“You couldn’t tell me?”
The hurt in her voice was a shot to the chest. “I couldn’t put you in the position of having to report me to Marciana.”
She rocked back on her heels. “You thought I would report you? After everything we’ve been through?”
Shit, I was just making it worse on worse on worse.
“I thought you had always been an honorable partner who puts duty first, as it should be. And I don’t expect you to keep my secrets.”
“I would’ve.” She looked away, staring out the window, as if she wished she could run away. When she looked back, her expression was unreadable. “Congratulations.”
She walked to her bedroom and shut the door.
I dropped into the chair next to the one my sword occupied and dropped my head into my hands. This was one big, ugly mess. And I knew what I had to do to make it right.
After a deep breath, I grabbed my standard-issue cell off the charger and pressed the first preset button.
It only rang once before the head priestess picked up.
“Marciana. What do you need, Maiden?”
Just “maiden.” To the enclave, I was a cog in a machine, one piece that helped the whole function smoothly. If I was calling her, she knew I was on a mission and nothing else mattered.
“Maiden?” The sharp snap told me she was concerned I was injured, which got my mouth moving.
“It’s Elodie, head priestess. I’m sorry to disturb you.”
“Elodie, good. Is everything well with your charges?”
Guilt swamped me. I hadn’t even checked in with Olivia this morning. Galyna had been out and about, so she’d probably handled it, but that was my job. And I was already making a mess of it.
“I believe so, priestess. That’s not why I’m calling.”
There was a heavy pause, and I could almost feel her censure over the distance at my inability to answer her question. “Go ahead, then.”
“I have… There’s a man…” I shook my head, struggling to get the words out. “My wolf has claimed a male. Of the Hungarian pack.”
“I see.” Her tone changed, tightening near imperceptibly, as if she wore a grimace, perhaps?
“I need to know what to do. I don’t know what to do.” I hated how desperate I sounded, but I was. I wanted her to fix it for me, as she had when I was a new maiden, fumbling through the forms and barely strong enough to hold my heavy sword correctly.
A touch here, a correction there, and everything was back on track.
“That depends. Do you have mate marks?”
“No, no marks.” My fingertips dug into the arm of the chair.
“That’s good. Why do you say your wolf has claimed him, then?” I could hear footsteps as she paced in her office.
“She told me.”
A disgruntled noise in her throat. She didn’t like that. “Nothing else? No scent, no bite, no… physical connection?”
The current head priestess didn’t care if the maidens had sex, unlike in the early days, when themaidenpart of the enclave was brutally enforced. But she preferred to look the other way about our sex lives rather than get the gory details. If it didn’t interfere with our training or our missions, it flew under the radar.
“His scent is alluring.” Even saying the words brought it to mind, smoky and warm and sweet, like a roasted marshmallow over a crackling fire. He smelled like fall and cuddling under a plaid blanket. Goddess, I wanted to track him down just to steal one more hit of that scent.
“You have options, then, if that’s as far as it’s progressed.”
