~

Sorin turned slowly as he felt her sudden presence behind him. Their eyes met, and Sorin felt the air rush out of him, as if someone had punched him in the stomach. He took slow, measured steps until he was standing less than a foot away.

“You left,” he spoke softly, the hunter luring his prey to him.

“I was a little shocked and quite freaked out. And, to be honest, I still am,” Elle squeaked.

“I will not hurt you.” Sorin stared deeply into her unusual, silver eyes.

“I’m not worried about you hurting me. You can't.”

Sorin’s tilted his head as he asked, “Then what are you worried about?”

“I don’t really know you, and now I’m to spend the rest of my life with you, with your pack.”

“Stay with me, Elle. We will get to know one another.”

“Is it really so simple?”

Sorin smiled gently and Elle’s breath caught. She had never really paid much attention, but now, standing before him, watching him intently, she realized that Sorin was beautiful. Not feminine, but definitely beautiful. He wasn’t especially tall, but he was very muscular and held the presence of a dominant. He had short dark hair that was a little longer on top and in back and contained a natural wave. He had a strong jaw line, defined cheekbones, and a straight nose. Everything about him was symmetrical – nothing seemed out of place. In a word, Sorin was classy. Although he looked to be in his twenties, his eyes and maturity said that he was much older.

“It is only as complicated as we make it, Elle, mon amour.”

“You speak French?”

“I speak many languages. But I find that French is very beautiful when one desires to express one’s...complex feelings.”

“So, what now?” Elle looked around the hotel room.

“Now I will ask you for a small indulgence.”

Elle’s head snapped around and her eyes met Sorin’s light brown, glowing ones.

“Indulgence?” she asked nervously.

Sorin nodded once, taking another step towards her, close enough now to feel each other’s breath on their faces.

“My wolf was nearly out of control earlier. I myself have been more unsettled than I can ever remember being. Not knowing where you had gone, not knowing if I would ever see you again...it was dangerous for anyone near me. I would ask for you to allow me to hold you – to feel you safe in my arms.”

Elle could not believe the amount of vulnerability Sorin was allowing her to see in him. She was, in truth, quite humbled by it.

She nodded her consent to him and in a blink of an eye she was in his lap while he sat on the bed. Even though Sorin wasn’t a particularly large Canis lupis, she was so small that she fit perfectly against him. She laid her head on his shoulder and shivered as he ran small,comforting circles on her back. Before she realized what she was doing, she snuggled closer, needing to be as close as possible and not really understanding why. She heard him murmur in French again. Out of all the languages that she knew, it was amusing to her that French was not one of them.

“What did you just say?” she asked, not moving her head from his shoulder.

Sorin pulled her tighter to his chest.

“I said, ‘I have waited so long for you'.” Sorin didn’t want to tell her that he had also said that he would never let her go. She was already spooked enough; he didn’t want to add to her apprehension.

“Is that all you said?”

“It’s what’s important that you know,” Sorin said vaguely.

“I am not so fragile that you can’t tell me the truth.” Elle decided to open the bond that she had been blocking, hoping to show him that she wasn’t going to run again.

Sorin pulled back abruptly to look down at her. She could see the hope shining in his eyes, as well as the compelling way he needed her.

“Have you gotten your markings as well?”

“I don’t know. Where would they be?”

“Anywhere,” he answered seriously. Elle was impressed at his mature ability to pass up the opportunity for a naughty joke.

“Maybe I should check.” She stood from his lap and walked toward the bathroom.

“Let me know if you need assistance,” Sorin told her with a twinkle in his eye.

Ah, there's the man in him, Elle thought.

“I think I got this, Guardian,” She snorted as she closed the bathroom door.

Sorin was taken back that she had called him Guardian. He had not been called that in a long time, though that had been his job when Fane was a child, guarding the future Alpha of their pack. That had been his sole responsibility.

If he were being honest, once Fane had no longer needed him as his Guard, Sorin had felt a little lost as to what his place in the pack would be. Now, finding Elle, he had a purpose again. Behind those bathroom doors he had a future, and for the first time in a very long time he actually felt at peace about what that future held.

~

It was after midnight when Vasile and his group arrived at the Carpathian Mountains. He drove the van down an old road that wound through the mountains, finally coming to stop in exactly nowhere, as far as Jacque could tell. They all filed out of the van, stretching out after the long drive, which had been undertaken with as few stops as possible.

“How are you holding up, love?” Fane asked as he wrapped his arms around her waist. Jacque laid her head on his chest and soaked in his warmth and scent.

“I’m good as long as I’m with you.” She leaned back and grinned up at him.