Fourteen.

Fourteen.
Elijah was mildly concerned at how well he was internalizing his struggle. He understood everything Colt had said, and he couldn't even hold any resentment towards her; no matter how much he felt like he should. He was just so releaved to have seen her, to have been allowed to hold her, even if it was short lived and in a show of vulnerability that he now felt ashamed of.

He had spent the next few days after the wedding stalking her in wolf form; staying far enough away that his scent wouldn't carry and alert either Colt or her wildcat to his presence. Elijah had stayed solely on the mountain near her home, shifting his position in accordance with the wind direction, as opposed to following her everywhere, as much as he may have wanted to. But, to do so would have risked him being caught; he found it odd as it was that her father didn't have more guards around after his appearance at Scott's wedding.

He hated that staying downwind meant he was constantly on the move, it scared him that he would miss something important while travelling.
He almost hated it as much as he hated seeing how good a mate the wildcat was. How happy he made Colt.

Not that he wanted the male to be bad to her, but he recognised how much harder his plan to win her back would be because of it. He was definitely the underdog in this competition, and that thought riled his inner Alpha wolf to no end.

It left a sour taste in Elijah's mouth admitting the wildcat deserved her loyalty. He was good to her, and clearly good for her; they were happy.

But, be that as it may, Colt was still his.

Reluctantly he had pulled himself away from Montana, and after three days and returned to Georgia, getting the same tepid and judgemental welcome from Tommy that he always received. The young tom cat never wanted for anything, even in Elijah's absence, he ensured the creature was fed and cared for by the workers on the stud farm. But, the stubborn cat never did forgive him for going off the rails when Nora died, or maybe he just missed her too. Either way the beast reminded him of his mate in it's strange feline aloofness, and he wasn't afraid to admit he quite enjoyed their interactions - even if they were of a potentially toxic nature.

Unfortunately for Tommy, Elijah had another trip away booked. He was leaving in four days time, and travelling to Scotland. He had a bone to pick with a certain male wildcat who though he could force Colt into a wedding she did not want. It took his contacts all of four hours to get him the information on Colt's time in Scotland, once he knew where to look, and more had been pouring in by the day.

Elijah was sitting at his dining room table with a rapidly cooling coffee, looking at the before and after pictures of the cottage by the shore, that his mate had lived in as she renovated it; not a French Chateau then, he mildly smirked at her wiles.

There was another couple in some of the recent pictures, a heavily pregnant female hanging baby clothes out on a line to dry in the sea breeze, while her, he presumed, mate or husband, followed her around, carring the basket to save her bending, with several brown hens scratching around the earth at their feet.

He had information on another piece of paper telling him the female was Colt's own cousin, and the sight of domesticated bliss made his heart clench for his own mate, even if she was pregnant with another's child; he didn't care about that it seemed, yes he was shocked at first, but now it no longer mattered.

It was in these moments Elijah realised where his initial mistakes of the past had shone.

Colt was his mate, he had seen how she was with Nora. Putting her above herself and him, when even he didn't. She would have accepted his daughter without question, because it is what a true mate would do, loving the child unconditionally as an extension of the person they loved, no matter the parentage.

He had been so naive when he chose to hide his daughter, and even after losing Colt, there wasn't a decision in his life he regretted more.

Lost time with someone you love and can never get back. All those what ifs left unanswered and those could have beens, that ate at his soul for his precious daughter.

Elijah sighed rubbing at his temples and sipping his coffee half heartedly. He shouldn't be drinking it past three-thirty in the afternoon, it would stop him from sleeping. But, he wasn't sleeping anyway and still wanted to function, he reminded himself quickly and glugged the rest down quickly before it got any colder.

Now knowing the truth of what Colt had went through at the hands of the Bruce clan, and what had been intended for her, his wolf called for two things; his mate to protect, which was going to be a long term work in progress, and vengeance on his mate's behalf against those who had stood against her.

He knew Arthur Bruce was no more, having been taken out by Colt herself, but he also knew the scumbag didn't stand alone the night he lost his life. No, there were other men there, Angus Bruce included. Men, Elijah intended to make suffer the full extent of an Alpha wolf's rage towards those who would dare try to harm his Luna.

Elijah was pulled from his angry thoughts at the sound of Tommy mewing at his feet. As soon as he made eye contact, the little devil slowly clawed his way up his leg, sharp needle like claws digging into him as he went.

"You know, you could just jump up without shredding my leg in the process, Tommy." Elijah stated with a sigh, ignoring the nipping on his skin as the tiny claw wounds healed.

Tommy just paused halfway up, hanging inbetween Elijah's thigh and calf muscle, almost as if he were dragging out the experience to further torture the man. Only when Tommy was ready did he finish his climb onto Elijah's lap, where he then sat back on his haunches and climbed up Elijah's chest with his front paws, claws extended, before sinking his teeth into Elijah's chin and only removing them when Elijah dutifully began to pet the animal as it required.

"You're a dick of a thing, you know that?" Elijah smirked.

Tommy only purred in response, satisfied at his perceived show of dominance over the wolf.

This was why Elijah told himself he kept the cat around, despite his belief the animal was a complete jackass, his headache was beginning to ease with the sound of Tommy's purring. He was almost smiling to himself when his cell began to buzz away on the table beside him.

He glanced at the screen in time to see Marcus' name flash onto the screen.

"Marcus," Elijah answered the cell, making sure to keep one hand free to placate Tommy's demands for affection. "How are things?"

"Awkward." Marcus responded flatly, "I've received so much hell from my cousins over your damn impromtu appearance at Scott's wedding. What on earth were you thinking, man?"

"I had to see her, Marcus." Elijah answered bluntly, "And honestly, I'd do it again."

"Yeah, I know." Came Marcus' resigned and unshocked response, before the line went quiet.

"So..." Elijah pushed, convinced Marcus wasn't just calling to mildly air out his disapproval.

"Right," Marcus sighed out before taking a breath. "I got a call yesterday from Colt."

Elijah was suddenly more invested in the conversation at hand than he thought possible. He didn't even realise how silent and still he had become until Tommy's loud hiss sounded out, followed by his sharp teeth sinking into the sensitive skin beneath Elijah's upper arm snappinh him out of it.

"Ahh, damn it!" Elijah yelped, "You little shit!" He snarled.

Tommy responded, by hissing in his face once more and threatening him with a bat from his claws, before jumping off his lap and casually sauntering away.

"Eli?" Marcus spoke, "You okay?"

"Yeah," Elijah answered, "Stupid cat just caught me off guard."

Marcus couldn't help but laugh, loudly. He found Elijah's relationship with the hinger cat ridiculous yet highly amusing.

"Oh, how the mighty have fallen. The once proud Alpha of the largest pack in the country, bested by an ickle, widdle, puddy cat." He joked.

"Whatever," Elijah responded, choosing to not rise to the bait. "Anyway, you mentioned Colt?"

"Yeah, she called yesterday, asking for your number. But, with all that's going on I wanted to check before giving it over?" Marcus stated.

"You wanted to check? Wait, yesterday?" Elijah blurted out, "Why did you think you... Of course I'm... Why did it take so long to check?"

"Hey, I'm not getting caught in the crossfire again, Eli." Marcus responded, "However, I also have a life of my own. Marissa is pregnant in case you forgot and she was bleeding."

"Fuck! Is everything okay?" Elijah asked. "The baby?"

"Fine, the baby is fine. Something to do with jacked up hormones in the first trimester. We have an early scan booked just in case." Marcus responded. "Anyway, I take it I'm passing your number on?"

"Please, yes." Elijah answered. "And Marcus?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm glad the baby is okay." Elijah responded sincerely.

"Thanks buddy, me too." Marcus answered, "Anyway, I better go, Marissa needs me to go get some soda and lime, apparently it's all that fixes her nausea."

"Sure, of course. Thanks Marcus."

Elijah ended the call, and stood up deliberately pocketing the cell instead of staring at it willing it to ring before heading out of the house.