Chapter 7

[ELARA]

The glass cracks under the pressure of that big dark looking thing outside. The rain is also pouring harder against it, making vision hard. Those red eyes though are clearly locked on Leo’s door like they already know exactly where my son is sleeping.

Damn it, just when I thought we were safe for now.

Kaelen’s growl fills the whole room. He shifts halfway with white fur racing up his arms and claws out. I grab the back of his shirt before he can smash through the window himself.

I don’t want to have a full blown battle when Leo is just in the next room.

“Don’t,” I say. “Leo is right behind that door.”

The shadow tilts its head and for a second I think it is going to break the glass for real. Maybe the battle is unavoidable after all. Then a deep voice carries through the storm, rough and almost laughing.

“Alpha, if you keep growling like that the whole pack will think you finally lost your mind.”

Kaelen freezes and the purple in his eyes flickers. The shape outside steps closer and the rain washes enough of the blur away for me to see a broad man in a soaked black coat. Its not a monster, Just one of Kaelen’s own people. The red glow fades from his eyes until they look normal again.

Kaelen’s claws pull back into human hands as he yanks the window open a crack and rain takes its chance to pour on the floor inside.

“Riven. Explain yourself before I throw you off the roof.”

Riven grins like this is the funniest thing that has happened all week. “Patrol duty, the storm knocked out the eastern cameras so I came to check the private wing like you ordered last month.

I saw movement and thought someone was trying to break in. Well it turns out it was just you two looking ready to eat each other.”

My face burns. Kaelen’s jaw tightens so hard I hear his teeth click.

“You scared my mate and my son,” Kaelen says. The word mate slips out before he can stop it and it makes my stomach flip.

Riven’s eyes go wide for half a second, clearly he was also caught off guard. Then he laughs, loud and easy. “Apologies, Alpha, and to the lady. I didn’t mean to ruin the moment, I’ll fix the cameras and leave you alone.”

He gives a quick nod toward me, still grinning, and disappears back into the rain. Kaelen slams the window shut and locks it again. The room suddenly feels too quiet after all that noise.

I let out a breath I did not know I was holding. “Your patrol needs better manners.”

“Riven has never had manners,” Kaelen mutters. “But he is loyal. And he will not talk about what he saw.”

I walk over to Leo’s door and open it just enough to check. My boy is still asleep, one arm thrown over the stuffed wolf I found in the guest room earlier to replace Mr. Whiskers for now. His mouth is open and he is drooling a little on the pillow. He instantly calms my inner turmoil.

When I close the door again Kaelen is standing right behind me. Close enough that I feel the heat coming off him.

“You called me your mate,” I say without turning around.

“I did.”

“You threw that word away five years ago.”

“I was wrong five years ago.” His voice is low. “I have been wrong every day since.”

I turn. The black t-shirt is also now wet from the rain and stuck to his chest and his hair is a mess. He looks tired and hungry and too handsome for my own good. The dragon under my skin pushes heat through my blood like she is done waiting.

“You cannot just say things like that and expect me to melt,” I tell him. “I am not the same girl who used to wait for you after every pack run.”

“I know.” He reaches up and brushes a tiny piece of glass from my hair that somehow stayed there this whole time. His fingers are gentle. “You are stronger now. Meaner, prettier and I still want you more than I want air.”

The honesty in his voice hits harder than any growl. I should push him away, instead I stand there and let his hand stay against the side of my neck.

“Leo is the only reason I am still in this house,” I say. “Not your pretty words.”

“I know that too.” A small smile pulls at the corner of his mouth. “But I will keep saying them until you believe them.”

Thunder rolls one last time outside, but it is softer now. The storm is finally ending. Somewhere down the hall a pack member laughs and another one shushes him as normal night sounds come back.

Kaelen’s thumb strokes once across my pulse. My heart answers too fast.

“Stay the rest of the night,” he says. “In the morning we face whatever Seraphina started. Together.”

I look at the closed door where my son sleeps. Then I look at the man who once broke me and is now standing here offering to burn the whole territory for us.

“One more night,” I say. “That is all I am promising.”

Kaelen nods like he just won something important. He steps back enough to give me space, but his eyes never leave mine.

“Good. Because tomorrow I plan to start proving I am worth more than one night.”

This reminds me of how we first met, but that’s a story for another day.

I walk toward the master bedroom before I can say something stupid back. My legs feel unsteady. The dragon inside me is still humming with heat and want. Behind me I hear Kaelen settle onto the couch with a long quiet sigh.

I close the bedroom door and lean against it. My underwear is still damp from earlier and my skin still remembers the way his thumb felt on my lip. Outside the storm has almost stopped. Inside my head a different kind of storm is only getting louder.

I crawl into the big bed alone and stare at the ceiling. Somewhere on the other side of the wall Leo is safe and dreaming. And on the couch a few feet away is the only man who has ever made me feel this mixed up of hate and desire at the same time.

Sleep does not come easy and when it finally does, I dream of white fur and the exact sound of Kaelen’s voice saying the word mate like I still belong to him.

I wake up sometime later with my heart racing. The room is dark and quiet. For a second I think I’m still dreaming but no. Then I feel it.

The mate bond, I didn’t feel it this way when I first met Kaelen because I was still a human. My dragon was dormant then, but now...

It is real and alive and pulling at the center of my chest like a string someone just yanked hard. Heat floods through me so fast that my thighs press together on their own. I can feel Kaelen’s need as clear as if he is right beside me. Want that has been waiting five years is finally slipping.

My hand is already on the door handle before I realize what I am doing.

I stop with my fingers wrapped around the cold metal. One more step and I will be out there with him. One more step and I might not come back to this bed alone.

I stay frozen in the dark, breathing hard, while the bond keeps pulling me toward my mate.