“Remember to play fight.” Julie pointed at him. “There will be no injuries.”
“Fine,” Luther whined, but the happiness in his eyes shone through. “We’ll behave.”
The wolves soon emerged from where they’d all changed and ran in our direction. The vampires and Egan took off after them, leaving Winter, Cassius, Titan, and me behind.
We walked quickly to catch up to them.
“Did you all brainstorm any more last night?” I asked, jumping straight to the point. If any decisions had been made without me, I wanted to know sooner rather than later. Obviously, he and Cassius had talked this morning.
“As of now, I don’t see how any of our plans can change.” Titan’s shoulders tightened. “We don’t know how many fae will show up next time, and we need to be prepared. Fortunately, I haven’t used all my fighters, so they don’t know our exact numbers, but I’ve used most. We’ll need to do whatever it takes to survive.”
“No, we aren’t killing them.” Did he not know how bad that would make this? “That’s not an option. We have to be peaceful.”
“Now, listen here.” Titan took a menacing step in my direction. “You’re young and emotional. You’re not the one who gets to make these decisions.”
“I agree with her,” Cassius cut in, coming to my aid. “It would cause a huge war that we can’t win. There has to be another option.”
I hadn’t expected the older vampire to agree with me.
“Which would be what?” he spat.
“Iron.” I’d stayed up researching fae lore last night and stumbled upon a credible website. “It’s a fae weakness and how we can absorb their magic. I tested it last night, and the iron drained me. When they shoot their magic at us, the iron should drain their magic too. It’s a way we can get them to channel their magic at us.”
Winter jerked her head in my direction. “How did you learn this?”
“I used the world wide web to my advantage.” I lifted my fingers. “And found something.”
“But there’s no way to verify it—” Titan started, but Winter cut him off.
“Yes, there is.” A proud look filled her face. “So you tested it.”
Titan’s forehead lined. “How is that possible?”
“The bed I’m sleeping in has iron bars on it.” I’d gotten excited with that little revelation last night. “So I touched it. I immediately felt drained and fell asleep.”
“But how is that going to help us?” Cassius tilted his head. “I guess we could take the metal off the bed and cut it.”
“No, we have something even easier than that.” Titan stopped walking and looked mildly impressed. “A pack member owns a scrap metal business. It’s where the whole city drops their stuff off. We should have plenty.”
“Do we need to head over there?” The sooner we got the iron, the safer we’d be.
“I’ll get some of the guys to go now.”
A few seconds after he’d said that, five wolves ran past us back to the pack.
“It should only take them a couple of hours to get things settled,” Winter said with relief. “I’ve been so worried, but maybe we’ll be okay.”
“By the time we’re done running”—Titan motioned toward the others—“they should be back. We can eat dinner and get everything organized.”
“Sounds good.” Cassius nodded. “But we’ll need blood.”
“We’ve got you covered,” Titan reassured him.
What we’d agreed to do finally set in. In just a few hours, there would be no getting around meeting my grandparents, and I wasn’t sure I was ready.
Chapter Fifteen
Running around in wolf form was so freeing. Despite our paranoia that the fae would show up any second, our group got to know each other and roughhoused.
Also, my wolf being free made a huge difference. She’d felt caged and trapped so much recently that it was a wonder I hadn’t come completely unhinged.
This is really nice. Donovan linked with me as he jumped on me. I tumbled over and landed on my back. He playfully nipped at my leg, which was sticking straight up. And I didn’t try to attack a vampire, so that’s a huge win!
Good job. We’d been in animal form for over three hours, and it had been touch and go for him and Axel at first, but they’d settled into their wolves within minutes.
The vampires were brave enough to allow the new wolves to fight with them, and Egan had a huge smile on his face as he fought hard against Torak. They’d developed a quick friendship.
It proved what I’d always suspected: Donovan and Axel needed significant time in their animal forms without any threats around. I could feel their contentedness and, dare I say, happiness.
I rolled to my side, jumped onto his back, and gently bit into his neck. My wolf wanted to claim him, and I had to clamp her down. There were a ton of people around, and it was not the right time. But he was finally getting to a point where we could take the next step in our relationship.
Hey, you, he growled and stood on his hind legs, making me fall back onto all fours. He hunkered over me, his teeth right at my neck.
He must have felt the same way as I did.
Axel charged over and steamrolled Donovan into a tree, saving us from a very uncomfortable situation.
Roxy trotted over and sat next to me. We watched our mates together. It’s like the calm before the storm.
Don’t remind me. I wanted to enjoy the moment and not worry about the future. Let’s not dampen the day.
Fate must have heard and decided to take matters into her own hands because Titan and Winter stepped into the small clearing. They’d gone back to the pack to prepare for the iron materials and insisted we all hang out together.
“Hey, the iron is here,” Titan said as he motioned for us to follow him. “It’d be nice to have all-hands-on-deck to unload it.”
Winter’s face softened as she took in our group. We’d all gotten along, and we’d run around the woods a couple of times. We had gained our bearings, which would come in handy and give us a leg up on the fae.
Let’s get moving. We needed to prepare before the fae popped up again.
Yes, ma’am, Roxy teased as she raced me toward the area we’d all changed in.
I went a little deeper into the woods, putting some distance between me and the other male shifters. I heard Donovan following close behind me. The two of us changed back into our human forms, and it took every ounce of self-control I had not to run over and lick his naked body. The tribal tattoo on his shoulder pulled my attention in the glistening sun. It was funny that I hadn’t paid attention to it since the first day I’d seen him. Usually, I was focused on his stomach, lips, or elsewhere, but the tattoo made him over-the-top sexy.
“See something you like?” He smirked, but his eyes were scanning me hungrily too.
“Nope.” A grin spread across my face. “Not at all.” The stench of the lie filled the air.
Donovan’s nose wrinkled in disgust, and he pulled on his shirt. Can you please not make those kinds of smells while we’re naked and checking each other out?
Hey, it’s your fault. I laughed so hard my sides hurt. I had to do something to keep you from devouring me.
Wait until tonight. He pulled on his pants, but the threat in his eyes was clear. Not even that smell will keep me away.
My body warmed at the promise. You know, I hate liars.
Then I can’t disappoint. He watched as I quickly dressed.
Soon, we were stepping out to join the others. That was when it hit me. Yes, I wanted to deal with the iron, but that would come at the price of meeting my grandparents. Do you think I might get away with not having to meet my grandparents?
If you don’t want to, I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen. Donovan took my hand. I won’t allow you to be pressured into anything you aren’t ready for.
He knew exactly what was making me nervous without me having to spill my guts; he had a way of making me fall in love with him all over again. But I’d realized something today while running with everyone. I think I need to. It could be my only chance to meet them.