Page 22 of Mystic Mate
“You don’t seem surprised by that.”
“I wish I was.” Salem stopped and made him look at her. “You need to know I am probably going to lose my job over this, but like I said, the SPU knows about you and shifters. I am supposed to have super high security clearances but when I tried searching the files for information, all I found were blocks, encrypted files and redacted documents. There’s something going on at the highest levels of the SPU.”
Cullen nodded and turned them back to the manor house. “We feared as much. Well, until now I wasn’t much involved, but there are others who are. Your involvement up here as well as the incident with the vampires tells me I can no longer keep my pack out of the Resistance.”
“But why would you?” she asked.
“Because it is going to be a long, hard battle and I do not wish to see the members of my pack killed. The Resistance believes the Shadow League is a singular evil. They aren’t. They are far more like a hydra. When you cut the head off, the thing doesn’t die, it just grows two more heads. You need to get to the heart of the beast and that will be far more difficult.”
“But you’ll help them now?”
He nodded. “I no longer believe I have a choice. But I do have one proviso.”
“What’s that?”
“You will remain here at Ghost Moon Manor under my protection and that of my pack. We have the technology to make it appear as though you are still filing your reports from your cabin. We will discuss any need you have to leave the manor and you will agree to not do so alone.”
“So I am not your guest, I’m your prisoner.”
“No. I don’t want to stand in your way of doing your job and I will not monitor your communications with your people. I will only ask that you carefully consider what you share with them and that you allow me to keep you safe. Had I not been there, you would now be one of the vampires.”
She shook her head. “Not for long. I think if I got turned by a vamp, I’d stake the sonofabitch and then walk out into a bright, sunny day.”
A sad smile crossed his face. “There was a human who fell in love with one of my warriors. She had joined the pack and they planned for her to become one with us. Before it could happen, she was turned by the vampires. She too decided it was best to embrace the sun and be lost forever than to live as one of the undead.”
Salem felt her heart break for the couple—not only the woman, but the warrior she left behind. “I’m so sorry. Did he ever get over it?”
“Not really. He swore she was the only one for him and vowed to live as a lone wolf within the pack’s territory. For years he lived out on the fringes. We rarely saw him. Little-by-little he is reintegrating himself within the pack.”
“Do you think he’ll take another mate?”
Cullen shook his head sadly. “No. I fear he will never know that particular joy again. It is not what she would have wanted, but I’m not sure he can see past his own grief to fully embrace his life again.”
Salem squeezed Cullen’s arm. She could feel the sorrow and compassion that he felt. He said nothing but placed his hand over hers.
Her first look at the manor house was a surprise. She had expected an enormous resort-style house. Instead, it looked as though it had been picked up from somewhere in the United Kingdom and plopped down in front of the Aleutian Range. It should have looked out of place, but it didn’t.
She stopped in her tracks just staring at it. The buzzing in her head subsided and she was filled with an enormous sense of peace and belonging.
“Is there something wrong?” Cullen asked, concerned.
Salem shook her head. “No. Your home is beautiful. The weird thing is it’s almost as if I’ve been here before. I swear I’ve seen it in a dream.”
“Perhaps you have. Perhaps you have been here in another life.”
She tilted her head to search his face to see if he was making fun of her. He wasn’t. “Perhaps,” she agreed.
They stepped into the large foyer with incredibly high ceilings and an enormous amount of light from windows that graced the soaring walls.
A man about Cullen’s age and an older smaller woman stood just inside.
“Salem, this is Shaw, my beta or second-in-command. And this is Lettie, who has been running this house for more years than any of us care to remember. If I’m not available, ask anyone for either of them or Miska. They will be able to help you.”
“The pack has had dinner, but I saved a tray for you,” said Lettie. “Where would you like to eat?”
“Why don’t you set it up in the study? I’ll take some coffee and another piece of that delicious apple crisp,” said Cullen. Turning to her, “Will that work for you?”
“Absolutely.”
