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She snaps herself out of her stupor, remembering that her turning may have been only the beginning of a series of ripple effects. Laith would’ve shifted by now.
In this form, she finds it easier to flow from one alike mind to the next and easily finds Denzel as a whimpering white wolf flops out of a window only to be cornered by five other wolves.
Laith’s alive!
That's something at least.
His yellow eyes look sad, and a pang of guilt hits her hard as she watches him look around, skittish, before the wolves back away, giving him space.
Just like Elara, they’re waiting to see where he’ll go. Elara is north. Kade is south.
Laith breaks into a run, heading east and the pack follows, no doubt also ensuring he doesn’t head back to the city and alert humans to them. The shifters have done enough of exposing the supernatural lately. Something they'll have to address eventually.
But Laith suddenly stops and sniffs the air, and Elara can tell he’s running on pure instinct. Will he forget all this too, like she did the first time?
Slowly, but with growing force as he’s feeling more and more sure, he turns north.
And then he’s running again. Far faster than before. With far more certainty.
Suddenly, Elara feels it. That tether. The one between sire and turned wolf. She can't even describe it, but it tugs at her as she sees Laith skirting the edges of the forest, never once heading in the direction of Kade.
It's all the proof she needs. She’s the one responsible for Laith.
And she’s instantly afraid he’s going to hate her for it.
26
Elara
Elara freezes as the fear climbs up her spine, her throat, tries to swallow her mind. She turned Laith. She’s a monster.
And he’ll never forgive her.
One word pierces the tight, panicky feeling.
Kade.
He’s the one who started this. And right now, he’s on the other side of the forest, two of Denzel’s wolves watching over him. This is her chance.
She hesitates, conscious she should stay and tell Laith the truth. He shouldn't come back into his human body alone. She remembers how terrifying that was. But Denzel steps forward, jutting his head to indicate the direction Kade is. He thinks she should get answers, too.
Silently, she sends them a request.Take care of him.
Not giving herself time to change her mind, Elara twists and breaks into a run, heading south.
With the moon still giving her extra energy, she takes off, heading for where she'll find her clothes, car keys, and Kade.She slows as she approaches it, realizing the minute she shifts, she’ll be naked. A tremor ripples through her at the thought. Just then, the moon slides behind the thick clouds and Elara uses the flimsy opportunity. She morphs back in her human body, surprised at how seamless it felt.
She glances down and grimaces. There's dirt and grass caked to her hands and digging into her fingers and toes, leaves tangled in her hair. She doesn't know if she looks more like a nature goddess or some wild creature.
She’s pretty sure it’s column B.
Suddenly feeling vulnerable, she starts pulling her hair forward trying to cover as much of herself as she can. She gets a chill at the idea of putting her clothes back on in front of Kade, but she has to go one way or another. She wants her answers bad enough to deal with it.
Elara senses him and slows down, padding lightly on the forest ground. She feels Kade's eyes on her as she comes into the clearing, hiding her surprise to find he’s human. And just as naked as she is. His jaw is set in hard lines, and she dares to meet his eyes only for a moment, watching him drag his gaze over her body before turning his head away.
Her body tingles with the way he was looking at her, the memory of their scorching kiss rising unbidden. She numbly reaches for her clothes and gets dressed quickly, smoothing out her hair the best she can.
"We need to talk," she says, turning back around to Kade, who still won't look at her.
