by Bryce Evans
Perfect, he thought. Emerson Prescott was going to be his.
Emerson was silent as they walked out of the dining room.
“Do you want some water before we get back in the elevator?” Nash asked, concerned.
“No, I’m fine.”
Nash only nodded. He didn’t know if she was upset because of him buying the company her dad wanted, or if she was thinking about the kidnapping. He wished she would just talk to him. Or even give him some sign of how she was feeling.
As they waited for the elevator, he noticed Emerson’s hand drumming against her leg. It was obvious she had anxiety about getting back in the elevator. The ding from the elevator startled them both, bringing them out of their thoughts. He pulled her behind him as people stepped off. Then they both walked inside and waited.
“Did you know that I spent a lot of my younger years in an orphanage?” He had no clue why he was bringing up his past. It was something he hated talking about.
“No, I thought the Wilders were your family.”
“Oh, they are. Larken, Larsen, and Lilly’s dad and my dad are brothers.” The elevator jerked a little getting started, stopping the conversation for a few seconds. He made sure he had her attention again before he kept talking. She still appeared to be listening, which was a good sign.
“You see, my dad got mad at their dad and he packed my mom and me up and left. He didn’t want his older brother to find us, so he put us under a false name in a crappy motel until he could figure out what he was going to do. Unfortunately, the hotel caught on fire and I was the only one who got out alive. I was so young; I didn’t know names of any other family members, and nobody had put out a missing persons report on us, so they stuck me in an orphanage. That’s how I met Ashland. I didn’t talk for the longest time. I guess the fire shook me up.”
Emerson laid a comforting hand on his arm. He didn’t waste any time putting the key into the slot so they could go to the floor the Unit’s headquarters were on. “When I was eighteen years old, I started petitioning every state, looking for someone who knew my parents or who was related to me. And I found out that Larken and his family were looking for me and my parents. They didn’t know what had happened to us. But they had only petitioned the state of Colorado; I was sent to an orphanage in Atlanta, and that’s where I met Ash. Then we ran away to New York, so nobody knew if I was alive or dead. Larken’s dad knew something bad had to have happened or his brother would’ve kept in touch at least. And then, once I came here, I knew…”
“Knew what?” Emerson leaned forward, interested in the story.
“I knew that this was where I belonged. It’s was a feeling in my gut, that if I left it would be the biggest mistake of my life.” The elevator stopped, and without missing a beat, Nash grabbed her hand and continued down the hallway. Emerson never even realized it. “But I had to make a hard decision, and that was whether to stay here in Colorado, or stay with my best friend Ash. She was the only person I knew, and she loved me like a sister. We have a unique friendship, and I’ll always be deeply grateful for what she’s done for me.”
“What happened?”
“Well, Ash made that decision for me. She said that it was time for her to follow her dream, and for me to be with a pack, because a pack of two wasn’t enough for me. She said that we would visit, and talk on the phone every day. She gave me the push that I needed but wouldn’t take because I didn’t want to leave her. I guess that cliché is right: when you love something, you have to let it go, and if it comes back to you then it’s meant to be. We were never lovers, but we were as close as blood siblings.”
“Oh, but…but I thought she lived here now.”
“She does. You see, Ashland was a detective for the New York police department, and she had to go to a course that happened to be hosted here. We had made all these plans to go skiing and just have some fun, but that didn’t happen.”
“What happened?” Nash smiled, because Emerson was like a child who couldn’t wait for the ending. She had to know the outcome.
“Well, the moment Larken saw Ashland, he knew she was his mate. Boy, that was a rough time, because then Larsen saw her and knew she was his mate, too.”
“What?” Emerson screeched.
Nash placed his finger over his mouth and pointed down the hall at the door, which was open. “Maybe we need to finish this later.”
“Are you kidding?”
“No.” Nash smiled and Emerson smiled back and hit his arm playfully.
“I can’t wait.”
“Sometimes we have two mates, but most of the time we only have one.”
“But you said I was your mate. What if someone else comes forward and says that I’m his mate?” He could see the panic in her eyes.
“I assure you that you only have one mate.” Nash prayed that was true, because he didn’t think she could take it.
“But how do you know for sure?”
Nash winked. “I just know. Remember that gut feeling? Well, I’m never wrong. I’ve asked the three of them about it, and they all said the same thing—that they didn’t feel whole until they were all together. You see, they knew something or someone was missing, and that was their other mate.”
“Or you’re just trying to make me believe that.”
Nash placed his hand on Emerson’s arm, stopping her. “I’ll never lie to you, Emerson. Never.”
“Okay.” For some reason she believed him. And she had to have the truth, especially now.
“So it was a hard thing for Ashland to realize that not only did she have a mate, she had two mates. But she couldn’t deny the feelings she had for either of them. We call it the mating pull.”
“The mating pull?”
“Once you find your mate, and until you actually mate with them, you’ll have these feelings that make you so agitated that you can’t seem to concentrate on anything. All you want to do is be with your mate or mates. Well, you can imagine how much hell it was for the rest of us having to deal with all three of them before they finally mated. It didn’t take long, though, and as you’ll see in a few minutes, it was a perfect match. They are three of the best people I know and I can’t wait for you to meet them. Ashland has been talking non-stop about you. The one who finally caught m…”
“Have I caught you?” Emerson asked, turning her head.
His expression softened as he answered, “Heart and soul.”
“There you two are.” Nash turned to see Ash waiting at the door.
“It’s her fault. She pushed me against the elevator wall and kissed me madly. She’s crazy about me,” Nash teased.
“Nash!” Emerson laughed as he jerked away from her so she couldn’t hit him.
“Trust me when I say that you’ll get used to it, Emerson,” Ash said, coming to stand in front of her. “Hey, I finally get to meet you.”
“Hello.” Emerson backed up a step. It was so noticeable that Ash glanced at him in concern.
“Sorry, being part wolf and part tiger I tend to invade people’s space.” Ash moved back a little.
“I’m sorry, Ashland. I’m just—”
Ashland put her hand out to her. “I understand, honey. If we get too close, just hold your hand out like this and everyone will understand to back up some. Nobody will take offense to it. We all get it.”
“It’s only the Unit who knows what happened, right?”
“Yes, only the Unit. You can trust these people, I promise. And they’re all excited to finally get to meet you.” Ashland bumped his shoulder, smiling. “When you’re ready just come on in.”
Emerson nodded, backing up against the wall and taking a deep breath.
“Is another one coming on?” Nash asked, concerned. Her face was turning white and her breathing was getting fast.
Nodding, Emerson closed her eyes, trying to take deep, slow breaths. He hated that she was feeling like this. Maybe they’d done too much, and she needed to go back to the room. “We can do this another day. Remember
, we’re just trying to see what you can do. Tomorrow we can go a little further.”
Shaking her head, Emerson gasped, “I can do this.”
Feeling alarmed Nash put his hand on one side of her face. He stroked her lightly then pushed her hair behind her ears. “There you go, just listen to my breathing and take in a breath at the same time. It’s all about breathing, and you’re doing better.”
Opening her eyes, Emerson drew in a startled breath and said, “I hate this.”
“I know you do, but you’re going to get through this and come out ten times stronger.”
Her heartbeat was lowering as he continued to touch her face. “Better?”
“Yes, thank you.”
Helping her up, he motioned back to the elevator.
“No.” Emerson shook her head. “I want to continue. I won’t let them beat me.”
“That’s the spirit, but if at any time you want to leave, just get up and walk out and I’ll follow you. Nobody will be upset.”
“You people are too kind. I’ve never seen as much compassion as you all have shown me.”
Stopping her, Nash grabbed both of her arms. “Listen, this is how my family is. In fact, most shifters are loving people. They like to touch you to show how much they like you. So don’t let that offend you. I know that’s not what you’re used to, but here we all look out for one another. And that includes you.”
“Thank you, Nash.”
He leaned forward and kissed the side of her cheek. He didn’t know how she was going to react to it, and he didn’t want to push her, but he had this enormous urge to kiss her. He felt that it was warranted right now. Her blue eyes locked with his, and they gazed at each other for a moment. Then he lightly skimmed his lips over hers and pulled away.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that, but I had to.”
“It was nice.”
Nash smiled and blew out the breath he was holding. “Do you think you’re ready now?”
Emerson nodded and sighed.
Chapter Six
Lilly stood off to the side watching as the Unit put together all the information they had about the people kidnapping paranormals. They didn’t have a lot of new information, but the young doctor they’d rescued was coming to this meeting.
Jia Atwood was a very young genius. She was a petite girl, not even seventeen yet, but she was beautiful with long brown curly hair, and the biggest brown eyes Lilly had ever seen. She was a child prodigy, who’d graduated with one of her degrees at fourteen years old, and an orphan. The nuns of St. Lucas’ Church had taken her in and paid for her schooling. They had to be out of their minds worrying about her.
She was only sixteen years old now, still a child. The nuns hadn’t wanted her to go to work, but they knew Jia was different and more mature then most adults. She needed a job to free her mind. She was always working on curing some type of disease. She’d been missing for over a year enclosed in that small room, locked from the outside, without anyone to help her. She was gladly giving the Unit as much information as she could about her captors. They still didn’t know everything they’d done to her, though. She didn’t want to talk about it.
When Lilly researched her name she found out that Jia was a hematologist and a geneticist, who specialized in curing diseases. That was what she’d thought she was going to get to do with Sentrix Labs. Jia believed that for every disease there was a cure for it in nature. She was smart, and that’s what had gotten Sentrix’s attention. Even at sixteen years old she was smarter than most adults in her field.
Unfortunately for her she found out that it was all a big lie. They weren’t going to try to cure diseases with nature, but by taking the blood from paranormals and selling it for a very high price. This cure would not be offered to just anyone, but only to the ones who could pay the price to stay alive.
They wanted Jia to change the blood so that it only cured a disease for a certain amount of time; then their customers would have to come back for another treatment to stay healthy. When she tried to leave, they held her hostage to continue with their plan.
She was held in a stainless-steel room containing a small lab. There was a small bathroom, along with a refrigerator and hot plate where she could cook her own food. Every day and night she watched the horrible testing they did on the paranormals. She was malnourished and scared, but the moment she stopped doing what they told her, she was punished. Nobody knew what they’d done, but whatever it was it had to be bad. She had scars on her stomach and legs that looked like they’d been made by a jagged knife. Lilly thought it was a wonder the woman was still sane.
When Jia met Gabriel, she calmed down enough to give them the information she had. Sindrid and Gabriel were bringing her down to meet with everyone, but like Emerson she was skittish and scared to trust anyone.
She didn’t blame either woman one bit, but she was going to do what she could to help them get through this. Lilly wondered if they would ever get another tip on where the next facility was located.
“Okay, we got it down. Now, we need to see if Emerson or Jia heard anything about another facility. It’s been tough on both girls and I don’t want to push them, so let’s try to keep our questions to a minimum for a while. Something may come to them,” Jonas said firmly.
They entire Unit was gathered by the time that Emerson and Nash walked into the room. Emerson tensed and moved closer to Nash once she saw all the people in the room.
“Hey, Emerson!” Lilly threw her hand up, so Emerson would have someone else to focus on besides the men in the room.
“Hey, Lilly.” Emerson quickly walked to the back of the room and sat down beside her.
“So, which pancakes did you eat?” Lilly asked, smiling. She wanted to make Emerson laugh and feel at ease before the meeting started.
“Nash told me about the strawberries and caramel, so I ordered them and they were wonderful.”
“Oh good. I love them too, but I’m biased. I love them all, to be honest. I got Gabriel to try them last week, too, and he told me they were his favorite—at least until he tries the next kind.”
“Gabriel is your son?” Emerson asked.
“Well, I didn’t give birth to him, but Sindrid and I have adopted him, so yes.” Lilly glanced at Nash, wondering if she should tell Emerson what happened to his parents.
Nash nodded, giving her the go-ahead. “Sindrid’s best friend was Jacob Ryan, and he worked at Sentrix Labs.” Lilly could see Emerson tense up, but she seemed to be holding it together. “When he found out what they were doing, he took all the data he could and ran with his wife Marie and their son Gabriel. Unfortunately, they were ambushed and killed.
“They dropped Gabriel off in a ditch and told him to hide in a cave until they came back for them. They didn’t make it back. A good friend of ours found him and took him in. He brought him here to see if Pelton Miller, who worked for the FBI could find a relative, but Gabriel doesn’t have anyone except Sindrid. There was never a second thought about us taking Gabriel. I want you to meet him. He’s a great kid, if I say so myself. In fact, here he is now.”
Lilly watched as Gabriel and Jia walked into the room. Behind them was her mate Sindrid. A gasp made everyone in the room turn toward Emerson, who had her hand over her mouth. She was staring at Jia like she’d seen a ghost.
“What’s wrong, Emerson?” Nash and Lilly both put their hands on Emerson’s shoulders for support.
“It’s her.”
“Who, Emerson?” Nash asked, but Emerson only pointed at Jia.
Once Jia’s eyes found hers they both smiled, with tears running down their faces.
“I thought you were just a dream,” Emerson whispered.
“I was rescued too,” Jia murmured, and then both woman ran toward each other and started crying.
“I thought they killed you when he moved you into another room. I tried to get the door unlocked, but I couldn’t. I wanted to help you,” Jia cried out.
“I know. I know
, but thank you for talking to me like you did. You were the one who kept me going,” Emerson said as she squeezed Jia closer.
“Thank God they got you out.” Jia pulled away and laughed. “You kept me going, too.”
“You saw each other?” Jonas asked.
Emerson and Jia both held hands and turned to him. “Yes.”
“At first when she was brought in I tested her blood all the time. They wanted to see what properties a witch’s blood, if it had any healing qualities. So after everyone left at night I would hold up pieces of paper with messages on them, trying to give her hope.”
“You did,” Emerson said, crying. “You were the only hope I had. Thank you for doing that.”
Jia nodded. “Then they moved her and I didn’t get any more blood from her, so I thought…I thought they had killed you.” She blew out a breath and wobbled.
“Come sit down, Jia.” Gabriel took her hand and Emerson’s and walked with them to some chairs. She was proud of Gabriel for helping them. Maybe they all felt some type of kinship.
“What happened? Where did they take you?” Jia asked.
Emerson’s face was etched with pain. “I was taken to another room where…where…”
“You don’t have to say it, Emerson.” Nash moved closer and kneeled down in front of her. “You don’t have to say it if you don’t want to. Nobody has to hear it.”
Jia shook her head. “I’m going to kill that son of a bitch. I promise you that.”
“Not if I get to him first,” Nash said, still holding Emerson’s hand.
“They got to me in time before he could…you know…but he still—” Emerson closed her eyes as a tear slipped down her face.
“It’s okay, Emerson. You don’t have to tell me any more. I understand, but I’m still going to kill him when I get a chance,” Jia whispered.
