8. Finley
Finley
Waring emotions of excitement and worry battled inside me as I headed into the lobby of the airport.
When I last saw them, the pack was being attacked as a diversion to get me out of there, and I left them.
If they did that to me, I would be furious, so I had no right to expect anything different from them.
Zander had already made it known I wasn’t going to get out of this without some sort of punishment, but the one person I really didn’t know how they would react was Elias.
Deep down, I just knew he would be blaming himself for ever leaving my side and sending me alone into the tunnels.
He was the type of man to shoulder all the responsibility even if it wasn’t his to carry.
I still didn’t know his story but the feelings I got from him told me it was full of pain and shame.
In time, when he was ready, I would be there to listen, but I wasn’t going to press the matter.
The moment their scent hit my nose, my wolf rushed to the front of my mind pushing to take over, but I held her back.
It took me a second to reason with her that it was best to stay human so we could greet them better, and thankfully, she let me keep control.
Dealing with another entity in my own brain was still taking some getting used to, but now that I’d come into my elf nature, my whole body felt more balanced.
I spotted them at the back of the lobby area by the bar, some of them sitting while others stood leaning against the bar.
All six of them had made the trip this time.
I’d wondered if they needed to leave someone behind, clearly, I had my answer on that.
Mason was the first one to notice me and a huge smile graced his beautiful face.
His green eyes shone with excitement as he stood and hurried his way over to me, scooping me up in a bear hug and spinning me around.
“Snuggles, fuck, it’s good to have you back in my arms,” he murmured, shoving his face into the crook of my neck and taking a deep breath. “You smell like home and spice.”
“Stop hogging her, twin. The rest of us want to get a chance to hold her,” Noah grumbled, pulling me from his brother’s arms.
The moment Noah pulled me into a hug, all the stress and worry that had been running through my head settled.
His chocolate scents seemed to soothe me in a way only he could as he ran a hand down my back, whispering into my ear.
“You have no idea how much we missed you. Please don’t ever do that to us again.
I don’t think any of us could survive if anything happened to you. ”
I should have known my tender-hearted companion would feel the loss more than the others. “I’m sorry, I never should have left.”
“All that matters is you are back now, but you better go to Elias before he combusts,” Noah directed, pulling back and turning me, so I was facing the man in question.
Looking at my Sentinel, you never would have guessed I’d only been gone for two and a half days. He had shadows under his hazel eyes, his shaggy brown hair looked like he’d been constantly running his hands through it, and his shoulders were rigid as if he had been expecting the worst. “Elias...”
I didn’t get more out before his hand darted out and pulled me to him in a bone-crushing hug.
He tucked my head under his chin, and his body started to shake like he was crying but being able to sense his emotions, I knew it wasn’t tears he was holding back but anger.
“Why, why would you leave me? I told you to stay in the tunnels, then you vanished. My heart, you can’t do that to me.
I can’t lose you like I lost all the others.
I’m not strong enough to stay human if that were to happen.
The world would burn if it took you from me and I would burn with it. ”
Gently I pushed back from him and lifted my hands to grip his face, pulling it down so he could look me in the eye.
“Elias, I’m so sorry. You didn’t deserve that from me.
It will never happen again. I won’t ever run from you or the others, I swear on my life.
If I did, then I deserve to be burned with the world who betrayed you.
” Pressing up onto my toes, I sealed my lips to his in a promise knowing my words held power in them backed by my magic.
My chaste kiss wasn’t enough for him as he grabbed my ass and hauled me up, so my legs wrapped around him.
He kissed me like I was the one thing that would give him life, nipping at my lower lip before sucking it into his mouth and cleaning the blood off it.
He growled and thrust up against me and my body hummed with need for him in a much less intense version of my heat.
My body knew he was ours, and we wanted to claim him in all ways, not just with a kiss or words but in every way that I could.
Elias hissed, causing me to pull back from him, looking at him questioningly as he set me down.
Slowly he lifted his shirt to show the same mark of swirling lines that looked like a heart Rath had.
It seems that I’d permanently claimed Elias as my own and he had the mark to prove it.
“You came into your magic. We’re mated now,” Elias whispered in awe as he looked from the mark to me, pride glowing in them. “I can feel you in my mind and heart. The connection, it’s tethering me to you forever.”
I couldn’t help but grin at the excitement he had in his voice as he spoke.
Rathal took that moment to step up and introduce himself holding out his hand to Elias.
“Welcome to the nos officially, gwanur. I’m Rathal Zintris, Finley’s Guide and another of her mates, but please feel free to call me Rath like nin mel has chosen to. ”
Holding my breath, I waited to see what Elias’s reaction would be, but he surprised me by taking Rath’s hand and pulling him into a bro hug.
Out of all the reactions that could have happened, that was not one I was expecting at all.
I felt my jaw drop at the sight. Elias released Rath and looked over at me, giving me a wink.
My surly, brooding beta was winking at me and giving bro hugs—this had to be a dream.
“It’s crazy. I can feel him in our pack connection, like I know he’s family,” Elias explained, turning to the others who looked at him with equal shock and amazement.
Lane frowned at Elias’s words and rubbed his chest almost as if he was checking for himself if he was right. “Now that you say that, I can feel him on the edge, only attached to my mate bond with Finley, not the pack, though.”
“As you get to know me, that might change,” Rath commented, brushing a hand down my back, unconsciously drawn to touch me.
I glanced at him over my shoulder, trying to tell him I was going to my other mates, and I didn’t know how things would go after that point.
Colt and Zander were not ones to share. Well, neither was Elias, even before we were mated.
Maybe there was hope for us all to work this out and live together without anyone trying to kill each other.
Rath nodded at me, pressing a kiss to my temple before stepping back, letting me know he understood.
Zander stood there large and imposing, his arms crossed over his muscular chest. His silver eyes watched me approach with warring emotions in them.
Even without touching him, I could tell he was mad but also relieved to have me back.
Lane looked stressed and tired, his ever-present hands shoved in his jeans pockets, baseball cap off-center like he kept taking it off to run his hands through his hair.
Warm brown eyes shown with love and need, but his emotions told me it wasn’t sexual need.
It was the comfort of knowing I was in his arms. Colt, on the other hand, was a blaze of emotional extremes, making me need to shield myself from him as I came to a stop right in front of them.
Colt took a step forward, his curly blond hair wild like the wolf that he was, but his body hummed with alpha energy that wouldn’t allow you to forget who was in charge.
His full beard hid his expression, but I sensed he wasn’t smiling.
It was only a guess since I couldn’t look into his amber eyes with the power he was giving off.
My wolf was prone and begging for us to do something to show we were sorry, but my magic flared, pushing back at his energy.
I might not be able to meet his gaze because I was an omega, but no longer was I helpless to resist him as I once was.
I didn’t want to fight him, he was my mate and one of the alphas who loved and cared about me, but I wasn’t going to back down.
“Get on the plane, Finley,” Zander ordered, stepping up and putting a hand on Colt’s shoulder. “We can’t deal with this here. They won’t understand.”
Taking in my surroundings, I noticed that every single person in the lobby was watching what was going on.
So much for keeping a low profile, people would recognize Zander, and it would get out that he was here.
I should have made them promise that they would send the plane empty so we could have avoided this.
Lane stepped around both alphas and wrapped an arm around my shoulders, leading me away from the others.
“You have to understand he feels like he failed again, letting you get taken from him,” Lane murmured. “He was right back in the same place when he first lost Cory and his pack all those years ago. Colt’s never been one to deal with his emotions well, but he loves you, sweetheart, we all do.”
My eyes flicked up to him, wondering if he realized that he just told me he loved me for the first time.
Did he really mean it?
We’ve only been together for a week, how can you know something like that?