Daniel blushed. "Okay, I get it. Not my business. Anyway, I'll see you at the meeting."
After he left, I looked back to where Connor had been sitting. The chair was empty. It was silly of me to feel a sense of loss, but I did. Even my appetite had abandoned me.
I took my tray to the kitchen and headed out. In my rush, I nearly rammed into Elder Wilde. He was Lucas's grandfather. The Wildes were almost like royalty. For generations, a Wilde had served as our pack leader, always passing the position down to the eldest son. Lucas was an exception, but no one questioned his leadership after he fought his older brother for the right to lead us.
Elder Wilde's surprisingly strong hands dropped down on my shoulders like lead weights. I nearly stumbled from the surprise of it. "Brittany, I'd sensed that you were back."
Smelled me more like it, but he was too polite to say.
"The other elders and I would like to have a word with you in the treasures room."
Great. I couldn't run. Even though he was old, when he was in wolf form he could outpace and outdistance me. I couldn't hide. He'd sniff me out.
So I did the only thing I could do. I swallowed hard and nodded.
FIVE
The Council of Elders was made up of three. They didn't look all that bad considering they'd each been around for at least a century. They weren't immortal, but the aging process was slowed by their healing ability. Still, Shifters do eventually age, and they were showing the signs. A little more bent, a little more withered and sporting manes of snowy white hair.
But their eyes were sharp, and damn it, their ability to scent probably was, too.
We were sitting in chairs near the fireplace. I felt as though the snarling wolves on the mantel were looking directly at me, passing judgment.
The elders studied me. I fought not to show any nervousness and prayed they wouldn't ask me to demonstrate my ability to shift. It hadn't occurred to me until that moment that maybe we had to reveal our wolf form to them before we could shed our novice status. That was going to be a bit of a problem. I also realized that if Shifters possessed some sort of instinctual connection with one another—something like what Kayla had sensed with Lindsey—that the elders might also be able to tap into the fact that I hadn't shifted. But if that was the case, wouldn't they confront me about it?
I tried not to envision how it would go—the distrust they might exhibit.
"So," Elder Wilde finally said.
I arched a brow. "So?"
He gave me an indulgent smile. "In all of our history, there is no record of a female surviving her first transformation alone." "There has to be a first time for everything, right?" "Was it painful?"
"Like you wouldn't believe." I gave a self-conscious laugh. "I guess you would believe. You went through it, right?"
They all smiled. At least they'd retained their sense of humor.
Just don't ask me to shift. Please don't ask me to shift.
"We still believe it's important that you find a mate," Elder Wilde said.
Relief swamped me. If they were still trying to set me up, then they had to be sensing that I was a Shifter. So what had gone wrong? Would they have the answer if I confessed the truth? Would they decide I wasn't up to being a Dark Guardian? With Bio-Chrome still a threat, I wanted to do what I could to protect Shifters. Even if I couldn't yet shift, I truly believed that I could help, could make a difference, could have an impact.
I nodded quickly at his belief that I needed to find a mate. "Oh yeah, definitely. I'm totally up for that. I just want to do it at my own pace."
"We were thinking of sending you to various other sanctuaries. We have them throughout the world. It could just be that, like your mother's situation, your mate isn't here. She found hers in Europe."
My jaw dropped. I snapped it back up. My mom had never told me that little tidbit. I'd always assumed he was someone from around here. Was that the reason she went to Europe every summer? To be with him? Why hadn't she ever told me? More importantly, why didn't she take me with her to meet him? Maybe she wasn't going to see him, maybe she was just trying to find him. Mom had always been so mysterious where my dad was concerned, like maybe she was ashamed of him or something. But then why wouldn't she be? He hadn't hung around.
But as stunning as the revelation about my mother was, I was more concerned with what he was suggesting for me. "I don't want to leave here, especially now with"—Connor no longer tied to Lindsey—"Bio-Chrome threatening us. Our very existence could be injeopardy."
"I told the others you would feel this way," Elder Mitchell said. "You've always been one of our most loyal novices."
"Definitely. I feel very strongly about this. We have to protect the pack. At all costs." Even if that cost was lying until I understood what had happened to me. "Don't send me away."
"It's not a punishment, Brittany," Elder Wilde said. "It can be very lonely when everyone around you has a mate."
"The pack comes first."
Elder Wilde sighed as though I were suggesting something that would land me in detention. The elders looked at one another, arched brows, nodded. I knew that in wolf form, Shifters could read one another's thoughts. I had a feeling the elders could do it when they weren't in Shifter mode. I hoped they couldn't read mine. Just to be safe, I fought to make my mind blank.
"You won't find anyone more loyal than me," I blurted. "Let me prove it."
"We don't question your loyalty," Elder Wilde said. "We want what is best for you."
"Staying is best for me."
They did another round of head nodding.
Finally Elder Wilde sighed as though he'd lost the argument. "We're in agreement. We need you while the Bio-Chrome threat is here. But destiny chooses our mates. If your mate is elsewhere, it's not fair to you—or him—for us to hold you here forever."
I could have told them that he wasn't elsewhere. There was obviously a defect in me that wouldn't cause that instant bonding. I was going to have to secure a mate the human way—by making him fall in love with me.
Good luck with that, Brittany.
I was more than ready to leave and decided my best course of action was to initiate the ending of the meeting. I tapped my watch. "Lucas is calling a meeting of the Dark Guardians. I should probably go."