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“Shut the hell up, it’s my turn to talk!” Kade grins at people watching them suspiciously and waves. “Sorry guys, my friend has had too much to drink! I’ll get him home, no worries!”
Laith tries to protest, but Kade slams him into his car door roughly enough to make him forget what he was going to say. He quickly unlocks the back door and throws Laith inside.
“Stay!” he growls, disciplining him like an untrained puppy. Kade ignores the look of pure rage as he slams the door on Laith and gets into the driver's seat.
“Where are you taking me?” Laith grumbles, sitting up in the back seat and leaning forward.
“Home, like I said. Clearly, you’re drunk.”
“The only drunk person here is you, drunk on power, that is. You know she doesn’t even like you, right? I’m pretty sure Elara hates you.”
Kade’s lips thin as he focuses on the road. It doesn’t matter if Elara likes him, Laith is the one she has to be with.
“She’ll never want you, Kade. Some flea-bitten lone wolf who wants to keep her from her friends and family? You’re out of your mind to think she’ll choose you. So you better just give it up now.”
Kade bites the inside of his cheek, refusing to retort. The rest of the ride is spent in irritated silence as he drives through traffic and weaves his way to the edge of town where this idiot’s pretentious mansion sits.
“So, you do know where I live. Freaking stalker…” Laith grumbles as they arrive.
“I can’t protect her if I don’t know where she is at all times,” Kade says grimly, then glares over his shoulder. “Get out and stay away from her tonight. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir!” Laith says mockingly and opens the door to get out.
“After tonight, Laith…” Kade lets his voice trail off, waiting for Laith to close the back door and turn to look at him. “Never leave her side again, do you hear me?”
He laughs, threading his fingers behind his head and throwing the hollow sound into the night sky. “Which is it, loner? Stay away or stay close? Make up your damn mind.”
“Protect her, asshole,” Kade grunts as he throws his car into reverse and speeds out of the driveway, leaving tar marks where his tires screeched on the concrete.
“You’re the asshole!” Laith screams at him, but Kade doesn’t care.
He’s got to get back to the theater, he’s got to be there for her. It won't be his job much longer, not when she realizes she’s meant to be Laith’s mate. His time to watch over her is limited.
The prophecy is unfolding faster than he’d like.
9
Elara
Elara sits at the dinner table, home for the weekend to please her mother. Ever since she was injured and had an extended stay here, her mom’s been complaining about missing her and not hearing from her enough.
Elara, grateful for the good food—her mother’s famous eggplant parmigiana—digs right in as soon as the plate is set in front of her, nearly forgetting the true reason why she’s braving her hovering parents to be here. Kade's mention of needing to find out her lineage has been strong in her mind, and the only solution to her problems and to get answers is finding out what line she descends from. That could hold the key to the reason she was able to survive the change despite the fact Kade mentioned most everyone had died.
“Wow, you're hungry tonight,” her father says with a chuckle.
“Mhmm,” Elara says between bites. Something about being a werewolf has made her appetite heightened, and it's hard to have good meals in her dorm. It isn't exactly equipped for large, home-cooked meals.
“Maybe she just misses my cooking that much,” her mother jokes.
Elara grins as she dabs at her face with a napkin. “I actually have an ulterior motive for being here beyond just this awesome dinner.”
“Oh?” her mother asks.
“So, we had a surprise lecture in anthropology. They want us to do this project on genealogy. Do you know anything about the family?”
Her mother frowns. “No, I don't know much, to be honest.” Her cheeks are a little red. “It’s never been my thing, but you know, if you want to really dig deep with that, you should talk to Nana. She’s kept up with all of our family tree.”
“Is she home this weekend?” Elara asks. Her grandmother loves to travel, even at her age. Always flitting around and sending postcards or bringing back cool trinkets from her trips.
