She nodded, and dammit if he couldn’t feel her uncertainty. Had the bond already started? The full moon had just passed when he’d met her. This shouldn’t be possible. The kiss had left him aching, and he had to sit carefully so Liam wouldn’t notice and give him hell for it.
“This is Sameen,” he began. “In case anyone doesn’t know, she’s my mate—if she chooses me someday—and that should mean she’s family.” Peter met everyone’s gazes, in turn, and no one made a move in protest.
At his side, Sameen leaned closer. “What’s happening?”
Liam stood, Farren following suit almost immediately. “If our packs haven’t learned how to treat a mate we don’t know shite about by now,” the beta wolf said, “we don’t deserve to survive whatever’s comin’ for us. Not goin’ to lie, Peter. Ya’ shocked the piss out of us this mornin’. And there isn’t one of us here who wouldn’t be more comfortable if she wasn’t wearing that feckin’ brand on her skin. But if ya’ say she’s yers, then she’s yers—even if she doesn’t choose to mate with ya’. Any objections?”
Silence filled the space, broken only by the crackling fire in the hearth.
“Good,” Farren said and sank back down next to Eli. “Because Mara’s been gone for more than forty-eight hours and there’s a damn good chance Sameen’s the key to findin’ her. Can we get to learnin’ what she knows?”
Sameen tightened her grip on Peter’s hand, and he could feel her fear like it was his own.
“Not yet.” Peter met Farren’s glare. “She can’t see any of you.” He went around the room, giving his mate names, whether each person was a werewolf or elemental—or in the case of Eli, some elemental/practitioner hybrid—and what pack they belonged to. “Cade’s still in the basement with Livie. She handles security for our pack, and she showed up a few hours ago. We have one more with us, though this isn’t his fight. Regulus owns this property. He’s a vampire, and he owes me—several of us now—a life debt.”
Regulus bowed his head, and at Sameen’s confused expression, cleared his throat. “Were you born sightless or is this the result of an injury?”
Twisting her fingers in her lap, Sameen kept her gaze lowered as she answered softly. “The Thirteen would trap me in my own body. They had no use for me unless they’d captured a new elemental. When you can’t blink for months or years at a time…I guess this is what happens. Peter gave me some ointment earlier, and I can see light and shadow. Some very muted colors.”
“An injury then. May I approach?” Regulus looked to Peter, as if asking his permission as well.
When they’d both nodded, Regulus bent down to stare into Sameen’s eyes. “I am going to touch your cheek now, your lower eyelid. Be prepared. My hands are always cold.”
From the way she flinched, his hands were likely a hell of a lot more than cold.
“After more than three centuries on this earth, I have learned many things,” the vampire said. “Including the types of injuries that can be healed with a few drops of my blood.”
Sameen jerked back, turning to Peter and practically launching herself against him.
“He won’t turn you, Sameen.” Eli’s deep voice held understanding. “When we first met him—shite, the day before yesterday—I’d just cocked up a casting so badly, I destroyed part of Farren’s house.” He stared down at the floor and shook his head. “And the chaos led to the Thirteen taking Mara without any of us knowing.”
“That wasn’t yer fault,” Farren said softly.
Eli pressed a kiss to her cheek. “It was. But that’s not the point. Regulus offered me some of his blood to strengthen me so I could try again. It worked. There was a very brief moment of pain, and then everything was just…more.”
Sameen blew out a slow breath and angled her head in the vampire’s direction. “You think...I could see again?”
“Likely not as you did before. The scarring on your corneas is old and deep. But I do believe I can provide some improvement.”
Peter was desperate to be able to look into Sameen’s eyes, to see how they changed with her emotions, and to know that she could see the truth in his gaze. That he was falling in love with her after only a day. But there was a small part of him deep inside cowering with fear. What if she saw him as he truly was, scarred and broken, and rejected him?
Get over yourself, asshole. If she can see again, even a little, nothing else matters.
“Peter?” Sameen squeezed his hand. “You trust him?”
“With my life,” he answered.
She nodded, though her chest stuttered with her next breath. “Okay.”
* * *
Sameen
Her heart pounded out of control as the dark, shadowy figure knelt in front of her. “A few drops will suffice. You may wish for something to drink afterward to dispel the taste.”
“I’ll make tea,” Caitlin said, and her quick footsteps faded off to Sameen’s left.
“We might need somethin’ a wee bit stronger.” This, from Liam, and he followed his mate.
