It was a long moment before he remembered that Devan’s scent was as seared on his soul as Emma’s, but for entirely different reasons.
His pulse quickened again.
Varian cleared his throat. “Zio, do you need to go? Maybe you should shift for a while—”
Zio stood with a screech of his chair on the wooden floor, out of the room before Varian could complete the sentence. He shot through the house and burst out of the front door. Sweet pain shimmered through him and he shifted, muscle and bone solidifying into his true form in the blink of an eye.
His paws hit wet grass. Scents and sounds intensified, and his vision sharpened.
The forest called to him, and he made for the break in the trees that surrounded Varian’s house, dropping his clothes as he ran. Shifting was everything—to run and leap. Weave and dodge. Grief and turmoil faded to a dull roar, overtaken by wind and rain. Animals scattered as they detected his presence. Precious moments, for when Zio was a wolf, he was free.
* * *
Devan paced the cramped back office where the wolf beta—Gale—had told him to wait. Impatience clawed at him. Claustrophobia too. He hadn’t been forbidden from leaving... yet, but he’d got the impression that it’d be better if he didn’t.
Better for who?
Like it mattered. Devan was in wolf country now and part of a pack. What he wanted as an individual was no longer important.
“That’s not entirely true.”
Devan whirled around. A broad-shouldered black man stood in the doorway, alpha strength tied into every bone and muscle.Varian.“They didn’t tell me you were a mind reader.”
Varian shrugged. “It’s not a consistent gift. Sometimes important things jump out at me; others can pass me by. There’s no rhyme or reason to it.”
“Interesting.”
“It has its moments. Welcome to England and to our home. How was your journey?”
It was on the tip of Devan’s tongue to repeat himself, but he caught it just in time. The journey had been interesting for many reasons, but he didn’t trust himself to discuss it without giving himself—and the young wolf he’d yet to scent on the military compound—away. Who the hell knew what Varian had seen pass through his mind already? “It was fine. I took a detour to meet with your elders.”
“Are they well? It has been some time since we last spoke with them. Their home is a guarded secret I trusted your alpha with for the good of my pack.”
“It’s safe with me.”
“I know. Dash is an old friend of mine. If he trusts you, so do I.”
“Is that why he chose me to come? I was under the impression it was because I have no mate.”
“A little of both, I’d imagine. Can I get you a drink? Something to eat?”
“I’m fine.”
“Tired, though, yes? You have not slept in a few days.”
Devan had come across mind readers before, but he’d never get used to how exposed he felt when someone voiced his thoughts before he could. “I don’t need much sleep.”
“But you do need some. We all do, unless we are vampires.”
Devan shuddered. “I thought there were no covens left in your country.”
“There aren’t, but that could change if we lose this war.”
“That’s why I’m here.”
“Indeed.” Varian moved to a filing cabinet by the window and opened it. He retrieved a set of keys and offered them to Devan. “I have secured you accommodation within the compound. It’s close to the human clinic should you be called to assist there, and it was the quarters of our previous healer. You should find anything you need in her rooms, though we have removed her personal belongings.”
“What was her name?”