With a sigh, Farren carded her fingers through her silvery blond hair. “Paddy’s the exception. Barely. All those damn riddles. I can’t decide if I want to strangle the man or hug him half the time.” With a quick glance back towards the house, she nodded. “Go on up, then. Get some rest. And don’t say a word about—”
“About ya’ tryin’ to send us away? Don’t worry. I won’t.” The door slammed behind him, and Farren winced. If she weren’t careful, she’d soon say something she’d regret. Something she couldn’t take back.
Like how she was a rubbish alpha. How she wished she could just escape. Run away from all of her responsibilities and be...free.
For more than ten years, she’d led her pack with Colin at her side. They’d grown up together. Her and Colin and Liam. Thick as thieves, always getting into trouble. The pressure of being one of the only female alphas in the world hadn’t felt so terrible when she’d been able to lean on the beta wolf.
But Colin was gone now. Tortured, branded, and eventually killed by Fergus, the earth elemental who’d tried to steal Caitlin’s air away at the behest of the Thirteen—a group of the most powerful practitioners in the world.
Every time Farren closed her eyes, she saw his broken body. Heard his final scream as Fergus had brought down a building to get to them.
Her eyes started to burn. Setting down her tea, she slapped her leg hard enough to leave a bruise. The physical pain drew her focus, and she could breathe again.
If she did manage to drive Tierney and Ewan away, would that be a blessing? At least then, she wouldn’t have to look her failure in the eyes every day.
She knew the boy, though. He wouldn’t leave. Neither of them would. They’d just start to resent her and she resented herself enough for all of them.
Footsteps thudded on the stairs. Liam, from the sound. And if Liam were up, Cade would soon follow. Along with their mates.
The small amount of peace Farren had found out here in the mists would have to last her until tomorrow. She might not feel up to leading a pack anymore, but she could at least make breakfast.
* * *
“Get back here!”Farren called as Liam grabbed Caitlin around the waist and threw her over his shoulder. “Ya’ could at least help with the dishes, ya’ arse!”
“Later,” Liam growled as he carried his mate up the stairs.
Shaking her head, Farren took one look at the table filled with empty plates, crumpled napkins, and crumbs leftover from tall stacks of pancakes and at least five kilos of bacon. With Cade, Liam, and Peter here, along with their mates, her grocery bill had doubled.
“We’ll take care of it,” Tierney said as he started piling the dishes in a tower Farren knew was averybad idea. But somehow, the young wolf made it all the way to the sink with ease. He was a miracle, that one. And the only one of the lot she could take credit for.
Ewan had come to her only two years ago. But Tierney...he’d been with her for almost a decade. Ever since his father had turned him out for being “a monster.” His mother had been a wolf, but she’d hidden it from his father for Tierney’s whole life until the boy was fourteen and shifted for the first time.
If it weren’t for Tierney, would she still even be here? In this house? Leading—or pretending to lead—what remained of her pack? Probably not.
The sounds of Liam and Caitlin laughing—and doing other things—carried as Farren climbed the stairs. She had to get away from this disgusting love-fest that had taken over her second floor. With two newly mated couples, someone was getting lucky in her house almost every hour of the day. And it was never her.
Racing to the top floor as quickly as she could, Farren changed into a pair of black leather pants, an emerald green sweater, and her heaviest boots. Running a brush through her silvery locks, she scowled as she caught tangle after tangle.
Her mother would lecture her. She hadn’t been taking care of herself for weeks now.
Not that she was high maintenance. But before this whole mess had started, she’d at least managed the basics. Fifty strokes of the brush every night before bed. A warm bath after each shift to relax her muscles. A decent amount of sleep.
Now, she spent her nights running to escape the stress. Caitlin and Tierney had translated enough of the old practitioner’s book of magic to believe that Mara, whose fire elemental powers were still causing her to lose time, would be whole again once she gave birth. But that wouldn’t happen for another twelve weeks—at least.
Werewolves only carried their young for seven months, and no one knew exactly how long an elemental’s pregnancy would be, but at—give or take—fourteen weeks, Mara already had a significant baby bump and she’d started to feel the pup kick. If they could just get through the next three months, maybe life would return to normal.
Oh, who was she kidding? The Thirteen had put a target on Mara’s back the moment she’d killed her sister and absorbed Katerina’s fire element. If they could get their hands on her, they’d be halfway to their goal of channeling all four elements into a single person to make the fifth element—spirit. And if that happened...not even God herself could save the world from magic.
Farren gave up on her hair and pulled the long strands into a ponytail. It’d be easier to tuck into her motorcycle helmet that way. She needed to feel the road. To feel…free. Hell, if she could shift and run all the way to her office in town, she would. But she didn’t have any spare clothes waiting for her, and working naked wasn’t the best way to attract a legitimate client.
Now to get out of the house without anyone seeing her—or stopping her.
Chapter Two
Eli
Twenty minutes. If he could keep it together for another twenty minutes, he’d be on the ground and this terrible nausea would fade.
