A Shift in the Air (10 page)

The weave complete, he withdrew a
flat, light brown piece of leather with a small pocket affixed to
the center, designed to hold something precious to the wearer. Liam
had nothing to give Caitlin that might be precious, so he tucked a
folded square of paper inside.

Mo chuisle, mo
chroí
.

Midnight came, then turned into a
distant memory. He sealed the weave to the cuff, fashioned a
complicated button catch that should adjust slightly if he’d
guessed the size of her wrist incorrectly, and finally, wiped the
leather with a damp cloth and carved an image of a lock on the
underside. One day, perhaps, she’d remember what that symbol meant,
and if not, he knew and drew a small measure of peace from the
work.

He’d take a long lunch the next day
and drop the gift off at her apartment. And then he’d walk away.
Try to put the pieces of his shattered life back together. Seven
days he’d waited, and hoped, for her to reach out to him. And every
day he’d fallen into bed disappointed and dreamed of
her.

The next morning, he stumbled
downstairs at six, late, buttoning his flannel work shirt as he
went. Staying up until 4:00 a.m.? Stupid. Then again, he’d done so
many stupid things in the past eleven years, one more didn’t
matter. He’d face his punishment.

Tension hung thick in the air, had
since last week. The pack all knew now: Bella lived, Liam had loved
her once, and she’d rejected him. Ollie had dug the shards of
crystal out of the dining room floor, cursing under his breath the
entire time. Livie slapped him when she found out. Shawn glowered
every time he came home. Even Serena didn’t want to be around him.
The baby cried when he entered the room, probably picking up on the
deep-seated anger from her parents. No one spoke to him.

He cast a longing gaze to the cold
coffee pot and grabbed his gear. He’d leave for the job site as
soon as Cade doled out his punishment. He had no doubt of the
purpose of the meeting. Cade’s leniency over Liam’s betrayal,
shirking his duties as a beta, his brawl with Peter…Liam deserved
whatever Cade gave him. Expulsion from the pack? Probably not, but
a possibility, nonetheless. More likely, Liam would be excluded
from running with the rest of them on the full moon, told to take a
vacation, go somewhere alone for a few weeks, to think about
whether he truly wanted this life, this family. He did. He
understood now how much he loved these wolves, even if his feelings
for Caitlin chewed up his heart and left the mangled organ in
pieces. He’d stared at that faded photo of the two of them, his
only keepsake besides her suicide note, and thanked God that he’d
kept both of them in a locked, fireproof box back in
Bellingham.

He didn’t knock. Cade expected him. As
he opened the door, the alpha’s angry voice carried down the
hall.

“
What the fuck do you mean,
‘you’re leaving’?”

Liam froze. What the hell? Shite.
Mara? But…they’d mated. Mates didn’t fall out of love with one
another. Elementals and werewolves shared a special bond. Their two
beings had evolved side-by-side, and elementals felt the same,
intense pull towards their mate as werewolves did. He’d researched
elementals after Caitlin had fled from him, and Mara had confirmed
what he’d discovered all those years ago.

“
I can’t stay.” Peter.
Though Liam hadn’t attended church in years—not since Caitlin’s
death—he crossed himself and said a small prayer of thanks. And
then let his anger start to simmer. He hadn’t seen Peter since
their fight, and he hadn’t shifted, so he carried a few residual
bruises. In truth, he didn’t want to heal the cuts Caitlin had
tended for he remembered her touch, the gentle kiss she’d pressed
to the bandage above his eye, and the scent of her, standing
between his legs, close enough to—

“
Why not? Give me a reason.
And not some half-assed excuse like you’re not happy. That’s
bullshit.”

Liam rounded the corner, and Mara,
wrapped in a flannel bathrobe, her hair tousled, and dark circles
under her eyes, handed him a mug of coffee. With a hand on his arm,
she leaned in. “They’re both in a lot of pain, Liam. You need to
fix this.” She picked up her own coffee and trudged back to the
bedroom, shutting the door behind her.

Shite, she looked terrible—almost as
tired and weak as she’d been after killing Katerina. Weeks had
passed before she’d lost the haunted, dazed pain that day put in
her eyes.

“
I’m sorry I’m late,” he
said, striding into the room and standing next to Cade, crossing
his arms over his chest. Alpha and beta united, he narrowed his
eyes at Peter. “Ya better think twice about runnin’ out on your
pack, mate. Where’s this comin’ from?”

“
As if you need to ask,”
Peter scoffed. “Everyone’s got something to keep them here. Cade
has Mara. Christine’s seeing someone—she won’t tell me who, Ollie
loves his job, even when they fuck with his schedule, Shawn and
Livie have the baby and his work, and now you’ve got that bitch who
tried to kill all of us.”

Liam flinched. “If ya’d
been around at all this week, ya might know that
Caitlin
wants nothin’ to
do with me. But what about our business? Our friendship? Ye’re our
brother, Peter. That’s not enough for ya anymore?”

Cade ran a hand through his shaggy
locks. Scars on his bare forearms from Katerina’s torture caught
the light. Peter, dressed for work in worn jeans and a faded
flannel shirt, his safety vest belted around his thin frame, shook
his head. “The job hasn’t been enough for a long time. The business
was your idea. Not mine. I loved working in Bellingham. But I can’t
climb the scaffolds any more. Supervising from the ground isn’t my
thing. I hate the paperwork. Hate being trapped in the trailer
while you’re high in the air. And you never noticed.”

“
I’m a shite friend. Is
that what ya want me to say? I know. I’m tryin’ to fix things. I’m
here, yeah?”

“
Too little, too
late.”

Peter’s words slapped him in the face,
and Cade banged his hand on the arm of the sofa. “You want to
leave, you leave. The pack shouldn’t be a prison. But there’s no
revolving door. You’re in or you’re out, so be damn sure what you
want before you come to me again. If I release you, I won’t take
you back. I’ve got to trust my family. And a wolf who’d abandon his
family isn’t one I can count on.”

Liam nodded. “If ya ask, I’ll buy ya
out of the business. But I won’t let ya run away ownin’ half the
company. The pack depends on those profits. Take the day off. Think
hard about what ya want. I’ll handle things on-site
today.”

The hard stare Peter gave Liam
answered his every question. He’d lost his friend. His brother. The
wolf in front of him had changed since the fire and Cade’s
abduction. And Liam hadn’t noticed. Sure, he’d thought Peter
brooded a bit more now, didn’t offer jokes at the dinner table,
barked orders on the job site with a hard edge to his voice, but
he’d never realized the depths of Peter’s misery.

“
Please, mate. Don’t do
this.”

“
I think…I have to. I’ll
give you my decision at the end of the week.” Peter slunk out of
the house, shoulders around his ears, and a tear glistening in his
eye.

Cade sat, took a long drag on his
coffee, and let out a low grumble. “This is your fault.”

“
I know. I didn’t take care
of them when we were back in Ireland. I should have seen it
then.”

“
Yes.” Another sip of
coffee, and the alpha wolf raised his head. His eyes glowed with
barely contained anger. “I’ve let things slide for too long.
Recovering from what happened, almost losing Mara, getting settled
in Seattle…I’ve carried that load alone. You know that,
right?”

“
I do. I’ll resign as beta
if ya ask.”

Cade gestured to the love seat. Liam
sank down and cupped the warm mug in his hands like a shield.
Whatever Cade wanted, he’d agree to. He owed the man that much.
Hell, he owed him everything. If Cade hadn’t pulled him out of the
deep depression he’d fallen into after Caitlin’s “death,” he’d
probably have killed himself years ago.

“
I don’t want you to
resign. I want you to be the man I relied on for years. The one who
helped me lead them through Mike’s death. Mara needs me right now,
and I need you. Reconnect with them, and do it quickly. Be the
pack’s beta again. Join us on runs, and for fuck’s sake, apologize
for the fiasco with Bella—Caitlin—whoever the hell she is. I’ve had
all of them over here in the past few days demanding to know why
you let her into the house.”

“
Ya don’t want…?” Surprise
thickened his words.

“
You’ve been hiding for
months. I figure forcing you out of that comfortable hole you’ve
dug for yourself is fitting punishment.”

“
Caitlin doesn’t want
anything to do with me.” Saying the words out loud gave weight to
the pain he’d carried with him since leaving her
apartment.

“
Can’t say I’m upset. But
Mara told me something you need to know. Bella didn’t hurt her.” At
Liam’s raised brow, Cade snorted and shook his head. “Pretty sure
the look I gave her matched yours. But she didn’t. When Katerina
kidnapped Mara and tortured her with the fire charm, Bella tried to
help. More than once. Which is the only reason I’m allowing you
this freedom. If you want to reach out, I won’t forbid you. I have
every right, as your alpha, but you had a point. When I found my
mate, I would have given up anything to be with her. Including the
pack. You wanted to mate with Caitlin years ago. If you still want
that, and want to try to make it work, I’ll support you. But only
if you settle things with the pack first. Understand?”

“
I don’t deserve your
leniency.”

“
No, you don’t. I got my
life back. Even my wolf. And Mara’s the best fucking thing that’s
ever happened to me. But I lost my brother somewhere along the way.
Find yourself again, and we’ll figure the rest out.”

***

Caitlin hid in the shadows at the end
of the street. The fiber that connected her to Mara knotted around
her heart. Her memories solidly hers again, she owed the water
elemental an explanation, and perhaps the information she had to
impart would somehow make up for all the pain she’d
caused.

Mara’s door opened, and Cade pulled
his mate against him, kissed her until her cheeks flushed, and
grinned. Caitlin called on a bit of her element and
eavesdropped.

“
Are we eating with the
pack tonight?” Mara said, breathless.

“
No. Liam needs to spend
some time with them. Alone. It’s the only way he’s going to fix
shit.”

“
I love you.” Mara cupped
the back of his neck. “You’re installing the new driftwood piece
downtown?”

“
Yeah. I’ll be home by
three. I love you too, honey. Rest, okay?”

“
I’m fine, now go!” With a
laugh, Mara shoved Cade lightly.

When the alpha wolf turned the corner,
Caitlin ducked out from her hiding place. All night she’d debated
the risks, but she had to do something. Before she could knock or
talk herself into running away, Mara opened the door.

“
Come on in. I’ve been
expecting you.”

“
Uh…” Caitlin followed Mara
down the hall and into the living room. “How did you
know?”

“
I’ve known every time you
visited. The runes, the stones—I can’t explain it. Perhaps
something left between us from Katerina’s fire—its thrall held you
for years. And I have that power within me now. Have you studied
witchcraft at all?”

“
No. Or…at least, not
intentionally. Katerina knew some, and she taught me the runes, the
specific uses for quartz, howlite, amber, and jasper.” Caitlin sat
where Mara indicated and wrung her hands together in her lap. “Are
you okay?”

Mara lifted a shoulder. A lock of hair
from the messy bun piled on her head fell over her eyes, and she
tucked it behind her ear. “I feel good today. I’m tired, and I’m
not sleeping well, but the fire is content. Now.” She turned her
palm up, concentrated for a minute, and a tiny droplet of water
coalesced and hovered above her palm. “I took a risk with that. The
last time I conjured water, I got a deluge.”

A calm infused the room. The quartz.
Caitlin withdrew her personal talisman from her pocket and handed
it to Mara. “Does this help?”

With a sigh, Mara closed her hand over
the quartz. “Oh goddess, that feels blessedly cool and
centering.”

“
Quartz absorbs evil, pain,
and illness. You…need the protection more than I do.”

“
I can’t take
this.”

Caitlin flinched. Of course not.
Katerina had controlled Bella for years with a similar crystal. “I
should have thought—I’m sorry.”

“
No, no.” Mara clutched the
stone to her chest. “I want to. But I sense your energy. This
belongs to you, and I think…you’re in more pain than I am right
now.” She extended her hand, and the look on her face sealed
Caitlin’s decision.

“
I know why you’re sick.”
The words tumbled out in a rush, and Mara froze. “No one can absorb
another’s element and stay…healthy.” Oh God. Everything she’d done
over the past eighteen years led to this: Mara’s pain; losing,
finding, and losing Liam again; the old woman…the young girl she
remembered dying. Even her mum. She took a deep breath, and
Fergus’s hold threatened to suffocate her.