James pulled away from me, and I frowned at the sudden loss of his body heat. When I glanced toward the house, I saw what had distracted him. Cody, my giant wolf, was heading right for us, and he had a smile on his face.
Cody was six and a half feet of solid muscle with eyes the color of the Caribbean Sea that were impossible not to drown in. He’d grown out his brown hair into a shaggy style that I absolutely loved. His plain blue t-shirt was stretched over his muscular frame, outlining his pecs and toned biceps and his jeans were fitted over his muscular thighs. Cody might be the most physically intimidating of all my wolves because of his size, but he had a heart of gold. His job in the pack was similar to a Command Master Chief at a Navy Command. He handled morale, welfare, training, and made sure each one of our wolves was well-taken care of.
James gave Cody a nod as he joined us, but I wrapped him up in a hug.
“Hey, pretty girl,” he murmured into my ear before giving it a nip.
I laughed and pushed him away. “I’m glad to see you. I haven’t been getting enough Cody-time lately.”
Cody winked at me. “I come bearing good news,” he said as he looked between James and me. “Trevor’s team achieved their objective and called to arrange for transportation back to the states.”
“Alright!” I cried out in victory.
Cody gave me a high five, as James stood stoically, but I could see his shoulders straighten. James was just as excited as we were. It took me a while, but I was getting better at reading the tiny tells that James let escape. Of course, it also helped that I could feel his emotions through our mate bond if I concentrated.
Trevor had taken his team of wolves – plus Sam – to search for a weapon in South America that could help us in the fight against the dark fae.
“Actually,” I said with a grin. “I think I can transport them myself.”
Cody beamed at me. “I knew it wouldn’t take you long to master gateways.”
I blushed at the praise, but my biggest obstacle in learning how to use my magic was myself. I’d been raised as a human, so using magic was a foreign concept to me. My scientific mind also got the better of me, because magic didn’t follow the ‘rules’ that the human world accepted as truths. The fae played with space, time, and reality when using magic, and they could do things I’d never dreamed were possible. I was gradually learning to let go of what I thought was possible/impossible to create my own rules.
“Is it safe?” James asked with a frown. “I don’t want to risk you getting hurt.”
I elbowed James playfully in his rock-hard abs. “You have to trust me. I can do this.”
James held my eyes with his for a couple heartbeats before he nodded. “I trust you with my life.”
Warmth flooded through me at his words. James didn’t give his trust easily, and earning it meant my name was now on a very short list. I tried to tone down my bright smile since this was a serious operation, but I’m sure some of my happy glow still shone through.
“Step back,” I said dramatically as I held my hands up.
“Don’t you need to know which hotel they’re in?” Cody questioned me curiously. “And how do you know your gateway won’t slice someone in half when you open it?”
I laughed out loud, but only because I’d worried about the same things as I was experimenting. Part of the reason it had taken me so long to learn was because of how timid and cautious I was.
“I know Sam’s magical signature, so I’m going to open a gateway near her,” I explained to him with a sunny smile. “I can feel where the gateway is going to emerge on the other side, and I always do it in a clear area, so I don’t destroy anything or kill anyone.”
James grunted, and Cody gave me an apologetic shrug.
“I don’t know anything about magical shit,” Cody told me sheepishly. “But I trust you.”
I smiled to let him know I wasn’t offended by his questions. “I’m still figuring it out as I go. Step back so I can work.”
Cody and James both backed up, and apprehension radiated from them. James shifted his weight and pulled