30. Chapter Thirty
~Felix~
You should have told her, Kai grumbled in my head as we looked around the wooded spot on the other side of the portal. It bore several similarities to Evalina’s home, with its pink sky and spongy grass, but the vegetation had changed and it smelled different too. I had a strong feeling we were no longer in her kingdom.
I gave her as many clues as I could , I pointed out while Kai sniffed the air and Evalina walked to a nearby tree, examining its leaves carefully. I really thought she’d figure it out. I wanted to tell her, to see her eyes light up with understanding, but I still thought it would be better if she came to the conclusion on her own. The possibility of rejection when she didn’t fully understand what the bond meant loomed heavy over me.
Kai had his own theory about why she hadn’t picked up on my hints. She’s too modest. It won’t occur to her that she’s special unless we tell her so.
I hated that he might have a point. She did seem to view herself as completely ordinary, even though to me she was anything but.
And now she thinks there’s some other woman! Kai added with a growl of frustration. How are you going to win her over when she thinks you’re a cheating bastard?
Alright, I hear you. I’ll figure something out, I promise. For now, let’s focus on finding what we need and getting home safely.
Vaughan would probably kill me for going through the portal with no backup, but my eagerness for answers won out over my worries about disobeying my Alpha. I needed to know how far away we were from Tarron and any potential threat to Evalina’s safety. If we could gather that information with a quick look around, it didn’t make sense to put it off. Better to know what we were dealing with and go from there.
Since I couldn’t speak to Evalina while in my wolf form, I had to wait for her to voice her thoughts out loud, which she did after a couple of minutes of exploring the trees and plants around us. “This definitely isn’t Etta but it’s not too far away. Traders at our markets sell some of these fruits and flowers but I don’t know the name of the territory we’re in or what their relationship is with the royal family in Etta. Maybe if we can get a glimpse of a nearby town or building, it will tell us more.”
Kai growled deep in his throat, issuing a warning that I agreed with. We didn’t want to push our luck by straying too far from the portal. If we needed to, I wanted to be able to get back to Crimsontooth land immediately, where help would only be a mind-link away.
The growl didn’t intimidate her like it should have. Instead, she shook her head at me almost affectionately. “I promise we won’t go far and we’ll be careful.”
That didn’t make me feel any better. Every step away from the portal felt like a gamble. If something went wrong or someone followed us back, I’d have to answer to Vaughan, and to myself.
Kai’s second growl came out louder, loud enough that the ground around us seemed to vibrate. That definitely didn’t happen in our own world.
Neither did what happened next.
Out of nowhere, a man appeared. One second, the space was clear, and the next, he stood there, pointed ears poking through long, dark hair that shimmered in the pink daylight. Pale fingers flexed at his sides as he studied us with quiet curiosity.
Evalina yelped in surprise as Kai immediately stepped in front of her. We were only a dozen or so yards from the portal, but the man stood between us and the glowing space that led to home and safety.
Much taller than Evalina, and possibly even taller than me, the man had to be an elf rather than a fairy. Normally, I would have found that pretty cool, since I’d never met an elf before, but at that particular moment, every nerve in my body stood on edge, waiting to see what he would do next.
“Good day. I don’t believe I’ve seen you around here before.”
With impeccable manners, he bowed to Evalina before stepping forward, his hand outstretched as if to shake hers. His delicate fingers were so pale, they almost looked translucent, especially with the white clothing he wore.
Kai snapped his jaws when the elf got close, and the stranger immediately stepped back, his eyes widening in alarm.
“My, that’s an interesting… beast… you have there.”
“My pet wolf,” Evalina blurted out, speaking louder than she normally did out of nervousness. “He’s not fond of strangers, please forgive him. He’s harmless.”
I’ll show him ‘harmless’ if he tries to touch her again, Kai growled.
“I appear to have gotten a bit lost,” she continued, sounding more natural the more she settled into the conversation. “Could you tell me where we are?”
“Where do you come from?” the man asked in reply, not answering her question.
Lie , I begged her in my head, but not hearing me, she told the truth.
“Etta.”
The man let out a low whistle. “That’s a long way for a young fairy to travel, all on her own.”
Her hand reached down to stroke Kai’s head. “I’m not on my own, as you can see, and I simply lost track of my path. Please, sir, could you tell me what land this is?”
That time, he answered her, but the answer didn’t make me feel much better. “You’re in Exteria. Normally, the dark canyon between us and the fairylands keeps people from ‘losing track’ and accidentally wandering in. Are you sure you didn’t arrive another way?”
His glance over his shoulder at the portal made it clear that he knew for certain how we really got there. Lying about it wouldn’t do us much good.
Evalina reached the same conclusion without me intervening. “My path may have involved some travelling through the terrestrial realm.” Though I kept my eyes on the elf, I could picture Evalina’s sheepish shrug as if she also stood in front of me. “Do you ever visit there yourself?”
His nose wrinkled as if he found the idea distasteful. “No, there’s no reason for us to. The terrestrial world is of no interest to elves.”
That was excellent news. First, it seemed the elves had no intention of using the portal, making its existence on our land moot, and second, even if Tarron figured out which portal would lead to Evalina and wanted to use it, he would have to cross a ‘dark canyon’ and enter the elves’ territory first. It sounded like an awful lot of work.
The man remained polite but his tone grew firmer when he spoke again. “You should return to your ‘path’ now, little fairy, and be careful of crossing any other portals you may see. Not all kingdoms are so tolerant of strangers in their lands.”
“I understand,” she assured him. “Thank you for your hospitality, and good day, sir.”
We both took a few steps towards the portal, me staying between the two of them, just in case, before the man spoke again.
“It’s strange, I’ve never seen a tie of such strength between a fae and an animal. I’m guessing that your pet is more than he seems?”
“Tie?” Evalina repeated, obviously not sure what he meant.
“A link,” he expanded. “A binding. I’ve seen it on rare occasions between fae, but never with another species.”
My heart sped up within my wolf chest as I realized what he must be talking about: our mate bond. Could he actually see it? Did elves have that power?
Evalina’s feet stopped moving entirely and I felt the stiffening of her body next to me. Already, my senses had become completely tuned in to her; how much stronger could it get once we accepted the bond?
“You can see something between us?” she clarified. “Something elemental?”
Elemental. That was a good word to describe it, actually. It went down to the deepest, most basic level.
“It’s impossible to miss,” the man replied. “I only hope for your sake that he’s better looking in his humanoid form than he is as an animal.”
Kai let out another deep growl that made the ground around us vibrate again, but the man only laughed. Her feet unstuck, Evalina strode the remaining few steps towards the portal while I hurried after her, suddenly a step behind.
We burst back onto the Crimsontooth territory where everything looked the same as when we left, but in truth, everything had shifted. I knew it before she opened her mouth, and her first words only confirmed it.
“ I am your mate? Are you serious?”