“She had a mate, before. Years ago. Died.”
“I didn’t know that. But it has nothing to do with you and now. Don’t hold it against her.”
He growled. That wasn’t what he’d meant. Fuck, this was getting ridiculous. “I need to…call her, find her. Something.”
“I’m surprised she hasn’t tried to callyou.”
His brain clearly wasn’t working, because now that Zach mentioned it, he was surprised as well. He reached for his phone, but his pocket was empty. Cupping his hands to the car window, he spotted the damn thing in the cup holder, where he’d put it on their drive into town. He growled.
“Easy now,” Zach said, laughter in his voice that Adam chose to ignore, since he heard the sound of the locks releasing. He opened the door and lunged for the phone, both worried and relieved to see that he had two missed calls. He tapped on the screen and the phone started ringing.
“Adam! Are you okay?”
He growled. “You?”
“Uh. Yeah. I’m fine. Sort of. I, um, didn’t expect that.”
He could feel…something, tugging at him. An almost physical link to her that wanted to connect. He tried to rein it in, wasn’t at all sure what he was doing. That didn’t even account for the itchy heat that was filling him up, the need to move, to be with her, to jump in a lake,something. Fuck.
“Adam?”
“You don’t sound okay,” he said through clenched teeth.
“Because I’m worried about you. And it’s uncomfortable, not being with you. I don’t know if it’s easier foryou, or worse. I’m sorry. I wish I was there.”
“I need to go run,” he bit out, working to not crush the phone in his hand. Talking to her wasn’t helping when he could hear the fear and frustration in her voice. For the first time since recovering from the poison, he felt as if his control was not completely his. Barely his at all. He fought the fear with logic, but only half won. “I’ll call you later.”
A pulse of sadness reached him, not through the phone, but it quickly disappeared.
“You should go to her,” Zach urged.
Adam clenched his fist. “Won’t that make it harder to resist?”
The other man blinked at him. “Well, yeah, I guess if you’re not planning on mating with her, itwouldbe harder to resist in person.”
“Then I need to decide, before I go to her.”
“Yeah, Adam,” he said softly. “You need to decide first.”
“I can make my way back to the house,” he said, stepping away from the alpha. He turned and walked into the woods.
Myra and Cindy had been warmly welcomed in Elk Creek. There had been a lovely dinner when they arrived, most of the pack gathering for the ceremony. As was tradition, once the transfer was made, Marco would go for a run with his wolves. He had said some words to his pack, then turned to her. She met his eyes, nodded and held out her right hand. He took it, and she brought him in close, putting her left hand on his shoulder. He did the same, closing their little formation. Gaze still fastened to his, she focused on that little spark of magic, that connection to the alpha wolves across the country, offered it to him. His eyes widened as he felt and accepted the bond. She clearly felt his awe, respect and gratitude for the honor he was receiving, and she had to blink back a tear.
Embracing him fully, she whispered, “You’ve got this,” in his ear and stepped back.
And nearly staggered. Her ears went fuzzy and she was only barely conscious of the wolves howling together, singing out their joy in the moment. She could only feel the terrifying wash of need, the hunger, both emotional and sexual, for her mate.
With the next beat of her heart, she shut it down, hard. She saw Cindy swing around to look at her. Fighting to keep her connections closed off, she waved Marco and his pack off. He gave her a look of concern, knowing she’d meant to run with them.
“I’m sorry, I need to handle something. We’ll be all right. Please, be with your pack.”
He gave a small bow, then turned to head into the forest. Cindy grabbed her hand and pulled her into the house.
“Oh shit, what am I going to do? What have I done?”
“I don’t know, what have you done?”
“He’s going to be furious! I can’t believe this is happening.”
