Page 9 of Hidden Nature

“Who the fuck are you?” I demanded.

The sound of whispers and a soft whine made me wish I could crawl through the phone to throttle whoever was making my omega and mate upset.

“Tell me he isn’t one of your mates? This is why people always say shifters are more like their animals with all the growling and power trips,” the male said as he brought the phone closer so I could hear him better.

His words had an accent I couldn’t place, and the way he talked was unusual, far too elegant for the average person.

The man cleared his voice a moment before speaking directly to me, “I am Rathal Zintris, Finley’s elven mate and Guide. I presume you are one of her Alpha Mates that’s claimed her?”

My mind and body froze at his words…elven mate? What the fuck is going on?

I rushed out of my office and barged into Lane’s. Seeing him on the phone, I ran over and snatched the phone out of his hand, ending the call.

“What the hell, Colt?” Lane snapped. “That was an important phone call with a lead that might tell us where Finley is.”

Hitting the speaker button on my phone, I set it down on his desk. “Repeat what you just said.”

“My, how polite you ask,” Rat-Zin-elven-fuck-all drawled. “I hope whoever has joined in on this phone call will be more reasonable to deal with. I’m Rathal Zintris, Light Elf, mate to Finley, as well as the Guide in our Nos. Whom am I speaking with?”

“Did he just say Light Elf?” Lane asked, eyes wide in shock as he looked at me, then back down to the phone. “Wait, are you with Finley right now? Is she okay? Where the hell are you and what the fuck happened?”

Rathal let out a heavy sigh as if he was dealing with a pair of idiots. “I can see you are more reasonable to talk to but still just as demanding, full of that alpha need to control everything.”

“If you told us what we wanted to know, we wouldn’t have to demand it,” I shot back, my wolf feeling the need to establish our dominance over this man.

“Finley is fine. She completed her mission and, in the process, freed me. I was shot, but she saved my life and in doing so, completed our mate bond. So remove any delusions you will be able to get rid of me. We are in Miami, Florida and would appreciate a ride home. Finley shared that there was a plane that could come get us?”

Lane grabbed his phone and shot a text to Zander, who was still at the pack house with the betas working on finding our girl. “Yeah, that won’t be a problem. We’ll be heading that way the moment we can get the plane in the air. Now let us talk to Finley. I need to hear it from her that she is okay and confirm who you are.”

Rathal scoffed. “Elves cannot lie, wolf.”

“How the hell am I supposed to know you’re really an elf when we are talking over the phone?” I challenged. “Also, it’s Colt or alpha to you, not wolf.”

“There will never be a moment in our extremely long lives together that I will ever call you alpha, so Colt will have to do,” Rathal stated. “I will give the phone back to her if you promise not to bully her. Your effect on her even over the phone is overwhelming and we haven’t had the easiest few days.”

As much as I hated to admit it, I knew he was right. Finley needed to be strong while she didn’t have us to watch her back. This douche might be claiming to be all these things, but who knew if it was true—I didn’t know the elf.

“You both still there?” Finley asked, sounding more like herself.

“Yeah, little one, we are here. You okay?” I asked, keeping my voice light even as my wolf and I needed to hear it from her lips.

“I’m fine. We both are,” she added.

Lane leaned forward, elbows on his desk, and he got closer to the phone. “Zander is calling to get the plane ready. Then we will head out there.”

“He needs to do whatever he can to ensure that no one knows it’s his plane that’s coming here. It’s not safe, the Dark Ring is after me, and they have people in the Senate giving them information. I need you to know that it’s dangerous for me to come back to the pack. The job was a setup. They tried to kill me when I completed the job. They planned on me getting caught so they could use me to make more omegas,” Finley said, speaking swiftly.

Even though her voice was calm, I could feel there was a hint of fear mixed in. If there was one thing an omega would hate more than upsetting an alpha, it would be putting the pack in danger.

“Sweetheart, we will deal with whatever comes, but we need to be together for anything to work. I’ll make sure Zander knows about the danger. He’s a rock star. If anyone knows how to get around unnoticed, it will be him,” Lane answered, trying to soothe Finley’s fears. “Do you have someplace safe to be while you wait for us?”

“Yes, I have contacts here in Miami from working with the Organization. I’ll be able to keep a low profile until you get here. I’m using a burner phone. Let me send you the number so you guys can call me when you get here,” she offered.

“Please be safe, little one, we just started our lives together, and I don’t know that I could survive losing you so soon after Cory,” I pleaded, needing her to know how much she really meant to me.

At my words, I heard a sharp intake of breath at Cory’s name. I knew it had been hard on her not being able to save him. It unsettled my wolf and me that she would hesitate to return to the pack, thinking we couldn’t keep her safe. Now it was going to be my mission in life for her never to doubt us again.

“I promise I’m not going anywhere. I’m done running and hiding secrets from you. I thought I owed it to the Senate, the Organization, and myself to finish this job, but as it turns out, the Senate doesn’t deserve my loyalty.” Finley growled, surprising me at her anger about the situation. “Once I’m on the plane out of here, I’ll fill you in on everything, including what happened with Rath.”