Chapter Four
Elias
“We should go.” I finish my drink. “We will walk you home, Maisey.”
The revelations have been a lot for her but she’s handled it well. It proves the depths of her power that she hasn’t even questioned it. She knew instinctively that she was unique just as her ancestors had planned.
“I can walk myself.”
“I don’t think so.” Branson stands and shoves his hands into his pockets. “There’s something real bad going on out there.”
I look at him. The way he is with her is different. I’d never seen his gaze linger on a woman, never seen him even show interest in the opposite sex. But with Maisey his body seems to be on high alert, supercharged, as though her energy is pulling him in. The way it is with me.
She nods and holds her purse strap over her shoulder.
She is dainty, her movements delicate and graceful.
She’d be an easy target and that thought creates a sudden rage within me.
I’d never let anyone hurt her. I’d rip their head off if they did.
The reason for my existence now is to protect her.
To ensure she can walk the path fate has set her on.
It is for the good of everyone, I know that in my soul.
“Bye, Terence.” Maisey waves at the barman who is lazily polishing glasses.
He raises his hand in response and then eyes Branson and I with undisguised suspicion.
The night air is dancing with frost that sparkles as our breath clouds in front of us.
Branson holds out his arm, offering her the crook of his elbow—another move that surprises me and also catches something deep in me I can’t explain.
Not jealousy, though I have been used to being the only person Branson thinks of, but curiosity.
Just what are his feelings for this fascinating woman?
And does he have deeply buried desires to be with a female?
That last one is a question neither of us have ever contemplated. Branson being gay is like the sky being blue in June.
The moon is full and hangs so low I feel I could touch it.
A whisper of cloud sits beside it glowing eerily, and is the shape of a witch’s hat.
My hearing is acute even as a human, and I section out the sound of traffic to listen for signs of shifters out and about.
Nothing. They are deep underground, staying out of the cold.
Soon we arrive at her apartment, and without invitation both Branson and I go up and step inside.
Maisey hangs her coat and purse on a hook by the door and turns to us. “Why are you still here?”
I take a deep breath. “I’m worried you may be a target, Maisey.”
“What? Why?” She looks from me to Branson.
“Your scent,” he says. “It’s potent to us shifters and the thought of a coyote getting near you.” He growls. “Makes me mad as hell.”
“But I have work to do. I need to get something to my boss, otherwise I will be out of a job.”
“There are more important things to do right now.” I step up close to her, hemming her against the wall. “Please trust us.”
She stares at me, assessing me, seeing right into me. “I do trust you.”
“Good.” She fills my vision, her sweet face, pouty lips, and soft silken hair. “You should.”
Her tongue pokes out and she dampens her bottom lip. I hold in a groan, longing to taste her. It’s been so many years since I’d wanted to explore anyone other than Branson, but now...
Now I lean forward and kiss her.
She gasps but doesn’t object and I cup her face and find her tongue with mine. She tastes of juniper and fresh air and something else I can’t name but sends pulses of heat to my cock. A low growl vibrates in my chest and I deepen the kiss.
“Fucking hell,” Branson mutters at my side. “Elias. What are you...?”
I keep kissing her, my body feels alive, the way it does when Branson touches me. And he does that now. His hand slides down my back in a long graceful caress. A shiver of desire so powerful it almost takes my knees from under me attacks my entire body.
“Elias.” She pulls back and stares at me. Her eyes are full of questions.
“I couldn’t stop myself,” I say. “I am drawn to you in a way I can’t explain.”
She nods. “I understand. I feel it too.”
“We are three.” Branson reaches for my face and turns me to him. “This has happened for reasons we can’t yet understand.”
The next thing I know he’s kissing me the way he used to. Passion infused with love and our bodies crying out to connect.
“You guys are hot together,” Maisey says a little breathlessly.
I break the kiss and open my eyes in time to see Branson connect his lips with hers. My heart stutters. I’m mesmerized as I watch his soft dark lips pressing on hers and his eyes fluttering closed.
My cock goes from semi to fully hard in an instant.
Jealousy couldn’t be further from my mind.
It is a turn-on to see him in action. To study the way his jaw works, a small tendon flexing beneath the surface, how his tongue strokes hers giving me a tantalizing peek of it.
I growl, low and deep, and run my hand down his back to cup his ass. We all have too many clothes on.
My phone rings.
“What the hell?” I scowl. No one usually calls me.
I break away, it physically hurts to not be near them. What is going on with me?
Branson tears his lips from Maisey. “You should answer that.”
I’m so tense my shoulders hurt and it’s damn uncomfortable in my jeans. “Yeah?” I snap into the phone.
“Caught you at a bad time?” Fraser, my alpha, asks.
“No.” I huff. “What’s up?”
“You need to get here now.”
“I do?”
“Yeah, there’s been a development. All the clans are involved, this is serious.”
“Then I’ll be there.”
“Who are you with?”
I catch my breath. Is he digging to see if I’m with Branson? We kept our secret for so long I don’t want it to come out now when we’re no longer together. Or are we?
I look into Branson’s eyes. Moments ago, I wanted to strip him naked, strip Maisey naked, and see how it would be if we were hot, sweaty, and fucking.
“I’m with a woman,” I say.
“Anyone I know?”
“No.” I pause. “But I think you should meet her.”
“Why?”
“I’ll explain when I see you.” I flick the phone off. I was curt with my alpha, I know that, but he wouldn’t be alpha if I hadn’t conceded after I became a widower. He should remember that.
“What did he want?” Branson asks.
“There’s a meeting, not just wolves, all clans. Or at least all are involved. That’s what he said.”
“Panthers?”
“I’d imagine so.”
“It must be to do with the attacks.” Maisey nods. “Maybe there’s been a development.”
“I’d agree.” I study her, almost seeing the cogs of her mind turning and wondering just what else she’s sensing.
“You should come with me,” I say to her.
“What? Why? She should come with me.” Branson places his arm around her waist and pulls her close. “The panther’s den is closer.”
“I’ve just told my alpha I’m with her. Do you really want to draw suspicion?”
He grits his teeth.
“Guys,” she says, reaching for my hand but staying close to Branson. “We haven’t got time to argue. People’s lives could be at risk.” She releases us both and pulls on her coat. “Take me to the wolves’ den, Elias, it’s time I met them.”
I swallow and nod. “We should meet back here,” I say to Branson. “Go and find out what you can and I’ll do the same.”
His lips flatten, he’s not happy, but he nods and turns to Maisey. “This is just the beginning.”
“I know.”
Soon we are ducking down the side alley on fourth that leads to the entrance of the wolves’ den. It smells of rats and trash and I hurry Maisey along at my side.
“What did you mean?” she asks. “About drawing suspicion?”
I frown.
“Suspicion of what? You and Branson?”
“Yeah.” I nod and glance at her through the shadows. She’s so damn smart. “We are not a good match.”
“Could have fooled me. You guys are on fire, the chemistry practically sparkles from you and when you kiss ... fuck, you’re hot together.”
“We don’t mix.”
“I’d disagree.”
I stop and hold her shoulder. “This is another world you’re about to enter, Maisey. The rules are different. There is nothing for you to be afraid of but if the wolves found out about me and Branson, then...”
“What?”
A familiar tightening in my chest. “Cats and dogs don’t mix. It’s nature’s law.”
She nods slowly. “I see...” She pauses. “Don’t you think times might change for shifters as well as humans?”
“What do you mean?”
“Tolerance, acceptance. Love is love and all that.”
I shake my head and continue walking. “I can’t take the risk of them finding out, I was alpha and our clans are rivals.”
“But you’re not alpha now.”
“No, but...”
“You aren’t embarrassed of him or your love for him, are you?”
“What? No, I just...” Do I still love him? Of course I do.
“We just can’t be, and I’d appreciate it if you kept his name out of any conversations in the den.” I speak a little sharper than intended.
“Of course.” She reaches for my hand. “I understand, and it’s not my secret to tell.”
I’m grateful for her words as I turn a round iron handle on a squat wooden door. It creaks open to the darkness beyond. “You first.”
She steps in and uses her phone to illuminate the way. We only have to walk around the first bend, and candles set in small alcoves fill the darkness with a buttery light.
“What is this place?” she asks, slipping her phone away.
“This first section is a web of tunnels that take us deep under the city. From there we can move around as wolves without fear of being seen.”
She nods and then pauses as a wolf passes from left to right ahead of us. He doesn’t even turn our way.
“And it’s also our headquarters. Take a left here.”
The thick guttural scent of wolves fills the air and comforts me.
I pick up on Fraser’s smell and follow it to his lair.
It’s a round room with a curved ceiling.
In the center is a mahogany table with six chairs.
The walls are lined with books, many of them mine, and a double bed with thick blankets is tucked into the corner.
A plate of raw meat is on the table along with a jug of water.
“Elias.” Fraser stands and sets down a silver tankard.
He’s as tall as me, younger by ten years, and his hair is dirty blond with curls at his nape.
“Fraser.” I nod and step up to the table. I pop a sliver of meat into my mouth. It’s beef.
He raises his eyebrows but doesn’t comment that I’ve taken his food. It’s not worth the aggravation for him. “You do indeed have a woman.” He sniffs the air. “Where did you find her?”
“She found me.” I reach for her hand and squeeze it. “This is Maisey Shaw.”
Maisey smiles. “It’s nice to meet you.”
Fraser narrows his eyes. “Have you been in a wolves’ den before?”
“No, can’t say I have.”
“You’re not shocked?”
“Perhaps I would be if it had been glittering with gold and full of fine artwork. But dark tunnels, cave-like rooms, raw meat, that’s not shocking when applied to wolves.”
Fraser chuckles. “She’s quite the find.” He pulls out a seat. “Do take the weight off your legs, Maisey.”
“Thank you.”
As she sits, I see him bend a little and take in the scent of her hair. His eyes widen and he looks directly at me. He knows. Of course he does.
“We are being joined,” he says a little stiffly. “By other betas.”
“Good.” I take a seat beside Maisey and then look to my left as four betas—Drago, Benji, Malek, and Val—walk in.
“What’s going on?” Drago asks taking in first me and then Maisey.
“I have information.” Fraser sits and steeples his hands beneath his chin. He waits for everyone to take a seat before continuing. “A message has been circulated from the elders of the bear clan.”
“The bears?” Malek huffs. “What have they got to say that can possibly interest us?”
“They’ve had a case of moon fever.”
“What?” I curl my hands into fists hoping I’ve heard him wrong. Moon fever is never good ... oh, no ... no way.
“That hasn’t been seen for over a century and then it was in South America.” Val’s eyes widen. “I can’t believe it.”
“Yeah, what are they up to?” Malek asks with a snarl. “Trickery?”
“You’re going to have to believe it,” Fraser goes on. “The human attacks in Central Park are as much proof as we need and the bears have admitted to it.”
“Admitted to it?” My eyes widen.
“Yes, one of theirs is guilty of the kill. Went completely mad with the sickness in his blood and was overtaken with the need to murder as violently as possible.” Fraser grimaces.
“And what of the infected shifter?” I ask. “There is only one way to approach this.”
“He has been neutralized.”
“What does that mean?” Maisey asks.
The betas all turn to her.
“It means,” I say, “that he is dead now. There is no cure. Any shifter infected must be dealt with as swiftly as possible to prevent him spreading the disease and killing more humans.”
“Who is she?” Val asks and points at Maisey. His beard is longer than when I last saw him and his shaggy eyebrows almost cover his dark eyes.
“She’s with Elias,” Fraser answers before I can speak.
“But...” Maisey leans forward, her fingers spread on the desk the same way she’d done at the bar. “There have been two attacks, one a bear and one a coyote. So, the infection has already spread, and between two groups.”
“What? Two attacks from two different culprits?” Fraser flicks his attention from Maisey to me. “What is she talking about?”
“It’s true,” I say. “I’ve seen the evidence myself. Unmistakably a bear attack and a coyote. Easy to spot the difference when you know how.”
“And have we heard from the coyotes?” Malek asks, his voice as calm as usual even in a crisis.
“What do you think?” Fraser huffs. “Wily, sneaky, that’s their MO. No, we haven’t heard a word.”
“But we need to assume they’ve also had a case of moon fever,” Maisey says. “And hopefully the infected individual has been neutralized.” She shudders slightly.
Beneath the table I squeeze her thigh gently.
Drago sniffs loudly and leans closer to Maisey. “You are not human despite what you look like sitting there.”
“No, she’s not,” Malek says, his eyes narrowing at Maisey. “Your scent is old, centuries old, as though you have flames from an ancient fire in your blood.”
She looks at me, her eyes flashing with a power I don’t yet understand, and my heart fills with the need to protect her from the wolves sniffing around. They are smart and strong and usually I enjoy that fact but right now, I want to get her away and keep her safe from their inquisition.