Chapter 2
Effie Harlow
“Caedmon!” My voice was lost in the howling winds that whipped against me, but that didn’t stop me from trying. “We have to go back!”
My mate ignored me as he sprinted, bounding from ice cap to ice cap on Lake Michigan’s shoreline.
It was freezing, my nose and ears searing in pain from the cold air ripping across my skin, making them feel almost raw to the touch.
It only moderately helped that my frame was wrapped up in Caedmon’s massive arms as he traveled north towards the large forest that stretched alongside the lake.
I clung to him, the waves crashing so loud that I worried we would fall in. That I would experience the same searing cold as when I fell through the ice caps and Ryder had to save me. At the same time, I knew Caedmon wouldn’t let me get hurt.
It wasn’t as hard as I’d imagined to come to terms with this being Caedmon.
In fact, this seemed as natural to him as his human form, allowing me to focus my concern on my other mates who’d been left behind.
I knew I’d healed them, but there were so many other things that could go wrong.
The other BBP could awaken and start a fight once again, or Hastain could become involved and punish my mates.
If I wasn’t there to explain, he may hurt them more than ever before.
I wanted the blame where it belonged—on the other pack, not my mates.
My heart began to palpitate. What if I hadn’t healed them enough?
What if Weylin and his men took advantage of their newly healed state and came after my mates again?
Now I knew what level of violence they were capable of—both them and my men—and I wanted to be there just in case someone got hurt again. I needed to be there.
My eyes darted down to Caedmon’s claw that clutched onto me, blood staining it from where he had ripped off Reamann’s arm and sliced through the skin so viciously.
I had no idea how my healing had reattached his limb…
That almost seemed impossible. Then again, I was starting to believe that there were many things I didn’t understand about my magic.
Despite knowing it was for the best, I hated that I’d healed them. Weylin had hurt Dakota. The others had tried to hurt my mates even more. Was it wrong that I felt like they should have stayed injured?
My wolf bore her teeth in a vicious growl of agreement, a low, almost rattle shaking Caedmon’s chest and causing my eyes to snap up to his fierce face.
Despite moving so fast and with obvious concentration, his glowing purple eyes were completely focused on me.
His long, sharp teeth looked like deadly knives, and his fur-covered frame seemed to vibrate with lethality.
Caedmon was a true predator.
He was not only dangerous, but he had the ability to hurt me. Badly.
My mate wouldn’t though. There was a lot I was insecure about, especially when it came to Caedmon, but I knew he wouldn’t physically hurt me.
I knew that like I knew the sun would rise each morning.
Every fiber of my being trusted him, more than he even trusted himself, and there wasn’t a moment of doubt that clouded my thoughts on the matter.
Which is why I wasn’t afraid to press the issue.
“We have to go back,” I begged him, leaning closer as my arm tightened around his neck.
I was met with a vicious growl that had my pulse jumping.
Not in fear. No, my body seemed to have a two-fold reaction to the sound—the instant urge to submit to his obvious dominance, which had never happened with Caedmon before, and more surprisingly…
desire. Although, maybe that shouldn’t have surprised me.
I was finding with my mates that the more primal their reactions and interactions with me, the more attractive I found them.
And don’t even get me started on my wolf’s reaction.
When we began to slow, I thought that he’d finally heard me and planned on going back.
Rather, he turned a sharp right and ran towards the cliffside and over the edge.
Holy crap! I let out a small scream, tucking my face against his neck, waiting for freezing cold water to surround us as we plunged into the depths.
Instead, I was jolted to a stop as he caught himself on something, stopping our descent, and swung his frame forward, landing us on a hard surface.
My teeth jolted together as I let out a small groan, my body protesting against the sudden ups and downs, both physically and adrenaline-wise.
A relieved breath left me as he put me down, and I melted into the ground.
My knees felt weak and body sore as I took a moment to gather myself before I looked around to see where we had landed.
It was damp and cold, the deadly waves spraying chilled water into the alcove we’d swung into.
It was similar to the ones that the university president had placed them in, but this obviously wasn’t inhabited very often.
I frowned in confusion at a broken shackle on the wall, concerned since there was blood on it. There was also a pile of clothes nearby that looked shredded. Was this…was this where Caedmon came to shift?
“Where are we?” My question trailed off as I looked at Caedmon.
Crouched at the entrance of the cave, he was staring at me silently, blocking the cold wind and water as he produced a deep rumble in response to my attention.
My pulse spiked, a natural reaction to being somewhat cornered, as I considered how to handle this situation.
I didn’t know what to expect from Caedmon, and that made me a bit cautious.
Like I said, I didn’t think he would hurt me…
but I’d also been caught off-guard far too many times in my life, and every time had ended poorly.
I didn’t want to make him upset or trigger a reaction in me, so I steeled myself, putting on a brave face and refusing to give in to the nerves.
“Caedmon?” I asked softly, wondering if he was understanding what I was saying.
I had to assume so because he’d taken me from the clearing right when Ryder mentioned getting me out of there, but he gave no indication that he’d heard me.
I stepped forward and was met with a deep, low growl that had the hair on my arm standing up.
What the heck did that mean?
“We need to go back—”
My words were cut off as he let out a snarl.
So he clearly understood what I was saying and just…
disagreed with it? Was he worried about what Ryder had mentioned, about Weylin and his pack coming after me?
Or was this something larger? Tears of frustration filled my eyes as I considered once again that I’d left them in possible trouble.
I looked to the ground, trying to figure out a way to convince him we needed to go back.
However, because I was distracted and looking at the ground, I didn’t notice until he moved closer that he was focused on my tears.
I froze as his massive clawed hand came out and wiped a tear from my cheek before placing it on his tongue.
What the…
I froze at first, not knowing how to react. He gave a wounded whine, causing me to worry. I stepped forward, putting out my hand, but he backed away, moving to the front of the alcove. For some reason, that hurt way more than I expected.
Realizing that I wasn’t going to get anywhere with Caedmon, I reached out to my mates again, hoping to form enough of a connection to know that they were okay and back at the dorm.
But Caedmon’s magic slammed into me, holding my own hostage.
My eyes snapped open, and I huffed in annoyance.
Why was he blocking me from them? His eyes seemed to grow brighter as he let out a low rumble that caused my body to flash with heat.
I didn’t understand my body’s reactions anymore.
Deciding that I would be able to handle this better if I were on the same level as him, I shifted. I was still getting used to being able to do it so easily, but each time the process became more fluid. One minute I was human, and the next I was a wolf.
I looked towards Caedmon. Okay, so maybe I wasn’t on the same level as him, since I was now tiny.
Only I would make myself even smaller than before when facing someone so large.
I nearly rolled my eyes at that but instead stretched before emitting a bark that had Caedmon crouching lower and staring at me like I was an oddity.
I trotted towards him, letting my wolf take a bit of control, then sat down in front of him, tilting my head and watching him in interest.
Confusion was clear on his expression so I barked, causing a low rumble of greeting to leave his throat. Trying to connect with his magic, I felt relief soar through me when he almost instantly opened to me, that spark of Caedmon very present.
Unlike Coffin, Julian’s wolf, I knew instinctively that it wasn’t possible for us to verbally communicate with Caedmon in his current form. Nor could we mentally communicate in our wolf forms like Dakota and me. Instead, the best way to communicate was like this, through our magic.
I did my best to try to infuse my emotions and thoughts as much as possible into our bond, realizing that it was equally as strong but very different in this form.
In fact, Caedmon overall felt very different—more free and less burdened.
Despite some of the horrible things he’d endured in this form, and probably a ton I wasn’t aware of, I realized he found it easier to be like this.
To not be mentally present like he was in his human form.
When he was shifted, he wasn’t thinking about everything he’d expressed worrying about.
He just was.