Curling her fingers around the pub’s door handle, she froze at the familiar sound of spoons. Paddy sat on a bench at the end of the block, staring off into the distance.
“Twice in the same week, old man? To what do I owe the honor?” Dropping down next to him, she waited for him to answer, but he just kept rapping those blasted spoons against his thigh. “Paddy? Are ya’ all right?”
Nothing. Not even a nod. Despite how often Paddy frustrated her with his riddles and half-truths, she cared about him. More than she wanted to admit.
“Ye’re scarin’ me.” Farren covered his hand with hers. “Shite. Ye’re ice cold. Come with me. We’re goin’ to get some of the Irish into ya’.”
He wouldn’t budge when she tried to help him up, but at least turned his head in her direction. White mist swirled in his eyes, obscuring the pale blue-gray of his irises. Wrinkled lips moved silently, and Farren jammed her hands on her hips, her wolf asserting control. She felt the beast flash in her eyes, and the world around her sharpened.
The wolf could see and hear things her human form would never sense. Paddy wasn’t completely silent. The faintest of whispers reached her ears.
“A boy. The promise of more. A choice was made. Regrets won’t save ya’. Only trust.”
“Who made the choice?” He had to be talking about Eli. What other boy was there? Paddy’d always had a knack for knowing what Farren needed, even if she couldn’t understand him until it was too late. He’d always warned her. Always looked out for her in his own way.
“He’s the center. The path. The light in darkness.”
“Eli?”
Paddy blinked, his eyes returning to their normal color, and spots of pink rose on his cheeks. He grabbed Farren’s hand, his fingers no longer frigid but almost hot. “Eliziam. Ya’ risk everythin’ by pushing him away, Farren.”
Shock stole her words. “Did ya’ just give me a straight answer?”
“Old Paddy fights. Every minute. Rarely wins. This time...he won. Go home, she-wolf. Now.”
With a heavy sigh, the ancient man went back to playing his spoons.“What was hidden will be revealed. What was never meant to exist will be the salvation of all.”His back went rigid and he uttered one final word. “Run.”
Chapter Fifteen
Farren
She burst through the front door, unsure what the hell to say to her mate, and praying to all that was holy he hadn’t done something stupid like make up his mind he didn’t want her.
When she came face to face with him just outside her study, he looked different. Older maybe? Definitely knackered, lines of stress tight around his eyes.
“Farren.” Her name came out almost as a growl, and her wolf answered with a similar sound, low in her throat.
“Ye’re still here, at least.” Why had she said that?
Just tell him ya’ want him and get it over with.
But she couldn’t find the words. Every time she tried, and she’d tested a dozen variations on the ride home, she thought about her pack. About how she’d failed them. Lost them. And how she’d fail Eli too one day. Wouldn’t it be better to let him go? To send him back to his life and forget about him?
Who was she kidding? She’d never be able to forget him. Not if she sent him away. Not if he rejected her. The animal inside her had already claimed him.
“You were clear I wasn’t to leave.”
Caitlin quietly shut the door behind Eli, giving the two of them privacy in the hall.
“Didn’t expect ya’ to listen.”
There with the attitude again. Why couldn’t she control it? Farren took a step closer, and Eli’s scent stirred something warm inside her. Emotions she didn’t want to feel.
“Afraid you’re stuck with me.” He held up his hand, and her heart leapt into her throat. Was he accepting the mating? She couldn’t look away from his eyes until he continued. “For now.”
All that hope and something she thought might be joy—it had been so long since she’d experienced that particular emotion—died with those two words, and she focused on his palm. Dark lines curved across his bronzed skin, and she frowned.
“What in the feckin’ hell is that?” Grabbing his hand, she felt their bond grow, and it made her ache inside. But this—was it a tattoo?—was more important. This was shocking, and unless Ewan or Tierney had taken up a new craft in the roughly eight hours she’d been gone,andordered all the equipment, ink, needles...this could only have been done by magic.
