Chapter 106: Chapter Twelve

Hope

I was petting a wolf.

A wolf!

And oddly enough, something about it felt familiar, like I’d done it before, numerous times actually. But that was crazy, right? Maybe a side effect of working for the immortals too long?

Embarrassment at Alex’s words quickly faded as warmth engulfed my fingers, causing a pleasant burn to spread across my body.

It felt a lot like when me and Alex touched, only, this time, I wasn’t tempted to rip off every piece of clothing and throw myself at his feet.

Mason rumbled and then he started to purr.

I laughed. “I’ve always wanted a pet,” I whispered.

“This pet eats people twice your size and tried to impale a beaver last week over a pinecone. Believe me when I say, he’s not tame,” Alex said, suddenly behind me. I could feel each even breath he took. And it was aggravating. So aggravating that I felt him suck in air and exhale it.

Alex

Mason glared at me through his animalistic eyes and then shook his head playfully as if to say he’s full of shit.

Maybe I was full of shit.

It was more the beaver was trying to kill him.

The pinecone had been a bonus.

But still.

He was touching mine.

I jerked away from both of them.

Hellfire.

Mine?

Possessive of something I hadn’t even physically claimed, that was new. Damn it.

With a shake, Mason started slowly transforming back to his scruffy human body, standing as the change took place.

Hope let out a small gasp and covered her face with her hands. “He’s naked.”

“Wolves don’t wear pants,” I commented with a smirk while Mason shrugged in my direction and held out his hand. “Oh, hell no.”

“My pants ripped.” His response.

“What? So you want me to give you mine? You know I don’t wear anything under these!”

He sniffed the air, as pieces of his scruffy hair fell across his face. “Interesting.”

“Don’t say it.”

“You haven’t mated yet!”

“And you said it.” I cursed under my breath. “Does it matter?”

“The doors have opened,” Mason pointed out. “Ergo, a mating has taken place.”

“Don’t you think I would be a hell of a lot more satisfied, powerful, and sated, if it had?” With each word, I felt my control snap more, until I was face to face with Mason and inches from ripping his head from his body.

“Um…” Hope’s voice interrupted the blinding rage, but it did nothing but inflame it. She was the problem. From her elfish smell all the way down her puny little body. “Since the doors are open, does that mean I can go?”

“Why is she raising her hand?” Mason completely ignored my murderous look, choosing to examine my female like he had a damn right to!

“It’s what human children do in school when they have a question,” I snapped. “And truly, it fits, since she’s nothing but a child.”

“Oh?” Hope put her hand down, and I had a sickening feeling that I’d just pushed her too far— that she was seconds from snapping or having some sort of emotional breakdown that females were prone to have when put in a situation where they lost complete control.

Mason backed up.

I should have followed.

Instead, I flashed her a mocking grin and lifted a shoulder in a careless shrug. “All I see is a girl.”

Her eyes narrowed and then she turned that brilliant gaze toward Mason and bestowed an alluring smile as she approached him slowly. “And you? What do you see?”

Her hips swayed.

Her once pale lips went completely red, like the ripest of fruit.

And before my very eyes, the little vixen did exactly what elves had done for hundreds of years.

She enchanted.

Sunlight danced across her face, and sweet music filled the air, the type of music that stuns you into silence.

“I think…” Mason grinned at me then put a hand on my back. “That Alex is completely screwed.” He eyed her appreciatively. “And you’re absolutely breathtaking. If you were my female, I would bring you the largest cow I could find and cover you with fur.”

“Oh, dear God.” I swore under my breath. “She isn’t a wolf, she doesn’t want your meat, Mason.”

He blinked. “But every female wants my meat.”

“What kind of meat?” Hope just had to ask.

“My…~meat.” Mason said slower this time like that helped clear things up.

“Don’t.” I shook my head at her. “Stop whatever you’re doing with the music and your eyes and let’s go.”

“Music?” She frowned. “What music?”

“She does not know how to control the music?” Mason whispered out of the corner of his mouth. “But she is an elf.”

“The kind that makes shoes.” I grinned at our little inside joke, while Hope glared at me.

“Look, guys.” She started slowly walking around me. “As fun as this little mental breakdown has been. The doors opened, which means whatever immortal craziness that was supposed to take place, didn’t, meaning, I can go, and you can continue….” She frowned. “Uh, offering your meat to women.”

Mason grinned. “I like her.”

“Stop winking at her, you’ll make her think you want to chase her.”

Mason kept winking.

I rolled my eyes and waited for her to try to escape. Which she did. I only felt marginally bad when her body slammed into an invisible wall and bounced back.

“You were saying?” I asked in a calm, detached voice.

Hope rubbed her head. “But the door’s open.”

Mason sighed and slowly walked through it—still naked—and called back. “Come along, Elf.”

“My name is Hope!”

“That’s what I said!” he yelled back then completely disappeared around the corner.

“Is he hard of hearing?” She directed the question back to me.

“Come on.” I gripped her hand and walked through the wall to the other side.

“Whoa.” She stumbled into me. “How come it worked when I was touching you?”

“Mates can’t do things alone,” I said in a pathetically hoarse voice. Like my body was elated, turned on by the fact. “Therefore, where you go, I go. Always.”

I dragged her down the hall toward the back entrance where I’d left my car.

“Wait.” She dug in her heels.

I stopped only because I was too drained to fight her anymore. I needed sex, and I needed it hours ago.

Or I was going to die.

Literally.

“What?” I barked.

“Mason called me Elf, not Hope.”

“Elf.” I spat the word and then rubbed my face with my free hand. What I wouldn’t do for at least a kiss—something to sustain the urges, the itching, the emptiness. “The word elf is synonymous with Hope. Before we labeled you as a race, you were called, ‘the ones who bring forth Hope.’ Ergo, the race of Hope.”

“But—

“If we do not get to Ethan’s house before I can control myself, I will kill you during sex. Is that what you want?” I tried to sound sane, but my voice had a shaking, hollow edge to it that I knew terrified the hell out of her.

“Y-yes.”

“You escape, I find you. We’re linked now.”

Though I had no idea how since we hadn’t joined, nor had there been mention of love or forever. But still.

Another jerky nod.

“One more thing,” I helped her into the passenger door of my white Lexus. “More than twenty-four hours without touching me—will only bring death.”

I ignored the twinge of guilt I felt at her pale expression.

She didn’t need to know it was ~my~ death I was concerned about—she didn’t need to know she would survive just fine—because I had a feeling that if she did leave—I would cease to exist while the royal elf continued on without me.

It was the worst feeling in the world.

Next to knowing—that my mate was a part of the race that held my shame.