Cian must have read my expression and knew what I thought, because he got a hard look on his face. “If ye or anyone else thinks tae keep my mate from me…” He looked at Caelan then and made a deep sound of warning. “Evelyn.” He said her name as if it were the greatest to ever slide off his tongue. “She’s an American.” He lowered his head but kept his focus on us. “If ye think no’ telling me anything about her will stop me from finding her”—he shook his head—“ye’d be wrong. A Lycan will no’ stop until he gets tae his mate.”
This time he addressed me, and I swallowed at the intensity with which he said those words.
His grin was slow and deadly, and it very much appeared like a predator about to go after his prey. “Looks like this wolf is going tae America tae claim his prize.” And then he was turning and stalking away, leaving me feeling weak-kneed and light-headed.
“Caelan?” I whispered, and my mate turned and pulled me into his arms instantly. I felt dizzy, out of breath, and had to tell Evelyn, to warn her, even though I knew Cian wouldn’t hurt her. I believed it when they all told me the sole purpose for an Otherworld male finding his fated mate was to treat her like the queen she was, to show her she was the greatest gift in the world to him.
I looked up into Caelan’s face and whispered, “Looks like I have to tell Evelyn the hard, shocking truth sooner than I thought I’d have to.”
30
Caelan
I took Darragh to the bedroom I’d had the staff set up for us. It was located on the opposite end of the estate, far enough away from everyone else that we’d have privacy. And although there’d been one thought in my mind as I selected this room, right now sex was the farthest thing from my mind as I scented my mate’s worry.
We’d been in the room for the last hour, my female sitting on the huge bed before rising and walking around the room. I could tell she wasn’t able to sit still, not after everything had come to light with Cian and her friend. She’d gotten off the phone with Evelyn a short time ago, and since then I could tell she was in deep thought. There was no doubt Darragh was trying to figure out how to “fix” this, although she knew there was no changing the course of destiny, and that’s exactly what this was.
I’d kept quiet the entire time Darragh had spoken with Evelyn, although all I wanted to do was comfort her, to tell her—and her friend—that although this may be strange and frightening, everything would be fine. But was that the truth? I couldn’t guarantee anything aside from Cian would be totally devoted to Evelyn for the rest of his life, but a Lycan male finding his mate wasn’t so cut-and-dried… as was evident by all the shit that happened with Luca and myself.
And if Evelyn didn’t want Cian, I knew it would slowly make the male go mad. He’d follow his female to the ends of the earth, always trying to be with her, always needing her with him. I knew without a doubt that if she forever denied and rejected him, Cian would not force the issue, but he wouldn’t leave her side.
This was all a fucking mess.
And because my mate’s friend was human, whether her friend fully understood and grasped the intensity of what being a Linked Mate to Cian meant, I wasn’t sure.
“Do you think he’ll be as… intense as you were with me?”
I looked at my female, and my chest ached at the worry on her face. “Cian will no’ stop until she’s his; that is something we both know without a doubt.” I ran a hand over my face, feeling the scruff covering my cheeks and jaw. “And he’s one hell of a tracker. Coupled with the tech resources at his fingertips, there is no denying he can find Evelyn with only her first name and the state she lives in.”
Darragh exhaled and licked her lips, nodding before dropping her gaze.
It wouldn’t do any good to lie to her to ease her worry, to say Cian could be stopped. Because he couldn't. He wouldn’t. She’d experienced the intensity she now questioned firsthand. I wouldn’t try to deter Cian from going to America to claim his mate. I wouldn’t try to force his hand to not make Evelyn his. This was his journey, his story, and it wasn’t my place, or any other Lycans, to try to interfere.
I’d learned that the hard way—and regretted all I’d done to Ainslee and Luca. I wouldn’t put another mating pair through that, even if my mate hated me for it.