Elle had known of Sorin for some time, but had never really had a conversation with him. She knew that Sorin was not as large as some of the males of his species, but his dominance, coupled with her small frame, made him appear huge to her now. She took a step back from him, trying to get room to breathe. He let out a low growl and she froze again.
Trembling, she wanted to look at Peri for guidance but she was too afraid to look away from the penetrating gaze of the male before her. Afraid that if she broke eye contact, even for a second, he might pounce on her. When he took another step toward her, she did what no animal should ever do when it meets another predator – she ran. Well, technically, she flashed. She went to the first place her mind grabbed onto. She opened her eyes and found herself standing just outside the veil to her realm. The forest was quiet as the night wrapped it in the arms of the warm glow shining down from the moon. She felt a sharp pain in her chest and an ache so deep it brought tears to her eyes.
Pressing her back to a tree, Peri slid down to the ground, attempting to take slow breaths. All the while, her soul felt like it was being torn in half.
~
One minute she had been standing before him, inches away, the next she was gone. Sorin growled and began to shake, seeming seconds away from a violent outburst.
Decebel was already in motion when Costin made eye contact with him; the quick nod he received from his Alpha confirmed his actions. He turned and looked at Drake, who was waiting for orders. Costin gave him a nod and then Drake was quickly moving toward Sorin.
Costin turned to Andon. “I’m sorry to cut this night short, but I’m afraid Decebel is going to need my help dealing with this.”
Andon nodded. “It’s no problem. You are welcome to come back tomorrow.”
Costin gave him a quick handshake. Sally followed behind as he headed directly for Jen. When he reached her and grabbed her hand, to Jen's surprise she was able to stand. Costin didn’t pause as he pulled the girls toward the door.
Peri caught his arm as he passed her. “I’m needed here,” she said. “So you will need to stay with the females.”
Costin nodded, his mouth in a tight line. “I figured you would be the best to deal with this.” He lifted his chin in the direction of Sorin, who was barely being held back by Decebel’s power.
Costin continued on, girls in tow. Sally and Jen tried to keep their footing as he moved.
“Costin, did he say what I think he said?” Jen asked, pulling her arm from his and keeping up on her own.
“Mate,” Costin repeated Sorin’s uttered word. “He called Elle his mate.”
“Is that good or bad?” Sally asked tentatively as they made it to the hotel, pushing through the doors, never slowing their steps.
“If it’s real, then it’s good,” Costin answered. “But if it’s real and she ran, well, that’s....”
“JUBAR,” Jen finished for him.
Costin looked over his shoulder at Jen, his eyebrows raised in question.
“Jacked Up Beyond All Repair,” Jen explained. “I do try to curb my potty mouth,” she rolled her eyes, “sometimes.”
Chapter 13
“Sorin and Elle, sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g. First comes bonding, next comes the bite, then a roll in the hay that lasts all night.
Who says I can’t hold a tune?” ~ Jen
Sorin paced the room from one wall to the other. His claws had partially extended and his canines lengthened. Everything inside him was telling him to go after her. He didn’t have a clue where she was, but his wolf didn’t care – he was confident he could find her anywhere.
His clothes were beginning to feel too tight, his skin sensitive with the need to phase. In response, he hastily pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it on the floor. As he made another pass from one end of the room to the other, he crossed in front of the bathroom mirror of the hotel room. He froze.
His was skin tingling on the right side of his back and neck and down the back of his right arm. My markings, he thought to himself.
Sorin slowly turned, looking over his shoulder at his back in the mirror. His breathing halted as he watched the markings on his skin – which had been there since puberty – change before his eyes. They were already elaborate because of his position in the pack, but now that he had found his mate they were even more ornate.
The black swirls and lines climbed from below the waistband of his jeans up to the back of his neck, right at his hairline. Then they swirled down and slid over his tricep and elbow, continuing around to the inside of his arm to his wrist. The markings never moved to the front of his body because, though he was dominant, he was not an Alpha.
Even after the markings finished changing, he simply stared over his shoulder. When Elle fled, Sorin had thought that maybe he was mistaken about her, maybe his wolf was mistaken and she wasn’t their mate, but now he had no doubt. She was his. After 135 years of waiting, 135 years of the darkness consuming him piece by piece, finally he had found her, only to lose her in an instant.
Sorin snarled, unable to hold it in. Decebel was able to keep him from phasing and had given him the command to stay in his room, but his wolf and even the man was fighting it. She was out there, without him. Unprotected. A Fae.
How was it even possible that a Fae could be his mate? He knew that she could hold her own in a fight, but he was still beyond worried about her. Where had she gone? Elle’s strength aside, the point was that she was his mate. She belonged by his side, under his protection.