Kalina ~ Book Four

“So explain why you didn’t think it the right time to bring the artefact?” Rowan said from the driver’s seat.

Why Elias let him drive the Lexus was beyond her. Said mate lounged in the shotgun position, his chair half hitched back, nearly squashing her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed a fraction, earning her a nip on the wrist.

“Ouch!” She jerked her arms back. “Because Amira warned me about them, and I trust her.”

Kian took her arm and stroked the red mark from Elias’ teeth. She smiled and kissed the back of his hand.

“You do not trust yourself?” Elias asked.

Not after the last time.

“Yes. I trust myself fine, but she convinced me. It’s not forever. I just want to see how Claudine and the others are before we bring it.”

“It’s a good idea, Princess. I’ll need at least one more visit to finish their wards anyway. Their land is vast.”

“How vast?”

They were almost upon the first gate, the dust plumes of the desert blurring out the path they had taken and obscuring the fading sun under the horizon.

“About half the size of our pack lands, their fences border highly populated towns on both the Eastern and Western sides. In the North, there’s nothing but barren land.”

Wow. Once the wards were complete and the humans forgot about the shifters, the second they laid eyes on the magical barriers, she’d love to explore.

The desert reminded her of the realm of the Fates she spliced to finding Elias, and she wanted the freedom to explore such a seemingly barren place without the unbearable grief attached to her.

“Almost there.”

Fraser welcomed them as they pulled up around the water feature at the front and killed the engine. The sky was fading by the minute. Rosie pulled up behind them in her beat-up rental car a few minutes later with Seone and Ren.

Neither of them had come to the party, instead choosing to stay and watch the borders, but now Amira was there along with the rest of their highly skilled and trained shifters; they decided to tag along hoping their mates were one of the remaining unmated.

Only a second too late did Sylvie realise she should have rode in with them; the excuse for riding with three sexy men would surely sound weak.

Rowan opened the door for her, though, and thrust a phone in her hand. His phone. “Don’t forget to note down what Alpha Sylvie has asked of you.”

In other words, fake it till you make it.

“Yes, Alpha,” she replied, climbing out and straightening her sunflower sundress. It was super cute and showed off her killer physique. Fraser seemed to notice, too, letting his eyes glance over her before taking Rowan’s hand in a firm handshake.

“It’s nice to see you all again so soon. I must admit I wasn’t expecting so many of you.”

They all huddled around except for Elias and Kian, who stayed in the car, probably readying themselves to start more warding. Sylvie gaze fell to a plot of turned-over soil by the front steps with sad, dried seedlings on their side. Her mouth tugged into a frown. Who left them there?

“Ren and Seone-”

Ren’s sudden rigid posture and low growl cut off his words.

“Mate.”

His glowing eyes flickered from Rowan to Fraser, who nodded, and he darted inside to follow the scent.

“They missed out on the mixer and are here just in case.”

“It was a good choice.” Fraser glanced at Rosie and Sylvie.

“They’re here for Claudine.”

Fraser dipped his head. “Claudine is out with Will in Woodcomb, just east of here. A few others went with them. Clubbing, I think they said.”

Sylvie’s heart sank a little as Rosie’s face fell. “What about Jean?” Rosie asked hopefully. Sylvie never got too close to Jean, a tiger shifter, but Rosie took her in after her disbanded eastern pack turned on her.

Fraser nodded. “She’s inside.” Rosie clasped her hands and turned to Sylvie for permission before realising her mistake and facing Rowan.

“Go with Seone and Kalina,” Rowan said.

Sylvie swayed on her feet and peered at the plants again, ignoring the Lexus as it roared to life and pulled away without a word towards the East.

Acting aloof when her mates left made her marks twinge. Normally, they never parted without saying goodbye and a kiss. With their history, it was better to be safe than sorry.

More than once, they had been torn apart by circumstances out of her control, and she hated the uncertainty. When Elias died, the last thing she had said to him was a lie, and it bugged her for years after despite him currently being alive and well.

Never again. She squeezed Rowan’s phone in her hand.

“Can I stay here?”

Rosie and Rowan raised a brow, but she gestured to the plants. That would do for cover. And they really did need replanting. If her pack had done that, she would’ve told them off. She was half ready to tell off Fraser.

Rosie snorted, and Rowan blinked slowly.

“Why do you want to stay here?” Fraser asked, peering between the three of them.

“Gardening,” Sylvie muttered, waving at the sad, dying plants.

He looked at her then. Truly looked at her, and she held the gaze. What could he see? Kian’s wards were phenomenal, so he wouldn’t scent anything other than shifter, but it was like he could read her. It was like her heritage was written on her face, but with a blink, the look was gone, and he turned.

“You may. Alpha Rowan, follow me. Rosie and Seone, you are welcome to explore.”

He winced a moment, and Rowan mirrored the expression. “Congratulations,” Fraser said softly before they disappeared inside.

From the look the two Alpha’s shared, Sylvie was confident Ren had chosen to stay with her pack. With a satisfied smile, she crouched by the saplings, tracing her finger over the different leaves.

The replanting was quick work, and with an empty watering can she found leaning against the bottom of the building, she trotted to the water feature and filled it while pulling out Rowan’s phone and calling Elias. He picked up on the first ring.

“Yeah?”

“It’s me.”

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine. Just didn’t want you to go without saying goodbye.”

She could sense his smile through the call. Her face warmed.

“Goodbye, Kitten.”

“Bye, Princess.”

“Bye.” She hung up before she could say I love you and be found out by the shifters eavesdropping from the second-story windows and dialled Claudine. She picked up on the fifth ring— Typical— after Sylvie lugged the full watering can from the fountain.

“What?” Blaring club beats nearly burst Sylvie’s eardrum, and she jerked her ear from the speaker.

“It’s me, dick.”

“Why are you on Rowan’s phone then?”

“I’m at your new pack with Rosie to see you, and you’re at the clubs. Without me.”

Claudine laughed breathily and groaned through the phone. “You have my number; you should have texted first. Besides, this place is the fucking pits. Everyone is acting weird as fuck. Ah- watch it,” she growled then.

Sylvie froze. “Are you alright?”

“So fucking rude,” Claudine muttered, and the background noise subsided, only to be replaced by the hum of traffic.

“You okay?”

“Yeah. I can come back if you want?”

“No, no, it’s fine. I don’t think we’re staying long anyway. Just doing a section of the wards and going home. Enjoy your night with your mate.” She tucked the phone between her ear and shoulder before pressing one last succulent cutting into the soil.

“How is your mate, by the way? I didn’t get to meet him.”

Claudine hummed. “Perfect. In every way. Seriously. And so big!”

“Claude!”

“Claudine,” a male voice growled in warning, but Claudine just chuckled lowly.

“Anyway. Better get going unless you want your ears to bleed from some sweet, sweet lovemaking.”

“Oh fucking hell,” Sylvie laughed and pulled the phone away as moaning noises poured through the speaker. “Bye Claude, love you bitch. I’ll text you!” She hung up and pocketed the phone before watering in the plants.

Looking around, she discreetly waved her hand over the plants and gave them just enough energy to soak up the water they needed. A black wolf padding down the steps behind her and darting off to the East distracted her, and every plant got an extra bump of power.

“Shit.” She pulled her hand away and crossed her arms. There was no hiding she’d done something to them now. The fucking things looked like they had at least three weeks of growth, and one had even started to flower.

She frowned after her mate’s beast form receded in the distance and shook her head. What was he up to? He was heading for Elias and Kian, but she didn’t know why.

“They needed fuel.”

“Fuck!” She jumped at Fraser’s voice. He’d snuck up on her, just like Claudine always did. Damn lion shifters. “Don’t do that.”

Fraser chuckled and peered over at the new garden, scoffing lightly. “What are you, Kalina?”

She worked her jaw and dusted off her dirt-coated palms. “I thought that was a rude thing to ask, Fraser.”

“Fray.”

“Fray,” she echoed.

“For acquaintances maybe and shifters. But acquaintances don’t use my chosen name, and you aren’t a shifter.”

“Well, what are you then?”

Fraser stuck his hands in the pockets of his black pants and stepped down onto the dirt, his boots not even scuffing the loose ground. “I think you already know, and besides, I asked you first.”

Sylvie opposed his movements, jumping up one step in her sandals and spinning so they were eye to eye.

“Guess.”

Fraser smirked, wrinkled his nose at the plants, and sideglanced back at her. She caught herself copying his scrunched expression and quickly bit her lip to stop it.

“Based on the plants, some kind of fairy.”

She smoothed her expression.

“Does that bother you?”

He tilted his head slightly, contemplatively. “No. It only makes me curious. Curious about who you are, how you and Rowan’s mate know each other, why you smell like a wolf or even stay with a pack in the first place.”

Sylvie’s smile grew with each question, and she narrowed her eyes, listing the answers on her fingers. “Well, I’m Kalina James, roommates, then colleagues, Kian’s wards, and they’re my family.” By the end of her count-off, her voice grew solemn, as did Fraser’s eyes.

Her chosen family. He knew the distinction.

“Foster kid, right?”

“Yeah.”

He nodded, then paused as if a thought sat right on the tip of his tongue.

“What?” she probed.

With a sigh, he answered, offering more than she could’ve expected. “My dad would disappear off and on for weeks after his pack abandoned him, leaving Will and I starving. We ended up in more care homes than I would’ve liked.” His eyes shone as she regarded him, the playfulness replaced by an undercurrent of grief. “It sucks.”

Once she finally unfroze, she offered a sad smile of her own. “Yeah. It sucks.”

An energy passed between them for a moment before Fraser’s eyes lifted to the horizon. “Get inside.”

“Why?”

“Humans.”

She thought about arguing but stopped herself. His expression unnerved her. Anger, fear, grief. Emotions she knew all too well.

Padding up the steps, she paused at the doorway. “Bathroom?”

“First hallway on your right, then second door on the left.”

She nodded and headed that way, marvelling at the old decor and history on and within the walls.

After doing her business, she padded back to the door, walking slowly, hoping to eavesdrop, but the words she caught the end of made her heart drop and skin crawl.

“Wouldn’t want to have to scrape another one of your cult freaks off the desert roads around here, now would we.”

Sylvie rounded the hallway wall and noted Fraser’s posture, his entire body tense and shaking imperceptively as if on the verge of a shift. The human, an officer based on his outfit and giant ego, stood on the top step to the side of Fraser.

She stormed over and took Fraser’s shaking, clammy hand in hers, intertwining their fingers and stared a death glare into the officer’s eyes. She tried not to focus on how Fraser’s hand tightened around hers or how his shaking ebbed. Instead, she said as snootily as she could.

“Do you have a warrant? This is private property.”

He completely ignored her question and sneered. “She’s a pretty wee thing. Better keep her on a short leash.”

A gleam in the officer’s eye snapped something in Sylvie. Her coiled muscles unleashed, and her hand shot out and clasped his throat, squeezing. The world moved in slow motion. Fraser tried to pull her off as the officer’s hand shot out to punch her, but she deflected them both and pulled the officer’s face towards her until they nearly touched noses.

“Don’t move,” she growled.

He stilled, even as his throat spasmed under her grip. Fraser didn’t speak, didn’t move behind her.

“If you or any of your friends come back here, it will be the last fucking thing you do. Never speak of this to anyone.” With that, she shoved him down the steps, nostrils flaring as he scrambled to his feet and sprinted to his squad car. It wasn’t until the red taillights faded into the night that she glanced back at Fraser. His amber eyes jerkily tracked over her face.

His voice turned hoarse. “I get it now.”