Page 65 of Fated to Her

“I missed you,” Cyrus says, running his nose along my shoulder before kissing it.

“I missed you, too,” I tell him before pulling my shirt. Cyrus grabs my bra, folding it up and putting it in his pocket along with my panties.

“Cover her scent. I’ll take her,” Cyrus says.

I glance at him.

“Precaution,” Cyrus says before looking at Eli, who’s thinking.

I see Cyrus’s lips move, but my ears can’t pick up what he’s said. Eli growls before pulling his pants off and handing them to me. I roll them up when he suddenly shifts before shifting again and standing upright.

I will never get used to that sound, I think to myself as a shiver runs over me. Cyrus grabs me, wrapping my legs around him.

He begins his run and pushes my face into his neck, gaining speed until all I see is a wall of black on either side of me. It doesn’t take long before we’re back in the village. Cyrus slows, walking up the side of the stone house, and I see people setting up long tables. Maverick is walking around, setting barrels alight. Women bring out baskets and plates of food and veggies. Men are lighting bonfires around the tables, and I smell some form of meat cooking, then spot a spit roast cooking above a fire.

“Do I even want to know what animal that is?”

“It’s a wild boar,” Cyrus says.

“Pack life is a little different. Dinners are always spent with the pack, so everyone eats together and talks.”

“Or fight,” Cyrus mutters.

“Yes, they do. It’s an easy way to settle differences,” Maverick says, coming over to us. “Did you have fun at the waterfall?” he asks.

Eli growls at him.

“I’m simply asking a question to see how my daughter-in-law likes it, Eli. Until Friday, I can do as I please. It’s still my pack. If you win, of course.”

“You and I both know who will die on Friday, old man. You should just step down,” Eli tells him.

“I don’t step down. I may be old, Eli, but I have lived a lot longer than you, fought more battles than you. I won’t go down,” Maverick tells him.

“We shall see,” Eli says, pulling me out of Cyrus’s arms.

Maverick sighs. “It doesn’t need to be like this, Eli.”

Eli takes me back inside the stone cottage, Cyrus following us in.

“Your father is right, Eli. Drop the challenge, please.”

“No!” Eli growls at him before placing me on the bed. Looking around, there are three duffel bags in the room that weren’t there before.

“Eli, think about it. Addie isn’t going to want to live out here forever. You beat him, and the pack becomes your responsibility. And what, we spend the rest of our lives out here?” Cyrus asks him.

“He has the pack. I have no control over them. It’ll be temporary,” Eli tells him.

“Your father won’t step down. You will have to kill him, Eli. Then what? You just walk away from the pack when we are done with this Sam business?” Cyrus asks him.

“No, I give them the option to join Emery’s pack or kill them.”

“You have lost the plot, Eli,” Cyrus tells him, turning away from him and running his hands through his hair before he lets out a breath.

“I’m here because you two thought this was a good idea, so we do it my way,” Eli snaps at him before stripping his clothes off.

I’m wondering what he’s doing when he suddenly shifts. I jump on the bed when he comes near me.

“No, Eli, please. You are being ridiculous,” I tell him when he grips my ankle, ripping my feet out from under me. I bounce on the bed, falling on my back.