“It would make sense. You guys said he was hung up on her romantically?”
“That’s what he alluded to when… well, a few seconds before he died. He was in love with her. Unrequited love from the way it seems.”
Luis sighed and gave a little half-shrug. “I’ll do the best I can. If she’s out there, I’ll find her.”
“Thanks. Do you want some coffee for the trip?”
Luis shook his head. “Nah, got an energy drink with three hundred milligrams of caffeine in the car. I’ll be cracked out of my mind in a little bit. I’ll call you when I have some info.”
“All right. Be careful. The royals think she’s dead. Don’t be the reason we lead them back to her door if she’s not.”
“I got you,” Luis said as he headed out the door.
I sat on the back porch and drank two cups of coffee before pulling my phone out and texting all the guys, my brothers, Dad, and Javi. Training was off for the day. Maddy was getting closer to her first shift, and I wanted to spend the day working with her. Her stress levels increased with every passing day. Nothing about sitting and watching us all shift and run around was going to help her. If anything, watching us was probably making her wolf even more anxious and frustrated.
Maddy finally woke up an hour later, looking more rested than I’d seen her look in days. I waited until she’d eatenbreakfast and woken up properly before telling her what I had planned for the day.
“Do you want to come back to the creek with me?” I asked.
She looked at me and raised an eyebrow. “What for?”
“Well, it seemed to help the other day. Maybe if we go out there more often, it will get you relaxed and calm enough for the shift to happen.”
Maddy put her cup down. “Whatever helps. I’ll get dressed.”
Twenty minutes later, we got to the stream and settled in. I wasn’t some yoga guru or anything, but I’d read enough about breathing techniques and meditation that I thought I could help her.
“Okay, just like last time. Close your eyes. Deep breath, three seconds in and out.”
Maddy did as I asked. I knelt behind her and gently kneaded her shoulders, trying my best to relax her entire body. I could feel the tension start to release from her as she continued her breathing exercise.
I lowered my lips to her ear and whispered, “You are strong, Maddy. It isn’t just your wolf. You are as strong as she is. Remember, you are in this together.”
I continued giving her prompts and encouraging words. We worked on it for almost an hour before we finished. Maddy opened her eyes and smiled. “I feel a lot better actually. My wolf also seems calmer.”
I breathed a sigh of relief, happy that it helped. “Maybe we can do this more often.”
“Yeah.”
I nudged her with my elbow. “You still don’t sound totally good. What’s on your mind?”
Maddy tugged a handful of weeds from the ground and tossed them into the water. The green sprigs fluttered in the wind before hitting the water and floating away. She was silentfor so long that I started to think she wasn’t going to answer. When she finally spoke, it was so sudden that I almost jumped in surprise.
“I still regret ever doing that DNA test. None of this would have ever happened if I hadn’t done that. My guilt is so overwhelming. Everything that’s happening with my parents and Abi is my fault, or at least I feel that way. It would have been better for everybody if I hadn’t been so curious.”
Her words hit me hard. Not only because she shouldn’t feel guilty, but because of the unknown that went along with them. If that DNA test hadn’t happened, would we have found each other? We were fated mates, but that didn’t mean we were guaranteed to locate one another.
As though she could read the thoughts bouncing through my head, she glanced over at me. “I don’t regret you. Nico. You’re the one good thing that’s come from all this. I only wish we could have met under different circumstances.”
That was something I could definitely get behind. Life would have been so much simpler if I’d just strolled into her bar on a random Friday night. Flirted a bit, exchanged numbers, and thenboom, a normal relationship. What was done was done, though. There was no way to go back, and there was no reason for anyone to feel guilty about anything. Sometimes fate was a brilliant and wonderful lady—other times, she was a sadistic bitch.
Maddy tossed another handful of grass into the stream. “I need to get over it. I know that. Wallowing in the mistakes of the past won’t change a damn thing.” She turned to look at me. “I want to try and shift again.”
“Right now?” I asked, surprised by the sharp left turn the conversation had taken.
Maddy stood and brushed her pants off. “Yeah. Let’s give it a try.”
The next couple of hours were spent trying to talk her through what I did when I shifted. It was honestly sort of difficult to explain. For me, it was so innate and simple that it felt like I was trying to explain exactly how to blink or how to flex every muscle and fire every nerve it took to take a breath. Instead of trying to focus on the biological mechanics, I tried to get her to open her mind and body up to the wolf.
