Fae-ted to the Bear - Harmony Raines Page 0,55

answer it?” Caleb asked. “Just ask him what he wants. It’s probably work-related.”

“Okay.” She nervously pressed accept and answered the call. Putting the phone to her ear, she said, “Hello, Aiden, it’s Elise.”

“Elise.” Aiden paused. “Is Caleb with you?”

“He is. He’s driving and he asked me to take a message.”

“Where are you?” Aiden sounded off, she didn’t know him well enough to put her finger on the reason why. But her pulse pounded as tension grew in her body, as if she were preparing to fight. And she would fight for her mate.

Elise inhaled deeply and let it go. There was no one to fight. Her reaction must be some primal connection to Caleb. So it wasn’t just a shifter thing.

“We’re nearly in town. We’re heading back to my house.”

“Can you swing by the hotel first? I need to talk to Caleb. It can’t wait.”

Elise glanced at Caleb. “We’ll be right there.” Her mouth went dry as Caleb cast her a questioning look. “Is everything okay?”

“I’ll tell you when you get here,” Aiden answered.

“Okay.” She swallowed hard as she ended the call. “We have to go straight to the hotel.”

“Did Aiden say why?” Caleb asked.

“No. He said he’ll tell us when we get there.” She reached across to him and placed her hand on his thigh. “Whatever it is, I’m here for you.”

Caleb nodded. “It’s probably nothing. A problem with a job.” He was trying to reassure himself, but he chewed his bottom lip and eased his foot down on the gas.

“It didn’t sound like nothing,” she said quietly. Perhaps she should just leave it until they were back at the hotel. Caleb knew his brother better than anyone. Aiden might get worried about the small stuff.

“What if it’s Valerie?” Caleb whispered. “What if something happened to her while we were away?”

“We’ll be there soon.” She breathed in deeply and let go of her own fear. She needed to be strong for her mate.

Yet she couldn’t ignore the nagging worry in the back of her head that if something bad had happened while they were away, Caleb would somehow blame her. No, he wouldn’t. This wasn’t her fault.

But people react in strange ways. Her parents had proved that over and over again.

They drove the short distance to the hotel in silence. There was nothing else to say until they spoke to Aiden.

Caleb slowed as they reached the hotel parking lot. Once he’d parked the truck, he got out and stood still for a moment, his body rigid and his eyes unfocused. “I can sense Valerie. And Aiden and Flora.”

“You were worried something might have happened to Flora?” Elise got out of the truck and went to join him.

“Yes.” He glanced at Elise, his expression clearer. “I’m not sure what else it could be. Our other brothers are here. We might be twins, but we know we can count on the others for whatever we need.” His eyes widened. “Unless...”

“What?” Elise grabbed his hand as he strode toward the hotel.

“Unless there’s a problem elsewhere.”

“You mean in the world beyond?”

“Yes. Our family lives out there. Our blood relatives. My aunt and uncle, cousins...and my sister.”

Aiden appeared on the hotel steps before Caleb reached them. “You’re here.”

“What’s wrong?” Caleb asked hoarsely as he noted his brother’s worried expression.

“It might be nothing...” Aiden glanced up and down the street and Elise shivered and hugged Caleb’s jacket closer around her.

“Tell me.” Caleb went to his brother and slid his arm around his shoulders, but he didn’t let go of Elise, as if he needed to feel her touch, to know she was there when Aiden broke the bad news.

And it was bad news, she could sense Aiden’s worry, even if he tried to hide it from Caleb.

“Zara called me.” Aiden locked eyes with Caleb.

“Did something happen to her, is she all right? Or is it...”

“They’re all fine,” Aiden replied quickly. “But Zara is certain someone is following her.”

“Someone is following her?” Caleb repeated.

“Yes. She’s supposed to come here in a couple of days and she’s afraid she’ll lead whoever is following her here.” Aiden chewed his bottom lip. “We need to find out who it is.”

Caleb nodded and glanced at Elise. “We’ll leave today.”

Aiden nodded. “We should go inside. Flora is insisting she’s coming with us, but I don’t want her to.”

Elise followed the twins inside. Of course Flora would want to go. Just as Elise wanted to go. She’d sworn in the forest that she would protect Caleb in the same way he would