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The book tumbled from his hands. He had been clutching it to his chest ever since Adam showed it to him, the prospect of him having family lancing his body as hard as it did mine. Of course, it did. I felt it. I knew what the news meant.
If he had any surviving family, then this would be the place to start.
But if it’s all just a trap…
I squeezed his hand harder as I dragged him past ruined tea rooms, dilapidated dens, and what would have been a gorgeous greenhouse attachment had the windows not all been busted out. We darted over the litter, the muck, the crap left behind by squatters and critters.
Strength infected me. Power unknown invaded my body and forced me into a fight mode I had never experienced. It superseded my wolf, informing my animal precisely what to do and when.
And I obeyed the calling regardless of how eerie it made me feel.
“Rose, wait,” Matéo whispered. He pulled on my hand, stilling me in the middle of a collapsed hallway.
The rooms around us hosted very basic furniture, none of the antique fashions in the front. These must have been the servant’s quarters.
“Matty, we can’t stop,” I whispered. “They’re probably trying to track us as we speak. The more we run, the—”
“I’m tired of running, Rose.”’
I shook my head. “Not the time for it, love.”
“I’m tired of running from you.”
“Matéo…”
His determined expression shimmered with dedication. “I don’t know why, but I want that medallion. It calls to me. It tells me to protect you with every fiber of my being.”
“I feel like I need to protect you, too.”
“It’s been like that all along, but I was ignoring it.”
I cringed at the admittance—but at least he was being honest. “I know.”
“If we die today, I need you to understand something.”
“Matty, we’re not going to die. We’re going to get to your truck and—”
An explosion of thunder rattled the ground. Everything vibrated from the floorboards to the remaining wall structures, my molecules reverberating like an earthquake. I grabbed Matéo to steady myself.
He wrapped an arm around me and led me down the rest of the hallway to the rear. A simple wooden door separated us from the outside world. The unforgiving storm was now in full effect, wind whistling a war against the side of the structure. How much more could it take?
I didn’t want to find out.
I looked into the eyes of the man who I knew to be my mate. There was no rhyme or reason for our meeting. It was the simplest thing in the world, pure chance. But it happened because it was meant to happen. And I knew that now.
Whatever happened out there, I would take the love I have with him into eternity.
He held me tightly to his side. “Strip now. Shift outside. Got it?”
“Yes, sir.”
My clothes attempted to stick to my skin because of the humidity. But once I was naked, Matéo cracked open the door and stepped back, giving me room to shift. The two of us transformed, bones cracking and skin splitting all in a matter of seconds. I shook out my fur and stretched my limbs, ears humming with brand new awareness.
Creatures were rounding the building. We had to go.
There was no way for me to communicate with him, so I nuzzled him with my snout and wandered toward the door, pushing it gently with my nose. The grounds were clear. Stepping outside, produced the delicious smell of petrichor, wet earth releasing nature’s cologne into the atmosphere.
Droplets spattered my head as I squinted through the curtain of rain.
