If she was being perfectly honest, Emery knew something like this was coming. That’s why she’d packed the duffel bag with a couple extras so she could stay off pack land for a couple days in hopes that Samuel would forget about her. She wanted to stay under the radar and had thought she was doing a good job. She’d been wrong.
Her things packed, she arranged them under her window and raced to the bathroom across the hallway. She hadn’t been lying about the shower part. Racing through the razor, the soap, and the shampoo and conditioner, Emery was dressed with wet hair slicked into a messy top bun in no time. Doing a double check to make sure she had all her essentials, she lifted the window of her second-floor bedroom and carefully dropped her backpack and duffle bag to the ground below.
She closed her bedroom door and locked it, hoping it would buy her a little more time. Then, moving back to the open window, she stepped one foot through it, then the other. Turning over on her stomach, she slowly inched herself off the ledge while her hands clung to the frame for dear life.
Damn, but she was terrible at this whole escape thing. Her fingers and hands were screaming at the strain and she’d obviously miscalculated how far a second-floor window really was from the ground. She chanced a glance down and gulped.
Holy crap that was one hell of a drop.
“Don’t be a baby,” she gritted through her teeth as she willed her hands and fingers to let go so she could drop. But they wouldn’t obey. Part of her was panicking at the thought of willingly dropping herself the ten feet it would take to reach the bottom.
“Shit. Shit. Shit.” She dangled there, knowing that any moment, her fingers would give and she’d plummet like a stone.
“How’s the great escape plan working out for you?”
The sound of the stranger’s voice made Emery yelp and twist to look at the source. That motion made her momentarily forget her death grip on the window sill and she slipped, falling like an ungraceful bag of potatoes to the hard ground below.
Emery landed funny and gave a cry at the sickening crunch of her ankle. She rolled over to her side and grabbed the screaming joint, knowing she’d just broken it.
“Damn it!” She screeched at the newcomer, Sage Blaine. How the hell had he known what she was going to do?
Despite the grin tugging at the corner of his handsome mouth, he did have the decency to look concerned at her agony and kneel beside her. His warm hands covered hers as he tried to get a good look at her ankle. Emery pushed herself up to her butt and was ready to neuter the jerk who caused this.
“Let me see— “Sage started, but was interrupted by a swift right hand to the side of his jaw. It wasn’t the best right she’d ever thrown, but her dad had taught Emery well enough that even from the seated position and the searing pain from her ankle, she’d managed to knock the Boulder shifter on his ass.
“What the hell, asshole?” She shrieked at him, trying to hit him again while she scooted on her butt in his direction. “What do you think you’re doing?”
Emery continued her lame assault on the much bigger, much less injured Beta who had regained his feet and had captured both of her hands in one of his.
“Stop,” he said quietly and emphatically. “Stop it right now, Emery. You’re making it worse. I’m sorry I spooked you. I never wanted you to fall, you idiot.”
His face was inches from hers and he loomed over her as he spoke. The intensity radiating off him like the fan inside a furnace.
“Let me go.”
She knew she sounded insolent and petulant, but she really did want this stranger to butt out of her business, regardless of what her Alpha wanted.
“I’m going to let go and you’re going to calm the hell down, right?” He waited for an answer, not moving an inch out of her space. Emery glanced up and caught herself momentarily lost in his warm hazel eyes. They were almost bewitching. She gave a slight nod as if to assent to what he asked her for and he let go.
“Now, we’re going to…” He began and once more, Emery swung for the fences, this time connecting with the upper part of his face, just below his right eye. This hit was clean and on the mark and the temple shot dazed him just enough to send him back to a knee while he struggled to regain his equilibrium.
“Son of a bitch!” He roared, but Emery was staggering to her feet and foolishly attempting to hobble away as fast as her bum foot would take her—which wasn’t fast at all.
Seconds later, she felt rough hands grab her from behind, flip her around, and deposit her over a shoulder before she had a chance to launch a third assault.
***
In less than two hours, Emery found herself in the backseat of an oversized, leather interior with all the bells and whistles Tahoe speeding southeast toward Boulder, Colorado.
She was still pissed off and hadn’t said a word since they hit the road and left the Tahoe Pack’s land.
She’d finally agreed to spend a few weeks out of Wyoming, thanks to some strong handing from her Alpha and the sheer, utter, pig-headed stubbornness of Sage Blaine.
Despite the fact that she’d probably never really had a choice, Samuel had assured her that the choice was hers, but that her father would, in all honesty, want her safe and as far away from Cardoza and his men as possible.
“Imagine his face when I have to tell Hank that you’d been kidnapped or worse, killed,” Samuel said, putting the final blow in. Hank Wilkins wasn’t much of a sentimentalist and he was one of the least traditional fathers around, but Emery knew her dad loved her and wanted her safe. Knowing she’d stubbornly put herself in danger because of him would likely kill him, too.
“You have to make sure he stays safe, Alpha,” Emery had pleaded just as they were walking toward the vehicle. “Please don’t let them kill him.”
She hated tears and the weakness they portrayed in front of her Alpha, but she was unable to stop them fall, one from each eye as she begged Samuel Blaine to keep her father safe.
The Alpha put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed lightly.
“We’ll better be able to keep him safe when we’re sure that you are, Emery,” he said as he opened the door to the back seat. Emery was on crutches by that point after the pack’s healer reset her bones. Shifters had accelerated healing, but a broken bone that would take a human two months to heal would take her at least two weeks. In the meantime, she was hobbled and she hated it.
“You have everything?”
Sage asked the question as he put the key in the ignition and cranked the engine. Because of her air cast and relative pain level, he’d put her in the spacious back seat where she could spread out and get as comfortable as possible.
It was a nice gesture and she normally would have thanked him for it—except he was the reason her ankle had snapped in the first place. Well, in her version of events, anyway. He’d said over and over that her hanging her ass out the window had pretty much sealed her fate.
Whatever. Details.
Wyoming was a large state to drive across north to south, so Emery opted to put in a pair of earbuds and fire up some music while she tried her best to sleep through most of it. She’d had a long night the night before so it wasn’t hard.
Up ahead, Sage said something but she couldn’t make it out. Whatever. She didn’t really care what he had to say at the moment, anyway.
Emery sighed. It wasn’t exactly how she planned things to go, but she’d adjust and make the best of it. Either that, or she’d have the Beta’s head on a pike and start a pack war.
Either way. At least she wouldn’t be bored.
Chapter Three
Emery
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.
“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 head. “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 coul
d 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.
Beta's Destiny (Rocky Mountain Shifters Book 2) Page 2
