33 Roman
Roman
I’d been through many courses of natural disaster training, but that was more in line with city riots and power outages than combating the forces we faced now. The sheer magnitude of what we were up against was daunting, but the wolf shifters wasted no time in working to combat the rising waters.
And I saw the side of Meg I’d only caught glimpses of as she came to life in her role with her people. Kera had rushed downtown to set up defenses at the pack houses, while Meg led a team of shifters toward the bend in the river of what she’d called “Jareth’s station.”
It wasn’t until I saw the structure downriver and the massive gears powered by the water that I understood this was a hydro-electric generating plant about to be washed downstream.
“Fill sandbags and put them here!” Meg’s clear voice rang out above the pounding rain and rushing of the river.
I’d left Justus in the care of Marcus as I joined the wolf shifters that moved at Meg’s bidding, hoisting sand with shovels and pouring it into burlap sacks that Alec and Meg carried downstream with more ease than I’d think possible.
I worked alongside the shifters, still trying to come to terms with what Meg had said tonight.
She’d suffer—physically—if something separated us, in ways I couldn’t understand, but wasn’t eager to find out.
How was I supposed to go back to Ethica without her now and face my punishment for disobeying direct orders?
The councilwoman had worked for weeks to make this wedding happen.
We’d snuck her son away from the city in the dead of night to fuel the publicity she’d orchestrated around the event.
There was no way I’d be walking away from the council without retribution for messing up their plans.
Maybe Justus’s half-drunk idea would work.
It was all the hope I could cling to for now.
“I told her this would happen,” Meg muttered under her breath as she motioned for me to toss her the sandbag I’d just filled.
I hoisted it over my shoulder and tried to carry it to her, but she grabbed it with an ease that half-terrified and half-turned me on.
“Who? Kera?” I rubbed the strange spot in my chest. Since last night, it felt like I was getting pummeled with sensations that weren’t mine and I was pretty sure I could sense the wolf inside Meg.
The mate bond I assumed.
I was still trying to catch up.
Meg’s eyes widened when she realized she’d spoken out loud. At least, I thought she’d spoken out loud.
“Sorry. I’m just stressed.” Her smile despite the chaos was grounding. “It’s not a big deal. I’d just told her we were getting too dependent on this river, and she had… higher priorities.”
My jaw was tight as I nodded, knowing too well what Meg meant. How many times had I tried to question the ruling class, only to be told that no matter how high I advanced, it was still above my paygrade?
That frustration was a rot I kept hidden—buried deep to squash it. But I knew it was a disease that would eat you from the inside out if left to fester long enough. How long had Meg been carrying the same feelings?
We were more alike than I thought.
“Trish and Jax are coming!” someone cried.
Meg dropped the sandbag and held my hand tightly, as if she was trying to force her excitement into me.
I watched in amazement as the ground swelled and spread out, stretching the river with it, when the big dude I’d met earlier in the cabin and Meg’s sister—the one with teal hair—chanted some ancient language in unison.
Dad wouldn’t believe this.
I was mated to a werewolf and I could still hardly understand what I was seeing now. The earth was shifting with their magic.
“They can’t keep this up along the whole river.” Alec panted as she threw a sandbag on the bank beside us, turning her face to the pouring rain to scream, “You can stop the fucking rain at any time!”
“I’m not sure it’s the best idea to curse at the gods,” I said.
Meg patted my shoulder. “Just let her work it out of her system. Otherwise, stuff gets weird.”
My mate turned and marched back to the sand pile, leaving me to catch up. I hated to say that I stole a moment to watch how the rain soaked her pants and shirt, leaving the material clinging to her muscular, womanly curves as she barked out orders to the shifters still filling sandbags.
“Fill the truck instead,” she told them. “Then take it downstream to work on the next choke point in case Trish and Jaxon can’t keep up with their magic.”
Howls rang out at her order and a lightness seemed to motivate the group, urging them to work faster.
I picked up a shovel.
“Not you.” Meg nodded at me. “We need to get to Kera and help out in town while the wolf-witches save Jareth’s Place.”
I looked at the shovel in my hand and toward the truck being quickly filled with sandbags. “I can drive.”
“It’ll be faster if I give you a ride.” It was the first hint of hesitation I’d seen on her face since she’d assumed command of this area.
I abandoned the shovel. “What’s wrong?”
Meg took a cautious step back. “I’m going to change.” She gripped the bottom of her shirt.
Here? Now? With all these people around?
I frowned, confused, until she peeled the shirt over her head. Then I forgot what we were talking about for a second while I stared at her perfect tits.
Fur broke out along her skin as her torso began to elongate. Her bones bent and changed in unnatural ways, and a break in the clouds above let the moonlight shine down through the pouring rain where four brown paws stood in a puddle that only two feet had been in before.
I smiled to myself when Meg’s soulful eyes turned up to me, shining through the wolf’s face.
And somehow—against all logic—I felt the nervousness of the beast.
I lowered to my knee, trying not to frighten her, as I held out my hand and ignored the flash of human self-preservation that told me not to get close to those teeth.
Meg’s wolf whined.
“You’re beautiful,” I whispered, trying to soothe her. “Can I touch you?”
In answer, she nuzzled my hand.
I was petting a wolf.
Meg’s beast pawed the ground as her tail swished anxiously behind her. Apparently, she’d had enough scratches. I stood, trying to make sense of what she needed. The wolf was tall, coming up to my hip, and she brushed against my leg, shoving me a few steps backwards.
“She wants you to climb on and go for a ride,” Alec growled as she marched past.
Meg whined again and scratched the muddy ground harder.
“On your back?” I shook my head. “I’ll hurt you.”
“Oh, come on.” Alec caught a sandbag from the air and hoisted it over her shoulder while their other sister manipulated the shore of the riverbank with magic. “Your mate is a werewolf. Stop being a macho idiot and let her take you for a ride.”
Meg’s wolf nodded, bumping my side again.
Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I’d be riding a werewolf—my mate, nonetheless—through a forest at night, but it was actually kind of cool once I forced myself to relax.
My dad would love this.
I clung to Meg nervously at first, afraid I’d pull her fur or hurt her in some way, but she moved with the grace and speed of something unencumbered. While that may have been a small hit to my pride, I couldn’t deny how much faster this mode of transportation was.
It seemed no time at all when we arrived at the edge of town and Meg’s wolf stopped to let me off.
I moved to take off my own shirt as she changed back to human, kicking myself for not grabbing her clothes.
“As much as I appreciate the view, now’s probably not the time to get frisky.” Meg winked at me, digging into a bin tucked into the tree line I hadn’t noticed.
I paused with my shirt halfway off when I saw her pulling out something else to wear. “That’s convenient.”
Meg tugged on another long shirt. “Wolf shifters don’t really care about nudity, but human skin tears easier than fur.”
“I meant the clothes.” I peered into the bin, seeing the pile of neatly folded material. “Everyone shares clothes like this?”
“Well, we’re pack.” She studied me. “That’s what packs do. We share and help each other out.”
My smile was strained as I nodded.
We sure were a long way from Ethica.
“We should get going.” Meg stepped away.
I caught her by the hand, needing just a moment before the next round of chaos began. From what I’d seen of Cerberus so far, they were big and loud and in each other’s business, but they loved fiercely, sharing their feelings openly with each other.
Meg belonged out here, and I might not have much, but I wanted to give her what she deserved.
“I think I’m falling in love with you,” I admitted.
She huffed a laugh. “That’s the mate bond talking.”
“No.” I shook my head. “I’ve been falling for you since you breezed into my world.”
“Breezed, huh?” Meg grinned as she stepped closer. “I feel like I’m more of a tornado.”
“That too.” I wrapped my arms around her waist. “You definitely don’t belong in Ethica.”
She stilled under my touch. “You’re planning something. I won’t let you do it. Where you go, I go.”
“I don’t think it’s going to be that simple,” I said, staring at her lips.
“Nothing about our love story is simple.”
“No, I guess it’s not.” I kissed her briefly, already missing her taste as she turned and pulled me out of the forest.
“Come on,” she said. “As much as I love a good romance moment, now is really not the time.”
The cobblestone street was empty, but we followed the sounds of chaos down to the water where the bank curved towards the row of cottage-like houses I assumed most of the pack lived in.
“On the count of three!” Alpha Kera stood knee deep in the rising waters with a rope tied to a tree that had been uprooted and fallen into the river.
The shifters moved at her command, and when I turned to find Meg, she was already at the head of the line, right behind Kera.
My heart leapt into my throat and I hurried to join in. Wind and rain beat into my eyes making it hard to see, but the warmth of the bodies pressed in tight blocked the worst of the torrent while we heaved as one.
There was a large crack as some branches broke off and the rope sagged.