Morlie.Damn, he needed her.As long as she was away from him, it was as if he wasn’t whole—a fractured man.He’d heard others talk about the soul-level of need they felt toward their mates and that it was like no other bond, but he had barely registered their words.He’d believed those shifters to be weak.He couldn’t imagine how his Beta managed with two mates.However, Bleddyn did say it was a different ache once the bonding was complete.
Chanin couldn’t fucking imagine the ache being greater and being able to stand it.If only the pre-bite he’d placed on Morlie had him this twisted inside, then he’d be worth shit once he gave her the sealing bite.
Maybe I should have shifted and gone for a run, delaying the meeting.However, Chanin couldn’t delay tracking down his cousin.That situation needed rectifying now.Farkas was wily and wouldn’t remain in one place for long.
Another deep breath made him a little steadier.Chanin gathered up clothes and changed out of his business attire.After he put on his T-shirt and jeans, he left his room.
The scent of food greeted him as he walked back into the front area.
“While we waited outside, I figured we could kill two birds while we waited for Boris.”Rudie smiled from where she stood beside the table laden with food.
“Your acts of service intuition never cease to amaze me, runt.”Chanin reached over and ruffled her short hair as he claimed his seat at the eight-person table.
Rudie’s cheeks turned crimson as she swatted his hand away.She rolled her eyes.“I’m not a kid, Alpha.”
It was true.Rudie wasn’t a pup anymore, and one day soon, a wolf in his Pack would see her for the lovely and special she-wolf she was and want to take her as a mate.Chanin didn’t know how to handle it without wanting to kill the wolf for even thinking about Rudie.However, he knew he’d have to let her have her own life.Maybe they would be able to find a cure for the infertility of the females in his Pack, and taking a mate wouldn’t mean Rudie had to share or fear a human woman would steal them away.
He grinned and gave her a playful wink.“You will always be a kid to me, runt.”
“I agree.No full-grown wolf could be that small.You think she’s an elf or fairy in disguise?”Bleddyn, who sat across from her, his plate already filled, joined in on the teasing.
“Maybe.We could have Rudie tested.Get one of the elders to have her shift for them.”Chanin served up food on his plate.He was grateful for his assistant’s foresight because he was starving.He needed sustenance if they would go after his cousin and the others.
Rudie shook her head as she sat down on his other side.
Even though they picked with her about her shifting, it did concern him that Rudie had never changed into her wolf form since he’d rescued her.She told him she had shifted before when she was with her family.Chanin could sense her latent wolf and knew it was there, but he wasn’t sure why Rudie kept it contained.He was her alpha, but as her guardian, he refused to push her into something that may trigger her.
They were halfway through their second plate when Boris walked in.
“Good you’re here.”Chanin waved him toward a seat at the table.“Join us.I want to build a strategy to bring my cousin to justice.”
“The time for planning may be over.I’ve word that Farkas’s band is holding two Fae women.”Boris stopped at the far end of the table.
“Fuck!”Chanin got to his feet.“This will cause a war.If we don’t get to them before Iskah discovers they are gone, and they are in our territory, she will bring an army of Fae here.”
“First the Drahks, now the Fae.”Bleddyn pushed aside his plate before he shoved back from the table.
“Once I got word from the scout team.I assembled the fang warriors,” Boris announced.
Chanin couldn’t figure out how Farkas managed to cross undetected in and out of other territories.It didn’t matter at the moment.He had to get the females out.“Farkas must be stopped.Now.”
