26. Finley #2
He sighed and the others just grinned at our interaction as we headed over to the café.
I took a seat at one of the outside tables knowing Mason would order one of everything off the menu for me to eat or share with the others.
Rath, Elias, and Colt stayed with me as the other three went to manage the meal they were about to bring back.
I placed the canvas bag on the table but didn’t open it right away.
Instead, I took stock of what was happening around me, feeling like I was being watched.
It was possible Margaret could have sent another person to make sure things went according to plan, but something in my gut told me that wasn’t right.
Part of me felt like this happened too fast. How had she gotten the leaders on board with this?
Or had she gone behind their back to do it?
“What’s wrong, nin mel? I can feel your anxiety rising. Did something go wrong at the exchange?” Rath asked, leaning in the brush hair out of my face and tucking it behind my ear.
I leaned into his touch as I opened up my mental communication with all the others. “I think we are being watched.”
“Any clue who you think it might be?” Elias asked.
With a slight shake of my head, I shifted closer to Colt and placed my hand on his.
“This isn’t how I wanted to do this, but I need you to be able to hear the rest of us.
Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and trust me when you feel the pressure of my magic.
I’m sorry I don’t have the time to explain all the details right now, but I’m going to pull you into my elven bond. ”
Colt searched my face for a moment, then did as I requested, letting his shoulder relax as he let a deep breath out.
Feeling much more confident in this process, I let my magic travel from me into Colt until I found his wolf, who let out a yip of surprise.
Colt flinched but didn’t resist me as I soothed his wolf, running a hand over his head and scratching behind his ears.
“It’s alright,” I murmured. “We might be in some danger and I need your help to make sure that we keep each other safe. Can you come with me?”
He growled, looking around for the danger, but when he couldn’t see or hear anything, he sneezed, shaking his head in frustration before butting against my hip. When I didn’t move right away, he did it again harder, followed by a nip as if I was a pup.
“None of that,” I chided, smacking his muzzle.
“As I lead you back, I need to hold onto you as we connect your magic to mine. I’m going to do my best to get us through this without you shifting, but that might happen.
If we had another option, I would, but it’s too risky to have only you out of the connection. ”
His amber eyes regarded me carefully, not really understanding what I was saying, but he nodded and sidled up to me so I could rest my hand on his back.
Reaching out, I wove my fingers deep into his thick fur and started forward, guiding him back the way I’d come until he reached my magic source.
My wolf came bolting out of nowhere and skidded to a halt right in front of him with her tail wagging and licked his face trying to get his attention.
To his credit, Colt’s wolf didn’t move a muscle until I removed my hand, freeing him from the magic I’d used to get us here.
“Say your greeting, but I need to send him back right away. This isn’t a time for us to be frolicking about,” I warned as Colt’s wolf started to snuffle my wolf’s neck, nipping playfully at her.
The two of them stopped immediately and turned to face me, both on alert.
My wolf clung to Colt’s, taking all the courage she could from him, not at all liking the fact we might be in danger.
I called my magic to me and wrapped it around Colt’s wolf, coating him in it so he would take some of it with him when he returned.
Satisfied that it should work, I opened the doorway for him, and instead of shoving him back into Colt, I let him run back on his own, following the trail of his magic back home.
The moment Colt’s wolf returned, I yanked myself out of my source and back to what was happening around me.
Colt gasped beside me, his hand clenching mine to the point I thought it might break, but I could feel my magic settling inside him.
Once it found a comfortable place to rest alongside his wolf magic, his breathing evened, and he opened his eyes which still glowed from having his wolf so close to the surface.
“What did you just do?” he asked, sounding slightly breathless.
“This is what it means to mate with an elf and be accepted into the nos. Now you can speak to any of the others, mind to mind, except Zander, but that will happen the moment I can,” I explained.
I could feel the others adjusting to Colt’s arrival, tethering to their connections with me as well. “Welcome to the party. Now you can’t yell at Noah and me for talking like this,” Mason called out.
“Sweetheart, what did you mean you think you’re being watched?” Lane questioned. “I can’t sense anything, but with all the animal smells around, it’s hard to say what should be here and what shouldn’t.”
“It’s like I can feel the weight of someone’s eyes on me.
At first, I thought I was just being paranoid getting to the exchange, but if they were observing to make sure it went down right, they would have left,” I shared, trying to explain.
“My wolf can’t pick out any trouble either, but my magic is another story.
Let me reach out to the trees and see if they will tell me anything. ”
“Have you checked the bag yet?” Elias asked as he reached out for it.
I grabbed his wrist, stopping him. “Let me. I’ll know if something shouldn’t be there.”
Elias gave a curt nod but stood and came to stand behind me, resting his hands on my shoulders as I slid the laptop out.
I lifted the lid to ensure there wasn’t anything that got stuck in there and found a photograph.
Plucking it off the keyboard, I found a grainy black and white security photo of a man I didn’t recognize at all, leading me up the steps of some building.
The date stamp on the bottom of it was from twenty-five years ago.
Flipping the photo over, I found a note written in bold print: “It’s time you knew your father is still alive.
His name is Ellisor Beinorin. Look him up in the database. ”