Chapter 29
Josh
Not a centimeter of the hotel room was spared our love-making.
I wouldn’t have even stopped for food if Elijah hadn’t insisted I eat something.
For the first time in my life, I had real hope, not some distant empty dream, but a genuine longing for a future with the man at my side and all the wonderful things it could bring us.
Even children.
Elijah trailed his fingers lightly over my side and hip, pulling me out of my blissed-out bubble of contentment and deeper into his embrace.
I turned into him and burrowed my face in the soft down of his chest and the incredible summery scent that lived there.
I inhaled deeply, letting the smell of sunshine and open forest fill my lungs, then sank into him on the exhale.
“I love you,” I mumbled into his warm skin.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so relaxed.”
“What can I say? Even werewolf stamina has its limits.”
He chuckled like I’d hoped he would and the bond pulsed fiercely in my chest. The sound of Elijah’s laughter was most definitely something worth living for. He wrapped his arms around me and squeezed. I let out a wheeze of strained air, and he laughed again.
All that’s left now is to clear things up with his pack, and we’ll finally be free to enjoy our lives together.
After what I’d endured the last year, finding common ground with the Klamath Pack and their Alpha suddenly seemed like the most doable thing in the world.
I wrapped an arm around Elijah. Anything was possible with him by my side.
Whatever retribution Conrad Mallin demanded, I’d pay it.
Surely the five million acres of land I’d amassed would soften the sentence, and if the pack needed more, then I’d get it.
Whatever it took, as long as it made Elijah happy.
I maneuvered to look into his warm, cognac eyes. “Can we go home now?”
A darkness passed behind his eyes almost too fast to catch, and if it hadn’t been for the sudden anxiety that entered his scent, I might have dismissed it.
“What?”
“It’s just a house, Josh.”
I shook my head. “It’s your house.”
“Rental,” he corrected.
I rolled my eyes and pushed up to a seated position.
“Semantics.” Perhaps now would be a good time to tell him the cottage was actually his and had always been.
The amount of digging through layers of trusts to determine the actual owner might have been daunting for anyone else, but for me, it was regular due diligence on the assigned Pack Liaison.
“I was kind of hoping we could take a bit of a vacation. We’ve certainly earned it.”
I stole a kiss, then slithered out of the bed to get dressed. “And we can, but I want to take care of the situation in Adler Springs first.”
The whisper of sheets betrayed Elijah’s movement. “It’s not like they’re going anywhere.”
A response to my earlier message to Lombardi came through, letting me know that the pocket portal would be ready whenever we were. I slipped on my vest, but didn’t bother with the buttons. “True. Let me at least check in, and then we can spirit ourselves away somewhere.” I chuckled to myself.
“What?”
I glanced back at him to find his pants on, but still undone, and no shirt. My libido attempted to rally, to no avail. Man was an extra treat, and he was all mine. I shook my head as tendrils of slated lust and desire lazily swirled within me. “In a sense, we’re doing everything backward.”
“How so?” He pulled on his shirt and walked over.
“First the bond, then the ‘I love yous’, death, marriage, then a proposal, now we’re speculating what amounts to a honeymoon before we even have a wedding.”
His smile lit up his face as he once again wrapped me in his embrace. “You might have a point there. I’m just not ready to share you with anyone yet.”
I kissed the side of his neck and rubbed his arms. “You win. We can go on vacation.”
The sheer brightness of his smile stole my breath away. “Perfect. I already have some ideas.”
“But…” His face immediately crumpled. “We should actually pack clothes, don’t you think?”
“We’ll order some when we get there.”
“Except I want my clothes,” I countered. When he opened his mouth to protest yet again, that was it. “Is something wrong with the cottage? Is that why you keep putting me off?”
“What? No, of course not.”
I stepped away from him and crossed my arms. “Then what is it? What aren’t you telling me?”
Elijah
I ran my hands through my hair, then pulled it into a low bun as if that had been my intention all along. I didn’t want to lie to him, but I also didn’t want to tell him the truth. He clearly didn’t know just how strained the relationship between myself and Conrad had become.
“I’m waiting.”
“There’s nothing wrong with the cottage. I just don’t see why you have to immediately jump into a difficult situation. Things are… complicated with the pack.”
His face fell and his arms loosened. “Did something happen while I was gone?” Suddenly, his face lit up with realization.
“Seven hells, were you banished? You were, weren’t you?
Of course you wouldn’t want to go back.” He threw his hands up as he paced in place, then whirled back. “How could you not tell me?”
“Josh.”
“This is all my fault.”
“Josh.”
“How could I have missed it?”
I grabbed his arms and forced him to look at me. The concern in his eyes, while touching, tore me apart. “I’m not banished.”
Not yet, at least.
“Okay. Then what is it?”
I hesitated. “I’m not sure what kind of reception we will get.”
His eyes softened. “We will overcome this like we’ve overcome everything else—together.” He stepped back, and his gaze became distant. “Lombardi, we’re ready.”
I was too shocked at his profound statement of hope that I didn’t realize the relevance of the statement until it was too late.
A line of fuzzy orange ripped open in the middle of the room with a burn of ozone.
Before I could protest, Josh grabbed my hand and hauled us both through the narrow opening.
My next step brought me face to face with the vibrant blue of the cottage’s front door.
Shit.
I stumbled after Josh into the house and found him staring at the wall of pictures with open wonder. For a moment, my anxiety lifted.
He glanced back at me as I emerged from the hallway. “When did you take these?”
I stepped up beside him. “While you weren’t paying attention, obviously.”
He smacked me on the arm, then immediately leaned into me. “I love it.”
I pressed my lips to the side of his head as I pulled him in close. “I’m glad because—”
A sharp wail split the air, and we both clamped our hands over our ears. Josh’s lips moved, but I couldn’t make anything out over the horrid screech. As abruptly as it started, the sound ceased.
“What the hell was that?”
“I told Atlas to set a perimeter. Someone must have tripped it.”
I rubbed my ears, which were still ringing. “Paparazzi already?”
“I knew I should have had Lombardi have the portal open inside, but I didn’t want to risk damaging the house.” He opened his mouth, no doubt to give the Atlas system a fresh set of instructions, when Eric barreled into the room.
His frantic gaze ping-ponged between us. “Fuck, it’s true. You need to get out of here. Now!”
“What are you talking about? We just got here.” Josh glanced from Eric to me.
“They’ve been watching the house. They’re coming.”
Josh’s face clouded in confusion as all of my worst fears solidified. “Who’s coming?”
“Conrad and his loyalists.” Eric shifted his increasingly panicked gaze from Josh to me. “You didn’t tell him?!”
“Didn’t tell me what?”
“Full moon at midnight, Elijah. We don’t have time for this. I thought you weren’t going to bring him back.”
“What?” The hurt on Josh’s face stabbed at my heart.
“It’s not like that, moonbeam. You have to understand…”
Eric glanced back towards the front of the house. “Out of time. They’re here.”
Panic tightened my chest. “Josh, look at me. Whatever you do, you can’t let anyone know about our connection. Don’t say or do anything. Don’t make eye contact with anyone if you can avoid it and don’t even think in passing about needing help. I’m going to figure this out.”
“Coming!” Eric’s cry rang like a final bell through the house.
“I don’t understand. What are you talking about? Why can’t I say anything?” Josh asked, his confusion compounding.
“I need you to trust me. He’ll kill you if he finds out what you are.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You’re an Alpha, Josh.”
His eyes widened with shock just as Eric grunted from the hallway as if someone had run into him. “What?!” Josh shouted.
Before I could answer, a flood of packmates poured into the house.
Three of them seized Josh while another handful stood between us to make sure I couldn’t interfere.
Eric was nowhere to be seen, and all I could do was pray that whatever he’d done to buy us a precious few seconds hadn’t gotten him killed.
The simple fact that no one had laid a hand on me yet was the only comfort I had.
“Everything is going to be okay, moonbeam. I’ll figure this out,” I repeated. Josh looked at me askance from where he was being roughly restrained, but didn’t say a word.
“Just like your father,” Conrad said as he stepped into my house.
It took every ounce of willpower I had not to growl at him.
The Alpha’s gaze swung derisively around my sanctuary until it landed on the wall of photos. “As I suspected. You can answer for your crimes after this one answers for his.” Conrad’s gaze came back to me with a finality that left a stone in the pit of my stomach.
“Conrad—”
His face exploded with rage, and all the weres in the room twitched as the wave of hostility rolled over them.
“Alpha,” I quickly corrected, though it was far too late for amends, “he’s atoned for his crimes. He saved the pack. Josh—”
“Your pleas of defense can be heard tomorrow. The pack has been called to bear witness. Actions have consequences, Elijah, and it’s time you faced yours.” With that, he turned and left the way he’d come, his cohorts following and dragging an eerily calm Josh with them.
The door slammed shut, and Eric shuffled out of the hallway, clutching his side. “That could have gone better.”
I fell to my knees and buried my face in my hands. “What have I done?” Eric placed a comforting hand on my shoulder and squeezed. “He’s going to kill him.”
“You could always stop him.”
I looked up at Eric, just as terrified of what he was suggesting as I was of what would happen to Josh the next day.