turn, it's always depicted as being painful. Not with us. When the magic takes over, it's euphoric, one of the best feelings a shifter will ever experience.
The ground is cold beneath my paws, and the smell of the earth is thick. I run through the woods until I catch Laila's scent. I know exactly where she is.
Eight
Laila
Since it's getting late in the afternoon, Faith and I decided to hike the Leigh Lake Shoreline trail. Yes, I want to get out of the house, but Beck's warning stays clear in my mind. I haven't told anyone yet. What I don't want to do is put any of my friends in danger. A part of me wants to say to her that we shouldn't go anywhere, but then again, I can't live in fear. I've protected myself my entire life. I have to believe I'm strong enough to take on whatever comes my way.
Being outside and surrounded by nature gives me strength. The crystalline views of Mount Moran are breathtaking, along with the g
limmering lake that's partially frozen. I walk down to the water's edge and climb up on one of the boulders. Getting on my knees, I place my hands on the giant rock and close my eyes. I can feel the earth's warmth, its happiness. I wish the world felt like that everywhere.
"Are you using your magic?" Faith asks. She climbs up on the boulder and kneels beside me, placing both her hands face down on the cold rock like I am.
I look over at her and smile. "I am. The earth is happy here in this place. It's untainted and pure."
Her brows furrow. "I'm assuming it's not happy in other places?"
"That's right," I answer sadly. "Here, there isn't any pollution or heavy traffic. The land can breathe. In big cities, it's different. The earth is sad, and I can feel its pain." I traveled a lot with the Sierra pack, but I went to New York City with the man I thought was my father. It was one of the worst trips I'd ever been on in my life; I felt sick being there. After that, I stayed put in the North Carolina mountains.
Faith blows out a sigh. "Wow. I never thought about it that way. I wish I knew what your magic felt like."
And just like that, an idea pops into my head. "Maybe you can." I jump off the boulder to the water's edge, which happens to be frozen.
Faith stands up on the boulder. "What are you going to do?"
I place my hands on top of the ice. "Just watch." Closing my eyes, I picture what I need. I can feel the magic leave my fingertips and seep down into the water to the sandy bottom. It searches for what I want, the pull drawing me closer to the water. When my magic connects with what I'm looking for, I open my eyes and smile. "Found it."
I beckon Faith closer, and she joins me by the water. Underneath the ice, I can see the object coming toward us, floating through the water. Faith's mouth gapes, and she stares at it curiously when it stops in front of us. "Um … this is interesting."
Giggling, I punch the ice to break it and reach into the chilly water for the triangular-shaped stone. Wyoming Jade is what it is. It's a greenish-gray with pink dispersed within the base color. Holding the rock in my hand, I motion for Faith to move closer. "Put your hand over mine," I tell her. When she does, I draw on the earth's energy beneath us. It's full of life and happiness, clean and warm. Just feeling it brings me peace.
"Oh my God," Faith gasps. "I feel it. How are you able to do this?" Her hand slides away from mine, and she stares at me in awe. I hand her the stone, and she gasps again as soon as it touches her skin. "I still feel it."
"Wyoming Jade is a stone that naturally helps with emotional stability and balance. If you're ever having a bad day, just hold it in your hands. It'll help you."
She closes her eyes and holds the stone over her heart. "This is amazing. I didn't know you could do this."
When she opens her eyes, I shrug. "I can't with just anybody. There has to be an emotional connection, a link of sorts. I love you like a sister, so the magic recognizes you as that, even though we don't share the same blood."
Her lips tremble, and she helps me up. "Oh, Laila. I love you too. We may not share blood, but we're family." She hugs me hard, and I smile. It feels good to have a family. Before she lets me go, she clears her throat. "Now that we're sisters care to tell me what's going through your mind? You've been acting weird since last night."
Letting her go, I bite my lip sheepishly. "There's a reason for that. I have something …" The words halt on my tongue. My heart skips a beat, and I jerk my attention to the woods, gasping when I feel him. I've gotten used to my father being around, but I don't sense him near, only the man who is supposed to be my mate.
Faith notices the change as well and stares off into the woods. "Why did your father leave? He never gets too far away from us." She turns in a different direction and points. "Micah is still here. He's out that way."
And that's when it comes to me. I bet everyone knows who this guy is except me. "My father has to know he's my mate. There's no other way."
Faith squeals. "I want to know who it is." She bounces on her feet and grabs my hands. "Have you seen him?"
I nod. "Only as his wolf. He was at the cabin last night. A large gray with gray eyes."
Her eyes widen, and she freezes. "Holy shit, I think I know who it is. He's the only guy I don't remember you meeting at the party. I can't believe I didn't think of this before."
Impatiently, I wave my hand in the air. "Well, who is he?"
She stalks closer, clearly loving the fact that she knows something I don't by the sly grin on her face. "You've heard me talk about him plenty of times. He's tall, cute, funny, and a smart ass at times. My brother hates him. Then again, that's how unmated alphas are to each other sometimes. They need their mates to balance them out."
"He's an alpha?" I ask. That doesn't make any sense. I met them all. "I don't understand. I met all of them."
Faith shakes her head. "Not all of them. This one stepped aside for Ryker. He loves him like a brother and didn't want to compete against him." She glances back at the woods. "And he's here." Then she raises her voice. "You have a lot of explaining to do. I'm not happy you kept this from me."
Now I know who he is. There's only one guy she's gotten close to since we joined the Teton pack. By the way, she's talked about him over the past couple of weeks. I was for sure he'd end up being her mate.
"Cedric Convel," I whisper.
Faith stares back at me, her eyes twinkling. "I'll give you two some privacy."
She walks away, sticking close to the lake's edge. When I turn back toward the woods, Cedric is there, his glowing gray eyes on mine. His power emanates from him, just like an alpha. I'm drawn to it. All I want to do is touch him. He proceeds closer, one slow step at a time, almost as if he doesn't want to scare me. It's probably because he can hear the erratic beating of my heart. Am I scared? Yes, but I'm not afraid of him. I'm fearful of the unknown. Our bond is different from everyone else's.
I take a step toward him, and then another. He's so close I can almost reach out a hand to touch him. Power radiates all around him, and I know he's about to shift. I'm nervous about meeting him and seeing what he looks like. I don't know anything about him other than what Faith has told me.
I wait for him to shift, but then he growls and turns around, his body protecting me as he scans the woods. And that's when I sense it, other wolves and not ones from our pack. Whoever they are, they aren't friendly. Cedric clearly doesn't recognize them, which isn't a good sign.
Faith runs over and grabs my arm. "Rogues. We need to go."
Micah appears on the other side of the lake and races over to us, standing protectively in front of Faith in his hulking arctic wolf form. Faith pulls me away, and we run back up the trail, away from the rogue wolves.
"What do you think they want?" she asks, running faster.
I have a good guess, and it's not to say hello. "I'm sure you can imagine," I tell her, sucking in as much air as I can. A part of me wants to stay and fight, to show those rogues what happens when you mess with the wrong person. I'm not afraid to see what my magic can do.
Micah leads the way, with Cedric behind us. It takes a few minutes to get to the parking lot, and when we do, Faith gets right into my car. Micah and Cedric hang back, but I can still see him, staring at me with those steely gray eyes of his.
Faith and I have been home for two hours, and we haven't heard a single word from Cedric, Micah, or my dad. They're obviously okay because I sense them near, but I want to know what happened to the rogues.
"When do you think I'll see Cedric again?" I ask Faith.
She stares out the large window in the living room with the best view of the Teton mountains. "Soon, I'm sure. I'm curious to know what they did to the other wolves. It's not a good sign if rogues are lurking about."
That's not the only problem we have. I want to tell her what I know about the dark fae, but I can't find the words. The Teton pack are loyal wolves. If they know I'm in trouble, they'll stand by me no matter what, even if it threatens their lives. I can't let
that happen. I need to figure out a way to keep Dorian from finding me.
"I think I'm going to go lay down for a bit," I say, getting to my feet.
Faith's brows furrow as she looks at me. "You okay?"
No, but I'm not going to tell her that. "I'll be fine. Maybe we can cook us up some dinner in about an hour or so?"
Her stomach grumbles, and she laughs. "Sounds perfect."
I leave her and go to my room, shutting the door behind me. I'm not going to be able to keep my secret for long. Releasing a heavy sigh, I lay down on my bed and close my eyes. The front door slams shut, and I can hear Faith walk outside. Micah is with her.
"I see you know who your mate is now." Beck's voice startles me, and he closes a hand over my mouth, his body right beside mine on the bed. He leans in close, his lips by my ear. "Shh … it's just me."
I smack his hand away and bolt off the bed. "What the hell?" I snap, my voice low so Faith and Micah can't hear me. "You can't just appear in my bedroom whenever you want."
Beck holds up his hands and stands. "I'm sorry. There was no other way."
Crossing my arms over my chest, I glare at him. "Can all fae just show up anywhere and everywhere?"
He nods. "Pretty much."
"Great," I grumble. "Does that mean I'll have more bedroom visitors?"
His icy blue stare darkens. "Not unless they want to die. I'm the only one allowed to get close to you."
"Were you in the woods today?"
Jaw clenched, he nods. "I was planning on intervening when your wolf got too close."
"Why?"
He steps closer. "You belong with your people. How are you going to feel when your mate dies trying to protect you from Dorian?"
The blood in my veins runs ice cold. "That's not going to happen. I'll figure out a way to keep Dorian away."
Beck's expression turns more severe than I've ever seen on him. "There might be a way, but we don't have time to figure it out. Last I heard from my men, they tracked Dorian to New Mexico. That's only two states away." He grabs my hand, his grip tight. "Please, Laila. You have to let me take you to my land. It's the only way to keep you and your pack safe." A portal appears on the other side of my room. It mesmerizes me, all the snow and icy trees, but I can't get my feet to move toward it. Beck squeezes my hand. "I will never force you, Laila, but you have to know how dire this is. If Dorian finds you and uses your magic to get into the Land of the Fae, it will destroy my people. So many lives are at stake right now."