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“No mom, I can’t go on a date with Wendy,” Liam said. He held the phone away from his ear for a moment, and I knew all of us could hear his mom reading him the riot act. “Mom. Mom!” he exclaimed. “I have a mate now, so you can stop playing matchmaker for me.”
“There’s nothing like a wolf momma’s drive to marry off her cubs,” Marcos muttered, shaking his head.
We shared a laugh, then continued to listen and live vicariously through Liam’s phone call.
“Yes, Mom, I’ll bring her by, but things are busy now. I’ll call you tomorrow, okay? Okay bye!” Liam ended the call. “Why did I think telling her I had a mate would settle her down?”
“No man, now you’ll get the ‘when will I have grand-cubs’ questions,” Franc replied. “It’s never ending.”
Just then, Liam rocked on his feet as if a powerful gust of wind had hit him.
Marcos reached out and grabbed him. “Hey, are you okay?”
Liam nodded, holding his hands to his temples. “Yeah, I’m just feeling a bit out of it suddenly.” When he swooned a second time, Marcos guided Liam over to a chair and made him sit.
“What is it?” I asked, but Liam remained quiet.
Emrys moved to him, kneeling down beside the chair. “Can I help?” When Liam nodded, Emrys ran a hand over the wolf-shifter’s head, healing his headache and calming him.
Liam’s eyes shot open. “I think Sera needs us.”
Emrys frowned. “How do you know?”
“I’m not sure, just a gut feeling?” he answered.
“That’s enough for me. We have to answer Sera’s call,” Marcos said.
“Agreed,” Franc replied, holding up his hand. “Assuming she’s actually in trouble. How do we know she’s calling for help? I mean, why didn’t she just call or message us?”
“I just know,” Liam insisted. I didn’t blame him for being cranky over our mate’s safety.
“Look, maybe she can’t call? We should make sure Sera is okay.” Marco’s words felt like an echo of my own thoughts. “I don’t trust the fae.”
Emrys stood up and shook his head. “I’d also feel better if we checked in with her, even just to let her know we’re here for her, but she asked for space.” Emrys sighed. “She’ll contact us when she’s ready. If we ignore her request and push her now, we’re disrespecting her.”
I’d never imagined Emrys would be the one to pump the brakes, and it gave me pause. “What if we just call, or message?” I asked. “What’s the most respectful way of keeping our distance while checking to see if Liam’s hunch is correct?”
Emrys and I shared a look, and then we both turned to Franc. Franc nodded along with me as if confirming my thoughts were correct in his mind too.
“Let’s look in on her?” Franc suggested.
“No contact? Just a visual to confirm she’s all right?” I asked. My fangs ached at the thought of sinking them into Sera again. “That sounds good to me.”
“Okay, but not all of us, and we have to stay out of sight,” Emrys added.
“How do we decide who goes?” I asked.
“We draw straws,” Franc replied, grabbing a handful of literal compostable paper straws from behind the counter. He tore off two short and then hid the ends. “There are two shorts and three longs. That way we don’t go alone in case something is wrong.”
Marcos walked right up to Franc and drew first. Without a comparison, it was impossible to tell whether he’d won or lost. Emrys went second, pulling the same length. Liam drew third, and then they had three matching straws. Liam glowered while Marcos returned to his pacing.
When I pulled mine, it was short. I breathed a sigh of relief. Sure, I could have swapped places with either of the shifters, who both seemed to have a hard time staying in human form knowing their mate might need them. But I’m just not that giving of a guy, so I didn’t.
Franc opened his hand and showed his, which matched mine. “You three stay here and handle the temple repair contractors. Caden and I will drive by Charmed Brews and see how Sera’s doing.”
“You’ll call us as soon as you see her?” Liam asked.
“Of course. We’ll even send you pictures,” I replied, my taunt earning me a low growl from Marcos.
