Tall, Dark and Furry (The Elementals Book 1)

by Meredith Allen Conner

  Yes, she had some issues to work through. Sela hadn’t a clue as to how to go about trusting someone. Running away and kicking ass? She had those things down pat. But how did one go about building a relationship?

  It had been years since Sela, Livie and Rea tried to live like a family. The sisters had been teenagers and with the MIBs after them, separating and trying to make it on their own seemed like the best option.

  Maybe it had simply been the easiest.

  Sela scowled. Self-examination sucked.

  But loving Mac and choosing him meant fighting for their chance together, right?

  Big breath, Chickie, you actually said it.

  Sela waited for the panic. It never came.

  A lifetime of habit was not going to be easy to break, but she intended to do so. She’d spent all of her energy and time fighting to stay alive until now. She planned to spend the rest of her life making a relationship with Mac work.

  And figuring out the whole werewolf lifestyle. And understanding her new heightened senses. And defeating the MIBs. And possibly, gulp, having children. The plural version.

  I’m going to have to make a list. Just take it one step at a time.

  On the plus side, if they got married she could probably cross off her list all of Mac’s things she’d damaged, or destroyed that she’d been planning to replace thanks to the unfortunate emergence of her conscience.

  Sela wanted to shake her head, but with Mac’s head still resting on hers, blinking her eyes proved the best she could manage.

  Getting way, way ahead of myself. Time to regroup and focus on the here and now.

  Sela laid her palm on Mac’s cheek. She couldn’t say she was sorry. She wasn’t. Given the same circumstances, or any circumstance that involved the MIBs, she would fight. She needed to. The bastards had hunted her and tortured her. She held one gigantic grudge against them and no way in hell did she plan to let that one go.

  But she knew how worried Mac had been. She felt the fear that continued to torment him. She didn’t like it, she could take care of herself just fine thank you, but it also stirred that funny warm spot inside that flared at the oddest times with Mac.

  Mac pulled back, amber eyes glowing and swirling. “You could have been shot!”

  Sela wrote a mental sticky note to remember to check for any body pieces that might be stuck to the wall behind her. Mac’s roar could have given a demolition expert pointers.

  “I wasn’t shot.” She roared back. Hadn’t she already gone over this?

  “But you could have been,” he snarled. Oh, for the love of Mike. He wanted to debate what ifs?

  “I. Am. Fine.” She butted his nose with hers.

  “If I hadn’t gotten there in time, you would not have been. Twenty men, Sela. Twenty men with guns were firing at you when I arrived. The only thing between you and them was your rainstorm.” He thundered. “How the hell is a raindrop going to stop a bullet?” His hands tightened on her waist as if he wanted to shake her, but couldn’t.

  Damn his hide. There might be just a smidgeon of truth to his words.

  She had no plans to admit that, however. Did she look dumb?

  “I cannot believe that you are yelling at me after you just climaxed for thirty minutes!” Duck, dodge and reload.

  A hard pounding knock rattled their door.

  Mac and Sela glared at one another. “What?” Mac snarled.

  “We need to move.” Cam’s calm voice intruded. “The bad guys are on their way here.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Mac swerved around the car in front of them. He floored the truck, passed the mid-sized sedan, returned the one finger salute and swerved back into the correct lane.

  He glanced in the rearview mirror. Livie’s knuckles showed white where they gripped the handle above the door. Her grey eyes still resembled dinner plates, but as they’d been that way since she emerged from the motel room Mac didn’t worry. She’d stopped muttering “lions and tigers and werewolves, oh my,” too. Mac knew that with time and a regular intake of food she would be just fine.

  He eyed Sela. The moment their eyes met in the mirror she stuck her tongue out at him.

  He faced the road. He refused to grin. Fear and anger continued to gnaw at him. She really could have been hurt. Bullets could not kill her, now that they were mated, but she didn’t know that. She’d fought twenty men shooting guns with a rainstorm.

  Yes, the rainstorm had completely obscured her from their vision. Yes, she’d dropped to the ground and the idiots had continued to fire at the spot she’d been standing in.

  Logically, he knew his mate had used her power to her best advantage and used it well.

  He didn’t give a shit about logic. A bullet could have ripped right through her soft skin and caused her a lot of pain.

  “You bend that steering wheel any further, it won’t work,” Cam warned.

  Mac looked at the steering wheel. Sure enough, he’d bent it back until it threatened to break off. Cursing, Mac relaxed his grip and turned his hands, curving it back into place.

  It positively amazed him that his mate could destroy his control like this. Centuries of harnessing his strength, controlling his beast, flushed down the drain by a woman whose head maybe reached the middle of his chest.

  Hell, he’d even bitten her. His cheeks heated at the memory. Not satisfied with taking her, his beast needed to claim her as well, to put a physical mark on her. A mark that shouted to the world she was his.

  Mac didn’t think Sela had noticed the love bite yet.

  They’d been out the door as quickly as Sela could get her shirt on and wrap the sad excuse for a towel around her waist. Cam had Livie already in the truck and waited with the door open for Sela to join her sister.

  Cam, of course, noticed the claim. What werewolf wouldn’t? He’d taken a look at Sela’s neck then arched his brows at Mac. Mac had growled and jumped in the driver’s seat.

  The males in their clan usually did not mark their women. The mated scent the women gave off usually satisfied their possessive natures.

  Usually.

  Mac was seriously thinking about adding some body armor to Sela’s wardrobe with his name imprinted on the front. Possibly the back, too. The bottoms of her feet wouldn’t hurt.

  If she tried to go somewhere without him again he might even consider tying her to his bed.

  He shifted uncomfortably on the seat. Now was not a good time to get a hard on.

  Cam’s pocket vibrated. Mac’s ears perked up at the subtle shifting of cotton and metal.

  Cam pulled his phone out and flipped it open. “Yeah?”

  Mac balanced his vision between driving and Cam’s face. Cam nodded at Mac, barked, “keep us posted” into the phone and hung up.

  “Roc said they just arrived at the motel. The Order is searching the rooms now. They haven’t spotted him and he’ll keep following them.” Cam tapped a fist on the dashboard. “Hopefully, they’ll lead him to their top guy.”

  Mac grunted in response. Surveillance sucked. Hell, running away sucked even more, but they couldn’t do anything else until they had Sela and Livie safe at home. Where Sela would stay this time.

  Then they could get to the fun part. Beating the ever-living-hell out of the bad guys.

  “We need to figure out what motivates this Order of the Elements.” Cam said.

  Mac grunted again. He could care less about what motivated them. He simply wanted to eliminate them before they had a chance to hurt Sela. Or her sisters.

  “They must want the women for their power, but why?” Cam tapped his fist. “What do they hope to accomplish?”

  “I think they’re planning on world domination.”

  Cam, Mac and Sela all turned towards Livie.

  “Okay, maybe a small continent. But it’s the only thing that makes sense.” Livie shrugged. “What do bad guys always want with power? Look at Hitler.”

  Sela nodded. “True. I know they want to use us – our powers
that is – but I’ve never really given a lot of thought to why.” Sela grimaced. “Too much time and effort into staying alive I guess.”

  Livie reached out and patted Sela’s shoulder. “Staying alive is a good thing, Seals. It’s the best thing and . . .” Livie broke off and frowned. “What happened to your neck?” She brushed Sela’s hair away from the side of her neck to get a better look.

  Cam suddenly focused on the view outside.

  Mac sent up the hopeful thought that Livie would go back to her silent, statue imitation.

  Sela craned her head to get a look at her neck in the mirror. “What do you mean?”

  Livie leaned closer to her sister. “It looks like something bit you.”

  Sela’s eyes flashed to Mac. “You bit me?” Mac opened his mouth. “I thought you said you didn’t bite your mates?”

  She didn’t sound like she was choking on the word. Mac tried not to get too excited, but this was the first time Sela had said, “mate” casually, like she might be finally getting used to the idea.

  Cam coughed. Livie looked at Mac in horror. “You bit my sister?” Damn, Sela and Livie could’ve taught opera to Pavarotti.

  Livie gripped Sela’s shoulders and turned her. “He bit you?”

  Sela patted Livie’s arms. “Yes.” Livie’s head disappeared in the rearview mirror. “No. No. Really. You don’t need your knife.” Sela’s head disappeared too. Arms flailed wildly for a moment then both Sela and Livie reappeared in the mirror.

  “It happened in the throes, you know.” Sela grabbed Livie’s arm. “It’s probably a werewolf thing.” Livie shoved hard. Sela pushed back.

  “Probably?” Cam winced. Mac didn’t blame him. Livie’s shout should have broken the windows. “You don’t know? And you’re defending him?” Something bright flashed. “Seals, he bit you. With his teeth.”

  Sela leaned into Livie. She panted, “Actually, they were fangs at the time.”

  Livie hollered.

  “Don’t you think you ought to say something?” Cam muttered. He rubbed his ears.

  Mac nodded. Yes, he should. He just didn’t know what exactly. He had bitten Sela. With his fangs. His cheeks heated. Put into words it sounded awful.

  “Uh . . .” Mac cleared his throat.

  “Fangs?” Livie’s new shriek topped all the previous ones. “And you let him?”

  “Throes, Liv,” Sela yelled. “I said in the throes. I didn’t mind then. Heck, I didn’t even notice.” Sela tugged hard and fell backward with a shout.

  The truck swerved. Mac corrected the movement, growling and swearing as he tried to see if Sela was all right.

  Sela popped back up in view. A large, shiny knife clasped triumphantly in her hand.

  Livie crossed her arms over her chest. “He could have really hurt you, Seals.” She glared at Mac in the mirror.

  Sela shook her head. “He wouldn’t hurt me, Liv. It was just a werewolf thing.” Sela turned towards Mac. The knife turned with her. “It was just a werewolf thing, right?”

  Mac nodded, eyeing the sharp tip of the knife. “Yeah. Werewolf thing.” He shot a glance at Cam. His Wolven. Friend too, but right now he was more aware of him as his King. And Sela’s sister, both of them in on a conversation about one of the most intimate and rather embarrassing moments of his life.

  “But I thought you said you didn’t bite your mates?” Sela frowned, returning to her previous question.

  Mac ran a hand through his hair. “Right.” He nodded. “We don’t”

  Sela raised her brows and motioned with the knife.

  “Well . . .” Funny, he couldn’t recall any of his anger. It completely disappeared beneath his embarrassment over his lack of control. Damn it, five year old pups had better control than he did.

  “Werewolves can smell when a woman becomes a mate.” Cam turned in his seat to face the sisters. “We don’t mark them visibly because we can smell them.” Cam tapped his nose. “He,” Cam nodded towards Mac, “felt the need to mark Sela visibly as well.”

  Mac flushed. Shit, he hadn’t turned red like this in a couple hundred years.

  Sela kept her eyes on Mac. “Why would he feel the need to mark me visibly if you can all smell that I’m his mate?”

  Cam cleared his throat. “It’s sort of the equivalent of putting up a tall fence around you.” Cam looked at Mac. “With a padlock on the gate.” He grinned. “And a . . .”

  “Enough.” Mac glared at Cam, the lousy dog. He caught Sela’s gaze. “You left my house.”

  Sela rolled her eyes. “Here we go again,” she muttered.

  “You went out on your own, without me,” Mac stated in a louder voice. The fear gripped him again. “You put yourself in danger. Damn straight I’m going to mark you for the whole world to see.” Mac’s shout almost outdid Livie’s.

  No one said anything for a minute.

  Mac passed two more cars.

  Livie cleared her throat. “Wow. Seals, you put yourself in danger? I’m shocked.”

  Mac flushed again. All right, with the MIBs after her, Sela didn’t necessarily have to do anything to be in danger. But she didn’t need to run towards it either.

  “And you went out on your own? A grown woman? I don’t know what to think of you anymore, Sela.” If her sarcasm got any more deadly, Mac knew they’d be picking up pieces of his body all over the road.

  He scowled at her. Livie blew him a kiss.

  Logic, he reminded himself, had absolutely nothing to do with his mate.

  “She’s my mate.” He gripped the steering wheel and shoved his shoulders back. He refused to look in the mirror.

  “That’s his answer for everything.” Sela’s shrug echoed in her voice, her calm, almost amused, voice. Mac blinked.

  “And you’re okay with that?” Livie sounded as baffled as Mac at the moment.

  Cam’s phone vibrated.

  “Yeah?” He barked.

  Mac looked at Sela. She had her head turned toward Livie. The sisters maintained eye contact for a minute. A silly, lopsided grin split Livie’s face. She nudged Sela and chuckled. Sela laughed too.

  What? What did he miss? Not a word escaped their lips. Did they have some form of ESP Sela hadn’t mentioned? Mac needed to know Sela’s answer.

  Was she finally beginning to understand that she was indeed his mate?

  She mentioned “for future reference” at the motel. She’d faced the bad guys and hadn’t been hurt, “for future reference.” Which implied a future, didn’t it?

  Mac drew in a shaky breath. He thought so. Hell, he planned on a long future with Sela. But he also thought she would stay at home while he went after her sister and the MIBs. He’d thought wrong then.

  Crazy as it sounded, searching for his mate for hundreds of years was turning out to be the easy part of mate-hood. Making it work and getting her to acknowledge it, Mac swallowed, he had no idea it could be this complicated and difficult.

  Fate may have chosen Sela for his mate. Mac didn’t know anymore and he didn’t care. It did not matter what werewolf thing, Elemental thing, scent thing, or whatever the hell thing it was that made him recognize Sela as his mate.

  She was his. His other half. His purpose in life now. His reason for . . . everything.

  To him it was simple. However, Sela was anything but simple. Her background, her heritage, her personality – it all combined and intermeshed to make up his complex, fascinating mate. Mac looked forward to spending the next few centuries trying to understand all the ins and outs of Sela.

  If she let him.

  His throat tightened. He braced one hand on the dash. While he had anticipated and actively searched for Sela, she hadn’t ever thought she would have a long-term relationship. How could she?

  He was a powerful, dominant man. He grew up in a time where men fought and provided for their families. He wanted to take care of Sela, keep her safe and provide for her.

  Sela had been born sometime during the last few decades. She expected to be an equ
al partner in their relationship. Mac winced, as he remembered a few discussions. She demanded it.

  Could he accept that?

  Would she accept him as her mate?

  He could howl all he wanted to about Sela being his mate, but unless she acknowledged their bond, agreed to their bond and wanted their bond . . . it wouldn’t matter.

  His world shifted.

  Mac adjusted his weight quickly. He righted the truck and looked at the chunk of dash in his paw. He’d destroyed the dash. He set the chunk on the seat next to him.

  Would Sela destroy him just as easily? Could he let her go if she decided she didn’t want him as her mate?

  “Mac! Damn it to hell, Mac!” A strong arm pushed him back while another gripped the steering wheel.

  Mac growled and snapped. He grabbed the arm, lifting it to his muzzle. A fist hit his cheek. The truck swerved violently. Sela screamed.

  Mac froze. Reality crashed around him. He had Cam’s arm an inch away from his muzzle, fangs resting on his shirtsleeve. Cam leaned into him, steering the truck with one hand and attempting to restrain Mac with the other.

  He looked in the mirror. He met Sela’s wide blue eyes with his amber ones.

  “It’s all right,” she said.

  Would it be?

  Mac drew in a breath, released Cam’s arm and forced his beast back.

  Mac took back control of the steering wheel. Cam remained close. “You okay now?”

  He didn’t know how to answer that. Mac grunted. Cam slapped him on his shoulder and moved back to the passenger side.

  “You can put that knife away, Livie,” Mac said. Where did she hide all those knives? “I’m in control.” For now.

  He felt Sela’s small hand run down the back of his head and rest on his neck. Petting the wolf? Her cool skin rested on his nape, she didn’t rub or move her hand at all. She lightly pressed her skin to his. Mac relaxed into her touch.

  Mate.

  “We need to get home fast.” Mac shot an inquiring look at Cam. “Roc said the Order is heading towards our town.” Cam clenched his fists. “He thinks they’re planning to attack.”