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“Why didn’t you bring her with you? You could have run the pack as alpha with her at your side.”
“You don’t understand,” he said firmly. “She’s human, and she has a whole other life back in California. I couldn’t ask her to uproot that and come here and live with a pack of wolves.”
Eliana felt crushed for Tao and crushed for herself. His voice was strained and gritty, on the edge of being angry, which was as rare as a blood moon when it came to Tao’s temperament.
“You thought it would look better to the pack if I was by your side?”
Tao nodded enthusiastically.
“Yes, doesn’t that make more sense? I left, and now I’m back. The pack won’t like me simply stepping up alone, especially with a human. You next to me as the only remaining heir would make them soften.”
Eliana breathed deeply, her face falling into her hands. She wished Tao had told her all of this before showing up; she could have tried to convince him that his fears about bringing a human to the island weren’t rational.
“Have you told her about the fated mate thing?” Eliana asked.
“No. It sounds absurd to human ears. She knows I feel romantically toward her, that’s all.”
“And does she toward you?”
He slurped at his coffee, brooding.
“I think so. I haven’t known her very long, though. She might think I was nuts if I asked her to be my mate and come to some Hawaiian island.”
There was a lilt of humor in his voice which made Eliana happy. She slowly smirked at him, and he blew out a breath of air.
“God, look at us,” he said, chuckling. “Two exes with mates we want but can’t have.”
Eliana felt the desire to look back at Lucas, to make sure he was still there. Tao grinned like he had read her mind.
“Are you going back with him?”
Eliana now turned forlorn.
“I haven’t thought about that yet. We just … connected last night. There wasn’t a lot of talking going on.”
Eliana felt herself blushing again, and she raised her mug to block her naughty smile. Tao laughed, which was a good sign. They had always been able to laugh together.
“Well, you might need to soon. I don’t know how long he was planning on staying here.”
“I don’t know either,” Eliana replied.
In her heart, she wanted Tao’s presence to keep Lucas present on the island. The idea of leaving her own family, and the only life she had ever known, was utterly terrifying. In that way, she could relate to Tao’s human mate. It was a lot for someone you had just met to ask of you.
She focused her energy on Tao, not wanting to cope with her own potential loss any time soon.
“I think you should reconsider, Tao. Go back to California and smooth things over with her. You never know what kind of ships people are willing to jump unless you ask.”
He furrowed a knowing brow at her.
“And what if Lucas asks you? Hmm?”
Her wolf went wild, but she tried to squash it.
Tao had gone into a playful mode, which was heartening. Eliana rubbed her eyes, the magical night still at the forefront of her mind.
“I don’t know,” she said.
“Exactly. What do you say, though, that we put this whole marriage thing on hold until we both have our shit figured out?”
