“No, honey. I can love, just not like I loved Albus.”
“It sounds like we got screwed in the relationship department.”
Ella laughed but looked aghast. “Caia, that’s blasphemous.”
“Sorry. I just—”
“Cy, I’m not lonely,” she interrupted. “I have Magnus.”
Caia thought her eyes were going to bulge out of her head. Magnus and Ella? Since when?
“You …”
The Elder was obviously delighted to have shocked her. “We take comfort in one another. He lost his mate when she was very young, and after Albus … we love each other, Cy. Just … not the way we loved them.”
Caia was glad for them then. Ella and Magnus were two of her favorite lykans.
“One day, you’ll find your mate, Caia,” she said, sincerely seeming to believe it.
Caia snorted. “I don’t see that happening. I’m not really cut out for the whole marriage thing.”
Ella chuckled knowingly. “It’s not really up to you, one way or the other.”
Yeah, well, she might be a lykan but Caia still had something called free will. Her future wasn’t set in stone and she refused to let anyone, even a god, dictate her path in life.
Lucien needed to run tonight. His mother was driving him, and everyone else, crazy with this whole mating business. He was happy for his sister and Aidan, he really was, but did it have to be the topic of conversation at breakfast and dinner? His mother even called him at work to ask about icing colors and paper napkins. The ritual couldn’t come fast enough.
He ambled out of the surprisingly quiet house, trying not to look into the kitchen as he passed because it was covered in recipes, cakes, and fabric swatches.
Outside, the breeze was welcome as it caressed his face.
“Heaven,” he murmured and stripped down. He let the change happen, enjoying the burning pain and pressure as always. Without thought, he took off into the dark woods, relishing the freedom and the wind through his pelt as he ran.
Despite the autonomy of the run, his thoughts soon turned to his pack and their problems. Yvana, whom he’d only begun to forgive for her rash treatment of Caia, had asked permission to hire staff outside of the pack for the diner. He was wary of the decision, since many of the pack ate there, and often conversation wasn’t human friendly, but he also realized her need to keep her business going. She was running out of staffing choices within the pack itself. Then there was Morgan, worried that his son, Malek, was indulging in too many casual sexual relationships with human girls. She wanted Lucien to have a word with him about turning his attention to pack girls, where it should be.
And then there was Cera, struggling financially with her three young children since Michel’s murder. He knew her family, Dimitri and gang, were doing their best to help out, but it wasn’t enough. Lucien would have to find a way to give her money without offending her pride.
So lost in these thoughts, he didn’t hear the other wolf until she was nearly upon him. He stopped and lifted his nose to the air. Caia. She suddenly came into view, sliding to a stop before him. His heart gave an unexpected thump.
Lucien watched in amusement as she lowered her head and bowed to him. He admired the way the moonlight shone through the forest canopy and filtered across her blond pelt. Even in wolf form, she looked smaller, more vulnerable than the others. That fierce protectiveness washed over him, and he took an involuntarily pad toward her.
When she raised her gaze, her eyes narrowed warily, as if she’d detected his lingering amusement over her submissiveness. She huffed, pacing in front of him, clearly unsure of whether he wanted her there or not.
He bowed in return, a hoarse chuckle erupting from the back of his throat. He looked up in time to see her fur bristle at the sound. Caia turned as if to leave and his heart stopped. She couldn’t leave. He threw himself into her side to stop her and pulled her unwillingly (at first) into a tussle. Like their first run together, she smacked him back and nipped playfully at him.
And so began a teasing play of rough-and-tumble. He enjoyed this freedom with her, away from the eyes of the pack, but as their play continued, a new feeling rushed through him, and he pulled back. He couldn’t hurry things with Caia; it would only frighten her.
Green eyes seemed to dance mockingly at him, as if she had won their little tug-of-war. He bowed to her in defeat and watched as she suddenly took off with a snort, running fast toward the house. She was incredibly swift, but so was he, and they entered the back garden at the same time. He watched her for a moment, her tongue hanging out in a comically wolfy grin. He laughed. She’d run harder than normal in an effort to beat him.