I take the leather bag. It's heavier than it looks, filled with papers and what feels like a small book.
I open the satchel, pulling out a thick folder. The first page shows a photograph of Astrid—dark hair pulled back, expression serious, dressed in black tactical gear with a pair of swords strapped across her back. A chill runs through me as I read the heading: GUIDE Elite Response Unit.
"She's not just GUIDE," Arik says quietly. "She's one of their Inquisitors. One of their best, apparently. They call her Blades."
I flip through pages—mission reports, kill counts, commendations. Each detail builds a picture of a deadly, efficient hunter of magickal beings. My mate. The carrier of my soul shard. The woman who holds my salvation in her veins is dedicated to destroying everything I am.
The irony would be amusing if it weren't so devastating.
"There's more," Arik continues, his voice grim. "The sirens have been monitoring GUIDE communications. After your encounter, her team has been permanently assigned to hunt the 'chimeras' in Europe."
"Chimeras?" My head snaps up, neck muscles tightening. "There are still chimeras on Earth?"
Arik nods, expression grave. "And that's not all. The team at the ranch says the Enclave now knows Astrid is your mate. They're moving people into position around her town. They think they will try to take her."
The wolf surges forward with such sudden violence that my bones crack. Fangs descend, nearly piercing my lower lip. Claws tear through fingertips. The taste of blood floods my mouth as I fight for control.
"Fuck." The word emerges as a growl, barely recognizable through half-transformed jaws.
Arik eyes me warily, one hand drifting toward the knife at his belt. "You need more time here. More ambrosia. You're not stable enough to?—"
"No." The word snaps like a command. "I go back now."
"Fenrir," Thalia interjects, hands still pulsing blue light into Cormac's shoulder, "you're not thinking clearly. If you lose control again on Earth without cover?—"
"I won't." My voice is steel, unyielding even to my own ears. "Not around her."
"She shot Cormac," Arik reminds me bluntly. "She'll probably shoot you too."
"No, she won't." I shake my head, staring down at her photograph. Those fierce dark eyes that had locked with mine across her mother's yard. The woman who carries a piece of my soul, who somehow kept my wolf calm despite everything. Who had looked at my transformed state not with blind terror but with understanding.
"She's my mate," I say simply. "And right now, she's in danger because of me. Because I led enemies to her doorstep." My heart pounds with newfound purpose, each beat a declaration. "I need a siren to take me back to Earth. Today. The team at the ranch can find me another guide."
"And what exactly is your plan?" Thalia asks, looking up from Cormac. "Storm into a GUIDE agent's home and declare yourself her fated mate? Ask nicely if she'll give up hunting our kind and return to Avalon with you instead?"
"If necessary." I tuck the folder back into the satchel and sling it over my shoulder, decision made, path clear.
"She'll kill you," Arik says flatly.
"She might try." I grip the folder tightly, thinking of those fierce eyes that studied me in the cave. "But there was a moment... when our eyes met, something passed between us. She felt it too." I shake my head, struggling to articulate the connection that defies rational explanation. "She had the perfect shot in that cave. Could have ended me right there. But she hesitated."
"One hesitation doesn't mean she won't pull the trigger next time," Arik counters.
"I know the risk," I admit. "But she carries my soul, Arik. And right now, she's in danger because of me. I can't walk away from that, even if it means facing her weapon again."
"Tell the ungrateful bastard..." A weak voice interrupts. "I'll be going back with him. There'll be no replacements."
I turn to find Cormac glaring at me, color returning to his face though Thalia's hands still pulse with healing magick above his wound.
"You were shot," I remind him, crossing my arms to hide my relief.
"And I'll take another if necessary to keep you alive," he says, wincing as he tries to sit up. "Though I'd prefer if that didn't happen."
I return to his side and kneel beside him, lowering my voice. "You don't have to do this. I can find another guide."
"And what? Miss seeing you court a woman who already tried to kill you once?" His eyes meet mine, serious beneath the joke. "We started this together. We'll finish it together."
"Overnight," Thalia interrupts, her small hands never ceasing their work. "I need you both here overnight."
