by Ellie Pond
Elizabeth took Tad’s hand and steered him to the service stairs. She led him down to her cabin. He laughed, a sexy smirk on his face.
“Stop it. We need to talk.”
He growled at her. “Sorry, that just came out.” She knew what he meant. Their mouths were saying one thing, but their bodies were demanding something else.
“First, we didn’t mate last night? Right?”
He raised an eyebrow at her. “No, we did not.”
“Okay, I didn’t think so; I just wanted to ask. Oh, gosh, that’s not why I brought you out here . . . well, partly. It’s just I’m off, not myself. And I was wondering if it had something to do with you, or rather with us, or . . .” She stared over his head for a second. “See, like that. I wanted to say the magic, spark, shock or whatever it was, but I second-guessed myself—that’s not like me at all. I’m a scientist. I don’t fear the unknown—I test it. Now I’m talking in Swedish. Am I going crazy? I can’t find a reference to anything like this in the research. Granted, I spend my time studying the ending of mating.”
He waited for her to make sure she was done. “You’re not going crazy.” He guided her over to the desk and gently made her sit down. He wrapped his arms around her so that her head rested on his belly. A calming sensation spread through her. He rubbed her back lightly. She sighed loudly.
“If I’m not going crazy then what’s happening?” She looked up at him, her eyes wide. He felt it too.
“The Swedish—it’s not Swedish, it’s Norwegian. Or most likely Norwegian. We haven’t mated, but we are bonding. And my mother is Norwegian. It’s a bit of transfer, that’s all. It will go away,” he said.
“You mean when you’re gone,” she said, muffled by his chest.
“Yes, when I’m gone.”
She stayed in his arms for another minute before pulling away. “And the other, the confusion? In all my research, I haven’t seen anything like this that’s come up.”
“Nor have I. I’m in a bit of a fog too. And it’s too much of a coincidence. It’s because of the magic surge off of Sam.”
She glared at him and stared him down. “And?”
“Right, and. So, after you kicked me out this morning, Violet was waiting for me. Or rather, she seemed to know the precise moment to be walking down the hall. We had a chat.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “And?”
“The surge of magical energy contained visions. Visions that overwhelmed Sam, and I absorbed.”
She waited.
“Visions that Violet needs to understand.” He paced in a tight circle, her enormous eyes looking up at him.
“So?”
“I shared them, but with Sam. Violet said they would overload me and that I needed to let her cleanse me of them.”
“But?”
“In the process she gave me some memories I’d lost. Never had, really. If she cleanses me, I will lose them. But I should be able to handle keeping it all.”
“Violet said that you can handle it?”
“I can.”
“You just know you can? Do you hear yourself? Here I thought you weren’t like all the alphas.” She fixed her bun. “We’re getting off the point. The memories. If Violet said you should be cleansed, you need to be cleansed. Because you’re sharing them with me too. And I have to be able to think clearly. Between the language thing and the dream-visions, I’m losing it.”
“I can’t let her cleanse me.”
“What do you mean you can’t? Or you won’t?”
Tad put his hand on Elizabeth’s cheek. They stared at each other for a moment.
“Oh no you don’t. You don’t get to distract me with your touch.”
“I wasn’t.”
“Yes, you were. What would you call that?” She took his hand from her face.
“I would call that calming myself down.”
“Oh.”
He leaned in and kissed her, and she kissed him back.
“That was distracting you.” He was charming.
She moaned. “We agreed mating was off the table. In fact, I need . . .”
He nibbled on her ear before he pulled away.
“Well, we shouldn’t bond any more.” Her hands were still on his shoulder and chest.
“Right.” It sounded like he didn’t believe her. Then again, she didn’t believe it herself.
17
Elizabeth's Cabin
He brushed his thumb along her chin. And with the slightest suggestion, she leaned into him. He claimed her lips, this time until she pulled away, heaving. Her eyes dilated, and the scent of her arousal curled around them.
He leaned against the desk. A sound in the hallway caused him to look towards the door, and he didn’t see his mate until the last second. She threw herself up against him until he fell, seated in the desk chair. She wrapped her legs around him, her lips crashing against his. Their bodies ground against each other. Perfection. Able to fill his hunger while making him crave more, his beautiful vixen. He held her close, racing his hands down her back and into her hair. His head was empty while Elizabeth filled every ounce of him. His wolf pounded at his skin. Mate. Mate. Mate.
With the greatest effort, he pulled back from her, both of them panting. His passion created clarity in more than his desire. This woman, who fate made him for, was all that he would ever want. But it wasn’t only for him to decide. He placed her on her feet in front of him.
“I crave you. But I’m not sure this is what you want. If you’re not sure, we need to stop.”
She nodded at him. Neither of them spoke as they caught their breath. He reached out and brought Elizabeth to his chest, wrapping his arms around her in a tight embrace.
He turned his head to the hallway. Several pairs of heavy footsteps passed the door. One stopped for a moment. Tad’s wolf went on full alert while Elizabeth was deep in thought. “Where did you go?” he asked.
She stared over at the door. The footsteps were now gone. Could she hear them? “Sorry, I’m having problems concentrating. My mind’s jumping around a bit.”
“Understandable. You’ve got a few things to think about.”
Her expression changed. “That’s more than true.”
“What’s going on? Let me help you.” He rubbed her arm before pulling himself away from her.
She glanced at him and pursed her lips.
He nodded. Did she not understand that he couldn’t betray her for another? If they chose to not mate, he would be alone forever.
She nodded once. “You heard Anna. Captain Matthias is coming down to talk to me. But he’s going to want to talk about more than the MOB. He wants a firm answer about the research. I don’t want to leave Dark Wing. But I have obligations to people I care about. Promises I made to myself. I’m not stopping my research. He’s going to want an answer. And I don’t want to give it to him. Because I don’t want to leave.”
Panic hit him in the gut. His pulse increased. The vision that he had to keep secret was about the dragon. “Yes,” he said calmly, glad that his mate was human and couldn’t hear or smell the things going on with his body.
“He told me why he wants me to change my research now. Dragons are dying.”
“What?”
“The captain’s sister is trying to have a baby and can’t. He told me before. The last time. While Captain Matthias’s human form is a public figure and his dragon is out, it’s never been photographed. And there are dragons in hiding still. The Tabloids love to exploit the few dragons that are public.”
They were mysterious to even the shifter community. More than once in college he had a group of shifter friends who sat around and talked about what it would be like to be a dragon. With the money and fame. It had never interested him. All the attention. People wanting to get close to you for the influence. He didn’t want that.
“He has a sister?”
“It’s not common knowledge. He introduces her as a friend to most people, and with his reputation . . . I s
aw an article that once said that she was his girlfriend. It’s amazing how the dragons have been able to control their story at all. Dragons have gone infertile, with no births for fifty years.”
“There’s a Hollywood director and his mate. Don’t they have children?”
“I asked the same thing too. They’re adopted—bear cubs who lost their parents. He’s asked me to keep it quiet. The tabloids haven’t brought it up, and he wants to keep it that way.”
“I will not say a word to anyone.” He pulled her in for a hug. “What do you want to do?”
“I base my decisions in science. Which is for the best. But here, the extinction of a race versus the premature deaths of thousands a year has no good outcome. And that’s even saying that I can solve either of the issues.” From the tone of her voice, he knew that she wasn’t being insecure but realistic. And she was right.
“You told me how important the ship is, but you would walk away, work on the mainland?” Letting her be near Tad. Only a slight wisp of guilt fell over him.
“I have a standing offer at a research facility in Virginia. But . . .”
“. . . it’s not practicing medicine.”
“But if I focused only on my research, it would speed things up.”
“That’s not always true. Focusing on one thing can sometimes stunt creative thinking. And it would be mundane.” Tad ran a hand over her arm.
“Exactly.” Her eyes dilated. “I don’t deal well with boredom. If I had to take a vacation on a cruise ship, I’d go batty.”
“Exactly.” She was perfect. Fuck. But while his body called out for hers, she needed to focus on her research. He remembered the early years of his business, when he slept in his lab or office, only eating out if it was for a business meeting. Shut up, his wolf said. Mate. No. His mind was still clouded. Was it from the vision zap or the mating lust? He wasn’t sure. The churn of his gut told him there was more.
“Elizabeth?” He cleared his throat and took a step away. He felt his city persona slip into place. The one that kept people out. “I’ll go talk to Violet. We both need to be thinking clearly.” He was far from being able to focus.
“Oh.” She sighed and shivered a second as if she had only now realized where she was and whom she was with. With a sentence, he ruined the intimacy they had been building up again. He told himself it was what she would truly want.
18
Re-bound
The pounding on the door bounced around the hall. Violet was in there. Her heartbeat was steady. The wind circled the corridor, and the door flew open.
“Nice dramatics.” Tad strutted in, no longer surprised by the glossy-stark room.
“Mutt, close the door behind you.” She waved her hand around in the air above her head.
Tad left the door open and crossed the shiny floor to the silk-robed witch. He peered at her. Interesting, he picked up on no fear from her. He wasn’t an alpha, but the anger radiating off of him would upset most. He stood across from her on the edge of the orange circle that dominated the room.
“I don’t get this sitting-on-the-floor thing.”
“Visual clutter.” She motioned for him to sit across from her on the other side of the circle. He reluctantly sat.
“How’s this comfortable?” Tad sat in his borrowed scrub pants; he’d almost worn shorts today.
“I have no need for comfort. You came to talk to me about my aversion to furniture?”
“No.” She knew why he’d come, of that he had no doubt.
“You’re experiencing some side effects of the ward containing the visions and memories you retained?”
“I am.” He studied his pristine loafers.
“And you would like the offending feelings removed?”
“No. I don’t want the feelings removed. I’m furious that I wasn’t allowed to have them to begin with. I’m questioning who I even am now.”
“This isn’t my story to tell.” Violet reached across the circle to touch his hand. He didn’t flinch from her touch, but he didn’t welcome it either. She pulled her hand back. It might not be her story to tell. But he wanted, no, needed it.
“Your mother and her friend—you want to understand how they intertwined into your father’s pack? How they came to live with the enemy?”
Tad shifted in his seat—a clear signal he didn’t like the word.
“To most witches that’s what they are: the enemy.”
“My mother found love with my father, the alpha of the pack.” Something about their marriage never sat right with him.
Violet lifted her head. “Why aren’t you the alpha of the pack, mutt?”
“I was too young. It’s not what I would have wanted, anyway.”
“Or your pack. They knew. They know what Lara is. Not all of them. She’s tried to keep it from so many. It’s been told that a witch and a wolf would marry and that the war would end. But what the vision doesn’t tell us is how. Or if the witches come out on top. There are a lot in the community that don’t want the war to end if we can’t see the victor. That’s why the two hid who they are. Why they bound your magic. And they were married before the war. Part of the cause, even. With your protection down, there would be those who would find you. Those who would attack to keep the status quo. Not only witches, but others. Trolls . . . even the fae don’t want the war to pick up again.
He flinched.
“Ah, you didn’t understand. Yes, well, your mother has extraordinary amounts of power. And power isn’t something that most communities give over to their perceived enemies willingly. Not that they had a choice. Your father wouldn’t have been welcome in our coven. Not then. Perhaps now. A lot has changed.”
He nodded at her, and she continued. “Your mother was my friend when she was young. Sometimes I get visions of friends, not often, but it’s harder. I had visions of her. And your father. The same with your aunt and uncle, which made no sense. Your aunt, the human, and a wolf. The visions came over and over for years until they faded away.
“I was able to remove the ward and your binding spell because your mother’s magic has a signature, a scent if you will. I helped her develop it, so she’s skilled. Two of our best walked right away from us one night. And no one understood why. Granted, Aurora’s mother married a human. And didn’t move near Lara until the war was settled into the awkward peace it stands at today.”
“I’ve known. I figured it out.” He saw them one summer night when the older pack kids had run off to the lake to skinny dip, the two of them chanting over the hill with someone he didn’t know. Shifted, he crept to the top of the hill and saw three of them around a fire. He ran back to the lake and distracted the rest of the kids from the hill by taking them on a chase away from his mother. But he didn’t talk to her about it. He didn’t dare.
A tear rolled down his cheek. When he spoke this time, he understood the difference. The words always choked in his throat when he tried to speak of the night to anyone.
“I saw her once, I knew.” He sighed and shook, the pain hitting him. Being able to admit out loud made the reality of it hit him. “A mutt.” He hated that word. He regretted using it himself. “I don’t want my emotions bound again. But I can’t focus. And it’s spreading to my mate and we haven’t . . . we haven’t mated yet. I need to understand the physiological damage it will do to her as a human when, or if, we mate. I don’t want her hurt. So, if you need to do it, that’s fine, but you can’t hurt Elizabeth doing it.” They said they would go their own ways after the cruise, but he would never hurt her, if he had the ability to prevent it.
“I want to keep the healer safe too. But there are so many opportunities for error.” Creases appeared on Violet’s overly smooth face. She wrapped her robe around her body. Was she frailer than the last time he saw her? “I understand what you’re saying. Right now, your magic breathes on its own. You don’t control it—it controls you. And worst of all, your protection is down too. The most dangerous combination of the two. If you’re atta
cked, you can’t protect yourself.”
Tad flinched. “I have my wolf.” Not that his wolf and he were on speaking terms. When was the last time he shifted? A low growl started in his belly.
“Yes, like I said, you will be unprotected. You cannot defend yourself from a magical creature that is twice or four times your age. And your wolf is stifled and weak from what I can feel.”
“I can handle it.” His wolf didn’t agree. Four times his age?
“Your sheer cockiness will get you hurt. You don’t understand what will come for you. Like a new born pup. Your mother was once powerful enough for a place on the council. And that kind of power will attract attention, if you have even a thimbleful of it. Could you take on a fae? I think not.”
“I need to keep my genuine memories and be able to think. Is that possible? That’s why I’m here.” Tad ran his fingers through his light brown hair.
“Yes. But it won’t be easy and I will need Samantha.” She examined him. “You’ve looked better, mutt. With your sunken eyes and sour aura, you remind me of me.” She cackled. “Let’s see what we can do for you. If you leave this ship with your powers exposed, you’re defenseless.”
He expected her to burn incense or chant around him. Instead, she pulled out her phone from her silk robe and texted someone.
Violet put the phone back in her pocket. Tad squirmed on the floor. She watched him examine the room from where he sat. He popped up and walked over to the porthole. He lifted the blind. Waves sloshed against the side of the ship. No land and nothing else but waves. He didn’t need to glance back at Violet to know she was staring at him. He wandered over to the computer and sat on the stool. The screen had three colored bars—red, green, and orange, as if it was downloading something, and numbers ticked against each.
“Sam’s invention.”
