Page 28 of Hidden Nature

sixteen

As I silently watched, Finley did whatever it was she was trying to gain with Lane and the power I felt coming off her as she called his wolf out amazed me. I’ve met some strong supers in my day but never one that seemed to wield that much magic. Lane’s wolf didn’t even try to resist her, knowing there was no way he could, so instead, he gave in to the call of his mate. Through my bond with Finley, I could sense there was a change in her bond with Lane, but it was more of an echo when it reached me.

While I wanted nothing more than to support and help my mate with whatever she needed, I was worried about what she might find. My past wasn’t one that I wished on anyone and it left scars on me in ways I wasn’t sure they would ever heal. Would she still want me after she learned my story?

As Lane jogged back into the house for fresh clothes since he shredded the others when he shifted, Finley turned her attention to me. Ignoring Rath’s grumbling, she sat up, turning to face me to where our knees were touching and she rested her hand palm up, asking for mine.

“My heart…” I started, but she just lifted a hand, covering my lips with her fingers.

“No, Elias, you forget, no matter how much you try to hide them, I can still feel your emotions. However this turns out or what happens, nothing will change between us. When I claimed you, it wasn’t a mistake or a rushed decision. Trust me enough to show you how much I value you in so many ways and how I’m falling for you,” she shared, her face showing all the emotions she wasn’t quite ready to say out loud yet.

Nodding, I relaxed, showing her I was willing to follow her lead. She held her hands out to me again, and I took them, giving them a slight squeeze while a smile tugged at my lips. This woman before me was more than I’d ever hoped for in a mate. I wasn’t even sure I was going to have one, feeling as if the fates would use that as my punishment for the wrong I’d done.

Finley’s cobalt gaze watched me a moment before she closed her eyes and seemed to sink deep within herself.

My worries wouldn’t let me be as I glanced over at Rath, who was observing the whole situation with a detached air, trying not to make me feel uncomfortable. I appreciated it, but as I told him before, he felt like pack, part of the family—Finley’s family that I was lucky to be included in. When he caught me watching him, he simply nodded in reassurance and motioned for me to close my eyes. Facing Finley once more, I closed them, trusting in my mate.

It was odd when I felt her reach out to me, flooding me with her magic, enveloping me in her sweet, spicy scent. I welcomed her with open arms when I felt her nudging at my mind, but when she pushed further, instinctively, I threw up walls trying to shut her out. The further she went into my mind, I couldn’t shield her from the memories that lurked just under the surface.

“Elias, you have to let me in for this to work,” Finley whispered, her thumb rubbing on the back of my hand reassuringly. “No matter what you are trying to protect me from, I can handle it. Don’t forget who and what I was before I became an omega. I’ve been and seen death in all its forms, we do what we must to survive, and I will never judge you for it.”

“What you are asking me to do is let you see the worst of me,” I said, my voice raspy with my emotions.

Everyone always assumed I was not a man who could feel emotions, but in order not to beat myself up for what happened in the past, I had to turn off everything. The pain was too great to live with day in and day out, so feeling nothing at all was the better choice.

“How can I help? What can I do to make this easier for you?” Finley pressed, crawling up into my lap and wrapping her arms around my neck. “I know what I’m asking you to do is painful, but the omega part of me is sure that it will help ease your pain and not create more. The moment I laid eyes on you, I could see the pain you hold. Out of all of my mates, you and I are so much alike, burying all our pain and weakness deep within ourselves. Every day you help me to heal and become a better version of myself. Will you let me do the same for you?”

I could answer her with words, though I had never been one to share how I felt the right way. I had always believed actions spoke the truth better than any words could. So I opened myself up to her, allowing all that I’d had locked away for twenty years to come pouring out of me, sweeping us both away into a memory…

“Elias, my boy, come over here and help me with this, will you,” Dad called out for me across the field.

The summer sun was hot as we worked repairing the fences on the property. It might seem odd that werewolves would be cattle ranchers, but the packs in the surrounding area were some of our best customers. Wolves eat a lot, and beef happened to be a favorite, so we were never short of orders.

When I reached him, he was trying to get the post to stand straight in the ground so he could fill it, but it kept falling over.

“What gives, old man? You didn’t dig down deep enough. That’s why you’re having so much trouble.” I sassed, yanking the post out, and grabbed the hand auger.

Dad growled at me, not appreciating my tone or nickname. It was an argument we had almost every other day, but the guy was nearly two hundred years old. He was honorary alpha to our pack, which was made up of my fifteen siblings, their mates, and their offspring. I was the youngest and last of his kids now that Mom was gone.

“Well, if you think you can do better, then I’d like to see you drill through the bedrock with only a hand auger. My body might not be as strong as it once was, but my brain works just fine,” Dad spat.

The way Dad and I showed we cared was to fight—constantly. Hardly a conversation could be had without one of us blowing up at the other. We both had hot tempers. Guess it ran in the family since my siblings were much the same. As I tamped the auger, I could hear the ting of metal on rock and realized Dad was right. There was no way I would be able to do anything more than he had.

“Looks like you are right, old man. Now hold it steady while I shovel the dirt back into it and see if we can get it to do its job,” I muttered, moving out of the way.

Dad grunted as he dropped the post back in and we worked in silence. Once the post was steady, we ran the barbed wire to keep the cows where they were supposed to be.

“They came back this morning looking for you,” I commented, knowing I was poking the wolf with this topic.

With a glare, Dad yanked on the tension winch. “Next time you see them, shoot. Maybe then they’ll get the hint.”

“Why don’t you want to merge with their pack? They are larger with more resources and will be able to offer our family more protection than we currently have. The whole state is in flux with the latest change in alphas,” I pointed out.

Dad was a stubborn old dog who didn’t want to give up his territory even if it was the better option.

“Or would you rather be a slave to the whims of that crazy bastard’s son, Stephen, now that he’d taken over? He wants us to give him meat as our tithe to his pack when we aren’t even a part of it? We own our land outright and have long before they migrated to our area. You allowed them to be so close to us when another alpha would have chased them halfway across the state.”

“Do you understand why I did that?” Dad asked, pausing to hold my gaze, telling me this was a serious question.