His mind in a turmoil, Marius led the way, swiftly and surely, to his favorite place in the forest; the same forest glade he’d sat in just a matter of weeks ago, where he worried about meeting his mate. Now he had, and their bond had been tested in the worst possible way. Marius wanted desperately to reclaim his mate all over again. Prove to Cathair and his troubled wolf who the elf belonged to, now and forever.

But the nature of Cathair’s violation made him hold back. He wasn’t sure his touch would be welcome and he didn’t want to add to the distress he felt through their bond. Marius knew he should say something, anything, but he worried he’d botch things up and make the situation worse.

“We should probably talk,” Cathair said quietly.

“I’ve just been thinking about that,” Marius agreed. He stopped and turned, managing a small smile for his mate. “I’m worried sick I’ll say something insensitive or stupid and upset you. But I desperately need to know how you feel so I can help. I have an idea.” He tugged off his shirt and handed it to Cathair.

“Marius. Love, I’m not sure….”

Marius held up his hand. “It’s not like that. I’ll always want you. I can’t help that. But that’s not what this is about. I’m going to shift and then I want you to talk. We can still communicate through our bond, but I think you need to say the words out loud. Express what you’re thinking and just get it all out.”

“How will you being in your wolf form make a difference?” Cathair asked as he took the boots Marius handed to him.

“Because it’s me, but it’s not me, if you know what I mean.” Marius unflicked the button on his jeans. “I’ll hear you. I’ll understand everything you say. But being in my wolf form means I can’t say anything stupid and as my wolf will want to protect you while we’re in the forest, he won’t run off if anything you say is upsetting to us. Besides,” he added as he pushed his jeans down his legs. “A lot of people find it easier to talk to animals. Animals offer comfort without arguing with you.”

Cathair didn’t look convinced, but after pecking a quick kiss on his mate’s cheek, Marius shifted. He was determined this was the easiest way to handle what he knew would be a difficult conversation for Cathair to get through. Sniffing his mate’s legs, he pushed his head under Cathair’s free hand and nudged him, indicating it was time to move. The forest was free of predators, but the wolf in Marius didn’t want his mate out for longer than necessary.

For a while there was silence between them as they strolled through the trees. A half-moon appeared in a clear sky, lending a soft silvery light to guide their way. Well, Cathair’s way. In wolf form, Marius knew exactly where he was going and while he was tempted to run and jump and see if he could coax his mate to play with him, he knew it wasn’t the time. They’d been walking about ten minutes before Cathair actually spoke.

“I’m totally fucked up by what Wesley did,” he said keeping his voice soft. “I can’t work out what upsets me more – him violating me in that way or the fact it was done specifically to hurt you.”

Marius gave a low woof to show he was listening; mentally rethinking his shifted idea. Not being able to talk had its drawbacks. But this was Cathair’s chance to get things off his chest, so he just kept walking.

“I’ve never been in a position where I couldn’t defend myself,” Cathair continued. “My whole life, I’ve always had a way to fight back. Being aware, seeing his sleazy face, knowing what he was going to do to me; it fucking killed me inside. There was nothing I could do. Nothing. I hate that!”

Whining, Marius walked as close to Cathair as he dared without tripping him. “I mean, what guy gets off on that? His cock was fucking hard.” Marius hadn’t noticed that, but then he was too busy getting his heart broken. “He wanted it, he wanted me. I should’ve fucking known there was something weird about him the first night I met him. He fucking winked at me then, even knowing you and I were mates.”

Marius hadn’t known about that either, but then he’d been too busy running away from fate at the time. A pointless move, but before he had time to really dwell on whether or not the attack on his mate was some sort of Fate’s test, Cathair kept going.

“Mates are sacred,” Cathair roared and to Marius’s astonishment he turned and punched a tree. A big tree! Fuck, that had to hurt. “The one thing all paranormals know is the sanctity of the mating bonds. Everyone knows it. We all long for that day when we find that special someone. I waited over a thousand years for you. And that was the fucking dark elves plan all along. Destroy the most sacred of bonds. Tear the pack to pieces from the inside. And fuck, it almost worked.” Cathair’s voice broke in a sob and he crumpled to his knees, flinging his arms around Marius’s furry neck.

“If you hadn’t believed in me, in us. I can’t even begin to imagine how you must have felt seeing Wesley all over me like that. From the moment he touched me, every part of me wanted to get as far away as possible. But I couldn’t…I couldn’t move, and I knew you were coming and so did he. He laughed about it; laughed about shattering your precious heart and breaking our mating as though it was a fucking joke. And I couldn’t do anything to stop him!”

I understand, Marius sent across their bond gently. And he did. He remembered only too well what it was like to feel totally helpless and unable to get out of a dire situation. His father hadn’t been sick enough to sexually abuse him, but he thought nothing of shattering Marius in every other way.

“All I could think when you brought me out of stasis,” Cathair was openly sobbing now, “was what would have happened if you’d come in five minutes later. If you’d seen Wesley riding me like a lump on a log. I hate cheaters. After what Jorge did to me, I’ve hated the whole idea with a passion. To me, it’s so much more than the physical act. It’s a breach of trust; it’s the worst thing you could do when you’re with someone who believes you’re monogamous and yet there I was, helpless to stop him, literally seconds from cheating on you. My own mate.”

Oh. Fuck. No. Marius couldn’t have his mate thinking like that. Yes, his initial thought when he saw what Wesley was doing was to jump to that conclusion. But commonsense had prevailed before he’d made his own mistakes. It simply wasn’t physically possible for the claimed mate of a shifter to cheat.

“You didn’t cheat,” he said, shifting seamlessly into his two-legged form. “You didn’t cheat and even if Wesley had…had…had done what he set out to do, none of that was on you. Cheating is a choice. You didn’t make that choice.”

“I didn’t have a chance to do anything.” Cathair pulled back slightly and hurried wiped his face with his hands. “If I’d have lost you because of this…fuck, I can’t even bear to think about it. I would’ve cursed my immortality, I know that much. I’d have probably gone to the darkest reaches of the underworld and begged a demon to take my soul. I can’t live without you, my warrior. I know it’s only been a short time, but I can’t. If anything happened and I lost you, I’d become worse than the dark elves themselves. Life would lose all meaning; I…I…fuck, it would break me. I’d never recover.”

“You won’t lose me.” Marius brushed a stray tear from his mate’s cheeks. “I’m not going to deny or try and brush off the way I felt in that moment before I pulled Wesley from your body. It was as though someone had taken a flaming sword and plunged it into my heart. But you’re here. I’m here. We’re unhurt, at least physically, and we’re together. We will get through this and do you know why I know that?”

Cathair shook his head.

“Because we’re both too stubborn to let go of each other.” Marius smiled. “I love you. You love me. Wesley…well, I don’t know what’s going to happen to him but nothing pleasant I imagine. If he doesn’t shift then his wolf spirit will slowly die and he’ll go mad or die because of it. I can’t imagine Vassago or Fafnir putting in a lot of work trying to reverse those runes for him after what he’s done. It would have been kinder to kill him when I had the chance.”

“I don’t want to think about him at all,” Cathair admitted. “But he isn’t going to be easy to forget for a while. You did the right thing; not killing him at the time. If the pack can learn anything to get these fuckers off our back, then that’s the one silver lining in this whole fucking mess. I understand that, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to be comfortable knowing he’s within a hundred yards of us, even if he is locked up.”

“I can’t see Kane allowing him to be killed now,” Marius chuckled ruefully. “It’s one of the things that make us different as a pack. Fight us and we’ll push back with everything we have; defending our home, our loved ones and our territory. But execution? That’s not our style. Once Jax and Anton have got all the information they can out of him, I’ll speak to Kane about having him transferred to the San Antonio pack. They have a jail there and if he tries to escape then he’ll be killed anyway. I’m sure Scott won’t mind.”

“That’s Troy’s twin, isn’t it? Someone mentioned he’s the alpha mate in that pack, right?”

“Yeah and because of that, our packs are strong allies.” Marius shivered as a rogue breeze whipped through the trees. “Do you remember the spot where I broke through the wards on my bike that time?”

“Yes.”

“That’s where I want our house to be,” Marius said. “It’s a quiet spot so we won’t be bothered by the pack unless we want to be. Having a house there will provide added protection for the back end of our territory and apart from providing coffee for any of the guys on patrol, we’ll have the place to ourselves for the most part. What do you think?”

“I think you’re pretty amazing for figuring a way to help the pack and provide us with the privacy we need. Let’s do it.”

/~/~/~/~/

Holding out his arms, Cathair closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. The spot Marius had chosen was far enough from the wards so they wouldn’t cause them any discomfort, and yet close enough to the edge of the territory to be effective from a security point of view. Using his magic, Cathair cast it out, feeling the energies from the trees, the ground beneath his feet and even the moon above. Imagining the pack house, only smaller, Cathair flung his hands at the glade, feeling his magic release.

Opening his eyes, he saw Marius peering at a single story, doll’s house version of the pack house. “It might need to be a bit bigger than that,” Marius said with a smirk. The house roof was the height of Marius’s thigh. “We’re not going to get through the door.”

“I’ll make it bigger,” Cathair grinned in return. “I just wanted to make sure this was the type of house you wanted.”

“You will be in it with me. I don’t really care,” Marius said, stepping back from the doll’s house. “Now make it big enough for us to get into and don’t forget plumbing and power. I’m not spending my eternity pooping behind a tree.”

“Yes, sir.” Aiming a mock salute in his mate’s direction, Cathair spread his arms and watched as the house began to grow, filling the space they’d selected. By the time he’d finished, the roof was now level with the height of the tall trees edging the clearing. Looking around, Cathair saw no other trees were disturbed. He wasn’t sure if Marius would understand, but that was important to him. When they had a bit more time, he’d plant some flowers and shrubs around the house as well and make it feel a bit more like home.

Satisfied he’d done minimal damage to the space, Cathair glanced at Marius to gauge his reaction. To his shock, he saw tears falling down his mate’s cheek.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” He hurried over to his mate and pulled him close. “I can change anything you like.”

“I know I’m being silly but I’ve never had a home of my own before,” Marius sobbed as he raised his arm, pointing at the sign Cathair magicked for the front door. “It even has our names on it.”

“I like seeing our names linked together,” Cathair hoped Marius couldn’t see his blush. “I’ve only ever lived in a palace or the barracks. This is all new for me too.”

“You didn’t magic servants, did you?” Marius looked at him sideways.

“Why would I do that when my fondest wish is to just spend time with you,” Cathair laughed. “Besides, you can’t magic people.”

“Thank the fates.” As Marius turned in his arms, Cathair was struck once more by the sheer beauty of his powerful mate. Their bond was flooded with feelings; love being the strongest of them all. “I’d ask if we could christen every flat surface,” Marius said quietly, studying Cathair’s shirt. “But I know that’s not something you’re ready for. But when you are, you let me know. We’ll go at your pace when it comes to the sex side of our mating.”

“You’ll still sleep with me, I hope?” Cathair wasn’t sure he was ready for sex yet, but he knew he would be. Even now, he felt calmer knowing they were miles away from where Wesley was being kept. Marius’s love would heal him, just as Luke said it would. He just needed a bit of time.

“All I want is to be in your arms. Tonight, tomorrow and forever after.” Reaching up, Marius kissed him lightly on the lips and Cathair knew deep in his soul, they would be okay.