“Sorry, ladies. That shit won’t work on me.” He grinned. “But now I get to play.”
He flicked his wrist in our direction and the negation spell died on my lips.
What the fuck were we doing? Sloane should know better. She was supposed to be a leader; instead we’d wasted time arguing when we could have saved this woman.
The human thing was no longer important. Only having my say with Sloane mattered. I turned on her to find Jessie yelling at her.
“Fuck you too!” Sloane said. “You could have saved her; you were right next to her.”
“You’re blaming me?” Jessie screeched.
“You guys are both to blame!” Poppy added.
I took a step toward the trio, anger a pit of simmering lava in my belly. They had no right….no right to…to what? What was I pissed about?
The lava was still there but it was cooling.
“Cora?” Lauris touched my shoulder and I spun to face him, curses wanting to launch themselves off my tongue. “Whoa.”
I pressed my lips together. This was wrong. Where was the human thing? What were we doing?
“He did something to you,” Lauris said. “This anger isn’t normal.”
No, it wasn’t. I needed to shake it off if I was going to help the others. I inhaled through my nose and exhaled through my mouth, over and over, until calm settled over me.
Sloane, Jessie, and Poppy were in a full-blown screaming match now. Jessie punched Poppy in the face and the witch went down.
“Bitch!” Sloane made a grab for Jessie.
Lauris grabbed the back of Jessie’s shirt and yanked her back, and I stepped in front of Sloane and pressed my hands to her shoulders.
“Stop. Sloane, stop.”
But her gaze was dazed, jaw tense, hands fisted. She wanted to fight. She needed to fight. I could feel it.
Fuck. “Sloane.”
She shoved at me, trying to get to Jessie. I needed her to focus on something else, anything else. I cupped her face and pressed my lips to hers. Hard.
She struggled for a moment, curses trapped between our lips. No. No, you will calm the fuck down. I kept hold of her, pressing my body to hers and keeping our lips locked.
Come on, Sloane, come back to me. Jessie was still mouthing off behind us, but my focus was entirely on Sloane.
Come on, I willed her. Fight it.
She stilled, her body softening against mine, then her hands were in my hair and her mouth was moving against mine.
She was kissing me, and shit, I was kissing her back—raspberry lip gloss, cheap whiskey, and tongue, loads of fucking tongue.
Jessie’s angry words and Poppy’s exclamations faded into the background. All that existed were Sloane’s fingers massaging my scalp and her luscious mouth devouring mine.
She was the first to break the kiss, mouth hovering inches from mine, electric-blue eyes dark with desire.
“Thanks, cupcake.” Her voice was husky and raw.
A crack sounded behind us.
Sloane released me, and I turned to find Lauris rubbing his cheek and Jessie covering her mouth.
“What was that for?” Lauris whined.
“You fucking kissed me,” Jessie growled.
Lauris shrugged. “It worked for them.” He jerked his head in our direction.
Poppy rubbed her forehead. “What the fuck just happened?”
Sloane looked down at the dead woman. “I don’t know, but we need to clean this up, get back to the mansion, and figure it out.”
Chapter Eleven Leif
“Where is she?” Tor demands, as if Cora not being home yet is somehow my fault.
She’ll be home once patrol is over, Rune says calmly.
“Patrol should be over by now,” Tor says. “She should be home by now. Unless…Something’s gone wrong.”
He paces back and forth in front of the hearth.
“We’d have felt it,” I remind him.
“What about the spike a couple of hours ago,” Tor reminds us. “You felt that, right?”
We’d all felt it. “If she’s fighting revenants, we’re gonna feel it.”
If she was hurt, we’d know, Rune says. She’s not hurt.
“Fuck the varga,” Tor grinds out. “We could have been with her tonight if not for them.”
“We can’t be with her all the time,” I remind him.
“Why the fuck not?” Tor says. “She’s our mate. Sten, Arne, and Toke kept Charlotte with them all the fucking time.”
Cora is no Charlotte, Rune reminds him. Cora’s an independent woman, a fighter, an Elite. Things will be…different for us.
Tor stops pacing and stands with his back to the flames flickering in the hearth. He looks like a fiery demon—angry, sulky, and huge.
“Tor, man, you need to chill.”
He glares at me. “You’re okay with her being out there, putting herself in harm’s way?”
Hell no. My stomach’s in knots. “I trust she can take care of herself.”
Tor exhales and pinches the bridge of his nose. “I know. Doesn’t change how I feel.”
I know, Rune says. I feel it too. The urge to run out there and search for her. But she’s not alone. She’s with The Elites and she has Lauris. At least you two can hold her when she returns, touch her…
Oh fuck, I forget how hard this must be for Rune. “I’m sorry, Rune.”
Tor’s agitation melts in the face of Rune’s words. “If there was any way—”
I know. I’ll take what I can. Be close to her in any way I can. I suppose it’s a small mercy that she wants to keep the relationships platonic. At least I won’t have to watch you take her.
“Who said anything about watching?” I grin at the golden wolf.
“What?” Tor says. “You don’t like an audience? Afraid you wouldn’t be able to perform?”
I arch a brow at him. “Oh, I can perform, I just wouldn’t want you to be intimidated.”
Rune groans. Puhlease, we all know whose name she’d be screaming if I wasn’t in wolf form.
“Seriously?” Halle enters the room carrying a tray of mugs filled with hot chocolate and topped with whipped cream. Wren clings to her back, huge eyes surveying the room.
“How old are you guys?” she asks.
She’s right. We’re being ridiculous, devolving to our teen bantering years. Is this what the mate
