Emery woke up in another state. Not only that, she woke up inside the boundaries of an entirely new pack and it seemed not everyone was exactly thrilled to meet her.
The majority of the pack was waiting inside the lodge as she and Sage pulled into the property. It was huge, the Boulder Pack territory, and it seemed like it was lifted from some Colorado Board of Tourism postcard.
There was a massive pack lodge where the Alpha male and female lived, Sage explained. It also had the huge gathering space with giant television and huge couches. The giant dining room was in there, too, and the single pack members usually ate together every morning and evening.
“Kara, one of the mated females, does most of the cooking,” Sage said. “She used to run a restaurant in Colorado Springs before she met Mark and she just sort of wandered in and took over one day. None of us complained.”
Emery was only half listening as they drove down the gravel road, coming to a stop a few hundred yards from the giant lodge. In the tree line that surrounded them, Emery made out smaller cabins dotting the property, all with plenty of space and privacy between them.
“What’s the story they were given?” Emery asked glumly as she struggled with figuring out how she was going to remove herself from the vehicle without breaking her good ankle. She was well and truly stuck in there.
“The truth,” Sage replied simply. He opened the door behind her back and without waiting for an invitation or permission, he put his hands under her arms and gently pulled her backwards until her good foot was able to touch the ground. It took her a second to regain her balance and while she did, Sage kept his body against hers for support.
His scent, woodsy and crisp, was everywhere all at once and for the first time all day, Emery’s wolf was paying attention. It was pawing, wanting to get free to investigate this new male who’d caught her attention.
“Not a chance,” she mumbled to her wolf. Sage raised an eyebrow at her, but Emery waved it off.
“You’ll find that truth always works best around here,” Sage said, ignoring her little outburst. “Live by a lie, die by a lie.”
Emery frowned at that.
“Not literally,” he said as he rolled his eyes. “Not usually. All I’m saying is that we’re a small pack without the normal bullshit politics. We say what we mean. We respect each other. It’s what works for us. Sienna told everyone the truth and they can process it however they like.”
“Here’s hoping they don’t require the use of torches and pitchforks to form an opinion,” Emery muttered as she put the crutches underneath her armpits to begin the hobble to the lodge.
He led the way to the front door and waited for her to catch up. Emery suddenly felt incredibly nervous and was hesitating, pretending that navigating the stairs was suddenly more complicated than it really was.
“Quit stalling,” Sage said impatiently. He’d obviously seen right through her. “If you’re not up here in three seconds, I’m going to carry you in there whether you like it or not. How’s that for a first impression?”
The gig was up.
“Fine,” she hissed, hopping up the steps to the landing beside the Beta.
Without giving her another chance to try to change her mind, Sage opened the door and moved aside so she could hobble in ahead of him. Emery moved slowly and deliberately as she crossed the threshold and she didn’t miss the light shove Sage gave her as she passed, tipping her far enough forward that she nearly lost her balance. Lucky for Emery, he caught the back of her jeans with his free hand.
“Paws to yourself, mutt,” she hissed over her shoulder at Sage, realizing too late that everyone in the room was a shifter and possessed the same supernatural hearing that she did. Shit.
There were four people sitting around the square of leather sofas. One woman. She was very pretty with a bit of a tummy peeking out. Emery assumed this was Sage’s twin sister. The younger sister of her Alpha, Samuel, too. Beside her, with his arm possessively around her, was obviously her mate and the Alpha of the Boulder Pack, Brody. He was good looking, too, like all of the males in the room, but he looked downright surly and unimpressed that she was in his lodge.
To his right, on a couch that formed the next side of the little common room square was a large, hulking male with blonde hair that fell to his chin. He had an easy smile, a huge, muscular frame and a total surfer vibe. His smile was warm and he stood when she entered. The third male had been sitting with his back to her and when he turned, she saw that he was also incredibly handsome. Was everybody in this pack gorgeous?
“Hey, Brody,” Sage greeted the Alpha first. “This is Emery Wilkins. Emery, our Alpha.”
Emery tried on her most disarming smile and hobbled toward the Alpha who stood and took her hand in his briefly. He made quick eye contact and while it wasn’t entirely unfriendly, he was definitely more assessing than welcoming.
“I heard you jumped out a window,” he said by way of greeting. He indicated her cast and the crutches with a look of censure.
“I’m working on that landing part,” she said with a lame little shrug. “Maybe next time, right?”
That got a laugh out of the woman, who stood and shoved her mate aside so she could shake hands next.
“I’m Sienna,” she said, the smile on her face genuine. “And I’m not entirely surprised you’d break your own foot to escape Sage. He has that effect on women.”
The surfer beside them laughed out loud.
“No joke,” he snorted. Even the dark-haired third male chuckled.
“That’s Dane,” Sage said, motioning to Surfer Boy. “One of our sentries and kind of our web/IT guy.”
Emery shook his hand and smiled.
“This is Jai,” Sage said as the dark-haired man shook her hand. “He was part of the Tahoe pack with us before he and I left to join the Boulder Pack.”
Sage, Sienna, and Jai had already left the pack by the time Emery arrived as a 14-year-old. She must have just missed them because it wasn’t two months after reuniting with her father that Samuel challenged the old Alpha and beat him. She was glad that Samuel had won, too. The few memories she had of Richard were fueled with a lot of alcohol and violence. He hadn’t been a good man.
Emery sometimes wondered if her father hadn’t been long-time friends with the old Alpha, if he’d have turned out less screwed up.
Shaking her head from the thoughts, she focused back on the pack in front of her.
“Thank you for taking me in,” she said, trying to sound as appreciative as possible. Whether or not she really wanted to be here, it wasn’t their fault and by allowing her and all her baggage, they’d been incredibly hospitable to Emery. No matter how annoying Sage was, she wasn’t going to be rude to the Boulder Pack.
“We’re glad to have you,” Sienna said as she took her seat again. Brody was beside her in an instant with his arm protectively around her shoulders again.
“Are you single?”
The question came from the flirt, Dane. Before she could answer, Sage spoke.
“Ignore him. It’s what he does. Flirts shamelessly.”
Dane just shrugged innocently.
“I mean it every now and then,” he said with a wink. “I’m pretty sure I’d mean it with you. I’m really digging those freckles.”
“Enough,” Sage barked, surprising Emery a bit. From the looks on the rest of the shifters in the room, they’d been a little shocked, too. Only Dane was still smiling. He had the audacity to wink at Sage.
“Any thoughts on where she’s going to stay?” Sienna asked Sage. “Brody said there’s an extra house with the single girls.”
Emery looked to Sage and hoped that the panicked look let him know she was hoping for another alternative. She really didn’t want to bunk with any more unmated females—especially ones she didn’t know and who were more than likely not going to like the intrusion.
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” he said. “There’s the empty cabin out by mine. Maybe she’d
be better out there?”
Sienna frowned.
“Are you sure? That’s way out there. What if someone comes snooping around?” Sienna was pushing the issue.
“Then I’d rather Emery be away from the pregnant Alpha female and unmated females,” Sage said. Emery understood the logic. If she was going to be a target, it would be foolish to put her near pack members who could become collateral damage. “In the cabin across Snake Run, she’d have me on one side and Dane right across the creek. Jai wouldn’t be far off, either. It makes more tactical sense.”
Sienna didn’t look like she was buying it for a moment, but then her mate spoke up.
“I like that idea, Sienna,” Brody said quietly. Emery guessed he was a shifter of few words, so when he did speak, there was some weight behind them. Sienna blew out an obviously frustrated breath and nodded.
“Fine,” she said.
Twenty minutes later, Sage was pushing the door to an empty cabin open and walking through the place flipping lights on.
Emery was surprised at how modern and maintained it was for being a spare. It had a modest kitchen, a living room with all the modern conveniences (Wi-Fi, too, Sage had added proudly), and a nice, sunny bedroom complete with a king-sized bed.
“We eat dinner around 7 each night,” Sage said as he made his way to the door. “I’ll stop by and knock on the door a few minutes before that to walk you over there.”
He didn’t wait for Emery’s response and shut the door behind him instead.
Without knowing what else to do, Emery dropped her meager belongings and hobbled her way to the bedroom to put her things away.
Emery noticed how close the pack had been—how protective of each other they were and part of her heart ached, wishing she’d felt the same about the Tahoe pack and vice versa. With a sigh, she sat on the bed and wondered about her father. Was he safe? Was he healthy?
With a heavy sigh, Emery collapsed back against the pillows and shut her eyes.
Chapter Four
Emery
Dinner turned into breakfast the next day and suddenly three days had flown by as Emery adjusted to life in the new pack. She’d still only met who she dubbed the “pack essentials,” and she knew that the rest of the pack knew of her arrival. She just hadn’t met them yet.
A knock on the door made her jump as she pounded away at the keys on her laptop. Her graduate program was mostly online at this point, and as long as she stayed ahead of her weekly assignments, her studies shouldn’t suffer too much with this new arrangement.
Emery stood up and walked to the front door. Opening it, she found Jai standing on her porch.
“Hey,” he said with a nod and walked past her into the living room. Well, okay.
“How’s your foot?” He asked, motioning to her leg. Emery ditched the crutches her second day in Boulder and although she still moved a little slowly on it today, her ankle was on its way to being mended completely in the next 24 hours or so.
“Good,” she said tentatively. What an odd way to start a conversation.
“That’s good,” Jai said with an evil-looking grin. “After lunch, come out to the barn for training with the rest of the sentinels.”
Emery’s face dropped.
“Excuse me?”
Jai didn’t stick around to argue and turned on his heels as he exited her cabin.
“Beta’s orders,” he tossed over his shoulder. “Sorry.”
What the hell?
***
Part of Emery wanted to rebel and tell Sage he could take his orders for her to train and shove them up his wolfy butt.
The other part of Emery, however, was thrilled that the sexy Beta had thought of her at all after not seeing much of him over the past few days. He’d been busy with pack business, Sienna had told her, and had even driven out to Denver the night before when an ally pack had sent word they’d seen signs of some bear den responsible for kidnapping a packmate of theirs.
“Kodiaks,” Sienna said without bothering to hide her disgust. “They tried establishing a sex trade ring in Vegas a couple months back and we managed to get in their way and foul things up for them after they took Liesel.”
The story wasn’t a pretty one. When Sienna, then unknown to Brody, had agreed to help Sage look for the missing Boulder Pack member, she’d thrown herself into the fire and had become a target, too.
For the Boulder Pack, that particular story had a happy ending and Liesel had been returned—but, as Sienna had warned, it had made the pack a few dangerous enemies that weren’t likely forgetting the wolves’ interference.
“Seems we’ve all got trouble,” Emery had said quietly and Sienna agreed wholeheartedly.
“Amen, sister.”
The sun was high in the sky as Emery left the relative comfort and anonymity of her cabin and limped her way toward the direction of the huge barn the pack had refurbished into a gym and sparring ring.
She heard the sounds of combat the closer she got—bodies hitting hard surfaces, grunts of pain and straining, and she slowed even more.
Emery freely admitted that she’d never been the most athletic of creatures and had relied on her quick brain and father-given street smarts to get through life. The thought of allowing someone to try to hurt her in the name of fun and learning was just ludicrous.
She was just about to formulate some logical-sounded excuse when Sage emerged from the side of the barn and spotted her. Emery hesitated and stopped walking, wondering if he’d even care if she walked away. Or if it would hurt her feelings if it didn’t bother him at all.
What the hell? Where’d that come from?
Scowling, Emery cast a glance over her shoulder back toward her cabin wondering if it was too late.
“Don’t even think about it,” Sage said as he stalked toward her.
Emery rolled her eyes at the Beta but was more than a little unnerved at how easily he’d read her intentions. She’d have to be more guarded around him, apparently.
Sage practically dragged her into the training room, pulling her along as they went.
“When did you get so grabby?” She growled as they rounded the corner into the main room with the boxing ring in it.
“The moment I knew you were going to try to worm your way out of this.”
She opened her mouth to complain, but closed it again when she took in the room full of hot, sweaty, and shirtless sentinels.
Holy shit, BatWolf.
Doing her best not to let her jaw drop open, Emery felt her cheeks redden immediately and she turned her back on them, facing the door she’d just walked through. Nudity in the shifter world wasn’t a big deal—most shifters get over any sort of stage fright when they first learn to shift in their teens or they’d run out of clothing quickly. But Emery’s old pack was never one for group runs or hanging out together much until Samuel had taken over, and by then, her window for being comfortable either naked or around naked dudes had slammed shut.
In the shifter world, Emery was pretty much a prude.
Beside her, she heard Sage’s low rumble of laughter.
“They’re shirtless, Emery,” he teased. “Not naked.”
She tried a humorless laugh, but it fell short in her throat. She’d never spent a ton of time around shirtless men that looked like they could be underwear models. Well, she’d never really spent a ton of time around shirtless men in general.
Sage’s laugh stopped short as he took her by her shoulders and spun her towards him, searching her face.
“You’ve never seen a naked man before, have you?”
Emery assumed he was teasing her and tried to pull free of him before he took the joke further, but he held fast. Searching her eyes for the truth.
“Yeah,” she said slowly. “Tons of ‘em. Loads of naked men, Sage. Why do you ask?”
“Try not to stare too hard, okay,” Sage’s voice was teasing, but there was a darker look in his eyes. Almost possessive. Was it a warning of some sort?
�
��Guys,” he said to the sentinels who’d turned to face them. “This is Emery. Some of you have met her already, some of you haven’t. She’s a guest of the pack for the next couple months. It’s a long story, but the crux of it is that she needs to know how to defend herself and I’m pretty sure she doesn’t have a clue where to start.”
Sage put his big hand on the back of her shoulder and Emery felt the heat through her t-shirt immediately. He pushed her forward again, and if she hadn’t been so wrapped up in the sensation, she would object to the way he was manhandling her again.
They stopped in front of the boxing ring, but instead of getting in there with Dane and a red-haired man with a goatee, Sage steered her over to Jai.
“You remember Jai?” Emery did everything she could to keep her eyes on Jai’s face and not to let them travel south to what she could only imagine was another well-muscled, battle-hardened body. She gave a tight nod and proceeded to look anywhere but Jai. Sage continued.
“He’s your first teacher,” he said. “He’s a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and we’re going to start out with some basic ground work and grappling.”
She gave Jai a weak smile but was grateful and relieved when the sentinel mercifully put a shirt on.
Turns out he was a very patient teacher. And Emery, turned out, was a lousy student when it came to grappling.
An hour into her lessons, she was nearly in tears and Sage called time. Doing her best to be gracious to Jai for wasting his time on her, Emery wanted nothing more than to disappear back to her cabin and work on her weekly assignments in peace.
Sage walked her back, despite Emery assuring him she knew the way.
“It’ll get easier,” he said, obviously trying to make her feel better about it all.
“I was a limp noodle.”
He let out a bark of laughter.
“Don’t be so hard on yourself,” he replied. “Have you ever done anything like that? Ever played sports or competed in anything non-academic? Throwing perfectly aimed right crosses at total strangers not included, of course.”
He was teasing her for the two punches she’d launched at him when she was trying to escape. A bit of a blush heated her cheeks and she looked down.
Rocky Mountain Shifters: Complete Series Box Set Page 10
