He fingered the wedding ring hanging from a chain around his neck. Around the full moon, he always took it off and secured it on the chain. Otherwise, it would fall off when he shifted. Now, it felt wrong not to be wearing it. But he had to be ready for anything. For the Thirteen to attack them. Even here. Hell, Ewan could turn on everyone in a heartbeat. Or…lack of one.
Digging out a pair of socks, Cade froze. Whoever had packed had grabbed Mara’s journal. She’d started writing in the little, leather-bound book after they’d found out about the baby, but she’d never let Cade read any of it.
Cade opened the journal and flipped to the last page.
I don’t know what to call you. Peanut? Nugget? Little bean? I hope you read this some day, so I don’t want to tell you what names we’ve picked out for you. Because what if we change our minds once we meet you?
I feel you kick and I love you so much already. But I’m scared. Aunt Caitlin thinks once you’re born, everything will be okay. But I’m not so sure. What if the fire making me sick hurts you too? I have this terrible feeling something bad is going to happen and I won’t be able to stop it.
I'm supposed to protect you. But most of the time I can't even protect myself and I'd never forgive myself if something happened to you.
When I close my eyes, I imagine what you’ll be like when you’re born. Will your eyes be like mine? Or like your daddy’s? Will you have his smile? His strength?
I laugh thinking about your fiery curls when you burn a hole in the carpet the first time I make you clean your room, and I can’t even begin to tell you how proud I’ll be of you the first time you shift.
The world we’re bringing you into is so complicated, and there's nothing I wouldn't give to shield you from it. At least for a little while. I hope all my fears turn out to be silly. But if they aren’t, know that your daddy and I love you.
Cade slammed the book shut, tears burning his eyes. He had to get his mate back. Had to make sure she and their pup were safe. If he failed, he wasn’t sure he could go on.
Taking the stairs two at a time, he ran right into Sameen and Peter on his way to a large rec room Caitlin, Eli, and Tierney had appropriated for their work on Diedre’s book. Peter’s poor mate yelped and started to go down, her socks slipping on the polished tile floors, and Cade instinctively grabbed her around the waist.
The second his hand touched her side, she cried out, and an intense burst of heat flared under his palm.
“Cade...please. Hear me. I’m alive. You have to find me.”
“Mara,” Cade growled just as Peter got in his face.
“Let. Go. Of. Her,” the younger wolf snapped, and if Cade hadn’t been so completely focused on his mate’s voice in his head, he probably would have punched Peter for daring to speak to him that way.
Instead, he kept one hand pressed to her side and shifted the other under her elbow. “No,” he said sharply. “She’s connecting me to Mara. Somehow.”
“What?” Peter froze, his gaze locked on Sameen’s. “Can you do that?”
“I...I don’t know.” Her voice trembled, and the fear written all over her face? Cade couldn’t keep hold of her for long.
“Give me just a few seconds. Please.” He closed his eyes and focused on the intense love he and Mara shared, how desperate he was to find her, and his promise to never stop looking for her. It was all he had. All he could think to tell her, but maybe it would be enough.
As quickly as it had flared up, the connection, the magic flowing from Sameen into him, faded away, and Cade stepped back, holding his hands up in case Peter decided to be an ass.
Who was he kidding? Peter was always an ass.
But the other wolf didn’t attack, didn’t even spare Cade a second look. He just gathered Sameen in his arms and smoothed a hand over her hair. “Are you all right?”
“I think so. I’ve never felt the mark do...that.”
At her words, Cade understood. “That was the Thirteen’s brand? Where I touched you?”
She nodded and pulled up her t-shirt. The burned skin glowed, the light pulsing once before dying out, and Cade looked to Peter, then Sameen. “Can I try again? Only if you agree.”
Caitlin came up behind the not-yet-mated pair. “What’s goin’ on?”
“My mark...it let Cade feel Mara,” Sameen whispered, then squinted up at the alpha wolf. “It hurt. But go ahead.”
A growl rumbled in Peter’s chest, and Sameen leaned back against him while Cade touched her side as gently as he could. Nothing. No spark. No warmth beyond that of her skin, and no sign of his mate.
“I’m sorry,” she said as Cade dropped his hand. “I wish—”
“Don’t.” Fuck. He’d been a terrible alpha ever since she’d been taken. “You don’t apologize. If anything, I need to ask you to forgive me. I should never have touched you for a second longer than it took to stop you from falling. Peter’s claimed you, and even if he hadn’t, no other male in the world gets to put his hands on you unless you agree to it.”
