Mated Girl (Wolf Girl #4)(21)

“What?” I asked, stepping forward. It was normal to be nervous before something like this. “If I could go myself, I would. I—”
She shook her head. “I wonder what Walsh is like now…?”
Oh.
I’d been able to talk to Sawyer mentally. The last time she had spoken to Walsh, they had ended on a bad note, with him rejecting her for his duty.
“I’m sure they’re both different. Sawyer has befriended a vampire,” I growled.
Sage scrunched up her face like she smelled something awful. “Really? Gross.”
I nodded. “But he’ll still be Walsh. Our Walsh. Don’t worry.” I gave her a side hug and she bobbed her head in agreement.
“Question…” Marmal held up a hand. “There are magical wards all over that place.” She pointed to the building. “We won’t be able to fly close enough unless we bring it down. And didn’t you say the boys are wearing cuffs that electrocute them if they step foot off the premises? How are you going to deal with all that? We don’t have a witch and I can’t bring them down.”
Fuck. She was right, and she’d also given me another clue into her magic. She could see wards. I should have brought Raven or Star, but maybe Marmal was good enough. I hadn’t known then all that would be involved, and I had wanted to protect them by leaving them behind.
I planned on stealing a key to get the boys’ cuffs off, but the other magical wards … I had no plan for. Were they like the cuffs? Because I’d gotten my cuffs off once … it took a fey blade and some blood but—
“Do light fey carry fey blades? Or is that only a dark fey thing?” I asked.
Marmal’s eyes widened a little. “All fey carry their birth blade. It’s a big deal to their culture.”
Okay … okay…
I paced harder. I had two hours. I would need my attention to be with my wolf and Sage, but maybe I could sneak away and steal a fey blade before—
“I’ll do it.” Marmal stepped forward and pulled a small dagger from behind her back. She gripped it in a tight fist and looked at me with determination.
“Do what?” I hadn’t said anything yet.
“You want a fey blade, right? But you need to stick with Sage since your wolf will be with her? I’ll get it and meet you back here before four p.m.” Marmal crossed a fist over her chest.
Wow, how had I lucked out with such supportive women by my side?
“Thank you,” I croaked.
She nodded and looked back in the direction of Pearl, probably communicating mentally.
‘I’ll keep in touch.’ She tapped her head and pushed the words into my mind. I gave her a halfcocked grin.
Marmal was pack, and I felt so right with that decision. After our troll pack member slunk away into the hiking trail to rob some unsuspecting fey of their blade, I turned to Sage.
Placing one hand on either of her shoulders, I looked her right in the eyes and took a deep breath.
“Are you ready for my wolf to … join you?”
She swallowed hard. “Nope. Totally freaked out, have already imagined the worst, like she gets stuck, or I throw up, or go insane … but let’s do this.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh, girl, I love you.”
She grinned. “Just don’t get stuck. I like having only one soul in my body.”
I gave her a curt nod, as if I knew what I was doing when in fact I was scared myself. I didn’t want half of my soul stuck in another person’s body either! My wolf was ready, perched just at the edge of my skin, blocked only by the magic of the cuffs Sawyer had custom-made for me.
Reaching out, I pulled them off but kept them in my hands, ready to put them back on the second my wolf came out. Sending my scent, or whatever, out into Light Fey City, was not something I wanted to do right now.
The moment my wolf leapt from my body and onto the grass before me, I snapped the cuffs back on. My wolf was still spectral, not yet solidifying her body as she looked from Sage to me.
‘It’s going to be weird, I know,’ I told her. ‘But we gotta do it to get Sawyer.’
Sage made fists and braced herself like she was preparing to be hit, then her eyes flashed yellow.
‘Her wolf doesn’t like it,’ my wolf said.
I shrugged. ‘Tough shit. She’ll get over it.’ I was in alpha mode now and I was bringing my baby daddy home today no matter what.
My wolf nodded, and then leapt.
It was like time stopped. My wolf arced through the air as Sage flinched, closing her eyes and holding her breath. I held mine too, and so did my wolf. No one breathed, the wind didn’t blow, it was like the world stopped for a moment just to witness half of my soul merging with another person. Then she disappeared. She leapt right into Sage’s chest and … she was gone. A shock ripped through me, like electricity zapping up my spine. I cried out at the same time Sage did, our tandem screams ripping through the forest.
It hurt, like my skin was on fire, but only for a second before it was gone. ‘What the fuck was that?’ I asked my wolf.
‘Her wolf fought me for a second before relenting,’ she told me.
Sage panted, holding her chest and looking over at me with wide eyes. “This is the weirdest feeling of my life and I want it to stop as soon as possible.”
I winced, feeling Sage’s discomfort through our bond. It was bad for me too, but not as much as her.
“Sorry. Let’s do this quickly then.” I called her over to the edge of the river. We walked around the shimmering transparent bubble that was Pearl’s cloak and I knelt down at the edge of the water. Reaching into the thick wet mud, I picked up two handfuls and moved to rub them in Sage’s hair.