by Cara Roman
Vermont, right into the trees. Deep down Emma knew even if the impact hadn't
been enough she would have died that night. What was going through her head
as she swerved off the road? Was it blinding terror? Was it sadness that she
wasn't going to get longer on this earth? Was she grateful that Emma and her
Dad weren't there with her? Knowing there was never going to be an answer to
that stole the air from her lungs.
How had her Dad died? Did Emma even want to know? Was he fighting
as a wolf? Shot? It hurt too much to imagine. He must have known the end was
closing in, since she had been sent to public school, so her Dad knew she was
surrounded by people all day long. It's exactly what she would've done in his
position. Patrick brought the picture of his Beth along that day. Having her with
him one last time. Knowing she would never see that picture again was just another blow. That bastard had stolen both of her parents from her, and he
hadn't even left a picture behind to remember them by. And for what? Because
he wanted a woman who never wanted him back? She loved someone else, her
fated mate. He never would have been that for her Mom. Never. That simply
wasn't the way it worked for shifters. So why the hell couldn't he let go? Was he
jealous someone else got to love Beth, or was it that he was angry she chose
Patrick over him? How fucking childish of him. Like a naughty little boy who
destroyed his favorite toy when he out grew it so nobody else would ever know
the joy of playing with it. All the lives that man ruined. Vowing one way or another
Russell wasn't going to win this. He wouldn't get away with taking her parents
from her, and she damn sure wasn't going to add herself to the list of his victims.
Finally spent Emma stood up turning her face into the spray erasing the
salty tracks of her tears. Needing normalcy she went through the motions.
Washing her hair with the pearly white shampoo. Breathing in the comforting
scent of apples as she slicked the thick conditioner onto the lengths, careful as
always to avoid bringing it up too close to her scalp. Nobody wanted to get out of
the shower with roots already feeling oily. Picking up her razor to shave while the
conditioner sat on her hair working its frizz reducing magic. Skin smooth and
hairless she lathered her self up with the thick moisturizing body wash.
Emma rinsed her hair and body knowing that when she stepped out of the
shower she wasn't going to be the same person that walked into the bathroom an
hour before. Her life was smashed to pieces again, but it just wasn't in Emma to
stay broken. Pulling on a pair of purple cropped sweat pants and a gray tshirt she squared her shoulders and walked out. She would always feel the scars lining
her soul. Like that cracked plate she bought to hold the candles the other day.
Determined that this was going to make her stronger, because she knew deep
down that Russell Decker thought her weak, easily dealt with. Without a wolf she
might be, but that didn't mean she would cower for a bully.
Chapter 13
Seated on the couch staring dejectedly into the fire blazing away in the
hearth, Lex was the only one left as Emma padded barefoot down the stairs.
Giving him space she settled on the opposite end of the sectional, tucking her
feet up underneath her. She could feel the uncertainty radiating off Lex in waves.
He wasn't sure he was welcome here anymore. "Lex, you know that none of this
was your fault right? I am incredibly grateful that you told me. It wasn't exactly
easy to hear, but thats not on you. It takes alot of heart to tell people things you
know are going to hurt them. Kian is lucky to have you in his life, and I am too.
Nobody's gonna blame you."
"Deck might. His family killed yours. Yeah, thats some soap opera shit Emma."
Lex shook his head. Emma wondered to herself what it would have been like to
grow up together, as cousins.
"No, not his family. An evil man killed my family. The rest of the Decker's are
good, down to their bones good, which is why they didn't know. He hid his true
nature from everyone."
"You actually mean that." Lex finally looked over at her. "I haven't told my parents
yet. I just couldn't. I'll have to someday though. They were both close with
MaryBeth. I can hold them off for awhile, but they're going to want to meet you. Dad especially. You look so much like your Mom, thats gonna make him real
happy. I've always thought he blamed himself for not leaving with his sister."
Not really sure what to think of that Emma nodded. "I can understand that, I
would want to meet me too if I were them. But, won't they be disappointed that I
don't have a wolf? That's not exactly something worth bragging about at family
reunions."
With a laugh Lex shook his head, "but that doesn't mean we would be ashamed
of you. It would just be one thing about you. Thats not your whole story Emma."
"Yeah, I guess. Does that run in your family?"
"Our family...." Lex said, his brown eyes warming.
"Our family." Emma murmered with a suprised smile, warmth flooding her at the
words that she had never said before.
Seeming happy that she understood Lex said, "not that I know of. Do you have
stronger senses like we do? Can you heal well?
"Yeah, I heal just like the rest of you do. I have good senses, better than humans,
but I'm not sure if its as good as yours."
"Mine is better as a wolf, but still really good as a man." He replied.
Looking around the house, "when did they leave? It was pretty rude of me to
leave everyone down here like that."
"Nah, no worries. They left right after the shower turned on." He hesitated. "I can hear the half truth there. I got that handy ability too Lex."
"Of course you did. They, ah, shit Emma, we heard you break up there. It was
rough hearing that knowing there wasn't anything to do to fix it for you. Kayla
started to go up to you, and Kole had to stop her. He said you needed to get it all
out before you could deal with it. She was crying, so I told them I would stay until
Deck gets home. Since this is all on me."
"Oh." If it was one of them up there bawling like that she would have had a hard
time listening too. "Wasn't thinking about shifter hearing."
They sat there in silence for awhile. Too much had happened, there was
too much to say, but words didn't seem to be enough. The only sound the wind
moving through trees. Leafless branches creaking. Thinking her stuff looked
good scattered around Kian's house Emma wondered if he would still want her
as a mate. Lex was no doubt hoping he hadn't lost his best friend. And Kian, her
love was running through the night trying to burn the hurt out of himself. She
could feel him pushing himself, trying to find relief. It occured to her that if she
was still feeling him then he had felt all her tears in the shower. It would have
been nice to spare him that. Wishing she could take Russell Decker down herself
right now for making Kian feel her pain she asked Lex, "do you think I could be
turned? Like with a bite? Would that give me a wolf?"
Hell, I don't know, it could kill you Emma. Even if it didn't, it might not give you a
wolf. You were born to shifters, maybe that would canc
el it out or something."
Lex looked really worried. "Don't worry I'm not asking you to do it. I was just wondering, is all."
"If Deck wasn't already pissed off at me, that would definitely do it. Changing
someone else's mate is on hell of a big no-no." Lex said visibly relieved that she
didn't want him to try and turn her.
Emma figured they could both use a distraction. She asked Lex to tell her
about his childhood. What it had been like for him growing up. He thought about
it for a moment, like he wasn't quite sure where would be a good place to start.
He told her how humid the summers in Michigan got, that the air was so thick
with moisture it could almost choke you sometimes. So his family and Kian's
brought all the kids to Lake Michigan to cool off every chance they got. That
people called it the 'big lake' around here since you were never more than 6
miles from a lake. They would trek across what felt like miles of scorchingly hot
sand to pick the perfect spot to set up their blanket. Everyone would be loaded
down with coolers full of sandwiches and cans of 'red pop'. Or beach bags filled
with toys, towels, a few bottles of sunscreen, and a half dozen bags of chips.
When they were really little they would build giant sandcastles with moats dug
deep and filled with buckets of water. Once they had buried Kian's Dad and
made him look like a mermaid.
Then when they were teenagers and could drive themselves they would
go in search of girls. Couple of scrawny 16 year olds, tall but not quite filled out
yet. Kole sometimes convincing them he should tag along even though he was
two years younger. One time they walked down the pier and jumped off the end, even though you really weren't supposed to. They figured since they were
badass shifters and all it was no big deal. That rip current was pretty intense
though, and it was harder than they thought to swim into shore.
Emma could see the three of them swimming for all they had. Taking more
than they planned, battling the churning waters. Apparently youth held bad
decisions and teenage stupidity for shifters too. Laughing hard at how they had
probably looked like half drown cats when they reached the shore. Emma told
Lex she would have liked to see that. Shaking his head he said it hadn't
impressed any of the girls, and they all drove home feeling sore and throughly
water logged. When the laughter died down they looked at each other smiling.
Chapter 14
It had been one of hell of a night. Kian was still fighting the rage and pain
swirling inside of him. But he was finally able to gain enough control to shift back.
His wolf needed to run the hurt out since he couldn't rip into his uncle yet. He was
more determined to put and end to all of this with each beat of his paws on the
ground. How would he ever be able to erase all the damage his uncle had
caused?
Kian checked on his siblings before heading home. Kayla was in bed,
tossing and turning, probably feeling completely helpless to fix everything. Kole
was down in the living room feet up on the glossy red coffee table bottle of
whiskey half gone, it wasn't easy for their kind to get drunk. With their
metabolisms they processed the alcohol too quickly, so they had to drink a whole
lot rather quickly to get sloshed like humans. But Kole was just trying to take the
edge off. Numb the pain a little. Knowing Kian's wolf was outside checking in he
raised the bottle in a silent toast before taking another swallow.
He would never have even known about all the evil things his uncle had
done if he hadn't met his Emma. With another reason to be grateful for her in his
life he walked up the front steps to his porch. Hearing his oldest friend in the
world laughing with his mate eased his soul a little. They were finding a way past the pain together, like family was supposed to. Let this be the good that came out
of all the shit stirred up tonight. Emma had a family she never even knew about.
Kian knew exactly how great it was to have Lex. He would do anything in the
world for the people he loved, and Emma was one of his people now.
Lex was telling her about the time their dumbasses had jumped from the
end of the pier. He left out that nobody was supposed to go into the water that
day. There had been red flag signs posted all over the beach. Or that the current
along the structure dragged people out further from shore. Lake Michigan was
the deadliest of all the Great Lakes, and she had taken them down a peg that
day. The cocksure shifter boys who thought themselves invincible. Letting them
have their moment he stood there buck naked on his porch in awe of the way
fate worked.
When their laughter quieted he walked in. Emma immediately jumped up
and ran into his arms. Wrapping his arms around her rocking them back and forth
a bit. This wasn't going to ruin what they found in each other. Neither one of them
would let it. Words weren't necessary, Emma didn't have to tell him her feelings
hadn't changed, he could feel her love weaving around him through the bond.
Taking a breath he nodded his head. Kian was going to fix this, avenge his mates
parents. If there was evil in his family, his pack it was on him to eradicated it.
Lex got up from his spot on the couch to leave. Head down, eyes on the
floor. That was not right. Still holding onto Emma he reached out, laying a hand
on his friend's shoulder. "Lex, shit, I didn't handle that well. Its not on you though man. You're my best friend, my brother. Thank you for telling us, and for helping
my mate when I didn't."
Raising her head to look into his eyes, "Kian, we both needed space to absorb
that blow. I felt you whole time, you didn't really leave me." Emma said reaching
a hand out to Lex linking the three of them. "You have always been his, now
you're mine too."
"OK." Giving Emma's hand a squeeze, "I don't know what is going to happen
next, but I've got your back Deck. It fucking killed me to tell you."
"I know man. We need to figure out where the bastard is hiding." Kian said.
"I'm all over that. I will know as soon as that piece of shit moves." Lex said his
voice gone cold. "I should go, my shift starts soon."
Lex walked out of the house as the sky was lightening toward dawn. Kian
turned toward Emma, she was his whole world. But just being in his life had put
her in danger. He knew that made him selfish, but every man had his limit. Her
golden green eyes were rimmed red and puffy from crying, but he had never
seen anyone more beautiful. Cupping the back of her neck he leaned down and
rested his forehead on hers. "Nobody but you."
"Nobody but you Kian."
Chapter 15
Kian's forehead still resting on hers Emma knew he wasn't going to like
what she had to say. But it needed to be said none the less. "I need your bite.
We have to try and turn me."
Pulling away from her far enough to stare into her eyes Kian shook his head. "We
can't. There are no guarantees it will work. And I'm not going to do something
that could kill you."
Getting frustrated with him, "I was born a shifter. Your bite won't kill me. I just
know it won't."
Kian didn't say anything. Just walked up the stairs. Emma got
distracted a
moment at the sight of her beautiful mate. There was nothing hiding his
deliciously scuplted muscles. Emma had the sudden urge to sink her teeth into
the globe of one perfect ass cheek. Her man really was hot, like on a scale of 1
to 10 he was at least a 12. The fact that he didn't seem to notice his beauty only
made it more appealing. Reminding her hormones to chill, she strided with
stubborn purpose up after him.
"Kian! Don't walk away from me! I'm serious. You need to bite me."
Closing the bathroom door on her he said "Nope." Emma crossed her arms at the sound of the shower turning on. It would be easier if she could just
bite him and turn. That wouldn't work though. It would just bleed him. She
understood why he didn't want to. It wasn't about not wanting to give her a wolf. It
was that not everyone survived the turn. He was scared. Once he bit her there
was nothing he could do if it started going wrong. That was probably why her
parents hadn't done it when they figured out she didn't have a wolf inside. They
had wanted her alive more than they needed her to be like them.
Kian walked back out of the bathroom, a white towel wrapped around him,
hanging low on his waist. Water still running down from his dark blonde hair. "I
won't be able to keep myself safe without your bite Kian. Please don't leave me
so vulnerable. Your uncle is going to come for me. We can't keep me hidden
here forever. Eventually I have to go back to work. I can help you guys."
Dropping the towel and openning the dresser drawer Kian said, "I love you
Emma. More than anything else in this world. Even if I bit you, and it didn't
immediately kill you, and you got your wolf, that doesn't mean the danger passes.
He got to both of your parents Emma, and they had wolves. Clearly my uncle has
no fucking honor. That isn't our way. We don't fill in this form. We fight our battles
as wolves. If thats what he wanted then maybe, just maybe I could get over the
risk. But a wolf won't stop him from cutting your break lines, or from putting a
bullet into your head as you walk down the damn street."
"You're right. He won't fight fair. But he expects this. He doesn't think you will turn
me. So by not biting me you play right into his hands." Emma said running her hands up Kian's back. "I don't want to die Kian. I want to raise babies with you,
