by A J Manney
Emma didn’t think she would be able to rest; her mind was going crazy. After a while though, the smooth drive relaxed her and she felt herself drifting. After her head jerked, Garrett put his arm around her and pulled her next to him. Emma stiffened against Garrett’s bare chest before Garrett adjusted her next to him. “Just rest, Emma,” he said in a soft, commanding tone. His warmth seeped into Emma and she finally became warm for the first time that night. She stopped fighting and allowed herself to relax against him. She felt him put his head on hers for a brief moment. She wasn’t sure if he said anything; she was already drifting off to sleep.
Chapter 35
Hours later, they finally stopped. Emma opened her eyes, trying to get her surroundings. She saw they were back at Garrett’s house. Garrett opened his door and swept her up into his arms. “I can walk,” she said softly. Garrett didn’t respond as he walked up the walkway towards the front door.
“Is she okay?” she heard Madison ask.
“Can you put me down?” Emma asked.
Garrett put her down gently on her feet. Madison threw her arms around her, causing her to step backwards into Garrett’s chest. “Be gentle with her,” Garrett barked at Madison.
Madison loosened her hold but didn’t let go. “I’m so glad you’re okay,” she said. She let go and stepped away from Emma. Emma noticed at this point that she was still leaning against Garrett’s chest, but she didn’t have enough energy to hold herself up.
“We need to get inside,” Garrett said. He put his hand on the small of Emma’s back and guided her up the steps. She was surprised to see Wyatt and a few other guys she didn't know standing around the house on the wraparound porch. “Security,” Garrett said softly to her. Emma nodded and began walking up the steps. Wyatt nodded at her and Garrett when they walked past.
Garrett opened the door, and they walked inside. Emma couldn’t believe she was back here. She didn’t think she was even going to survive just a few hours ago. Liam, Kyle, Madison, Max, Wyatt, and a few other guys came into the house behind them. “I’m going to help Emma for a few minutes. I’ll be back,” Garrett said to all of them. He then started leading her to her room.
After stepping inside, he closed the door behind them. “I need to know if you have any injuries under your clothes,” he said.
Emma looked up at him in confusion. “I don’t think so.”
He blew out a breath. “Good, because I don’t think I can handle having Paul deal with them right now. My wolf is really on edge after losing you,” he said by way of explanation. “Do you have a tank top or something you can put on? I want to check your arms and make sure you’re okay from having the cuffs on.”
“I do. Can I take a shower first? I’m covered in filth from my fall,” Emma said.
Garrett nodded. “I’ll wait for you out here.”
“I’ll be quick,” she said. She didn’t wait for a reply but slipped into the bathroom. Soon, she was under the hot water. It felt so good to scrub all the mud from her and get clean. She made herself keep moving. Soon, she got out and dried off. She slipped on a purple tank top and a pair of sweat pants. She opened the door to the bathroom once she was dressed. Garrett sat on the bed, wearing a shirt now. He stood up and came towards her, his eyes locked on the dark bruises on her arms.
Emma crossed her arms over her chest, feeling exposed under his gaze. His eyes narrowed, and he reached out and ran gentle fingers over the bruises on her arms. “I’m okay,” Emma said softly.
His eyes met hers and some of the anger faded. “Let me help you brush your hair,” he said. Emma nodded because her arms were sore. She took the towel off her head and handed him the hairbrush. It was weird to see him standing behind her, brushing her hair. When he stopped, she looked at him in the mirror. “I’m so sorry, Emma,” he said. Emma turned towards him. He looked down at her with sorrow in his gaze. “I thought I was protecting you.”
“From what?” she asked quietly, hoping he would finally give her some answers.
He sighed. He put his hands around her waist and lifted her up to sit on the bathroom counter while he paced in front of her. Emma sat and watched him. “After your kidnapping, Paul figured out what you are. He came over that night to tell us.”
“What am I?” Emma whispered, afraid to hear the answer. Garrett came and stood in front of her with his arms on either side of her, gripping the countertop. “You’re a finder, Emma—a mate finder.” His eyes were filled with pain. “They’re extremely rare and incredibly sought after. I knew every alpha in the country would be after you to try to take you to their pack. I panicked. I took your phone away, so you couldn’t contact anybody and made you stay here where I could keep you safe. I thought that would keep you safe, but I was wrong. I only pushed you towards Kevin, the exact opposite of what I was trying to do.”
Emma had so many questions, but she started with the one that had been burning in her mind. “Why did you let me go with Kevin? When Liam tried to step forward, you told him to let me go,” Emma said, trying but failing to keep the hurt from her voice.
“He had a gun, Emma. I was terrified he was going to use it, and you would get caught in the crosshairs. That’s why I told him to stand down,” Garrett said angrily.
Emma wasn’t going to lie, she felt a lot better hearing his explanation. “Why were you beat up?” she asked next.
“I had just come from a challenge. I hadn’t meant for you to see me,” he said. At her look of confusion, he continued. “Somebody— well now we know it was Levi—let it out that we have a finder here,” he said in fierce anger. “Word spread about you, and the first alpha came to challenge me for you.”
“I don’t understand. Why?” she asked.
Garrett watched her carefully for a moment. “That’s a pretty loaded question. Are you sure you’re up to the answer?”
Emma nodded. “Please, don’t keep anything else from me. I just want the truth, always. I can handle it. I’m stronger than I look.”
“I know,” Garrett said. “You’re my mate, Emma. I knew it the minute I first saw you. The first moment your sweet scent of vanilla hit me, I knew you were mine. I almost lost control of my wolf when I caught your scent and saw you. I haven’t lost control of my wolf since I was ten,” he said. He shook his head. “Your vanilla scent reached me, and I was gone. That’s why I had to leave the store.” He turned away and started pacing again. “As wolves, we wait our entire lives for our mate. We mate once, and it's for life. There’s no messing around for us. When we meet our mate, we know it immediately. The scent, the sound of our mate’s voice, we just know. I’ve heard that all my life but was totally unprepared for it when it happened. I had just been existing before I met you. The moment I saw you, everything changed for me. My life, my pack, none of it mattered. Instantly, my new life’s mission was to keep you safe and make you happy.” He laughed a dry, humorless laugh. “The only problem was you didn’t know anything about me, about what I was, about our way of life. After hearing your story, how you were attacked by wolves and were terrified of them, I knew I couldn’t tell you what I was. I couldn’t risk losing you. I fought my wolf every day. He is much less emotional. He only sees his mate and doesn’t understand why we aren’t already mated.”
Emma wasn’t going to ask what that entailed; she had a pretty good idea. “After I met you,” Garrett continued, “I made sure you were always protected by having some of my wolves at the shop. When I found out you were living in a homeless shelter, I almost lost my mind. I wanted so desperately to provide for you and take care of you, but I knew I had to tread lightly. When Kevin started hanging around the shop, I knew something was up. He was so fixated on you, even when I told him repeatedly that you were mine. I just didn’t think he would go as far as he did; and that’s on me. I’m sorry. It's my job to make sure you’re safe, and I failed you. I’m sorry, Emma.”
“You didn’t fail me, Garrett,” she said putting her hands on his shoulders. “You saved me. Garrett,
you’ve only ever taken care of me. I’m so sorry I didn’t see it.” Emma swallowed back her emotion. “So, what is a challenge? Why did you have to fight?”
He put his hands on either side of her on the counter, boxing her in. “A female who hasn’t completed the bond with her mate can be fought for. Another male can challenge her mate in a fight to the death. If he wins, he gets the female,” Garrett said.
“That’s terrible,” Emma said.
Garrett nodded. “It usually doesn’t happen. As wolves, we value our mates and the mate bond over everything. But in this case, it’s different. Because of your unique power, you will be sought after by every alpha in the country. Wolves are a dying breed. Most don’t find their mates. For every ten wolves, there is only one female. Our birth rates in packs are even lower. You’ll see in our pack, we don’t have nearly as many females as we do males. You have the power to change that, Emma. And that makes you incredibly important, but also a huge target. That’s why I was trying to keep you hidden, but it backfired on me.”
Emma’s mind was reeling from all she was hearing. “So, let me get this straight. You think I’m your mate and—”
Garrett growled at her. “You are my mate.”
“Don’t growl at me. Okay, so I’m your mate, and you’re telling me other wolves are just going to keep coming to try to kill you and take me?” she said, her voice rising with each word.
Garret snarled at her. “Nobody will take you. I will kill everyone that tries to take you away from me.”
Emma put her hands on his shoulders. “I can’t let you do that.”
“You don’t have a choice, Emma. You’re mine and I will kill anybody that tries to take you away from me,” Garrett said fiercely.
“How do we stop it? I mean is this just going to just keep happening?” she asked. Garrett was quiet for a moment. “Garrett,” she prodded. “How do we stop it?”
“It starts with a partial bond. The male bites the female, marking her as his. The bite will forever mark the female as his; other males will know by the mark that she is taken. Then their scents mix, which is another sign to other wolves that both the female and male are mated. It's not fail-safe, but it would keep most males away,” he said. “The bond links their minds. They can talk to each other and hear each other in their minds. They will also be able to feel their mate’s emotions and can sense when they’re in danger.”
“Wow, that’s a lot.” Emma frowned. “What’s the full bond?”
“To complete the bond; we mate,” he said in a low voice.
“By mating, do you mean we have sex?” she squeaked out.
He smiled at her. Reaching up, he put his hand on her neck and fingered her hair. “Yes, but it’s much more than that. In our world, it’s the equivalent of marriage. The actual mating is private, but we have a public celebration. The mating is the act of sex; but it’s much more intense. It’s a binding of our souls together. After the bite and then sex, the bond will fully lock into place. Then it can never be undone. It’s forever.”
Emma blew out a breath. “That’s a lot to take in,” she said.
“I know. That’s why I've been reluctant to share all this with you, but that was a mistake. I don’t want there to be anything between us. But with all that said, I’m not going to push you into anything,” he said gently.
“What if we don’t choose this?” she asked.
“I’ve already chosen,” Garrett said in no uncertain terms. “But if you reject me, I will do my best to let you go but I will forever watch over you and make sure you are protected. That’s my duty as your mate.”
Chapter 36
“You won’t just move on to someone else?” Emma asked.
Garrett shook his head. “You’re it for me, Emma. There will never be anyone else.”
“What if you don’t like me? How do you know it’s not just this ‘pushing’ you towards me because I'm your supposed mate?” Emma asked.
“I don’t expect you to understand all this right away. That’s okay. You didn’t grow up a wolf. But understand this: I have waited for you every day of my entire life. Trust me. I know what I want, and my wolf does as well—not just because you’re my mate, the one created to be my other half, to complete me in every way. Even if you weren’t made just for me, you would have caught my attention. No other female has ever caught my attention the way you have. Believe me when I say it’s not just the bond talking. We can agree to take things slow and just see what happens between us. But please, come to me if you have any questions. Don’t run from me. I’ll do better keeping you in the loop, I promise. Just don’t run away from me.” The last part was more of a growl.
“I won’t,” Emma said, grimacing. “I still think you don’t really want me; you just think you do. I mean it’s me. I’m certainly no supermodel or—”
Whatever she was going to say next was swallowed up when Garrett pulled her against him and kissed her hard. She gasped, and he took advantage of it, slipping his tongue into her mouth. Emma froze mentally, but her body responded. She leaned against his tight, muscular body. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer to him. Only when her lungs were screaming for oxygen did Garrett pull back, but he didn’t drop his hold on her. Emma looked up at him and ran her tongue over her swollen lips. Garrett dipped his head for another brief kiss. Then he dropped his head to her neck and breathed her in. She tilted her neck to the side, giving him better access. “You have no idea what you do to me,” he said in a low, growly voice. Emma felt his voice rumble through her entire body.
When he pulled back to look at her, his eyes were definitely mostly yellow. “Your eyes,” she whispered.
“My wolf is right at the surface,” he said, his voice still gruff. Garrett closed his eyes and rested his head against hers. He released her and took a step back. He put out his hand to her. “Come on. We need to get out of this room.” He pulled her to the door. “I need to grab something from my room,” he said, leading her to his room. He stepped inside and came back a moment later with a black sweatshirt. “Here, you need to cover up,” he said in a growly voice again.
“Oh,” Emma said as she glanced down at herself. “I can just grab one of my sweatshirts; I don’t need to wear yours.”
He stepped closer. “I need you to wear it. It’s the closest thing I can do to get my scent on you for the time being. Please,” he said earnestly.
Emma was still trying to understand all this wolf stuff. “Is this the equivalent of a dog peeing on something to mark its territory?”
Garrett smirked. “Sure. Now can you just put it on? I can’t have you around all the males that are downstairs right now. This is the best I can come up with. My wolf is really on edge.”
Not wanting to make him any more miserable, Emma took the sweatshirt and quickly put it on. It was huge on her. “It doesn't exactly fit,” she said with a grimace.
“It looks perfect,” Garrett said and Emma rolled her eyes. He helped her roll up the sleeves before taking her hand and leading her out to the living room.
Emma recognized most of the people in the room, with the exception of a few. Garrett was all business now. He snagged her hand and pulled her over to the table and sat down, pulling her into the chair next to him. “I’ve called each of you here because you need to hear what's going on as my top enforcers first before I tell the pack. I’m sure you’ve already heard rumors. Levi betrayed us,” he said in anger. Angry shouts and snarls sounded. After it quieted down, Garrett continued. “We have yet to discover the depth of his betrayal. He tried to take my mate away from me,” Garrett said through clenched teeth; his hand on hers tightened. He was quiet for a moment. “What I'm going to tell you tonight stays in this group for now until I decide to tell the entire pack. Even then, we are going to have to guard this secret with our lives.” He looked at Emma, and Emma hated the pain she saw in his face. “Emma, my mate, is a finder,” he said finally. Complete silence followed his announcement. “For those of you wh
o don’t know what that means, it means that through touch, Emma can tell you who your mate is.” Emma looked around at the shocked faces in front of her. On every man’s face was the same look. She saw it for what it was—hope. She swallowed hard. She really hoped Garrett was right, and that she wasn’t going to be a disappointment to all of them.
Before Garrett could say anything more, they heard a commotion outside. The door flew open a moment later, and a guy Emma had never seen before came in. “Apologies for the interruption, Alpha, but the alpha from the Chicago pack is here.” Emma noticed the immediate tension in the room.
“Okay,” Garrett said. “Tell him I’ll be out in a moment.”
The man nodded and left the room. It was so quiet, you could hear a pin drop. Emma was terrified. Garrett dropped her hand and stood up. “Remember, what I told you tonight is to be kept a secret. Guard it with your life. I don’t have to tell you how valuable she is, not just because she’s my mate, but because she is the finder. She is your future. You guard her with every fiber of your being and protect her, no matter what,” he said. He looked around at each of his enforcers; each of them nodded at him.
Garrett turned to her. “I’ve got to go deal with this. I’ll be back. Eat something and rest,” he said.
Emma crossed her arms. “You said you weren’t going to do that anymore.”
“Do what?” Garrett asked.
“Keep stuff from me,” she said. “I’m going with you.”
“No, you’re not,” Garrett said.
Emma gaped at him. “Did we not just have this conversation upstairs moments ago?”
“Did you not just hear me say how valuable you are and that you need to be protected? I’m not marching you out there in front of another alpha,” he said angrily.
“Garrett, you promised me,” she said.
He blew out a frustrated breath. “Fine, but if I say, you come right back inside. Let’s go see what he wants,” he said, putting out his hand out to her. Several guys walked in front of them and several behind as they walked out the front door. Garrett walked to the edge of the porch. “Samuel,” he called out by way of greeting.
