2. Finley
Finley
There were many things that would wake me up in an instant, but having your own magical forest sounding alarm bells in your brain wasn’t one I planned on ever experiencing.
I sat bolt upright, looking around the space, realizing we never left the couch nest we had made.
The dim glow of the sun starting to rise told me it was early, and I’d managed to get some sleep.
The urgency that my magic was pushing at me reminded me why I was awake. Climbing over the back of the couch, I quietly padded down the stairs using all my senses to keep alert.
Something was coming.
I walked to the back door that opened to the deck and slipped outside, down the steps, until my feet landed on grass.
Closing my eyes, I let my magic surge into the ground.
It felt like a pack of wolves on the hunt tracking down their prey.
Someone had dared to enter our lands without my approval and the forest was not happy.
The forest sent me flashes of images from animals in the area, but nothing was making sense.
It was all blurry, like whoever they were, moved too fast. Elias had mentioned there was a vampire that came looking for me.
Was it returning? Why would a vampire come looking for me in the first place?
I’d never interacted with them other than the moments before I killed them.
There’s no way they could be tied to the vampires we killed back in Florida…
could they? No, that definitely didn’t make sense.
It was more likely the Senate or Dark Ring sent an assassin after me.
There was no secret to me being here and I’m sure they thought being in Zander’s big house with no pack around to save me would be an easy target.
If that was their logic, they would be sadly mistaken.
I was even more deadly than I was, just as a normal assassin.
“Nin mel, what’s wrong? I can feel your magic everywhere,” Rath said in a soft voice as he came to stand beside me. He didn’t reach out to touch me or try to press into my mind, which I was glad for because I didn’t know what my magic would do right now.
“Someone’s here,” I murmured.
“Is it Ayla?” he asked.
I shook my head. “No, my magic and the forest would recognize her as one of us. Whatever is coming isn’t an elf.
” I heard more footsteps on the deck as my mates joined us.
“Please stay up there,” I requested, opening my eyes to look back at them.
“I’m not sure what’s coming, but my magic is flooding the earth around me, and I don’t want it to risk hurting you. ”
“Why would your magic hurt us? We are your mates and carry part of you inside us from when we created the soul bond,” Elias asked.
Part of me was ashamed to say it, but I refused to lie to them. “I don’t trust it just yet. Like our wolves, my magic had a mind of its own, and right now, I never know what it’s going to do.”
“That will come with time,” Rath said, trying to soothe my emotions. “How close is it?”
Letting my eyes fall closed, I could tell my magic was closing in on them. Branches of trees started to reach out, blocking the intruder from advancing as quickly, herding it in the direction I wanted.
Then it stopped.
“I know what you’re doing!” they yelled, keeping themselves hidden in shadow. “I’m not here to harm you. I want to talk to the Light Elf Queen.”
My eyes snapped open at that. How could he have known anything about that? Could word have traveled so fast already? Ayla said she and only two other people in her clan knew what I might become.
“It stopped,” I shared. “They want to talk to the Elf Queen.”
“The fuck they’re going to talk to you. We don’t even know who or what this goddamn thing is!” Zander shouted, his words echoing with a growl.
“I’m with him. It could be a trap,” Mason added. “They could say anything to draw you out, then more would come and attack.”
Checking in with the forest, it confirmed what I guessed. “There is only one thing on our land that shouldn’t be here. The forest is on high alert right now and would notice the smallest misstep.”
“My heart, you’re not going,” Elias stated, his arms crossed, immovable in his opinion. “We will go see who’s dared to enter our lands, assuming they can talk to our mate while you stay here.”
While I understood where he was coming from, I didn’t appreciate the tone he was using.
I knew his wolf was in charge right now with how his eyes glowed and the emotions I could feel coming off him.
Off them all now that I opened myself back up to that part of my senses.
With my magic running rampant, I’d instinctively closed off everything else to control what was happening.
“I believe it might be best if we all go,” Lane suggested. “Finley isn’t going to remain behind, and we won’t let her do this alone, so we all go.”
Zander snarled at that, his hands balling into fists as he started to pace. “You know this was so much easier when you would listen to us when we gave an order.”
“I’m going to take the asinine words you just said and chalk it up to your wolf speaking instead of you,” I snapped.
“I understand you all want to keep me safe, but let us not forget I made a contract with your mother to take down the Senate, kill her mate, and destroy the Dark Ring once and for all. There is no way you can stop me because if you do, then the magically bound deal I made will kill me.” I flashed him my wrist where the mark I shared with Morwyn sat until we’d both held up our ends of the contract.
Zander paused, his eyes zeroing in on my wrist like he’d forgotten about that part of all this.
“You will let us speak to this trespasser alone. You will remain hidden with Rath, Elias, Mason, and Noah until we say otherwise. As alphas of this pack, we have every right to deal with this interloper. He’s on our pack lands. ”
“That’s fair,” I agreed. “While I might be something important to the elves, it doesn’t change at all that these are your pack lands first and foremost. What happens on pack land or with the pack itself should be handled by their alphas.”
“Now that we have that settled, I don’t think it’s wise to leave whatever’s come to pay us a visit alone on our lands much longer,” Colt pointed out. “Little one, can you lead us there?”
“I can,” I answered with a nod. “But you don’t need me to. If you follow the pull of the magic you have within you, it will lead you where you need to go.”
Zander walked up to me, holding my face with both his large hands. “I’m sorry little dove, I shouldn’t have said that to you. My anger got the better of me, and I lashed out, which is no way for a man to treat his mate.”
“I forgive you,” I said, settling my hands over his. “Fear makes us act out irrationally, and the more we care about someone, the worse that fear gets if they are in danger. While we are quickly becoming a strong group, there are still going to be growing pains.”
He caught my lips in a deep kiss, his tongue delving into my mouth as if he could steal the breath from my lungs.
Zander always seemed more comfortable showing his feelings through actions or gifts rather than words.
Knowing he was the last of my mates to build a soul bond with, I took this opportunity to rectify that problem.
My magic was more than eager to claim this final mate of mine, drawing them into a deeper connection. It dragged me along our mate bond as wolves until I was shoved into Zander’s soul, where his wolf nearly bit off my face. I could feel Zander try to jerk back from me, but I held on tightly.
“Easy there, it’s just me,” I murmured to his wolf.
Once he heard my voice and picked up on my scent, he relaxed and butted his snowy-colored head against my hip. Smiling, I scratched behind his ears for a moment, then hunched down so we were eye level.
“I’m going to bring you with me for a moment. We’re going to see my wolf. Think you can give up control long enough to let me lead?”
His wolf sneezed, shaking his head, and took a step back, clearly uncertain about my request.
“Trust me, as your mate, as the woman who loves you more than anyone else ever could. I don’t want to take your power away from you.
I want to be your partner. My dream is for us all to build this new life together, using all of our strengths to support those around us.
Please, I want us to be in this together, not always fighting for who’s in control. ”
The large white wolf with the silver eyes that match those I saw in both his forms studied me. He seemed to be weighing my words, but I knew he understood what I’d said. Now, I just needed him to take a step of faith.
Which he did.
Moving so he stood next to me, he nudged my shoulder as if I was the one holding things up.
Grinning, I stood and let my hand sink into his thick, coarse fur down to the soft undercoat.
Then, wrapping us both in my magic, I pulled us back to where my wolf lived alongside the well of magic.
Each time I did this, the space here became more blended and at peace.
My elf magic at one point scared my wolf off to the corner to hide, but now she wasn’t as scared.
In fact, as we arrived, there she was, sleeping next to the bubbling fountain that calmly represented my magic.
Seeing her, Zander’s wolf gave a yip of excitement and rushed off, licking her face to wake her up. When she realized who was there, she rolled onto her back, pawing at his face playfully. Her tail wagged nonstop as she enjoyed the attention of her mate, who’d taken so long to come and see her.
“I hate to break up this moment for you two, but I need to bring him back. There is a problem in our woods and I need him to help me protect us,” I explained.