Eli was her mate. And wasn’t that just like the Universe to send Farren someone she was supposed to love after she’d nearly destroyed her pack, failed in every way, and was trying to hide from a group of practitioners who wanted to kill them all.
Next to her, Eli groaned and rubbed his eyes. “Where are we going?” Sitting up straighter, he peered out the window into the dark of the evening. They were on the back roads to Farren’s home, and there were no street lights here. No other cars. No houses.
“My place,” she said as he turned to her and his eyes widened.
“Fuck. You’re…”
“That’s what happens when I shift back to this form in the middle of town with no clothing on me. Get over it.”
“Get…over it?” He wrestled with the seat belt and after a couple of grunts and muttered curses, pulled off his leather jacket. “Here. Put this on.”
“I’m driving, ya’ arse. I don’t have a problem with bein’ sky clad.”
“Sky clad?”
“Naked. Nude. Without clothin’.” Turning down her driveway, she felt the moment she passed through Diedre’s protective wards. The pendant hanging between her breasts pulsed with power. “We’re goin’ inside, and ye’re goin’ to let me do all the talkin’. Do ya’ understand?”
“No. I don’t understand anything. Least of all what those two on the beach wanted from me. Or what they did to me.” He winced, pressing his fist to his chest. “It still hurts.”
“What does?” Concern wrapped cold fingers around her heart, and she spared him a quick glance as she parked his car around the side of the house.
“Everything. My skin. My hair. Fuck. My teeth.” He hugged himself tightly, and Farren was halfway to the house when she realized he wasn’t behind her.
“Dammit. I don’t have time for this shite.” Stalking back to the car, she yanked open the passenger door and grabbed Eli’s arm to help him to his feet. He wavered for a moment, and Farren steadied him. “Eli, look at me.”
His green eyes struggled to focus. “I don’t know what’s happening.”
“Ya’ almost got yerself killed by two practitioners huntin’ down elementals.”
“I’m not an elemental.”
The eye roll might not have been a good idea given his reaction. “Ya’ are. Earth. Just like Mara said. But yer power’s bound somehow. Ya’ used it on the beach there for a spell, then it disappeared.”
“Disappeared?” His voice broke, and he shook his head. “No. This is…all too much. It isn’t real.”
“I’m a werewolf, Eli. Ya’ saw Mara conjure fire and water from nothin’. Caitlin has air as her power. Is it so hard to believe ya’ can work with the earth?” The front door slammed, and Farren cringed. “We’re out of time. Shut yer mouth and let me deal with Cade and Liam, ya’ hear?”
“Right. Shutting it.”
This time, he followed her, his hand firmly clasped in hers, and though she felt his eyes on her body, she didn’t care. This was her mate, and it didn’t matter that she wanted to rip his head off his body, she’d protect him with her life.
Cade and Liam stood shoulder to shoulder in the doorway, both of them looking like they were barely holding on to their wolves. “You brought him back here?” Cade asked. “Farren, we can’t have him anywhere near Mara.”
“He’s not a danger to her,” she said sharply. “Or to any of us. He needs our help. Now move out of the way.”
“No.” The two men puffed out their chests further and Liam’s wolf flashed in his eyes, gold streaks amid the moss green.
“No? This is my house, in case ya’ forgot. I could kick the lot of ya’ out right now if I wanted.” She shoved at Cade, and the alpha male took a step back. “Two practitioners just attacked him on Doolin Point Beach, and they would have taken him if I hadn’t been there. So he’s stayin’ here, behind Diedre’s wards, until we can figure out when and how his powers were bound. Now, are ya’ goin’ to let me inside my own feckin’ house? I’d like to get dressed, and Eli needs tendin’ to.”
As if to prove her point, Eli toppled against her. Farren wrapped her arm around his waist and pushed through the wall the two males had formed.
“Farren. Shite,” Caitlin said from the stairs. “What happened to him?” The air elemental tried to take Eli’s other arm, but one look from Farren and she backed away. “Oh, my God. Ya’ can’t be serious.”
Farren dragged Eli all the way to the third floor and into her bedroom with Caitlin following, then let him collapse onto the bed. Though she cared little about her nakedness in front of her pack—or even Cade’s pack—she very much was not ready to have her mate see her like this until she knew he felt the same as she did. That he wanted her.
Tugging on a robe, she belted it tightly and sank down onto the mattress. “Will he feel it like I do?” Farren asked.
“Elementals don’t have the immediate connection that our wolves do,” Caitlin said quietly as she shut the door.
