Page 14 of A Wolf's Treasure
Walking into the bedroom, his eyes flew around the room, searching for the bright hair of his mate. The door to the bathroom was only partially closed, and he called her name again as he approached, not wanting to catch her doing anything she would be embarrassed about. Not that his lass was shy about much.
She wasn’t in there, either.
Now truly worried, he glanced around again. Perhaps she was out on the balcony? But, no. No. He could smell her sweet scent. She was near. “Bronaugh, lass. Ye ken all I have tae do is shift and I will find ye. So, ye may as well save me th’ trouble.”
His Bronaugh wasan olc. As one of the dark magic Faeries, she could hide in plain sight from humans and shifters alike. But she couldn’t hide from his wolf. Och. No. His wolf could find her every time.
He snapped his head around at a slight shift of movement behind him. His lass stood behind him near the bathroom, blond hair in disarray, wearing only one of his T-shirts. It fell nearly to her knees.
But the untidiness of her appearance wasn’t what had him taking an unconscious step toward her. It was the meekness of her pose and the unusual colors radiating from her normally brown eyes. Reds and oranges dominated, like a rainbow from hell mystically caught within the orbs. “Bronaugh, lass, what’s wrong? Why are ye hiding from me?”
“I wasn’t hiding,” she told him. “I was just…hiding.”
“Aye, I can see that. What is th’ reason? Did something happen? Are ye hurt? Did someone say something tae ye?” He was in front of her before he realized he’d told his feet to move—his upper lip curled back, his canines aching to bite into whoever had dared to cause any sort of upset to his mate.
But she stepped back, putting distance between them again. “No. No. I’m fine. No one has been here.”
“Yer no’ fine,” he nearly shouted. Taking a deep breath, he tempered his tone. “Yer no’ fine, lass. Please tell me wha’ is going on with ye. Before I go mad.”
A smile teased the corners of her sweet mouth. “You wolves are so damn emotional.”
“Aye,” he confirmed as his skin shifted over the muscle on his back and shoulders. “And mine are on th’ verge o’ burstin’ free tae save my mate from whatever is hurting her, so ye better start speaking.” He paused, giving her a chance to answer him. When she didn’t, but only continued to look at him with those haunted eyes, the pain nearly brought him to his knees. His lass was suffering. And it nearly killed him to be unable to take it from her. “Bronaugh,pleasetell me. I canna stand it.”
She looked toward the window and ran a hand through her hair, and now he could see why it was sticking out all over her head. “I think I just need to go.”
“Go?” he asked. “Go where? It’s no’ th’ best time, but Cedric will understand if I have tae leave…”
“No,” she said. “I meant by myself. I need to go alone.”
Marc stilled. He didn’t like where this conversation was heading. Not at all. Closing the distance between them, he cupped her wee face in his hand.
But she backed away again, and when she looked at him, her beautiful eyes were bright with unshed tears. “No, Marc. You need to stay away from me. I couldn’t live with myself if I hurt you.”
He started to go to her, but she held up her hand, halting him in his tracks. Her anxiety was plain to see in the way she held her shoulders and fisted her hands at her sides. “Damn it all, lass. I can no’ just stand here and do nothing! And I can no’ let ye leave me.” His voice broke on the last. “That is no’ happening, do ye hear me? So, we will talk this out. Whatever it is. And we will figure out how tae fix it.”
“There is no ‘fixing it’, Marc.”
The lack of hope in her voice and posture scared him more than if she were lunging for his throat. “Dinna say that, Bronaugh. Tis no’ true.”
“It is,” she whispered.
No. No. He would not believe it. “Maybe if ye tell me what’s happening…give me a chance tae…”
“It’s the darkness, Marc. It’s taking over.”
His breath stopped, and it took a concentrated effort to get his lungs working again. “No, Bronaugh.” And then he said it again, stronger this time, as though he could stop what was happening by his will alone. “NO, Bronaugh.”
The sorrow in her eyes as she watched him struggle was more than he could stand. He turned away. Paced to the window and back. This could not be happening. He would not let it happen.
“I knew it was a risk when I allowed that part of me to come forth down in Texas. But I had to do it. I had to do it to save you, Marc.” She was pleading with him now. For what? For him to understand?
A growl rumbled deep in his throat. Though he’d tried to erect a wall around them, memories broke through. Things he’d never wanted to think of again. Memories of his Bronaugh with two broken legs sitting atop the black wolf at the fookin’ rodeo that Texas alpha had thought would be good entertainment for his pack. His Bronaugh had saved him that day. And the black wolf was dead.
And by an act of the gods, Keegan had fallen for one of the “stars” of his show. Now the rodeo was no more, but the trauma it had caused was still alive and well.
She had saved his life that day. And now, he would save hers.
“Tell me wha’ ye need, Bronaugh, and I will make it happen.”
