A Shift in the Water (35 page)

“For a while. Not for long.” His gaze trailed hungrily up her body while she worked a little gel into her hair and he groaned in frustration. “I’ll be out in a couple of minutes.”

Mara snagged the glass of water from the counter where he’d set it and smirked on her way across the hall to her closet. She didn’t feel sexy. She was painfully thin after months of her mysterious illness and with the sore muscles, she felt practically decrepit. Knowing that a man with his body wanted her as much as she wanted him shocked and pleased her. Still, they were going to have to have a talk about his overprotective tendencies. But not right now. Now she wanted to do something normal. Something . . . date-ish. Dinner and a movie. They couldn’t go out—not with Katerina out there somewhere not too far away—but they could have a date night in.

Sixteen

Livie stretched out under the thin sheet in the guest room bed. The pup kicked her kidney. “Easy kid. Mama’s tired.”

Another kick, this one gentler, pressed against the hand rubbing soothing circles over her belly. Weres only carried their pups for seven months. She had less than six weeks left and she couldn’t wait to meet her son—or daughter. She thought her pup was a boy, but she’d never had an ultrasound. She kept forgetting to ask Mara about it.

The grunts, gasps, and screams from the other room had stopped. Those two would go at it like rabbits for the next few days. When she’d mated with Shawn, they’d done it three or four times a day for a week. Livie had never been so sore, tired, or thoroughly happy. God, she missed her mate.

“Uff.” This kid was never going to calm down and let her go back to sleep. Served her right for messing with his schedule—and hers. But until the pack got here, she couldn’t sleep too deeply or leave Cade unprotected at night. Livie grabbed her phone and checked her voicemail.

“Hey sweetheart. We’re in Atlanta. Liam thinks we’ll be at the house by dinnertime. I’ve missed you something fierce. Tell the kid I love him.”

“You hear that kid? Daddy loves you.” The pup kicked harder. Livie pressed repeat on the message and laid the phone speaker side down on her belly. Only then did her unborn child calm down. Maybe now she could get some sleep. Six hours or so and she’d see her mate again. Six hours until she’d be back with her whole family. As would Cade.

A few hours later, almost refreshed and half-starved again, Livie opened the guest room door. The living room was illuminated by a single dim lamp and the glow from the television. On the flat screen, costumed superheroes were battling for control of the world. Livie pursed her lips. She couldn’t remember the name of the movie, but it had come out six months ago. Another thing Cade had missed. He watched intently. Mara reclined with her head in his lap, eyes closed. His fingers gently twined in her hair.

“Shh,” he cautioned, grabbing the remote and pausing the film. “She fell asleep half an hour ago.”

Livie slid her hip on to the arm of the couch. “She okay?”

“Exhausted.” His voice never rose higher than a whisper. “She worked with her element for a bit. It’s hard for her.”

“Oh?”

Cade turned his head, his bright blue eyes glowing in the semi-darkness. A fire burned in the hearth and cast flickering patterns on his skin. “God, you should have seen it. She was in the shower. She bent the water around her. She was bone dry, standing right under the spray.”

Livie’s brows shot up. She’d never seen a water elemental use her charms before. Well, other than when Mara had drenched them both at Cade’s shop. “Can she fight Katerina if she needs to?”

“I don’t know. Eleanor told her there’s no way Katerina could track us here, but I’m still worried. I hope to God none of us have to face her.”

“If we do, we’ll do it together.” Livie’s rumbling stomach made Cade cringe and look down at Mara. She moved her head a fraction of an inch, shifted her legs under the blanket draped over her body, and then settled.

“There’s pizza,” Cade whispered. “In the fridge. Sausage and mushroom. Pepperoni. A veggie for Christine. We got four. In case . . . the pack was hungry.” His shoulders hunched and he leaned down to press a kiss to Mara’s forehead.

“It’ll be okay, boss-man.” Livie stopped herself from laying a hand on his shoulder. Instead she padded into the kitchen for a couple of slices of cold pepperoni. Cade went back to the movie.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket. Shawn.

Landed. You still with the elemental?

Livie looked up at Cade. His attention was rapt on the action on the screen.

Yes. Cade’s mated with her. She’s okay. Kind of cool. Don’t be asses to her.

Liam’s not happy.

Liam’s rarely happy.

Livie could almost hear Shawn’s chuckle.

You have food? We’re starved.

Pizza. Bring beer. All Mara has is a half a bottle of wine. I think we’ll need it.

The movie credits were rolling when Mara stirred. Cade’s hand rested on her shoulder. The sweater was some sort of soft natural fiber, silky under his rough fingers. Sleepy eyes looked up at him and her lips curved into a lazy smile.

“Sorry,” she murmured. “Couldn’t stay awake.” Mara wriggled, pushing herself up and looking around, out into the darkened back yard. “I missed most of the movie.”

“Yeah, but you’d seen it before.” The movie had come out while Cade had been trapped on Orcas. He’d missed so much. Movies, television, books. He wanted to catch up on everything—as long as Mara was by his side. Or in his lap.

She ran a hand through her tousled hair. “Eleanor said using my element wouldn’t tire me out like this forever. I hope she’s right. I could sleep another couple of hours. Hell. All night.”

Cade wrapped his arms around her. She did need sleep. Her eyes were bloodshot and slightly puffy. She nuzzled his neck and made a tiny, satisfied hum.

Across the living room, Livie chuckled. “You two are cute. I’d send you into the bedroom, but they’ll be here in a few minutes.”

Cade’s body went rigid. A part of him ached to see his pack again, but the fear sat like a cold ball of ice in his gut. Velvety lips brushed his ear. “It’ll be okay,” Mara whispered. “I’m scared too, but they’re your family.”

They held onto each other until Mara’s doorbell rang. Mara scrambled off of Cade’s lap. Livie was steps from the door when Cade spoke up.

“Wait. I need to do this.”

Livie took Mara’s arm and pulled her a few feet away from the door. With a last, lingering look back at his mate, Cade turned the deadbolt. He could do this. It didn’t matter that he wasn’t their alpha any longer. They were still his family.

The sound of Liam’s soft Irish brogue hit his ears even before the door was completely open. “Shite.”

Liam stood in the doorway, his hands on his hips, his green eyes dark under reddish brows. The white t-shirt strained over his chest under the brown leather jacket. “I don’t believe it. Not really.”

“Liam.” Cade’s voice cracked. His wolf wanted to assert himself, to stare Liam down until he showed his respect, but that wasn’t his place any longer. His heartbeat roared in his ears. Seconds before he planned to look away, to offer his submission to his former beta, Liam stepped forward and crushed Cade in a bear hug.

“Ya bloody bastard. We thought ya dead.”

Cade couldn’t breathe. Over Liam’s shoulder, the rest of the pack stared at him. Shawn and Ollie flanked Liam. Peter and Christine stood behind them. His family.

“Gonna die for good if you don’t let me go so I can breathe,” Cade grunted. Liam released him and stepped into the house. He motioned to the rest of the pack to follow and shut the door.

Cade caught a glimpse of Mara in his periphery. She stood behind Livie, arms wrapped around her torso tightly, her lips set in a firm line. He tried to smile at her, hoping to reassure, but Liam clapped him on the shoulder and he turned back around.

“We came as soon as Livie rang,” Liam said, his brogue noticeably thicker than the last time Cade had seen him. “Ya have to tell us everything. Includin’ how the hell ya came to be with that elemental.” The big wolf stared at Mara and Cade bristled.

“
That elemental
has a name.” Cade extended his arm in invitation and Mara stepped to his side. He tucked her against him, needing to protect her as much as needing to show his pack who she was to him. “
Mara
is the one who saved my life. She freed me from the fire charm,
after
she nursed my wolf back to health. She’s done nothing but protect and care for me since I found her. And she’s mine. You’ll treat her with a little more respect.”

“I’m sorry, Cade. I don’t mean to offend ’er. But can ya not understand our fears?” Liam looked Mara up and down while Cade glared.

“I understand, but I won’t tolerate anyone so much as looking at her the wrong way. If you need to take your pack and go, I’ll understand.” He tightened his arm around his mate. She looked up at him with a grin. What was she smiling about? A subtle brush of her fingers against his waist reassured him. Mara angled her head towards Liam and Cade returned his attention to his beta—his former beta. The man looked stricken.

“Shite. We’re
your
pack. Didcha think I challenged? Never. I told ya years ago. I’m no alpha. I admit, I lost hope that we’d ever find ya, that ya were even still alive, but we would have gone on without an alpha. We all agreed.”

Cade let go of Mara and staggered back. “I wouldn’t have blamed you,” he whispered.

“I know.” Liam dropped to one knee and lowered his head. The rest of the pack, save Livie, followed. Liam cleared his throat and continued, “You’re my best friend, Cade. The only wolf I’ll follow to the ends of the earth and back again. We came back for ya. You’re the leader of this pack and always will be.”

“For fuck’s sake, get up.” Cade grabbed Liam by the arm and hauled him to his feet. The two men embraced again before Cade turned back to Mara. “You knew?”

“Livie told me. I tried to tell you, but you were being a stubborn ass this morning.”

A couple of his wolves stifled laughs, but most looked away. With everything he was, he wanted to grab his mate and spin her around, haul her off to the bedroom and ravage her, but he forced himself to remain calm and focused on the more important matter of introducing her to his pack. “Liam, this is Mara.”

The big wolf looked her up and down, his green eyes cold. He nodded tersely. “We owe ya a debt for takin’ care of Cade.”

“Y-you’re welcome.” She offered Liam her hand, but Cade growled and stepped in front of her, glaring between her and Liam. She frowned at him. “What?”

“Weres are possessive,” Livie answered for Cade. “He’s not going to want any of the males touching you.”

“Oh.” Mara dropped her hand and Cade relaxed.

One by one, the pack lined up. Shit, he’d missed them. The scents, the individual sounds of their breathing, the way they each said his name—old friends, family. Nothing could have prepared him for this moment. His emotions got the best of him and he swallowed hard over the lump in his throat.