Page 2 of Bound to the Wolf
She heard a feminine giggle, and that was evidence that Nico was still in the house. Didn’t he have somewhere to be? Didn’t he have to work? Elise was working herself raw these days between her job at the zoo and her EMT training. She’d complained more than once, mostly to Aya, that she didn’t have enough time to spend with Nico.
Delainey wasn’t sure that was such a bad thing.
A part of her thought that Nico and Elise should spend as much time together as possible, though hopefully somewhereelse. That way Elise could get over this craziness, come back to sanity, and leave her little werewolf adventure behind.
Witches and werewolves didn’t mix, not usually.
They weren’t in active war, which was a good thing, and they tried to keep it that way by sticking to their territories and keeping the drama to a minimum. That had worked fine until four months ago when Nico’s alpha, Cole, had been injured and Nico had made a desperate play to steal supplies from the zoo where Elise worked.
Unfortunately for Elise, and all of them, Elise had been working late, and Nico had confused her for a human veterinarian.
Yada, yada, yada.
He kidnapped her. Somehow they fell in love. Delainey didn’t care about the specifics.
And now they were bucking all the societal norms and trying to have a genuine relationship. It was slightly insane and very troubling. But the Southern Basin pack and Delainey’s coven had a truce.
As long as Nico and Elise were together, they weren’t going to start any shit with each other, no matter how much the pack deserved it.
Awareness prickled in the middle of her back. She snapped her gaze to the front of the house seconds before someone knocked on the front door.
That was a warning from the wards. The coven had amped them up after a werewolf attack related to the whole Nico and Elise drama. But if someone meant them ill intent, they shouldn’t have been able to get to the front door.
“Can I help you?” She heard Aya ask from the front door. Aya normally had a soft, sweet voice, but right now she sounded guarded.
It was probably someone trying to sell them a lawn care service or Girl Scout cookies. Was it Girl Scout cookie time already? Delainey took two steps toward the door that led to the hall to the front, but kept herself hidden. She would definitely buy some Thin Mints, but she refused to deal with somebody trying to aerate their lawn, whatever that meant.
From her hiding spot, she could see Aya’s straight dark hair and the edge of her shoulder. She was wearing a light sweater and jeans. Or, at least, the right side of her was.
“We’re here to see our daughter,” a woman with an imperious voice said. “Fetch Elise now.”
Crap. Oh, crap. Fuck.
Delainey risked a longer peek down the hall and saw two people standing in the doorway. This must be Brenda and Tim Nevin, Elise’s parents.
They radiated old coven energy.Powerfulcoven energy. They were both in their late fifties. Brenda wore dark gray slacks with a matching jacket, while Tim wore khakis and a polo shirt. They both stood with stiff backs and were looking at Aya like she was a speck of dirt on the ground.
Brenda glanced down at the scratched-up hardwood floor beyond the welcome mat and didn’t bother to hide her disdain for the less-than-stellar condition of their floors. What was she going to do next? Critique the crown molding? Was the hallway too narrow for her ego?
Brenda had the same blonde hair as her daughter, but it was cut short and hair-sprayed within an inch of its life. Not even a gale-force wind could knock it out of place. Tim was a gaunt man who looked better suited to a mortuary by the look on his face, even if he was dressed for the golf course. Delainey couldn’t see a hint of Elise in her father.
She didn’t waste any more time taking Elise’s parents in. This was a grade-A emergency.
Elise didn’t talk to her parents, Delainey knew, and she hadn’t asked many questions. People were entitled to their own complicated relationships. But Elise was from the Wallace Grove Coven. That was what she had been born into, and that was where her parents still practiced.
It was a little bit like being witch royalty.
Wallace Grove was one of the biggest and oldest covens in the state, and they wielded power, both magical and political, like it was a battering ram.
Had they heard about Elise’s escapades?
Were they here to talk her out of it?
Delainey’s fingers balled into fists. Who the hell did they think they were to try that?
She might not be happy with Elise shacking up with a werewolf, but that didn’t mean Elise’s parents had any right to come in and start laying down the law.
And Nico was in the house.
