Six.

Six.
Elijah was nervous, more than he thought he had ever been in his life. Colt's brother was getting married in the quaint Mountain Lodge hotel, he happened to be parked just outside of.

He knew Marcus would be livid when he found out he'd stolen the address from his diary.

But how could he not?

Colt would never miss her younger brother's wedding, which meant this may be his only chance to see her before she went back into hiding. A hiding which he was loathed to admit, had him completely stumped. He had flown all over the world, Ireland, New Zealand, Brazil, where he then traced her journey into the Amazon. But, still nothing, and each time he would return to his ranch and continue with his renovations and his stud farm; dismissing his hired help until he needed them again.

No, this was his one chance to see her, to talk to her again, and while he knew he couldn't force her to come back to him, she was still his mate, the one person in the whole world designed just for him, he couldn't just walk way.

So here he sat, the lights of his SUV turned off as he watched the blurry outline of bodies in the ballroom, knowing one of them could be her. Maybe she was on the dance floor or chatting with old family friends by the bar, Elijah was imagining it all.

He looked at the daisies beside him, his pleading request tucked on a card between the blooms, and knew it was now or never.

Elijah didn't even feel the cold as he made his way to the entrance, ignoring the the decor completely as he made a beeline for the receptionist at her desk. There wasn't a moment to waste. He rang the little brass bell to get her attention, not wanting to linger in case the wrong person should see him and cause Colt to flee before he had a chance to speak to her.

"Good Evening, Sir. I'm afraid we are all booked out for the evening with the wedding going on, I don't have any rooms left." She stated with a kind smile.

"Oh, I'm not looking for a room, I just wondered if you'd be so kind as to pass these on to the groom's sister for me? I presume she is in attendance, yes?" Elijah asked in the most friendly manner he could muster.

"Well of course we will. Who shall I say dropped them off?" She smiled, obviously taken with the sweet gesture.

"It's all on the card. Thank you." Elijah nodded, before turning abruptly and making his way back outside.

He made it about twenty feet from the exit, before his knees almost buckled. Colt was here, his intuition was right, she wouldn't miss her brother's wedding. The reception area had many smells, but none stood out to him as much as her's did. Elijah was taking in large gulps of air, desperately trying to not run back inside the building and scream out his mate's name. Her scent was everything he had wanted for so long, and now she was so close. He could barely think straight, it was unbearably painful how much he wanted to both clear her scent away and yet never lose it again.

Elijah wasn't sure how long he was standing there for, hunched over and fighting the very air he was gasping for, when he heard the clearing of a throat behind him.

Elijah turned as Harris spoke, "You really shouldn't be here, Lupus."

Colt's elder brothers were standing shoulder to shoulder staring him down angrily as he stood straighter to face them.

"How could I not be? Colt is my mate, I only want to talk with her." He tried reasoning with the men, knowing full well he could take them if he needed to, but not wanting to hurt Colt by fighting with her brothers.

"So, you thought crashing Scott's wedding was the way to do it?" Asher asked incredulously.

"No." Elijah answered annoyed, "I have deliberately not done that. I know she would hate it if I made a scene."

Harris scoffed, not believing a word Elijah was saying, "So, skulking about outside in the dark is a much better way to handle things."

"I'm not." Elijah growled, his patience wearing thin, "Her scent got to me, your mate's would too if you had been without them for almost two years."

"That's the difference between us, Lupus. We wouldn't have chased our mates out of the country, in the first place," Asher snarled back, disliking Elijah's attempts at a comparison.

Before Elijah could respond a hiss pulled his attention. At first he thought it may be Isla, but he was shocked when he recognised a male wildcat was joining them. Standing squarely beside Colt's brothers against him.

"You need to leave," the wildcat stated through gritted teeth, interrupting the stand off that was happening between the three wolves, like he owned every right to. "You dinna belong here, Wolf."

Elijah squinted as recognition finally set in, He was taking in Calum's appearance, all dressed up in a kilt, before he finally placed his face.

"You? But, what are you doing here?" Elijah asked, confused at the wildcat's sudden appearance, and why he of all people was now stood against him.

"You don't have to answer him," Harris interrupted, annoying Elijah further.

"I have nothing to hide," Calum shrugged back at his brother in law, his calm demeanour somehow setting Elijah on edge even further. "I'm here in general terms, for my mate, and I'm outside, to make sure you don't get the chance to fuck anything else up."

"You found her? Here?" Elijah asked dumbfounded, amazed at how much of small world it was.

"He is definitely the better choice, don't you think Asher?" Harris pointed out, pushing to wind up Elijah further.

Harris' comment made Elijah frown, as he realised he was still missing critical information.

"Shut up, Harris. Elijah you need to leave. You aren't seeing her. End of discussion," Asher answered, "If she wanted to see you, she would have made the effort. She hasn't. Now, fuck off."

"I'm not going anywhere, until I have spoken to Colt." Elijah angrily fired back, "Wait, what exactly does that mean, the better choice? What the hell is going on?" Elijah asked, a feeling of dread pooling in the pit of his stomach.

"None of your business...." Asher began, but they all froze when the that musical voice Elijah had been longing to hear flitted out to all of their ears.

"Calum? What are you doing outside..." Colt stopped in her tracks as her eyes took in the scene before her.

Elijah lost all sense of time as he watched her appear before him. He briefly scanned her bundled up form, before his eyes settled on her face. Her beauty still astounded him.

"Colt," her name fell from lips in a whisper, as he stood staring transfixed at her eyes as they were lit up by the lights from the hotel behind him.

Everything else but her face fell from his mind, because in that moment, Colt was everything, and he knew was that he was never going to be able to let her leave his life again.