The Finder (Wolves of the Northwoods Book 1)

by A J Manney

  Garrett’s eyes narrowed at her. “No,” he said.

  Emma could feel her heart breaking. “You don’t understand. I need that job,” she said desperately.

  Garrett prowled towards her. “I said no. You’re staying here.”

  Emma crossed her arms. “You can’t keep me here.”

  “Watch me,” he said. Then he turned and walked towards his office. She watched him go before turning to Liam.

  “What is going on, Liam?” she asked, hurt and confused.

  Liam stood and approached her with a sad smile on his face. “Sorry, baby girl. This is between you and him.” With that, he walked towards the front door and let himself out.

  Emma stared after him, wanting to scream in frustration. What was going on? Why were they treating her this way? She waited a few minutes for Liam to go wherever he was going, then she looked down the hallway Garrett had disappeared down. She didn’t see him. She grabbed her purse and tiptoed her way to the front door. She would just walk until she could bum a ride to the coffee shop. She couldn’t let this job go; she had to talk to Helen and tell her it had all been a big mistake.

  With her heart pounding, she quietly turned the knob on the front door. Turning it slowly, she glanced behind her one last time. No sign of Garrett. She turned back towards the door and opened it all the way. She nearly fell over when she saw Max standing in the doorway. “Going somewhere?” he growled at her. Emma backed away from him, and he came into the house and shut the door behind him.

  He walked into the kitchen and Emma watched him go. She glanced back at the door. She could make a run for it. “Don’t even think about it,” Max said. “I’m faster than you. You’ll never make it,” he said.

  Her anger made her want to try, but she didn’t doubt he was faster than her, especially in her weakened state. Emma felt tired and confused, but more than anything else, she felt hurt. She made her way back to her room and sat on the bed. She lay back on the bed and closed her eyes as tears dripped from her eyes. She really thought she had something going with these people. She thought she and Garrett shared something... special. Obviously, it was all in her head; and that hurt.

  She repositioned herself on the bed so she was laying on the pillows. She pulled the blanket over her and curled into a ball. The tears continued to fall as Emma closed her eyes. Fatigue drew her back into sleep, where she could forget everything that was happening.

  Emma didn’t hear her door open. She didn’t feel the hand that reached out and tenderly wiped away her tears from her face. She didn’t see the look of devastation on the man’s face as he stared at his mate. If she had, maybe it would have brought her a small amount of comfort. Instead, she felt unloved and alone once again.

  Chapter 32

  Emma stayed in her room the rest of the day. Garrett came to her door and tried to get her to eat lunch, but she ignored him. She mostly slept the day away, her body still recovering from her ordeal. She finally crawled out of bed around four p.m. She decided to take a shower; that would make her feel more human hopefully. But first she had to find more clothes. She walked over to the long dresser and began opening drawers, hoping to find something. The drawers were filled with all the clothes from the other house. She grabbed a long-sleeved white shirt and a long grey sweater and a pair of leggings. The outfit looked warm and comfortable, just what she needed right now. Right before she walked into the bathroom, she heard a knock at her door.

  “Emma,” Garrett said from the other side. His voice made her tense up; she was hurt from how he had treated her. “You need to eat something,” he said.

  Emma was going to ignore him, but knowing him, he’d probably kick the door down or something. “I’m not hungry,” she finally settled on, even though her stomach was growling.

  “I can hear your stomach from here,” he responded.

  “Go away, Garrett,” Emma said.

  “You do realize I could kick this door down. The lock’s not stopping me,” he threatened.

  Emma rolled her eyes. No surprise there; she had called it. “Yes, I know; but I would really appreciate it if you didn’t. Now, I’m going to take a shower.” With that, she walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind her, locking it.

  Emma took her time in the luxury shower. It felt so good. Only when her legs were shaky from standing so long, did she decide to get out. On the counter, she found vanilla lotion. She lathered that all over her body once she was dried off. Then she dressed in the clothes she had found. She was brushing her hair when she heard a knock at the bedroom door. Stepping out of the bathroom, she said, “I told you, I’m not hungry.”

  “Not even for pizza?” she heard a familiar voice say.

  Emma hurried towards the door and unlocked it, flinging it open. “Madison!” she said and threw herself at her.

  “Whoa, I missed you too,” Madison said with a laugh. Emma laughed and pulled back, wiping at her tears. Madison looked at her. “Are you okay?” she asked softly.

  “Okay is a relative term,” Emma said with a smile. The fact was she was okay now that Madison was here. Maybe she could help her sort out what was going on. “Did you really bring pizza?” she asked as her stomach growled.

  “I did,” Madison said with a smile.

  “What kind?” Emma asked.

  Madison scowled. “That disgusting kind you like with the barbecue sauce, cheese, pineapple, and chicken. Only because I love you. Normal people shouldn’t eat pizza like that.”

  Emma could practically taste it. “Is it from Papa Louie’s?”

  “Would I get pizza from anywhere else? Come on,” Madison said, looping her arm through Emma’s. “It’s girls’ night. I’ve got movies, pizza, popcorn, and soda.”

  Emma allowed Madison to pull her down the hallway. She noticed with relief that nobody was around. She breathed out a sigh of relief and moved towards the pizza boxes covering the island. Her mouth was watering. She found the box she was looking for and opened it and took a deep breath.

  “I think you just drooled a little,” Madison said with a grin.

  Emma couldn't help but smile back. She put two pieces on her plate and grabbed a can of Vanilla Pepsi. She eyed the boxes of kettle corn and sighed. Madison had gone all out and brought all of her favorites. She grabbed a stack of napkins and moved towards the couch before stopping. “Do you think it’s okay to eat out here?” she asked Madison.

  Madison waved her forward. Emma took that as a yes and got settled on the couch. Madison came behind her with a plate full of pizza and a can of coke. She put her plate and drink down on the coffee table and opened up the duffel bag on the floor. She then placed a huge stack of movies on the end table. Emma stared at all the movies. “How many movies are we going to watch?” she asked.

  Madison looked at her with a grin. “We need to catch you up on all the classics.” Madison had once asked her what her favorite movies were and Emma had responded that she didn’t know. She never had a chance to watch movies growing up. “All right. We have the Twilight movies; those are about vampires and wolves. I highly recommend them,” she said with a waggle of her eyebrows. “Then we have all the Marvel movies with Captain America, the Hulk, Iron Man, Black Widow... any of those ring a bell?” Emma just looked at her blankly. “Okay, moving on. Lastly, we have the chick flicks. “The Notebook, Titanic, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Pitch Perfect, Me Before You, or The Devil Wears Prada.” Madison looked at Emma, and Emma just stared at her.

  “That’s a lot of movies. I have no idea. You just pick one,” Emma said.

  “Okay, Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey for the win—How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days it is. You’re going to love this.” Madison got everything set up; then came and sat next to her on the couch. The movie started. Emma began eating her pizza. Soon, she was lost in the movie and having a great time with Madison. They laughed together, cried, and ate way more pizza than two girls should. They quickly followed the first movie with a few more movies, making popcorn
in between.

  At one point, Emma snuggled down into the couch with a blanket she had pulled off the back of the couch. She was having such a good time and didn’t want it to end, but her eyelids were starting to feel heavy. Sometime later, she felt as if she were moving; but she was too tired to open her eyes. She felt a light, feathery touch on her forehead but she was too out of it to know what it was. Soon she was warm again, and she let herself relax into a deep sleep.

  The next morning, Emma woke up out of a deep sleep and looked around confused. She didn’t remember going to bed last night. She sat up and yawned. Looking down, she was relieved to see she was still dressed in the clothes she had on last night. A smile played on her lips when she recalled last night. She couldn't remember the last time she had had such a good time. She needed to track down Madison and thank her for it.

  After a hot shower, she wrapped in a towel and walked back into her room. She looked in the closet for an outfit. She stared at all the beautiful outfits. She decided to wear something nice for a change, since it was obvious she wasn’t going to the coffee shop anytime soon. As soon as she thought that, a frown crossed her face. She sighed and pushed the thought away. Maybe she could figure out what was going on today. Maybe yesterday was just a bad day. She chose a soft pink tunic dress that gathered a little at the waist before flaring out slightly. It ended mid-thigh. Emma paired it with a pair of soft gray leggings and a cream cable infinity scarf. She took extra time to straighten her hair. Then she put on a pair of pearl teardrop earrings that caught her attention. After applying a little makeup, she felt ready to face the day, not that she knew what she was going to be facing. “Anyway,” she said to herself. “Time to get out of this room.” She opened her door and stepped out into the hallway, noticing at once the voices coming from the kitchen area. She walked down the hallway and came to an abrupt stop.

  The scene that greeted her wasn’t anything she could have prepared for. Garrett stood in the kitchen shirtless, wearing just a pair of low-slung black sweat pants, but that wasn’t what caught her attention. His chest was covered in blood, one of his eyes was swollen shut and black and blue, he had a nasty scratch on his cheek, and several gashes across his back when he turned. Liam was trying to use a towel on his chest, but Garrett knocked him back. Max stood off to the side, looking angry.

  A wounded sound escaped Emma’s lips before she could stop it. Everybody froze. Garrett turned around and his one good eye locked on her. Emma couldn’t even move. She was so shocked at the gruesome scene in front of her. Emma finally made herself move forward. “What happened to you?” she whispered in a tortured voice.

  “It’s not as bad as it looks,” Garrett grunted out.

  A humorless laugh escaped Emma. “Well, that’s good because it looks like you got beat to a bloody pulp,” she said angrily. Garrett grimaced.

  Liam laughed. “You think this is bad; you should see the other guy.” Emma glared at him, and he abruptly shut up.

  Emma shook her head and decided to take control of the situation. “Where’s the first aid kit?” she asked.

  “I don’t need—” Garrett started.

  “Shut up,” Emma cut him off. Garrett’s eyebrows rose, and she saw Liam grin out of the corner of her eye. She ignored them both. She didn’t want to hear from Garrett right now. She was so angry, not at him necessarily but that this had happened to him. Well, she was still angry at him for yesterday too. “Now either you get a shower first, and then we will start bandaging you up, or I'll start bandaging you up first; your choice.”

  “I don’t need you to—” Garrett began growling at her.

  Emma grabbed the towel from Liam and stepped in between Garrett’s legs and started dabbing at the cut on his chest. That shut him up fast. She bent over him as he sat in the chair so she could work on cleaning off his chest. She swore he sniffed her hair while she was bent towards him, but she let it go.

  “You’re going to get blood on your dress,” he growled at her.

  “Well, it’s not mine; so, I guess I don’t have to worry about it, now do I?” she responded snippily.

  “Emma,” he ground out.

  “Garrett,” she gave right back to him. “Now be quiet and let me clean you up.” Emma focused on cleaning the worst of Garrett’s cuts. She could tell enough by looking at them that claws had made these marks. She couldn’t imagine what kind of diseases and whatnot could be in those cuts. She used antiseptic from the first aid kit to clean them. Garrett never made a sound but she couldn’t imagine how much it hurt. She willed herself to not shake as she did so. She could feel his sculpted muscles under her hands ripple with her soft touches. She tried not to focus on the tattoos that lined his arms and chest, but it was hard not to. “How long have you had your tattoos?” she asked.

  “My alpha marks,” he grunted. Emma looked at him in confusion. “They’re my alpha marks,” he said. “The more marks on a wolf, the more powerful he is.”

  That explained why he had a lot of them.

  “You should check his legs for injuries too,” Liam said with a grin. Garrett growled at him but didn’t turn away from Emma.

  “Do you have injuries on your legs?” she asked Garrett.

  “No!” he said in a surly manner.

  “I was just checking. Don’t get cranky with me,” Emma said before going back to work on his chest. When she finished with that, she moved closer to work on his face. She heard him suck in a deep breath, but she ignored him. She dabbed lightly at the cut on his face, cleaning it first, then putting cream on it. He started getting twitchy before she finished with him. “Sit still,” she ordered him, like she would a child she was trying to get to stay still for a Band-Aid.

  He suddenly stood up quickly, knocking the chair back and grabbing her elbow so she didn’t lose her balance. “I think I’m going to take a shower after all,” he said gruffly. Emma watched him walk away before turning and sitting in the chair he had just vacated.

  She saw Liam grinning at her. She scowled at him. “What?”

  “Nothing,” he said, still grinning. He took a drink from his water bottle.

  Emma looked at Max and saw him still looking out the window. He seemed uptight, even more so than usual. “What happened?” she directed her question to Max.

  “Not my story to tell,” he said brusquely before going outside. Once the front door closed, Emma turned to Liam.

  “All right, spill,” she said.

  He looked at her sympathetically. “No can do, baby girl. That’s between you and him. I’m not getting in the middle of that.” Liam stood and stretched. “I need to check on a few things. I’ll be back.”

  Emma watched him leave and sighed. She would have to take on the Alpha himself if she wanted to know what was really going on. She put her head back against the seat and closed her eyes while she waited.

  Chapter 33

  Hearing a buzzing sound, Emma opened her eyes and looked around. She saw what she assumed was Garrett’s phone on the countertop. She stood up and walked over to it. She would take it to him in case it was important. She froze when she saw the name, though. Kevin. Why would he be calling Garrett? Unless he was trying to get ahold of her? Before Emma could overthink it, she glanced quickly down the hallway to make sure Garrett wasn’t coming before grabbing the phone and answering it.

  “Hello,” she said quietly.

  “Emma? I finally got you. Are you okay? I’ve been trying for days to get ahold of you,” she heard Kevin’s frantic voice.

  “I’m okay,” Emma said still keeping her voice quiet so Garrett wouldn’t hear. She crept towards the hallway and heard the sound of running water, so she should be safe for a few minutes at least.

  “What happened to you? You haven’t been at work, Helen won’t say anything about you, there’s a new girl working there, and your phone keeps saying it’s disconnected. I’ve been losing my sanity trying to track you down. Normally, I could just use police resources and track you through your phone,
but it’s like your phone doesn’t even exist. What’s going on, Emma?” he asked in concern.

  “I’m sorry you were worried. I’m okay. I had some bad stuff happen to me.” Emma chose her words carefully. She didn’t want him to think she was crazy; he didn’t need to know about her psycho family and the way she had grown up.

  “Emma, where are you?” Kevin asked point-blank.

  “Um, I don’t actually know,” she said softly.

  “Emma, are you in trouble? Is somebody holding you against your will?” he asked in a calm voice. His concern brought tears to her eyes. She hated that her life was such a mess that one person talking kindly to her brought her to tears.

  “I think I’m okay; I mean, they’re taking care of me,” she said in a shaky voice.

  “Who, Emma?” he asked in a calm voice.

  “Garrett and his men,” she said.

  “Are they keeping you there against your will?” he asked gently.

  “Well, no, I mean...” She wasn’t really sure how to answer that.

  “Are you allowed to leave?” he asked.

  Emma waited for almost a minute before barely whispering, “No.”

  “Are they the ones who took your phone?” he asked.

  “Yes,” she whispered again.

  “Are they keeping you in the dark about what’s going on?” he asked.

  “Yes,” Emma responded.

  “Emma, honey, those are all the signs of abduction,” he said in such a compassionate voice. “Tell me where you are, and I’ll come get you right away. I’ll get you to safety.”

  “I don’t know,” Emma said, unsure what to do. They hadn’t hurt her, but why wouldn't’ they let her go? Why had they taken her phone? And why would nobody answer any of her questions? The more she thought about it, the more confused she became. It did sound really shady.

  “You don’t know about me coming to get you or you don’t know where you are?” Kevin asked gently.