Chapter 6
Effie Harlow
“Where am I going to put all of them?” I asked Caedmon as he slid a jacket over my shoulders.
The sweater dress I’d worn out to lunch was an extremely soft material in a rich navy shade that clung to my curves.
I had worried it was a bit much for lunch, but the restaurant the six of us had gone to was nothing like I’d ever been to before
The space had featured a greenhouse ceiling that allowed in a ton of sunlight while maintaining a toasty, warm atmosphere for us to eat in. It was only now, after at least two hours, that we were leaving, and I wasn’t entirely too happy about it.
The first part of my day had been nothing short of spectacular.
That was truly the only way to describe it.
Caedmon’s plans had been not only extremely thoughtful but something out of a fairy tale.
I knew he didn’t think he could be sweet, but his gift showed that and so much more.
Then, with it being followed by such a wonderful lunch? I was on cloud nine.
It had made me realize that the city could be far different than I’d assumed. Beautiful, even, especially under the right circumstances. Maybe the same could eventually be said about my life.
These thoughts only added to my mounting dread, the reason I didn’t want to leave the restaurant for what we would do next.
We were traveling a world—no, a universe—away to go to the Whitepaw Pack lands.
To go back to the only place I had been able to call home, and now that I knew the truth about how they had treated me…
I could never call it that again. Home. I wasn’t positive I had a home, but if I did, it was Eclipse Three.
“That’s a fair question.” Tore looked perplexed, gently pulling my hair out of where it was caught in my jacket. Caedmon’s eyes were on my baby-blue trench coat, a sense of satisfaction in his gaze.
I nearly smiled at that. It really did make him happy to see me wearing the items he purchased. I wanted him to always look that happy.
“Maybe we should just get a house with a massive walk-in closet for you, little wolf.” Dakota walked slightly ahead of us as Ryder and Julian took care of the bill.
I briefly wondered what the total had been because the prices on the menu had been…
sizable. Except when I had tried to order something small, not wanting to purchase a forty-dollar bowl of pasta—despite it featuring some special truffles—Julian had taken the menu from me.
Then he had ordered so much food that I felt like I weighed double by the end of the meal. It felt wonderful, and honestly, if it wasn’t for my nerves about heading to the pack lands, I would be completely ready for a relaxing afternoon nap.
“Buy a house? In Kirkwall?” Caedmon’s eyes lit up with interest. “We usually rent that one place for the summer, but that’s not a bad idea. Far safer than campus.”
“Security systems,” Tore said, seeming to agree. I looked between the three of them, finally processing what exactly they were saying.
My cheeks turned bright pink. “Wait, are you talking about buying a house and…moving in together?” I felt embarrassed saying it out loud because as much as I loved the concept, especially if it also meant Ryder being there, I didn’t want to assume they would want to be that serious.
“They’re our mates. Pretty darn serious.”
I nearly huffed at my wolf’s reminder, as if I somehow had forgotten.
“Yes.” Dakota’s answer was clear and simple.
“Oh.” I bit my lip, trying to contain my smile as we neared the large doors, the patter of my silver lace-up ballet flats against the marble filling the empty foyer. I could hear Julian and Ryder talking behind us, and I fought the urge to ask them if they felt the same about the possibility.
“Lil bit,” Tore prompted softly. I decided to be honest about my feelings, realizing I’d been lost in thought.
“I would love that.”
“You would?” Caedmon pulled me to a stop as I looked up at him.
“Would I love to move in with my mates? Especially if it was somewhere that you guys thought was safer? Yes, of course I would.”
Caedmon’s eyes turned gold before shifting with purple, a sharp exhale of what was possibly relief leaving his mouth, and he nodded. “Then we will make it happen.”
“What’s happening?” Julian appeared next to me as Tore opened up the door so that we were walking out to the large circular driveway in front of the restaurant, where a man in a dark suit had taken the keys to Ryder’s SUV before driving it away.
I had been very confused at first, even worried that he was stealing it, until Dakota mentioned that he was going to park it around the block, saving me the embarrassment of asking. I was starting to be very thankful that the man had access to my thoughts to some extent.
The cool winter winds from the city breezed over me, and Ryder’s hand slid over my lower back, causing me to lean back into him as I kept my gaze on Julian. I wasn’t positive I wanted to see Ryder’s expression when I told him what we had just talked about.
“Effie said she would be okay with living with us and buying a house,” Dakota said happily.
“Sooner rather than later,” Tore rumbled, making me smile slightly.
“Is that true?” Ryder asked, his voice deepening slightly as I tilted my head up to look into his burnt orange eyes. I nearly shivered as his fingers slid over my hips, loving the feeling of them tightening on me.
“Yes-s,” I whispered, my voice catching.
His eyes flared as he nodded in understanding, but he didn’t say anything, leaving me to wonder what he thought.
Julian tugged my hand so I fell forward into him, a small giggle leaving my lips as he clasped my face and kissed me hard.
I let out a happy sound against his lips before he pulled back and looked over my face with heat.
“I love that, preciosa.”
My cheeks heated intensely as I offered him a small, almost shy smile and leaned into him. Before I could say anything, the rumble of an engine drew my attention to the car attendant handing Ryder the keys.
I felt a pang of sadness and frustration hit me as I remembered where we were headed, but I didn’t express it, getting into the back seat between Ryder and Julian.
Dakota sat in the back row with Tore and Caedmon up front, making me wonder if they had a car that could fit all of us on the same row…
That didn’t make any sense though. How would someone even drive that?
I was wrapped so deeply in my thoughts that I didn’t realize we were nearly there until Caedmon pulled past a familiar sign.
That was when my heart kicked into overdrive and I felt panic and anxiety slam into me out of freakin’ nowhere. My wolf let out a whine, and my hand slid to my throat as my ears began to buzz. Holy crap.
“Effie?” Ryder’s voice was deep and commanding, but I couldn’t focus on him. All I could focus on was the familiar buildings we were passing and the individuals staring at our expensive car. Why had I thought this was a good idea? Heck, I hadn’t! Why were we here?
“Effie.” Julian’s voice was hard, with a tinge of Alpha command that caused me to jolt.
I snapped my head to the side to find him staring at me with eyes that swirled with black, letting me know that Coffin was present.
I knew he was trying to not use them, but instead of feeling upset about him possibly using them…
I found I wanted him to. I wanted him to take away this anxiety. I wanted him to calm me down.
“I can’t,” I whispered. “I can’t come back here. I feel like my heart is beating out of my chest.” My eyes began to water as determination filled his handsome face.
The voices of the others filled the space around us, but all I could focus on was him and the way his power seemed to wrap around me. I knew Julian could fix this.
“Just breathe.” He smoothed a hand through my hair and drew me close. “You have nothing to fear here. Absolutely nothing.”
“But I do,” I argued, feeling my wolf ride me hard with the pure agony, emotionally and physically, associated with remembering our abuse.
Remembering everything we’d been through.
“I do, Julian. What if they try to treat me the same? I know now that it was wrong, but I don’t want to feel that way again. What if they don’t let me go back—”
Suddenly I was being crushed to his chest, and I could feel how he was nearly shaking with the effort of control as a sob bubbled up from my throat.
I could hear the others talking about how I was having a panic attack, and I knew they were right.
I hadn’t had the word for it before, but this was an attack filled with crippling anxiety as a movie reel of everything that could go wrong played out in front of me.
“Julian, please?” I whispered through my tears.
He stilled and then pulled back, cupping my jaw and studying my face.
Whatever he saw there had his hand sliding down to run over my bite mark, making my eyes close, and I whimpered, leaning into him.
His lips grazed my forehead, and when he spoke, it held so much magic that it froze the car and nearly leveled me.
“Breathe.”
My body listened to his command, and I inhaled sharply before exhaling, feeling my head go dizzy from the contrast between that and the fast pants that had been leaving me. Julian wasn’t done, though, and his voice was softer this time but equally as powerful.
“Calm down, preciosa. I need you to calm down and breathe.”
A weird, hazy, almost euphoric feeling slid underneath my skin as I shuddered, melting into him further as my eyes stopped stinging. A small sound caught in my throat as his arms wrapped around me, holding me tight as one hand smoothed continuously over my bite mark.