2. Finley #2
They both appeared incredibly put out about this, but Zander’s wolf gave her a few more licks and trotted over to me.
I created a lasso of magic and secured it around his neck, giving him a good scratch before I opened the door for him to return.
He gave me one more appraising look, then dove into the darkness to make his way back to where he belonged.
As soon as I felt the bond snap into place, I returned to the surface and the world around me.
“What did you do, little dove?” Zander asked, his breath coming in quick pants like he’d been running.
I placed my hand over his heart and met his gaze. “I placed my mark on your soul. We are now bonded deeper than any being could possibly understand. You have access to my thoughts, emotions, and many other things.”
He grasped my hand and pressed the palm of it to his lips. “I do trust you, Finley. With all that I am, I trust you, but it’s not always easy to trust others with you.”
“Then good thing you can now check on us whenever or wherever you are,” Rath said, joining us all into one mental conversation. “Welcome, gwanur, to the true connection of an elven nos.”
Zander’s head whipped around to look at all the others as we could hear them chuckling at his surprise and amazement.
“Trust me, when they started talking to me in my head, that was some weird shit. She pulled that stunt on me at the zoo right after we figured out someone was following us. Give it time and it becomes a little less weird.”
Mason grinned and clapped Colt on the back. “Just think of all the conversations we can have with no one realizing it.”
“Might I suggest we do that now as we deal with our current issue,” Elias commented, reminding us about the stranger in our woods.
“For me, the most beneficial thing is the ability to talk to each other as wolves. No more hoping the other person figures out what we’re trying to say. We can just say it.”
“No way,” Zander blurted, then turned to me and planted a kiss on my lips. “Little dove, you are truly amazing. This is going to change everything. Just think how well we can move as a team now that we can talk silently no matter what form we’re in.”
I laughed, pulling back from him, yanking my shirt over my head. “Why do you think I did this now? We have an enemy to deal with and you couldn’t be the only one left out of the conversation.”
“Man, I wish we didn’t have something important to do,” Lane said with a sigh, his eyes lingering over me as I shimmied out of my pants.
“If we hurry up and deal with this, then who’s to say we won’t have time for some fun?” I teased, then pulled my wolf to the forefront, dropping onto four feet and shaking out my fur.
In no time, I was surrounded by six massive wolves, all wagging and sniffing me over. Zander let out a commanding bark followed by a snarl.
“Use your words, alpha,” Mason teased.
Colt looked over at Rath and cocked his head to the side. “You gonna be able to keep up, elf?”
“Don’t you worry about me,” Rath assured him as he sprinted into the forest.
Zander let out a howl that the others picked up, and off we went to hunt whoever intruded on our woods.
I reached out with my magic, checking in with the nature around me that they were still where they stopped and hadn’t moved.
Seconds later, I got a literal birds-eye view as an owl sat guard up in the trees.
While they were still cloaked in shadow, I got the sense they were most likely male.
The other creatures said he smelled like death and they didn’t want to go any closer than they had to.
I sent out my assurances that we were on our way and would deal with this situation, ensuring the forest got my thanks for the warning. The trees resulted with delight at my praise as we raced through the woods.
It was so odd to communicate with nature as if it was another human, but everyone always said that the world was full of surprises. Of course, many thought that people who believed nature was a living, breathing thing were crazy, but now, it made me wonder if they had a bit of elf blood in them.
As if Rath knew I’d been thinking about elves, he dashed in front of us, giving me a wink as he pulled Colt’s tail and disappeared into the forest. He moved like a streak of light but the more I watched, it was like he blinked in and out of existence—appearing in one place, then darting off to appear somewhere else.
It had to be his magic. There was no other explanation for it.
If that was the case, I absolutely needed him to teach me how to do that.
“Nin mel, I will teach you anything you want to know. Not only because I am your Guide but because you deserve to understand the full scope of your abilities,” Rath’s voice said obviously having picked up on my thoughts.
“Did you know it’s much easier to pick up on what you’re thinking in your wolf form? ”
“Then I will have to be careful not to think of anything I don’t want you to hear,” I quipped, knowing he would never intrude or disclose something he shouldn’t.
Rath appeared next to me and ran a hand down the length of my back as we ran.
“You’re right, I would never betray your trust, and to prove it, I will tell you that I’m the only one who can pick up on your thoughts as clearly.
The others are soul bonded to you, but as we are both elves, it is a much different connection. ”
Zander let out another howl as he picked up on the scent of the intruder and it did indeed reek of death. It was almost as if the person themselves was dying, rotting away from the inside out. Could this be why they came here? Did they know I could heal?
“Rath, how common is it that elves are gifted healers?” I asked, slowing down a bit to lag slightly behind the others but letting them hear what I was asking.
“It is common that in every clan, there would be a group of healers of various levels. Some more prominent clans, there would even be a guild or school for gifted healers that people could call on if they needed help,” Rath answered.
“Betas stay with Finley,” Colt ordered. “Even if this person is just looking to be healed, they didn’t go about coming onto our lands the right way. We will investigate first, then decide what to do next. Rath, can you help us keep communication open so you can hear what’s being said?”
“Certainly, once this matter is settled, we should start working on these types of things, so everyone feels comfortable doing it,” Rath suggested.
Everyone grunted their agreement as we stopped and let the alphas go ahead of us.
My wolf was on edge, not at all liking that they were putting themselves in danger.
I tried to soothe her but couldn’t do much since I felt the same way.
It would give me more comfort to be able to guard their backs, but I would stay here and respect their authority as alphas of this pack.