Yep, that was exactly the reaction Elise expected to hear.
"Why do you hate the wolves so much?" Elise asked, more tired than angry at this point. "I mean, I get it, they're assholes,but why are we trying to fight some ancient war that has nothing to do with us? Why are we giving in to the stupid ass prejudice that none of us has anything to do with?"
Delainey rolled her eyes. "Oh, it's all big talk now that you want werewolf dick. What? Did you get to feel his knot? Did you find that all hot and sexy? He's a fucking animal."
"He's a man, and what the hell are you talking about?" Her job at the wildlife sanctuary told her enough about veterinary medicine to know what a "knot" was, but she'd had enough sex with Nico to figure out werewolves were allmanwhen they were in bed. "You're the one being gross now."
She felt something like static electricity in the air and realized Delainey was summoning her magic. Elise summoned her own and put up a defensive wall of power in front of her to stop anything that Delainey might do to force her back to the house.
"Listen, you had a moment of temporary insanity." Delainey's tone shifted to something softer, trying to cajole Elise into agreement. "We've all been a little insane before. Maybe we've kissed a vampire. It doesn't have to be a big thing. You don't have to change your whole identity for it. Just come home."
"You kissed a vampire?" Elise blinked in surprise. She definitely didn't know that about her coven sister.
"It doesn't matter," said Delainey, waving a dismissive hand. "I'm just saying we can drop this whole thing. We can forget it ever happened. I won't even hold it against you that you let him out of the basement. Maybe you were right to do that. Just come home."
"He's my boyfriend." Elise lifted her chin and met Delainey's gaze head on. "And I'm not coming home until you guys can be cool with that. Do you think youcanbe cool with it?"
Delainey was aghast, and she let out a choking sound. All of her friendly cajoling tone completely disappeared. "I don't evenknow who you are anymore." She got in the car and pulled away before Elise could try and explain.
Elise was slow on her walk back up to the hotel room and let herself back in. The whole conversation had taken less than ten minutes. Nico was right there when she opened the door. She collapsed into his arms and held on tight as the tears came.
He ran his hand up and down her back, giving her the only comfort he could in that moment.
Elise just wanted to disappear. If she could give up her powers and stop being a witch and just be a regular woman who got to care for the man holding her with nobody making a big deal about it, she would have taken that deal in a second. But that wasn't how the world worked. There were no demons to make deals with. This was the life they had to live.
She managed to calm herself down. Nico kissed her on the forehead.
"I'm going to go wash my face," she said, pulling away and heading toward the bathroom. She hoped she didn't look like a total mess. She stayed in the bathroom for a little bit longer than she should have. While she was wiping off her face, the phone rang.
By the time she was done, Nico had set the receiver down on the hotel phone. He looked right at her.
"Cole will talk to us. Javi's going to be here in ten minutes."
Chapter
Thirty-One
The car rideto the pack house was pretty much silent. Even though she barely knew him, Elise was pretty sure it was out of character for Javi, considering what she had experienced in her short stay at the pack house and their discussion earlier that day.
The drive also seemed shorter than it had, compared to the night when Nico had kidnapped her or the day when he had driven her to freedom. But that might have just had to do with the fact that they were on the far edge of the city and much closer to pack territory.
Javi pulled his car into the garage. Elise wondered if there would be a day when she would be allowed to enter through the front door. They walked down the back hallway and ended up in a meeting room where Cole was sitting alone at the head of the table.
He looked good. Healthy. Alpha-like, probably. Elise was glad to see that. She hoped all her work hadn't been for nothing. And she really hoped the alpha had a sense of gratitude when people saved his life. Otherwise, she had just surrendered herself to a potential enemy. And she was in more danger than she had been even when Nico had first kidnapped her.
Javi closed the door behind them, leaving her and Nico alone with Cole.
"Please take a seat," Cole told her, and her alone.
She sat and Nico stood. Elise rolled her chair right in front of Nico as if she could protect him from anything Cole might throw at him. She didn't want to face down an angry werewolf, but right now she had no other choice.
Nico put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed it once, as if to say that everything would be fine. She wasn't sure she believed that, but what was she going to do?
"You're very protective of him," Cole observed.
"I am," she agreed.
This felt like a standoff with words instead of guns, and she had to win. Or it possibly felt like the most high-intensity job interview she'd ever been through. She didn't want a job with the pack, but she did need this man's approval or something close to it.
