Her brow furrowed. “You might need your men somewhere else.”
“I don’t particularly care,” I said. “You’re our best hope right now, and the instant the sand wraith figures out what you can do, it’s going to make you its primary target.” I reached out and gripped her shoulders, making sure that she was looking directly into my eyes. “And I can’t stand the thought of you getting hurt. I’m only going to be able to focus if I know you and Grace are safe.” I added in a low growl as my fingers tightened protectively around her, “I’m not going to lose you to this creature.”
Her features softened. Slowly, she stepped forward, and her hand cupped my face.
“You won’t,” she promised. “And we’re going to take this wraith down. Together.”
I pulled her against me, and she nuzzled into the crook of my shoulder. I inhaled her scent as I stroked her hair.
“I’m lucky to have you,” I said.
She stepped back, eyes sparkling with amusement. “I know,” she said, then her face went serious again. “I think the best option would be to lure it into the oasis,” she continued. “I’ve been practicing with the water there, and I’m getting better. Once it’s there, I can use magic to douse it. I’m guessing that will give it some sort of more corporeal form. You know, sort of like what happens when sand gets wet.”
“At which point, we can have it cornered,” I said, nodding. “We can flank it.”
It was a good idea, close to the plan we had come up with. We no longer had the luxury of searching for its lair and hitting it there. Not if it was coming toward us.
My eyes narrowed. “You have to promise me one thing, though,” I said.
She raised her eyebrows and folded her arms. “That depends on the thing.”
“I mean it,” I said, my voice lower.
She must have sensed some of my own desperate panic through the mating bond, or maybe just on my face, because her features softened. Her hands fell to her side.
“What?” she asked.
I walked forward and gripped her arms, crouching so I was at eye level.
“The instant you’ve done your part, I want you to run as fast as you can and get away from the oasis,” I said. “I’ll have someone go with you to make sure you’re safe, but the only way I’m going to be able to focus on the wraith is if I know you’re out of harm’s way.”
For a moment, she looked as though she might argue. I could understand why. I sensed her desire to help, that feeling of protection so like my own, as it pulsed through the mating bond. I could see her wanting to protest, could sense it in my bones. After a long moment, though, she let out a long, irritated exhale and gave a short, curt nod.
“All right,” she said. “I promise.”
The tension that had been coiling and swirling inside me abated, and I relaxed, at least a little.
“Thank you,” I said.
She reached out and took my hand, squeezing it gently. “We’ll get through this,” she promised. “That wraith won’t know what hit it.”
“I just wish there were another way,” I growled. “One that involved you and Grace being over a thousand miles away from here.”
“Honestly, in a weird way, I’m glad,” she confessed. She gave a soft, amused laugh at my confused expression. “It’s because I want to be useful. This is my pack. I’m their luna. I want to help protect them as much as you do. I would go insane if I were just shuffled off. I’d hate being helpless like that. At least this way, I’m able to do something that will undoubtedly help the town.”
I shook my head in disbelief. “You’re incredible, you know that?”
She snorted even as her grip on my hand tightened. “What? I’m basically doing the bare minimum. It’s not like I’m not going to help when I know there’s something I can do.”
“After everything I’ve done, after all the bullshit you had to endure when you were younger, after running away and never wanting to come back here again, you’re willing to stay behind and fight for these people? After the way the elders treated you? And some of the rest of the town?”
She didn’t blink, didn’t hesitate, didn’t so much as have to think about it. “Of course,” she said. “This is my home. I’m the pack luna. No matter what happened in the past, I have a duty to this pack now.”
I stared at her, the words taking a moment to process. When they finally did, emotions took over. With a soft snarl, I reached out, grabbed her arm, and tugged her forward until shewas pressed against me. I could feel her heart pounding through her chest as she looked up at me.
“I don’t deserve you,” I said, my hand cupping her cheek.
She gave a coy smile that drove my wolf wild. “I know,” she teased.
