The Elemental Mate

Xander POV

After describing Cortez to me, I sent Asher to the pack archives to research if the pack had come across him before and to contact other packs to see if anyone had any information about Cortez. Hayden left at the same time for his patrol shift on the border and told us that he would inform the other guards about Cortez as well.

Aurora is still sitting on my lap as I gently rub my thumb against her hip. The calmness of the gesture seems to make her relax her as she starts to fall asleep again.

“You tired?” I ask, trying to keep my voice barely above a whisper as she leans her head into my neck.

She nods her head as she lets out a small yawn, “A little.”

I give her a small smile as she looks up at me, “You’re still recovering from the attack. You want me to carry you back upstairs?”

She shakes her head, “I don’t need you to carry me. I can climb stairs myself, thank you,” she says stubbornly as she tries to get up, but I just wrap my arms around her tighter.

Placing one arm around her and the other under her knees, I lift her easily before starting the trip across the room and up the stairs. She quickly wraps her arms around my neck to keep from falling, even though I would never allow that to happen, and glares at me, “If you want this to work, Xander,” she tells me, gesturing between the two of us as I climb the stairs with her, “You are going to need to stop coddling me. I am fully capable of walking upstairs, hurt leg or not.”

“I have no doubt,” I tell her, chuckling at her facial expression. Her eyebrows are drawn together with her lips in an adorable pout as she glares at me. It’s one of the cutest things I have ever seen, and I know I am going to enjoy teasing her every time she does it, “And this isn’t coddling,” I tell her.

“Oh,” she says, rolling her eyes, “Then what is it?”

“Taking care of my mate,” I tell her as I gently set her on our bed before lightly kissing her forehead. I lean my forehead against hers as I watch her eyes, “Keeping her safe, no matter what.”

“How is carrying me up the stairs keeping me safe?” she says. I know the question was supposed to be sarcastic, but it comes out as a whisper. I smile as I conclude that our closeness is affecting her more than I thought.

“You could trip,” I tell her, smiling as she laughs. Her laugh is melodious, “Also, you need to stay off your leg, at least for a few more days. You still need to heal and a few more days on bed rest is exactly what the doctor called for.”

“Fine. But, Xander,” she bites her lip in thought before saying anything, my eyes immediately being drawn to her lips, “If everything else is almost healed, how bad was my leg?” I look into her eyes as she asks that. I can see the fear of swimming there. I’m about to tell her that it wasn’t that bad, but she can see the lie right through me, “Don’t sugar coat it, Xander. Please?”

I nod my head, knowing that I shouldn’t keep this from her, before telling her about her injuries, “When we got you to the pack hospital, the doctor told me that your femur was fractured, and the cuts went through several layers of muscle. Two of the major arteries were barely hanging on by threads and you nearly lost your leg.”

She nodded her head at the information, “When he changed, he bit onto my leg before throwing me into the tree. He clamped down so hard, I thought he snapped the bone. When I landed on the ground, I had never felt pain like that,” she tells me honestly, remembering the pain.

I growl at her words as I pull her closer to me. I focus on breathing in her scent to try and calm me, “I promise, he will pay for what he did to you.”

“He already has,” she tells me, thinking back to what she did to him. I could feel her guilt at the pain she caused him.

“I know,” I nod, trying to let it go, but I know I won’t. I will find that rogue and I will kill him for laying a hand on my mate. She leans back from my embrace to look into my eyes. All I want to do is erase those memories for her, but I can’t.

I almost want to never do the sharing with her, if it means she will never have to relive a single moment of pain. The only thought I have towards actually being happy about it someday is that she will have me with her this time. She won’t have to relive the pain alone.

Leaning forward, I place my lips softly against hers. It’s a second before I pull away, “The other reason I am going to keep carry you is that I love holding you in my arms.”

She bites her lower lip as a blush creeps up her neck and over her cheeks. I smile brightly at seeing the red I caused, “Stop looking at me like that,” she tells me, smiling as she tries to cover her blush.

“Never,” I kiss her again before pulling back, “Try and get some sleep for a while. I’ll be downstairs if you need me.”

“Okay,” she says, leaning back against the pillows. I place another kiss on her head, not wanting to leave her so soon, before walking out of the room and back downstairs to my office.

Go back to mate! Kai whines to me for leaving her.

She needs to sleep, I tell him, We have to give her some time and the doctor told us to make sure she would sleep.

Fine, he growls out, knowing it’s what’s best for Aurora.

Walking down the hall, I get to the door of my office only to hear a loud crash behind it, “Damn it,” a voice growled behind it.

Immediately recognizing the voice, I let out a deep breath of aggravation as I open the door. Standing next to my desk with her hands trying to hide something behind her back is my younger sister. Her long blonde hair is thrown up in a messy ponytail as her green eyes stared back at me, mischief and guilt swirling in them.

“Ellie,” I give her a pointed look as she stands there with her best apology face, “What the hell did you just break?”

“Nothing,” she tries. When I raise my eyebrow at her answer, she just rolls her eyes.

“Don’t roll your eyes at me,” I growl at her.

She lets out a huff as she moves the glass bowl from behind her back, “Fine, but this thing was ugly anyway.”

I laugh when she says that as I grab the old bowl from her hands and move around to sit at my desk. I look at the now cracked bowl as I lightly shake my head at her, “You made this.”

“That’s how I know it’s ugly,” she smiles back at me, “Now tell. Are all the rumors true?”

“What rumors?”

“Oh, you know. There was a rogue attack. There were witches at the alpha meeting,” she says as she leans on my desk, smiling widely, “That you found your mate.”

“You shouldn’t listen to rumors, Ellie,” I tell her, trying to avoid the subject.

“I shouldn’t?” she asks, clearly not buying it, “Then if I go upstairs right now, I won’t find a small pretty redhead?”

“How did you know she was-” I stop myself as it clicks, “Asher told you.”

“Of course he did. It’s not his fault my brother failed to mention it to me,” she smiles, “So can I meet her? Please.”

“Not right now,” I tell her, “She needs to rest after the attack.”

She gives me an apologetic look as she took a seat across my desk, “I’m sorry about how you found her,” she tells me, “I don’t know what I will do if I find my mate like that.”

“You won’t,” I tell her, hoping she never has to go through seeing her mate the way I saw mine, “I’m sure you’ll find your mate in some cheesy seeing each other across the room sort of way,” I tell her, trying to lighten the mood and avoid talking about how my mate was hurt.

She rolls her eyes again at my statement, “I am so not the cheesy fairy tale type and you know that.”

“Really?” I joke with her, “Ten bucks says your wrong, and you find your mate exactly like that.”

“Oh, you’re on,” she tells me, standing up and holding her hand out. Placing my hand into hers, we shake on the bet and start laughing at the ridiculousness of it.

A crack of thunder shook the house, drawing my attention back out the window. Confusion filled me as the sudden storm blew the trees about. There hadn’t been a cloud in the sky this morning.

Pushing the storm to the back of my mind, I started talking to Ellie about Aurora. Since I refused to let her wake Aurora up, Ellie begs me to describe her. Starting with how I found her, I tell my sister everything. Being only a few years apart, we have always been close. When our parents died, we became almost inseparable. We knew all of each other’s secrets and were always there to solve the other’s problems.

“How is she now?” Ellie asks me, concern for my mate clear in her tone.

“She’s alright,” I tell her, “I hope. If I want her to stay, I’m going to have to take things slow with her. I can’t push her.”

“You’ll figure things out. I know you will,” she tells me, smiling before she takes a serious expression, “Now, tell me about the rogue that attacked her and the witch that wants her dead.”

“The rogue’s name is Cortez. Apparently, when he attacked Aurora, she cursed his soul. If he’s lucky, he’ll be dead before I find him,” I growl out the last part before moving on, “The witch is the leader of her coven. She broke a coven law and it became personal for her leader, Iris. She wants revenge on Aurora, and I don’t know how far she is willing to go to get it.”

“Witches haven’t come near the packs in years, and for good reason. If she wants to take Aurora from pack land, she’ll get a fight and it won’t be an easy one,” Ellie says, “We should get word to the smaller packs in the area as well as our allies. Warn them that Aurora is here, and we may need help.”

I take in her words thoughtfully. She may only be seventeen, but she is one of the smartest and most strategic person I know, “This is why you’re one of my ambassadors. Warn the smaller packs about the witches and tell them we will protect them if they need it. Have Asher call Alpha Knight from the Black Stone Pack. They are our closest allies, but make sure they don’t let word leak that Aurora is here. We don’t want Iris to find Aurora if we can help it.”

“I’ll get it done,” she says, getting up from her seat, “Do you want to contact the Hollows? If the witches are looking for a war, the Lycans are going to want to know.”

“Not yet,” I tell her, getting up as to walk her to the door as we continue talking, “I don’t want to drag the Lycans into this unless we have to.”

“With how short their tempers are, I guess you’re right,” she says as she stands by the front door, “You would think for creatures who live for centuries, they would learn how not to hold a grudge.”

I give her a light chuckle at that, “Living that long only makes bad memories worse. It’s hard to let things go.”

“I guess,” she says before turning and opening the door. A blast of rainwater blows in as a lightning bolt crashes right onto the front yard. I grab Ellie’s wrist before yanking her back from the door, “Damn. Where the hell did this storm come from?”

Thunder shakes the house as the power starts to flicker. I give Ellie a concerned look before the lights went completely out. We waited in the foyer for a few seconds for the power to kick back on, but it stayed black, “I thought this house had a generator?” Ellie asked.

“It does,” I tell her. Fear and anxiety crash into my chest as the emotions start to overwhelm me. Right as the source of the feelings connected with me, a blood-curdling scream filled the house, “Aurora!”