Chapter 10 - Emma
After picking up Grace, she and I walked into the house, only to be greeted by the smells of spices, cooked meat, and bread. Brow furrowing, I made my way into the kitchen, only to come to a screeching halt at the sight I found.
Elias bustled around the kitchen, steaming plates of garlic bread, chicken parmesan, and other dishes resting on the island, waiting to be devoured. As I watched, Elias pulled out another pan, this one with roasted vegetables, out of the oven.
He glanced over. “Hey,” he said.
I tilted my head, eyes sweeping across the lavish dinner, mouthwatering aromas wafting up and making my stomach growl.
“You made all of this?” I asked.
He nodded. “The bread, I bought from the store, but I was the one who converted it to garlic bread,” he said. “Italian is your and Grace’s favorite, right?”
“Yum!” Grace squealed as she ran over to the island, standing on tiptoe to peer at all the food.
I didn’t say anything at first, too startled by what I was seeing.
Over the past few days, ever since our conversation over the breakfast table, Elias had been making obvious strides to make us feel welcome, to keep us happy.
He’d brought flowers. He helped Grace with her homework.
He had bought her a paint set she’d wanted for years.
When she accidentally spilled bright green on the white carpet, instead of getting mad, he’d made a joke about it and helped clean it up as best we could.
There was still a faint greenish splotch, like someone had rubbed grass into the strands.
Those were only a couple of the things he had done in the brief time since our conversation. Despite myself, it gave me a spark of hope that maybe he had been serious when he promised to prove me wrong about him and our relationship. I wanted him to prove me wrong.
Still, despite this, I kept him at arm’s length, not fully letting him in.
It was still early days. I’d known too many people who made promises, only to keep them for a week—two, maximum.
Then they got lazy, or they thought they’d hit some invisible quota, or hoped I would have forgotten their promise, and they stopped, all their efforts slipping, reverting to the way it used to be.
Until I knew that wasn’t going to happen with Elias, I wouldn’t let him in. Not entirely.
That didn’t change the fact that every time he did something like this, a spark of appreciation and affection blossomed inside my chest. It didn’t change the fact that I found myself wanting him more and more every day as the mating bond strengthened, growing more insistent that we complete it.
It didn’t change the fact that my entire body seemed to heat into an inferno whenever he so much as glanced at me.
It was getting harder to resist him.
“Emma?” Elias asked. “Something wrong?”
I shook my head to clear it, then smiled. “No, everything is fine, and yes, we love Italian. I’m surprised you remembered.”
Shrugging, Elias finished whatever sauce was in the pot, bubbling on the stove. “Easy enough to remember. You eat pasta whenever you get the chance.”
He wasn’t wrong there.
“Do you need help?” I asked.
“Just finishing, actually,” he said. “So all I need from you is to grab a plate and grab what you want.”
I did, still mildly dazed, then fixed another plate for Grace, adding extra garlic bread at her request. We had only just sat down to eat when a furious knocking rattled the house. Elias stiffened, his head shooting up, ears pricked as he had already moved to his feet.
“I’ll be right back,” he said, walking toward the door.
A moment later, I heard the door open. Hurried muttering sounded on the other side. Something about the urgent tone, even if I couldn’t make out words, sent chills up my spine. I stiffened, a lump growing in my throat. Something was wrong.
“Fuck,” Elias cursed. “That close?”
I couldn’t just sit by. I all but leapt from my chair as I hurried to the front door.
Sam stood on the porch, arms folded, his expression dark. His eyes glanced at me. At the small gesture, Elias turned as well. The worry and anger mixed in his expression made that lump in my throat triple in size.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“The wraiths struck,” Elias said. “Close to the oasis. I’m sorry, I know we were just about to eat, but—”
“Don’t worry about it,” I said, already knowing what he was about to say. “It’s fine. Go do what you need to do.”
He paused for a brief moment, glancing over his shoulder out the door, then back at me. A rush of anxiety and concern flickered through me, through the bond. Elias was worried about leaving us alone.
“Go,” I repeated. “We’ll be fine.”
He strode over to me, and the backs of his fingers caressed my cheek. “I’ll be back,” he promised. His eyes flicked down to my mouth, and for a brief moment, I thought he might kiss me. Then he seemed to think better of it and backed away. He spun on his heels and marched back toward Sam.
“Let’s get going,” he said to his beta.
Then the door slammed shut, and they were gone.
I stared at it, as if I could peer past the paint and wood grain to see him as he and Sam piled into the idling car, ready to speed toward the wraith and into danger.
A spasm of worry stabbed me, taking me by surprise. The thought of Elias getting hurt made me almost nauseous with dread. I didn’t trust him entirely yet, but at the same time, the thought of anything happening to him set me on edge.
I wanted him safe. Except that felt too simplistic, too mild. There was almost a visceral need for him to be all right. My breathing sped up without my realizing.
“Is everything okay?”
Grace’s voice pierced through the veil of worry. I blinked, shaking my head to clear it.
“Everything’s fine, sweetie,” I said, throwing a smile on my face. “Your—I mean, Elias just needed to run out and take care of something. He should be back later.”
Just as the words escaped my lips, Grace’s face screwed in pain.
My smile vanished. “What’s wrong?” I asked.
“It hurts,” she said.
“What does?” I asked.
“Everything,” she groaned. She squeezed her eyes shut. When they opened again, I had to force myself not to recoil in shock. Instead of the same blue as Elias’s, her eyes were a deep, beautiful amber. Wolf eyes.
Oh, God, I thought, worry for Grace temporarily overcoming my anxiety for Elias. It’s starting.
Grace had complained of transformation pains before, but this was the first time aspects of her wolf had manifested. It always started slow: eyes, claws, and teeth before anything else, and they would quickly revert back to human.
“It’s going to be okay,” I promised. “The pains will pass. For now, why don’t you finish dinner, and I’ll fix you some chocolate ice cream? I’ll even add marshmallows and whipped cream.”
It was her favorite dessert, and it seemed to pierce through some of the pain. When she blinked again, her eyes had shifted back to their normal blue.
“That sounds good,” she muttered.
After she finished eating, I ushered her to the couch, trying to keep my own anxiety to a minimum, not wanting to alarm Grace or Elias through the mating bond.
But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t stifle the nauseating unease swirling in my stomach, telling me that it was only going to get worse from here.
***
I managed to coax Grace to sleep after some time.
When I was certain she was out for a good long while, I collapsed on the couch.
I hadn’t heard anything from Elias yet, and I hadn’t sensed anything through the bond, either.
I tried to tell myself that it was okay, and yet that didn’t stop the fear from creeping up.
I closed my eyes, trying to get myself to relax. I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I heard was the door creaking open.
Shooting up, I turned to look at the front door. My heart stopped jackhammering when I saw Elias standing in the doorframe. Scratches and dirt covered his face, but beyond that, he seemed okay. He blinked when he saw me on the couch.
“Did you stay up for me?” he asked.
Heat flushed my cheeks. “I just wanted to make sure you didn’t die,” I said.
His lips quirked upward. “Glad to hear that I at least merit ‘wanting me to live’ status,” he teased.
You merit more than that, I thought, though I couldn’t bring myself to say it. I coughed awkwardly, shuffling a little as I got to my feet.
“How did it go?” I asked.
His lips twitched downward, his eyes narrowing.
“We managed to drive it back,” he said. “We can hurt it when it’s in its human—well, humanoid—form, but that’s all.
It feels more like we’re an inconvenience to it than an actual threat right now.
We haven’t found a way to do permanent damage yet.
Until we figure that out, it’s going to keep coming, and it’s probably going to get worse. ”
I tried to keep my expression neutral. This was the last thing I needed with Grace’s pre-transformation ramping up in earnest.
He frowned, staring at my face, head tilted. “Are you all right? You have that look you get when your mind is torn between two important things that are bothering you.”
The fact that he knew me well enough to recognize that expression took me by surprise.
I hesitated, flip-flopping back and forth on whether to tell him about Grace.
He would find out eventually. It wasn’t as though I could keep it from him forever.
At the same time, he had enough on his plate tonight.
I didn’t want to add one more problem to his pile, at least not after he had skipped dinner to go after a dangerous wraith and didn’t return until nearly midnight.
It could wait until tomorrow. I could give him the night to sleep without that issue pressing on him.
“I’m fine,” I said. “Just tired.”
He scrutinized me, and I had a sinking suspicion he knew I was lying.
Before he could push, I said, “There’s still dinner waiting. Why don’t I heat some up for you? I’d hate for that garlic bread to go to waste.”
A smile lit up his grimy, scraped face.
“I’d like that,” he said.