“Hey, none of this is my fault,” I fired back. “Don’t take this out on me. Or Rachel, for that matter.”
Elias sighed, rubbing his face as his shoulders sagged. “I know,” he said. “Just…when the Oracle did this to me, that’s fine. But now it’s my kid sister and my best friend, which is weird on too many levels to count. If the fates really are telling her this, then I hope they have a damned good reason.”
I didn’t respond, but privately, I thought that this sort of reaction was a large portion of the reason I had told Rachel it could never happen the first time around. Elias had always been protective of her, and he would have torn me to shreds if he had thought there was a shred of a chance that I would hurt her.
With a large, frustrated exhale, he stared out the window, frowning as he thought. “The wraith is still out there. It’s been quiet, licking its wounds from the fight a few months ago, but it’s going to come back eventually. My gut says sooner rather than later. It’s biding its time.” He let out a deep breath, the way he always had since we were kids, and he had to make an unpleasant decision. “As weird as the situation, and as much as none of us particularly like it, I think it has to happen.”
“Elias…” I trailed off, not sure what the hell I would say in the first place. I couldn’t tell him about what had happened between us. It would violate Rachel’s trust, and I wasn’t about to tell that story without her approval, no matter what either of us felt.
Before I had to decide what to say, Elias held up his hand, stopping me from having to come up with something. “She said you two have to be mates,” he said. “That’s all. Which means all we have to do is make it official on paper. Go through with the ceremony. That doesn’t mean you two have to be in love or anything like that.”
I didn’t answer right away. I had made the choice to reject Rachel because I thought it had been the right decision.But there had been a part of me that had always wondered what would have happened if I had made a different choice. Ever since, I had kept an eye on Rachel from a distance. Every time we were in the same space, I was always aware of her every step, her every move, as if I was tied to her by a string. I didn’t know what would happen if we became mates, whether it would ease or intensify. Part of the reason I was reluctant was that I was afraid I would fall for her, and I didn’t know what would happen if I did.
“I guess you’re right,” I found myself saying.
He let out a breath. “At the very least, I don’t have to worry about my sister being safe if you’re her mate,” he said. “I know you’ll keep her safe.”
“With my life,” I said without having to think about it for a second.
“And I don’t have to deal with her mating a creep or someone who would want to take advantage of her.”
“Glad to know you don’t think I’m a creep,” I said with a flippant grin, hoping that he couldn’t tell how badly I wanted to take advantage of Rachel sometimes.
“It could be worse,” he muttered more to himself than to me.
“If it’s to stop the sand wraith, then I’ll do it as long as Rachel is in,” I finally said.
Elias nodded, recognizing the opening for a change in topic if he wanted it.
“There still haven’t been any sightings?” he asked.
I shook my head. “I’ve doubled the patrols around the outskirts of town. I’ve told them what to look for that might show it’s been in the area: disturbed brush, newly formed dunes,or new weathering in the rock formations. None of them has seen or heard anything that could be the wraith.”
Elias tilted his head as he studied me. “I’m sensing there’s a ‘but.’”
I cracked a smirk despite myself. “You know me too well,” I said. “They haven’t seen anything that could be the wraith. But they’ve noticed some weird things to the north of town.”
“What sort of weird?”
“Dead succulents, rotting cacti…there have also been reports of dead animals cropping up more frequently. Oz said it was like some dark presence had swept across the area.”
“Oz is too dramatic for his own good,” Elias muttered.
“Maybe,” I admitted. “But he’s got good instincts, and he’s sharper than he lets on.”
Yet again, Elias remained quiet for a long moment as he considered the new information.
“I’m tired of waiting,” he finally growled. “Right now, we’re letting the wraith dictate the terms of this war. It’s time we go on the offense.” He gave a feral grin that showed fanged teeth. “I say we start hunting for its lair.”
I raised my eyebrows as an intrigued glint sparked in my eyes. “That’s a bold choice, Alpha.”
“Are you saying you can’t handle it?” Elias fired back, some of the surliness falling away from him.
“Hell, no. I think it’s brilliant. This thing has destroyed part of our town. It’s only fair we deliver some payback.” I scratched my chin as I stared out the window, already calculating what we would need to do for such a job. “I’ll start sending out patrols to start hunting for likely spots, and I’ll getDrake to study the spread of sightings. We might be able to get some insight into where we need to look.”
Elias nodded. “You already have it under control. Just keep me posted.”
“And Rachel?” I asked. I tried to keep my voice even. Inside, my wolf stirred at just the sound of her name, that pang of need lurching through me as it always did whenever I let myself think about her.
