Guarding Madeline: The Others: Book Five, page 6
“I can’t do that.” Folding her hands behind her head, Maddy stared up at the clear blue sky of Peru. “Now that I know the truth, I can’t not know it. Every interaction we shared feels different.”
“You know more about Weres than anyone I’ve ever met. I know you understand that he avoided imprinting on you for your sake as well as his. He was careful not to view you sexually…”
“He does now. Elias had to help me when I was hurt. He carried me against his bare skin, inhaled my scent deep into his lungs, absorbed my sweat and blood into his pores. I know everything changed for him that day. For more than a decade, he was so careful...and then he couldn’t be careful anymore.”
“It was a freak thing...but you’re not Mated.”
“Hmm. But I kissed him and encouraged him to touch me.” Her friend’s eyes went wide. “I was eighteen! I wonder how long he planned to wait before lettin’ me know who I was to him. His control is legendary in Idaho Pack but…Weres never wait to copulate.”
“Copulate...you slay me.” They were quiet for a while and then Hailey told her, “I started having sex during my first Heat.”
“Oh, no…” Maddy gasped softly. Were females who endured at least one Heat alone had a higher chance of safe childbirth.
“I know, I know. I thought my mom was going to strangle me. Full-blooded Weres are stronger than half-breeds or humans when having kids but we’re told to get through one Heat at the very least.” She shrugged. “I couldn’t stand the way my skin crawled with need when I knew where to get relief. The males have no idea what we go through.”
“I think that’s true of every species. I don’t know how it feels to endure that either though. I’m sorry.”
“Humans are lucky in that way but unlucky in others. You’re fragile. Your lives are shorter. However, sex is different for human women in ways Others usually only experience during Heat.” Turning her head, she stared at Maddy. “Because your life has changed now, too. Huh?”
“Yeah.” She nodded. “Since I was a girl, he was my enigmatic benefactor. Like Mr. Knightley in Emma. Attractive, kind, and generous but ultimately distant. He was more fictional than real sometimes. I used to pretend he’d take me travelin’ and introduce me as his ward, Miss Parker.”
“You’re really in your feelings, huh?”
Chuckling, Maddy replied, “I guess so. I never considered myself very emotional but when I realized who he was to me, I was angry about bein’ segregated from Pack. No one bothered to tell me why. I mean, I know everything about Mates and stuff.”
She swallowed hard. “But...there was another feelin’ deep down that I understood once I calmed the hell down. The knowledge that I’d never be alone again.” Removing one of her hands from behind her head, she placed it over her heart. “That part was amazin’.”
Finneas dropped to the grass beside Maddy on his stomach. “It’s been over a year...are you still trying to cope with being a Were Mate?”
Maddy asked in surprise, “How do you know I am…?”
“I can smell him,” he answered nonchalantly. “His scent is all over you.”
Hailey sat up. “You do not. I can’t.”
“Such arrogance. You Weres always underestimate Shifters because we’re smaller. Tsk, tsk. As powerful as your sense of smell might be, I can make mine stronger. You Wolves laugh at your Bear brethren but they have substantially better tracking ability. Sixteen miles for regular bears...did you know that?”
The friends shook their heads slowly and he grinned. “Imagine the distance for Were Bears. When I first met Maddy, I wanted to know her story. I was curious about her fascinating blood...and who she was Mated to. I can change my entire body or just parts - some added fun for the ladies - so I boosted my olfactory senses. From his signature, I’d say he runs true to form...tall, dark, handsome, and always down to fuck.”
Blushing brightly, she reminded him, “I-I don’t understand. You flirt…”
“Of course...how else would I communicate?”
She laughed then sobered as another tidbit of what he said hit her. “Wait.” Turning more fully to him, she asked, “Fascinatin’ blood...I’m just human.”
Sitting up on his knees, he reached out to touch her nose. “Boop. You’re so fucking adorable. It’s a quiet little drop or two of Shifter blood...but definitely there. I bet it roars to life when your Were leaves his Mark and gives you some of his blood.”
It was hard to hide her reaction to his words. “That can’t be right…”
“You’ll see. Your Mate will change everything, even if your Shifter ancestry doesn’t roar to life.”
She hadn’t thought of Elias as her Mate before the day the Rogue tried to kidnap her but that changed once she learned the truth.
Picturing him in her mind now made her tremble. Part of her didn’t really understand what to do about him...another part was all too willing to figure it out.
Finneas inhaled deeply. “Such a pounding heart. Hmm...I don’t think I can be around that delectable smell and remain a gentleman.” His eyes moved past her to Hailey. “How would you feel about spending an hour pawing at each other in the woods?”
“Were you serious about being able to change individual parts of your anatomy?”
Finneas’ laughter echoed through the quad. “Oh, yeah.”
“Then absolutely yes.”
He stood and held out his hand to help the taller Were female to her feet. To Maddy, he whispered, “I suggest you take all that pent up need and pour it on your Were Mate. Your only other options are humans and you do not want the complications. A huge mistake!”
“Hmm.” Hailey nodded seriously. “He’s actually right. They can be really clingy…bordering on obsessive.”
Finneas shrugged. “No sane Other will touch you but it isn’t because they don’t want you. It goes against the biological imperative.”
“Other people can tell I’m a Were Mate?”
Hailey and Finneas shared a look of confusion.
Then her friend explained softly, “It’s in your paperwork, Maddy. It has to be. In an emergency, Others protect children and Mates first. We can’t risk one of you being taken or - holy fuck - killed. We only get one.”
She smiled cheerfully. “Those of us who are Unmated take that shit seriously. Our kind are lost without our other halves, girl. It’s why they put you in a room with a full-blooded female.”
“For...protection?”
“Hell yes. Those Purist fucks show up, you need a fighting chance.” Bending to pick up her coffee, she added, “I’ll see you back at the dorm. I’m gonna school this Shifter.”
Finneas wiggled his brows. “I’ll pretend to let her.”
The pair walked away with a wave. Maddy gathered her stuff. She made her way to the dorm in a daze, processing what she’d learned.
A gorgeous redhead whistled as she passed through the lobby. “Another letter, Miss Parker.” She held up a pale gray envelope. “No one else in our building gets so much mail.”
“Thank you.”
Heart racing, she walked quickly for the elevator. The moment she was in the room she shared with Hailey, she tossed her bag on the desk chair and lowered to the edge of the bed.
Idaho Pack was known throughout the Western hemisphere for their academic pursuits. Elias was a prime example of the education they received. He was a voracious reader, articulate, and knowledgeable on a hundred subjects.
Something Maddy loved since she was a little girl was that Elias was an avid letter writer. No matter how long he was gone from the Pack lands, he never failed to send her at least one letter a week.
Diligent about responding to him, she’d gotten in the habit over the years of sending regular letters to her siblings and Layla as well.
She stroked her fingertips over the flowing script that gently attested to the fact that Elias neared sixty. Younger people simply didn’t write as beautifully. He always used heavy linen stationery.
Carefully separating the flap, she slipped the letter free.
Dear Madeline,
I loved the photos in your last letter. Thank you for sending them! You have an artist’s eye. Layla visited with her twins and Mate last month and wholeheartedly agreed.
Doc Bridges regularly reports about your outstanding grades (you were clearly meant for Idaho Pack - ha ha) and I could not be prouder. Well done…I’m not the least surprised.
Are you enjoying your friends? Have you seen any movies recently? Are you getting a chance to enjoy the Peruvian culture? What do you like most about your new classes?
I’m genuinely curious about how you spend your days. I want this period of your life to be everything you deserve. Perhaps that will help to make up for the isolation you endured.
Breaking news...Starlight is expecting a foal! That dastardly stallion from the Beckett farm would not be denied her company while I was on a visit to Parliament. I’m keeping a close eye on her for you as is Doc.
Tom is actively wooing the young girl who delivers feed for the cattle at the compound. I’m certain her mother would be scandalized but he is not deterred in the slightest.
Sara is at the top of her class, Madeline. You’d be hellishly impressed. She’s already creating her business plan for the bakery she wants to open with her foster mother and asked me to look it over. I was honored.
I keep the photo your roommate took of you in my wallet and stare at it every day. You are missed. Deeply. Every moment.
Still, I don’t want you to come back one second before you’re ready. I’m doing alright, your siblings are thriving, your horses are gorgeous, and your place is here whenever you’re ready for it. I love you.
Elias
She read the letter twice before slipping it back in the envelope and tucking it in the little chest that held more than ninety others.
Removing the custom stationary he sent her every few months with her initial in the lower corner, she moved to her desk.
Hello, Elias!
I’m glad you liked the photos. One of the professors had an antique camera and allowed me to use it.
I don’t have time now but I’d love to take a photography course one day to learn how to develop my own images. You wouldn’t think so but the difference is incredible.
Six more months and I’ll have my medical degree...the pace is grueling but I love it. We’re working through the respiratory systems now and will move to the central nervous system next week.
I’ve been in contact with the West Texas Pack...Elias, do you know what’s happening there? I can’t even believe much of it until I see it with my own eyes!
There are Were children, barely ten, who have powerful Daemon traits! I can’t wait to meet them and learn all I can. I can’t believe everything we’ve learned about what was happening in Montana Pack a few years ago.
Alpha Stonehill’s Mate - her name is Hope Kassis - wrote to me personally. She told me they already prepared lodging for my internship with Phoenix Redburn, her Secondary Mate and the Pack doctor.
They don’t want me traveling on a commercial airplane…they offered to come get me. Doctor Redburn is sending copies of several patient files for me to review before I arrive.
I’m not looked at oddly. There are a few other humans here but we have little in common. There are several people who are interesting to speak to but Hailey is my only real friend.
We take regular hikes into the mountains around the school - and I perform as poorly as you might have guessed. Hailey has carried me back twice and teases me for days...but I hate being left behind. We go into the nearest town every weekend for supplies.
I didn’t realize why we did things in such large groups.
Today, I learned my Mate status is common knowledge and they’re protecting me. I’m not sure how I feel about someone possibly getting injured to keep me safe if something happened...but I’ve never felt more a part of Pack than I do now.
No movies but lots of books. I’m doing well and thank you for the opportunity to get the education I need.
Kiss my Starlight, my Twilight, and the new foal when it comes...how sad that I won’t be the doting mama this time.
Tell Tom that unless his fingers are broken, it wouldn’t kill him to write once in a while. I’ll write to Sara now. She’s always respected your knowledge.
Take pictures of everyone and I’m including one Hailey took after exams a couple of weeks ago…she was clear that it was meant for you.
I miss you, too. Truly, Elias. I need to finish my education and residency…then I’d like to take my place in Idaho Pack. By your side sounds like an amazing place to be.
Yours,
Madeline
Removing a picture of her sleeping with her hair wild and arms hugging a pillow, she blushed as she folded the letter around it. Addressing and sealing the envelope, she took it downstairs and dropped it into the outgoing basket.
Back in her dorm, she watched the sun lower behind the mountain range and wondered what Elias was doing at that moment.
More and more...she found herself thinking about him. Every cell in her body felt like it was on fire and she wasn’t sure how long she could keep from begging him to come.
She wanted so desperately to be strong.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Age 21
On her side of their dorm room, Madeline laid in the fetal position with her arms clutching her torso. She’d been running a fever for a full day and couldn’t keep more than water in her stomach.
Thankfully, they were on a break from classes before final exam prep so she wasn’t missing anything.
Hailey paced the room. “You need to call your Mate, Mad. Mate withdrawal is really dangerous for a human.”
“We only have a few more weeks of classes. I can make it.”
“You don’t have to though!”
Maddy groaned. “I’m almost there…”
Her friend crouched beside the bed with a frantic look on her face. “How long has this been building?” Maddy squeezed her eyes shut. “Oh, gods! All the muscle cramps and headaches…you’ve been powering through and pretending it was nothing serious.”
“I have two days. I can get over this and finish classes. I hate being so weak…”
“It’s not weakness, Mad! It’s a biological need! You’ve only seen your Mate twice since you’ve been at school. And it’s been like nine months since his last visit.”
Trying to reach for a glass of water on the side table, she couldn’t quite make it. Hailey helped and Maddy worked to catch her breath.
“Elias has important diplomatic visits this month. His work is critical…especially now. Montana has a temporary Alpha, the psychotic one they used to have is imprisoned and his primary pawn is in the wind.”
“I get it but…”
“Were kind found more of their Mates in the past ten years than ever before. The stories of the twins are spreading and that’s creating its own set of issues - particularly within Vampire Parliament. Elias is helping in so many areas. His work is vital. I can make it.”
With a heavy sigh, Hailey smoothed her hand over Maddy’s hair and nodded. “Alright. You’re so damn stubborn. I’m going to have the kitchen make you broth. Maybe you can keep that down.”
“Thanks, Hailey.” Her friend left the room and Maddy pulled the blankets around her to fight the chill she couldn’t shake. “I can’t be weak…”
Hopefully, Elias was taking care of himself as his resources were stretched ever thinner. Packs all over the country depended on his calm, steady thinking to resolve issues and there seemed to be more chaos in the ranks than ever before. She refused to be a distraction to him.
She drifted to sleep thinking about her Mate and how warm he felt when he hugged her.
* * *
The room was dark when she opened her eyes and Maddy wasn’t cold for the first time in days. Dim light came through the blinds from the streetlamps outside the dorms. The scent of heather wrapped around her.
Her Mate’s arms wrapped around her body. “Elias…?”
“You made me promise to always come and that implied your promise to tell me when you needed me. You were supposed to call, Madeline.”
The heat of his breath on her nape sent shivers over her skin. The front of his body was sealed to the back of hers from shoulders to feet. Her cheek rested on his inner arm and he hugged her gently.
She wanted to melt into him.
“How did you know?”
“Hailey called me yesterday when your fever hit. It takes a while to get to this point. I should have heard from you long before now, Madeline. The symptoms of Mate separation can be deadly for humans. If I lost you…”
Rolling over carefully so she didn’t lose physical contact, she wrapped her arm around him and pressed her face to his chest. “I’m sorry. I wanted to be strong.”
“You are strong, Madeline.” He held the back of her head in his large palm. “I hate being away from you. Getting your letters, your calls, seeing you once a year…I can hardly bear the distance. I hope every day that you’ll ask me to come.”
“Really?”
“How can you know so much about Were kind but still know so little about me, Madeline?” He kissed the top of her head. “I love you. I need you like I need air. Being apart from you makes me anxious. I feel the pain as you do.”
Pulling back a bit, the pale green glow of his eyes focused on her face. She reached up and placed her palm on his cheek. He leaned into the touch.
“I-I’m sorry, Elias.” Swallowing hard, she tried not to cry and failed. “I can’t help but wonder how you ended up with someone like me as your Mate. You deserved…”
“You. I deserved you, Madeline.” With a low growl, he rolled her over and rested his cheek between her breasts. “I want to show you so many things. Most of all, what you mean to me.” He nuzzled her through her clothes and she wanted to feel him skin to skin. “I love the sound of your heart.”
“Elias.” She raked her fingers through his hair and loved the texture. “I want to feel more of you. I need to soak up your warmth. Is that…possible?”
