Elijah
Elijah awoke slowly, the world shaping around him in soft, blurred lines as the sun rose outside. He became aware of the steady sound of Lily’s breathing, finding his own lungs moving in a gentle rhythm along with hers.
Her warmth seeped into his skin through the thin layers of their clothing. The night before formed itself in his mind’s eye as dawn light spilled across his frame of vision. They had shared a moment of peace, bodies pressing closer and closer as the moon had rolled across the night sky. His hands had tangled in her hair, in the fabric of her clothes, then splayed across her bare skin.
Though they’d edged around the darkest depths of their buried truths, he had learned other facets of her, of who she was, under the shroud of night. They had spoken until sleep had pulled at their eyelids and, at last, they had succumbed to it, entwined together.
And, whilst it had been entirely innocent, Elijah felt as though he’d been stripped bare before her. Brown eyes had raked across his soul, leaving their imprint embedded in his heart. She, too, had turned red and flustered, tucking imagined strands of stray hair behind her ears and spinning the ring she always wore on her index finger. He’d wanted to ask about it, but he hadn’t.
Neither of them had admitted the truth of why they were there, alone together, but with each passing moment it only became more and more clear.
They were mates, and Elijah had to say something.
“Good morning,” Lily murmured, her voice thick with sleep. His heart ached at the sound of it.
“Hello.” He pressed a kiss to her temple, and then withdrew, suddenly conscious of their proximity. His arm was slung over her waist, holding her body against him. Until one of them broached the subject of their connection, they were dancing along a fine line of propriety.
She rolled over, pulling him flush against her and tucking her head beneath his chin. Elijah’s chest warmed and, slowly, giving her every chance to back away, he wound his arms around her firmly.
“Did you sleep well?” he asked.
“Very.” She nestled impossibly closer. “You?”
“Best sleep I’ve had in weeks.”
“It’s nice here. I always thought there was nothing between the packs – just monsters lurking in the woods.”
“Maybe that’s what they wanted you to think. If they were worried about you leaving anyway, they wouldn’t have told you anything good.”
She snorted into his chest. “They didn’t care that I left, Elijah. I wasn’t – I wasn’t good enough for them.”
He got the distinct feeling that she was talking about one person, not her entire pack. Still, he murmured, “They do care. I don’t know them, Lily, but I do know that.”
* * *
He washed experimentally once more while Lily braided her clean, damp hair in the main room of the barn. Fire licked at his wrists, but he managed to heat the water successfully after a handful of failed attempts.
They packed up their meagre belongings in companionable silence. Elijah mulled over Lily’s words, and over her changed behaviour towards him. They had shared something that ran deeper than their conversation, and with the dawn it seemed that they, too, arose anew.
Elijah was debating whether or not to strap his sword down his back for the short walk to the house when a note fluttered inside, lifted magically on a curling breeze.
Breakfast is ready
- Anyen
Lily’s eyes went round. “How – how did–“
“Our hosts are faelen,” Elijah explained, forcing away the urge to make sure his ears were hidden. At Lily’s nod, he continued. “They each have a gift. Fire, earth, water, or, like Anyen, air.”
“I didn’t know they could use it for – well, for things like that.”
He smiled sadly. “Not a lot is known about the faelen, other than the dark stories from The Longest War.”
Her eyes tightened, but she nodded again. “Maybe it’s time to learn something other than history.” She smiled hesitantly, and he longed to take her hand. Scared that the impulse would only push her away, his fingers twitched at his side. “Let’s learn what kind of breakfast the faelen make, shall we?”
He grinned, a spark alighting in his chest. Though the tension in his shoulders did not ease, hope burned deep within him. He had been given a chance, one vital, fatal chance, to see how Lily responded to others of his kind.
She took his hand in hers and, together, they stepped outside to face the unknown.
His blood thundered through his veins, but feeling Lily’s scarred palm brush against his – through contact she had initiated – made his swelling hope overwhelm his crippling fear. To distract himself, he asked, “How did you get those?”
She pulled her hand free to examine her palms in the burnished sunlight. “I forget they’re there.” Squinting at the faded scars, she tilted them back and forth. “Just at training. I–“ she faltered. Elijah wanted to pull her to him, pulse roaring in his ears, but he refrained, wanting to let her speak.
“I don’t like to fight,” she admitted, forcing the words out as though they were a crime. “We were using throwing knives.” She winced. “I didn’t want to throw mine, and my opponent took advantage. I held my hands up – a stupid, stupid instinct – and, well… I guess you can see what happened for yourself.”
But something – something other than her pain – had caught his attention. Few packs trained with weapons, with the exception of their Alphas and most esteemed warriors, preferring to honour the unspoken laws of their land and battle only in their wolf forms, once a month, under the light of the full moon. To wage war in their human-like bodies was common in other continents, but not in Eldda.
And if Lily had, indeed, held her hands up to face the blades, it did not seem to Elijah that she was likely one of her pack’s most esteemed warriors. If they trained even the lowest of their ranks with steel, there were only a slim few packs she could have come from.
His hope shifted. Hope for Lily, and hope for himself. For if she came from the pack he thought she might, then he had no idea how far they might go to get her back.
Unable to resist any longer, he wrapped a firm arm around her. “Nobody,” he murmured, lips brushing the conch of her ear, “will make you fight if you do not wish to. Not in my pack.”
She shivered against him, but they reached the house before she could reply.
“Hello.” Anyen beamed at them both, her cropped hair rumpled around her thin face. “Did you get my note?”
A pang of sadness gnawed at Elijah when Lily dropped his hand, but surprise quickly swept it away. Lily smiled back at Anyen eagerly, no trace of fear or restraint in her open gaze.
“We did. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“Wolves,” came Pritus’s voice from somewhere inside, the joking disdain apparent even at a distance.
“Ignore him.” Anyen rolled her eyes, but their sparkle belied her fondness for her mate. “And come in. There’s coffee, bread and jam, pastries…”
Elijah’s focus on Lily only intensified as they stepped inside. Though she fidgeted constantly with the ring she wore, her eyes eagerly stripped bare the homely kitchen before them. Long-stemmed mushrooms, glowing a soft white like the moon, had replaced the flowers in the vase, and Lily seemed as enamoured by them as Elijah was with her.
They gorged themselves, making polite conversation around huge mouthfuls of bread and hot coffee. Elijah tried to make mental notes of the foods Lily favoured, wanting her to feel welcome in the Sea Pine pack when they finally arrived at his home.
Wood filled his gut at the thought. He was yet to ask her properly, and she was yet to say yes. He thought their connection was undeniable, but he’d been wrong before…
Forcing memories of Leahne aside, Elijah swallowed a bite of raspberry tart. Lily glanced at him worriedly, and that look alone made his stomach settle. He shot her a pained smile, and, to his shock and wonder, she touched his knee gently beneath the table.
Pritus and Anyen both eyed him knowingly, and he shook his head at them both. “So,” he said, too loudly, “we need supplies for the last leg of our journey.” He turned to Lily. “I know you don’t like to fight, but I’d feel better if you could protect yourself. Can you use a sword?”
She nodded, though her brow furrowed. “Obviously.”
“If it’s a blade you’re after, you’ll want to visit Mundo’s.” Pritus leant back in his chair, folding his arms behind his head.
Anyen hummed her agreement. Then, using a waft of air commanded by her fingertips, she cleared the table. Lily watched in awe, and, though she tugged at the end of her braid nervously, she did not look afraid.
“What kind of creature is Mundo?” she asked, still watching the plates float across the gap between the table and the counter.
“A wolf,” Pritus said, to Elijah’s surprise. Lily’s face registered only polite interest, until Pritus added, “Don’t worry. Not everyone in Entra is like us.”
That made her fold her arms across her chest. “I’m not worried,” she scowled. “Nor am I like every other wolf. I had thought you were not what I had imagined the faelen to be like, either, Pritus – but perhaps I was wrong.”
Elijah stood abruptly, but Pritus only laughed. “She has fire in her, this one.” He winked at Elijah, who sat just as quickly as he’d stood. His face burned with fear – fear at being caught out.
“Prejudice runs deep in Eldda,” Anyen interjected, eyeing Lily thoughtfully. “Words make for quick kindling. Do not let old hurt create new wounds.”
Elijah finally looked up as Lily met Anyen’s gaze, brown eyes refusing to shy away from blue. “I won’t,” she said, and the moment passed as fast as it had come.
As the sun crested the highest point in the spring sky, their new packs filled to the brim with food and water and clothes, a shining sword from Mundo’s belted at Lily’s waist, they reached the edge of Entra. Tangled forest lay before them, thick vines weaving through boughs and branches above.
Elijah’s throat bobbed. He’d made sure Lily had everything she needed, patronising several small stores owned by a myriad of creatures – just in case this was where they went their separate ways. His heart faltered. He inhaled slowly, shakily.
It was time to ask if she’d come home with him.