A Shift in the Water (43 page)

Mara woke in the middle of the night. Cade held her against his warm, hard body, but he was fast asleep. “Cade,” she whispered. She was thirsty. He didn’t stir.

She’d heard every word he’d spoken while he kept vigil at her bedside. His pleas, his prayers. His stories. She’d fought to come back to him, to make a sound, to reassure him that she was still here, but Katerina’s fire charm had stolen the oxygen in her blood. After dealing with her illness for so long, she knew exactly what the charm had done to her—and how to fix it. She’d done nothing but listen to Cade’s voice and try to heal, drawing upon the sweet resonating tones of the water in the air to replenish her.

Slowly, she shifted out of his arms. He stirred and settled quickly. Her knees buckled when she stood, but she didn’t fall. She refused to give in to the weakness of her body. She wrapped herself in her robe and shuffled out into the hallway.

Snores met her ears. Mara peeked into the living room. Liam, Peter, and Ollie were curled up on air mattresses. Christine had the couch. The guest room door was closed—Livie and Shawn would be in there. Mara tiptoed into the kitchen, got a glass, and ran water from the sink.

“Mara?” Liam appeared in the doorway silently, wearing a pair of pajama pants and nothing else. “Are ya well?”

“Enough,” Mara whispered. The glass shook in her hand, but she managed to down a third of it without spilling.

“I’ll get Cade. You’re too sick to be out of bed.”

“You’ll do no such thing. I’m not going to run a marathon. I needed a glass of water. Cade is exhausted. He hasn’t slept since it ended. I’m going back to him in a minute.” She glared at Liam and he met her stare, then almost immediately looked down. She knew this look now. Submission. He was submitting to her. No longer was the beta wolf challenging her. Mara drained the glass and left it in the sink. “Is everyone okay?”

“Livie’s mad we didn’t let her fight much. Shawn’s wolf broke his leg, but he shifted back and he’s fine now.” 

“Good. I’m going back to bed.” Mara was nearly at the bedroom door but turned when Liam called her name.

“Can you forgive me? For frightening ya into leaving?” He stepped forward and clasped his hands in front of him. When he met her gaze, a single tear glistened on his cheek.

“If I’d stayed, she might have hurt Aunt Lil. Or maybe she’d have snuck up on all of us in the middle of the night and set the house on fire. And I understand. Livie told me that you loved an elemental once. That she died.”

The pain that blanketed Liam’s face was absolute. “Yeah. Caitlin was her name.” His voice trembled, as if he hadn’t said her name aloud in a long time. “She was air. Such a fragile bird. My beauty. My Cait.” He drew in a deep breath, as if reliving his time with her and bottling it up all in one moment. “She smelled like fig blossoms, ya know. Fig blossoms and the sea.”

A memory tickled at Mara’s mind. She’d smelled fig blossoms recently. Where had it been? Nerves fluttered her belly and she hugged herself tightly.

Liam shoved his hands through his red hair and yanked it, grimacing. “I let my own pain cloud my judgment of ya. It was wrong and I’m sorry.”

She nodded. “I forgive you.”

Liam rubbed his eyes. “Thank you, Mara. I don’t deserve it. There’s one other thing I want to ask, if you’ll indulge me.”

Mara was exhausted again. If Liam didn’t get the point, she was going to topple over.

“Will ya claim him?”

A knowing smile tugged at her lips. She’d found her answer up on that catwalk. Cade was the one she wanted. He’d made her a promise the moment he’d shifted. There was nothing he wouldn’t do for her. And as her sister’s fire had spread through her limbs, she’d made her own vow. This werewolf was hers and she’d fight for his life with everything she was.

She slipped back behind her bedroom door with a single whispered word.

“Yes.”

Epilogue

“Good morning, honey.”

A warm hand caressed Mara’s cheek. The scent of her favorite morning drink, an almond milk cappuccino, wafted up and Mara grinned before she even opened her eyes. “You’re spoiling me,” she murmured.

“I’ll bring you coffee every morning for the rest of my life if you’ll let me.” The mattress depressed and Mara drank in the sight of her werewolf. He wasn’t wearing a shirt and she ran her fingers down his chest, over the well-defined ridges of his abs. She tugged the waistband of his pajamas. A possessive growl emanated from his chest. She knew it well. It was his personal mating call.

Laughter and the banging of pots and pans filled the house outside their bedroom door. The pack’s offer on the neighboring house had been accepted and since they had enough cash—Shawn had invested well for the past seven years—they were already sleeping there, but the entire kitchen had to be redone so they took all of their meals at Mara’s house. Mara and Cade’s house.

Cade leaned in and kissed her. He tasted of coffee. His own mug sat next to hers on the nightstand. “Merry Christmas.”

For the past two weeks, she’d rested at Cade’s insistence. After the confrontation with Katerina, her water element and the fire in her blood had been terribly off balance. She’d had hours, even half a day here and there, where she’d felt fine and then suddenly she’d weaken. After her second fainting spell, Cade had refused to let her out of bed without him at her side. This lasted for several days, but she’d managed to talk Livie into taking her shopping on the twenty-third so she could buy presents for everyone.

“How do you feel today?” he asked her. “You look good.”

She offered him her wrist so he could determine the balance of her elements.

“Strong.” A kiss pressed to her inner arm sent a shiver down her spine.

“I’ve had three good days in a row. Maybe it’s over?” She raised her brows. Cade passed her the mug of coffee.

“I hope so. I talked to Eleanor last night. She called after you fell asleep. Everything’s set for our trip.” He took a sip of his black brew and sighed contentedly.

They were headed to Cannon Beach, Oregon on New Year’s Day. There was a large elemental community there: fire, water, earth, and air. They didn’t much care for outsiders, but Eleanor had obtained permission for Mara and Cade to spend a week there so Mara could learn from both water and fire elementals. The general consensus was that as a water child of fire, Mara might be able to wield both elements with the right training.

For now, she stuck to water alone if for no other reason than she hated how fire made her feel. The discordant notes of her sister’s final fire charm clashed with her water element. Somehow she’d taken the fire within her, twisted it, concentrated it, and sent it back into her sister tenfold. Katerina hadn’t been able to fight it.

Mara hated that she’d had to kill her sister. She didn’t regret it. Not really. She would have done anything to save Cade’s life, but she wished she’d been able to subdue Katerina instead. The idea that she’d taken a life didn’t sit well with her. The nightmares of her sister’s final wispy breath escaping her lips plagued her most nights. At least she had Cade to help her through. Likewise, she helped him every time he begged for death in his own torturous dreams. She stifled a shudder and thanked the Goddess that the pack wasn’t sleeping here any longer.

“Hey,” he said, pulling her from her thoughts. His knuckle dragged along her jaw. “I asked if you thought we’d be able to get out of town without one of them following us.”

Mara laughed. “Sorry. I was having a moment with my cappuccino. I highly doubt it. Livie won’t want to let you out of her sight.”

“Shawn will keep her here. Plus, there’s no way she could spend six hours in a car right now.” Livie was due in less than a month and both Mara and Cade hoped that she wouldn’t birth early. They wanted to be here when the pup was born.

Mara reached for his waistband again. Despite her exhaustion, they’d been unable to keep their hands off of each other. At the full moon on the seventeenth, he’d made love to her for hours, then shifted into his wolf. They’d sat together in the backyard, with Mara wrapped in heavy blankets, and the entire pack around them. A fire had blazed in the fire pit—close enough to keep her warm, but far enough away not to weaken her. One by one, the wolves approached her, bowed, and nuzzled her hand. It was a gesture of submission and acceptance for their alpha’s chosen mate. She’d thought to petition them, but they wouldn’t hear of it. After her actions to save Cade, they’d each told her that she was a part of their pack whether she wanted to be or not. That night she fell asleep with her arms around her wolf and had woken snuggled against Cade’s human form.

A knock at the door interrupted them.

“Come in,” she called, pulling up the blankets. Her silk chemise dipped low between her breasts, exposing the burn scar from the battle.

Livie stuck her head in. “Breakfast? Presents?”

“Are you six?” Cade asked with a chuckle.

“No, but
I’m
the only one who knows what Mara got all of you.”

The pillow that sailed across the room nearly caught her, but she shrieked and slammed the door.

“I’m sorry, honey. I swear they won’t always be this . . . invasive. I’ll tell them to back off a little.” He tugged on a sweatshirt and helped her to her feet.

Running a hand through her hair, she savored the sounds of family. Lil and the pack got along well. Jen’s laugh reached her from the living room. Mara’s best friend was warming up to Cade and really liked Christine. She’d sauntered into Mara’s bedroom a week ago and shocked the hell out of Mara. “So, how much do werewolves eat anyway? I need to know if I’m bringing three casseroles or six for Christmas.”

Mara had sputtered and tried to get out of bed, but Cade had stopped her weak movements with a single glare. Jen came to sit at the foot of the bed.

“Mar, I spent my childhood outside of Vancouver. We had our own pack up there. No one really talked about it. At least not the adults, but us kids all knew. We used to sneak out of the window on the full moon and watch them run from my parents’ roof.” 

Adam . . . Adam hadn’t called or come by since the third day after the park incident. He and Cade had words after he’d yelled at Mara for letting a man wear her down. It hadn’t helped that she’d been wrapped in a blanket on the couch, barely able to keep her eyes open when he’d come by. He thought her illness was getting worse and she couldn’t exactly explain that she’d fought a fire elemental. Adam blamed Cade. The pack had nearly torn him apart before Mara’s pleas sunk in and they backed off, but the damage was done. Adam told her that he didn’t appreciate her dropping one of her best friends for a man he’d never heard of. She’d wanted to explain, but what could she say? She was mated to a werewolf? That these other six people in her house were also wolves? So she’d let him go. She’d sent him a couple of emails, but he hadn’t responded.

“Don’t say anything to them.” Mara accepted her pants from Cade and tugged them on. She chose one of his new shirts, letting the loose flannel drape over her breasts. The burn between them meant she couldn’t wear a bra yet. Thank the Goddess she wasn’t well endowed. “I like having them here. I didn’t think I would, but I do.”

Cade grabbed her and scooped her up into his arms. She laughed, feigning fear that he’d drop her. “I love you,” he whispered.

“I know. Now put me down. We’ve got presents to open.”

The entire pack converged on them as soon as they opened the door. Cade growled at them to give Mara some space, but she didn’t care. She felt good today. Strong. Jen relaxed by the hearth, Christine leaning against her.

Livie took Mara’s arm and waddled with her over to the couch. “They won’t let me do anything,” Livie whispered.

“They’re right.” Mara curled her legs underneath her and settled against Cade once he’d joined her with fresh coffee for both of them. Christmas carols played on the stereo and the entire house was filled with the scents of cooking. Shawn and Livie had set the menu: ham, mashed potatoes, cheesy kale, and apple pie. Mara had insisted on making the pies. Five of them. Cade hadn’t been happy that she’d taxed herself like that, but she was going stir-crazy doing nothing.