Her eyebrows knit thoughtfully for a second then flick over to Raven, whose attention is still entirely fixed on her dog. Mom looks back at me with a wide-eyed and knowing expression.
She knows.
I meet her eyes and nod almost imperceptibly. Her expression hovers somewhere between sympathy and happiness. I shrug and turn to stare at the back of Raven's head. I wonder if her black hair is as soft and silky smooth as it looks, if the skin of her neck tastes as good as she smells. Need swirls and crashes dizzyingly around inside me. My heart is pounding, and the shaking grows worse. A low growl rises up in my throat, and I start to move forward just as my phone rings in my pocket. It's enough to jolt me out of the compulsion that grips me. Thank fuck. I whirl toward the door and rush out to the waiting room.
I stalk over to the entrance as I pull my phone out, desperately needing some distance, so I can think again. I answer the call as I look through the thick glass out into the night.
"Yeah," I bark out gruffly.
"Just a forewarning," a familiar male voice says, "I was there when Cooper called, and Wyatt's pissed."
"What else is fucking new," I tell my brother Beckett, who is only two years older than me.
Ever the peacekeeper, Beck always tries to mitigate the contentious relationship I have with our oldest brother, who is five years my elder. Don't get me wrong, I love Wyatt as much as my other four siblings, but sometimes he treats me like he's my goddamn parent. He thinks I'm still the same impulsive and reckless teenager I used to be. I think he's bullheaded and uptight, and has a stick so far up his ass that he doesn't know how to have a good time. He may be our pack's Beta, our second in command, and next in line to lead after our father, but he's not the Alpha yet, and he'll never be my dad.
"Can you blame him?" Beck responds. "He's with Cooper and Scarlett cleaning up your mess in the woods behind Rowdy's Tavern right now." Scarlett is Cooper's older sister.
I glance toward the door to the exam room where Raven is, still feeling the pull of her presence even with a closed door, and some distance between us.
"I didn't really have a choice, Beck," I say firmly. I wouldn't have done a damn thing differently tonight.
"I guessed as much." My brother sighs. "I'm just glad you're okay, but you know you'll have to argue that point with him the next time you see him."
"Yeah, I figured," I say in resignation. "Does Dad know yet?"
"No," he replies. "He's still out with Lyric and Harmony."
I know Dad took my little sister and my older sister, who is also Wyatt's fraternal twin, out to hunt tonight. He'll find out soon enough. I'll explain my side of things, and hopefully Dad will understand. If all else, Mom can nudge him in the right direction.
Just then, the exam door opens and Mom pokes her head out. "I need your help, Em," she says.
"I gotta go, Beck," I tell him. "Mom needs me."
"Good luck," he replies, wishing me good luck with Wyatt and our father. But I know what I really need it with, and I'm going to need all I can get.
Mom slips out into the waiting room and meets me halfway across the room. Like a magnet, her eyes suddenly fix on my side. She gasps and rushes closer, then grabs my shirt and yanks it up out of the way. My mother stares at the long fairly superficial furrows that are healing far slower than she knows they should. Her body tenses. Fear clouds her golden-brown eyes as she meets my gaze because she knows exactly what caused them.
"They're dead, Mom," I say quietly to reassure her as I grab her hand and gently squeeze. "They don't know we're here."
"Good," she says softly as relief floods her features and her body relaxes. "I need your help to get some x-rays."
I nod and follow Mom toward the exam room Raven is in, internally bracing myself for the assault of need that's going to follow when I see her again. We walk in to find her dropping kisses onto the dogs face as silent tears streak down her cheeks. I feel gutted by her pain, and I have to look away. Without a word, I go to the exam table and pick the dog up carefully.
"Emmett's going to help me get some x-rays of Luna, sweetie," Mom tells her with a comforting hand on her shoulder.
Raven nods jerkily, then glances over at me. "Thank you," she says in a thick quavering voice.
Our eyes catch, and fuck if I'm not a goner yet again. Her electric blue eyes bore into me. They're big and beautiful, her pink lips full and plump, and the flawless ivory skin of her face is so gorgeous that I can't look away. I want to touch her on such a deep visceral level that coherent thought is impossible. It feels like her gaze is burning through all the layers of bullshit that surround my heart to the very core of who I am. I feel ripped open, filleted from the inside out, but I'm not even scared or disturbed by it. It feels too good, too right.
It feels like I can see her too, the layers of her soul parting to reveal the very essence of what makes her who she is. I forget about everything until the dog in my arms whines pathetically and starts frantically licking my neck. I jolt out of my stupor and jerk my eyes to my mother, feeling stunned and disoriented.
"We'll be right back." Mom grabs my upper arm and steers me out of the room.
I follow her down the hall, my thoughts clearing the farther I am from the girl. We walk into the small x-ray room, and Mom shuts the door, then gives me a long sympathetic look.
"If it's always like this, how does Dad even function around you?" I ask her in a panic-edged tone as fear begins to well up inside me.
I don't like feeling out of control, so helpless to the wild emotions whirling around in my head. They feel like they're fraying me apart, and cold icy dread falls over me. An out of control werewolf is a dead werewolf. Fuck, is my own father going to have to kill me to protect the pack?
Mom reaches up to cup my cheek with her palm. "Calm down, Emmett," she reassures me, her serene eyes anchoring me. "It's only like this in the beginning. Just give it time. You're strong like your father, and you can handle it."
I nod as I glance in Raven's direction, feeling dubious, but say nothing. Mom's expression turns business-like, and she focuses on the dog in my arms. She starts barking orders at me, and I gladly follow them, grateful for the distraction.
Within seconds, we get Luna, who's thankfully compliant, onto the small x-ray table. Mom slaps a lead apron on me, and then I hold the dog in position for two pictures of her chest, one from the front and the other from side. When the images finally pop up on the monitor, she studies them intently. I have no idea how she can make heads or tails of what she's looking at, but after several long moments, she nods and turns back to me.
"She's going to be okay," she says with a relieved smile.
I let out the breath I was holding as relief settles over me. I don't think I could take seeing Raven react to bad news without losing my shit tonight. Without another word, I scoop Luna up into my arms again, and we head back to the exam room where Raven is waiting. Mom doesn't beat around the bush as we walk in.
"She's going to be fine," she tells Raven with a grin.
"She...she is?" Raven asks, her voice shaking.
"She has a pulmonary contusion," Mom explains. "That means her lungs are just bruised. I didn't see any broken ribs or a collapsed lung, and it doesn't look like anything is actively bleeding."
"Oh, thank God," Raven blurts out with a sob. The ache to go to her begins anew, and I turn away to put Luna on the exam table again as I battle it down.
"I need to keep her overnight for observation though," Mom continues.
"Are you sure I can't take her home instead?" Raven asks with a fearful expression that I don't understand, but instantly dislike. The urge to hold her grows stronger, and I grit my teeth and take a step backwards as I fight it.
"I'm sure, sweetie," Mom replies firmly. "Her injury could still develop into something life threatening."
"Okay," Raven says with a few jerking nods as she wipes a few tears from her eyes with the back of her hand.
"Don't worry," my mother conti
nues soothingly as she rubs Raven's upper arm. "I'm going to start an IV, so I can give her some pain mediation, then I'm going to take her home with me tonight. If you give me your phone number, I can let you know if anything changes, and I'll call you tomorrow morning and let you know when you can pick her up."
I can't help myself and drink in Raven's cell number as she rattles it off to Mom, committing it to memory. Then I manage to keep my shit together through the sweet torture of helping Raven hold Luna still so Mom can start an IV in the dog's leg. I ready myself to carry Luna out to Mom's SUV when she speaks again.
"Emmett," Mom announces with a pointed look, "why don't you walk Raven out to her truck while I wait for the pain meds to kick in."
I know it's not a suggestion by the stern set of her eyes. Is she trying to kill me? I don't argue though. There's no way in hell I can resist having a few moments alone with her again, no matter how difficult it is controlling myself around her.
"Yeah," I answer gruffly, then turn to Raven, barely ghosting my eyes across hers for fear of getting lost in them again. "Come on."
Raven says a brief yet heartfelt goodbye to her dog that practically wrecks me, then nods and follows me out of the exam room. I lead the way to the door as she follows, her presence an irresistible beacon that I can't ignore behind me. I open the door and hold it for her as she passes, her body brushing close to mine and making my already half hard dick throb and thicken as heated desire surges through me.
I follow her outside, my eyes locked on that perfect round ass of hers as a low groan that I can't contain escapes my throat. She glances back at me, and I jerk my eyes away to look off somewhere over her head, but not before I see her admiring gaze slide briefly down my body. My now aching cock is no longer only half hard. Fuck, I want her so goddamn badly. Walking her out here was a terrible idea.
She turns to face me as she reaches her little truck. She blinks up at me with a watery smile. It's breathtaking, and my heart suddenly aches to tell her to stay, not to leave. Like that wouldn't freak her out any less than if I grabbed her and kissed her like I wanted to.
Her brows knit, and the small smile fades. "I think I'm going crazy," she mumbles out, and I honestly don't think she meant to say that out loud.
"You're not," I say as I unconsciously step closer, her sweet scent enveloping me.
I breathe her in deeply, completely. She smells like fresh flowers and warm summer rain, like everything good, like everything I ever wanted or needed. I fist my hands at my sides as I fight the urge to brush her hair gently out of her eyes and run my fingertips over her soft lips.
She blinks in surprise. Yeah, she didn't mean to voice her thoughts aloud.
"But I...I saw some things tonight that I can't explain." Her voice is thick and trembles with fear. "I was so scared that I don't know what I imagined or what was real now. That can't be normal."
I'm grateful that her human vision is so limited at night compared to mine. I'm relieved that she didn't see me kill those fuckers or is asking me what happened to them or about my wolf form that I know she saw. I don't want to lie to her. I wish I dared to tell her the truth now, about what happened, about what I am, what we are to each other, but she's far from ready for any of that.
"Fear can do strange and crazy thing to people's heads," I tell her placatingly. "But what is real, is that you're safe now," I add with certainty as I shift even closer to her.
"I am?" she asks quietly as her eyes start pulling me in again.
"Yeah," I answer succinctly. What I really want to say is that I made sure those men will never touch her again, and I'll always keep her safe. I want to tell her that she's mine, that I'll be the only one touching her from now on, and no one else ever will again. Shit, she's not the only one who feels like they're going crazy here.
She nods with a relieved expression. "Thank you," says sincerely. "If it weren't for you, Luna and I might be...might be..." A soft yet still wrenching sob tears from her throat, and it destroys the last shred of control I'm grasping onto.
The next thing I know she's in my arms, her body pressing up against mine, so soft and warm and perfect. I can smell her rising desire, and my heart pounds as Raven's breathing accelerates. I fall into her eyes yet again, and this time the wolf and the man are utterly and completely spellbound. I move forward until her back presses against the side of her truck. Her hands clench tightly into my T-shirt as a pretty pink tinges her cheeks and her lips part in a clear invitation that I can't resist.
"Emmett," she breathlessly murmurs my name.
I fixate on her mouth for a mere fraction of a second before I lean down and kiss her.
Fuck. Me.
Blazing fire ignites inside me the instant our lips touch, a conflagration of desire and need like I've never felt before. The wolf and I bathe in it, happily burning up in its glory. She tastes like she smells, all sweet honey and light. Her lips move with mine for a moment of blissful perfection, before I lick demandingly across them, and they part as she willingly lets me in.
I thrust my tongue into her mouth and deepen the kiss, consumed by this woman and the need to possess her, to be possessed by her. I crush her against me as she mewls into my mouth, our tongues tangling together and my hands splayed across her back. I growl fiercely and nip at her pretty lips, breathing in everything about her and never wanting to let her go. I feed on her mouth like I can't live without her. I unconsciously buck my hips against her, my erection pressing against her stomach as my body instinctively seeks relief and release.
I know I fucked up and crossed a line that I shouldn't have the moment Raven gasps and pushes her hands against my chest. I immediately take a step back to find her stunned and bewildered eyes staring up at me. I watch dismay flash across her face, and guilt swamps me because even though I have some idea of what's going on between us, she doesn't have a clue. If I feel this overwhelmed, then I can only imagine how she feels. It's too soon to lay all this shit on her mere hours after we met. I'm such a dumbass.
"I...I...I have to go," she blurts out in a panicked jumble. She turns and frantically pulls open the door of her truck.
"I'm sorry," I tell her with a pained expression while she climbs into the driver's seat, as if those pathetic and inadequate words can help at all.
Raven looks at me again, her eyes wide and filled with fear and confusion. "I have to go," she whispers, then drags her gaze from mine and closes the door.
She starts the truck and drives away as I stare after her, wondering how I could have fucked this up more, and how the hell I'm going to fix it now.
7
RAVEN
The house is almost deathly quiet as I sit alone at the small kitchen table. I watch through the nearby sliding glass doors as the early-morning light slowly brightens the backyard and the thick woods that surround it. There's no clacking of claws across the tile floor of the kitchen, no familiar jangle of metal tags, or pushy whines demanding attention or to be let outside. Nothing. And it only makes me miss my Luna more.
I've barely been apart from her for the last three years, and she's become such an integral part of my life that I feel lost without her. Worry grips my heart, along with heaping loads of guilt. It's all my fault that she's hurt and isn't here with me right now. My stupidity almost cost Luna and me our lives, and I have to live with it, and the fact that I lied to my dad about getting that job at Rowdy's Tavern too.
I tried to sleep after I got home hours earlier, but my brain wouldn't shut up and just kept rehashing everything that happened last night. The bar fight. Those two terrifying bikers that nabbed me and scared me so badly that I made them out to be monsters in my head. The wolf I'm now not even sure was real either. Running into Cooper, who found my poor Luna, and then Emmett swooping in like a savior and taking us to his mom for help. My head is reeling from it all, and I'm more convinced than ever that I'm going crazy. Especially since the few times I did manage to drift off, I startled awake with visions of evil glowing red
eyes watching me.
I finally gave up on ever getting any real sleep a half-hour ago and came out here to wait for my father to get home from his shift. I plan to confess everything to him and hopefully assuage some of my guilt. However, despite everything that happened yesterday and my worry over talking to my father, I keep fixating on that incredible yet disturbing kiss I shared with a man I just met.
Emmett.
I don't understand the insane and intense attraction I've felt for him since the instant that I first saw him. It makes no sense. The whole time his mother was taking care of Luna last night, my entire body was hyper-aware of his, where he was, and every move he made. It was all I could do to shut it out and focus on Luna. The two times I was left alone in that exam room, all I could do was breathe in his virile and wildly masculine scent that lingered in the room, and fantasize about what it would feel like for him to hold me, kiss me, fuck me. By the time he walked me to my truck and unexpectedly took me in his arms, I was so aroused that all I could do was let out his name on a breathless whisper that all but begged him to kiss me.
I've kissed plenty of guys in the past, but that kiss with Emmett was like nothing I could have imagined. It was in a whole other realm of reality from anything I experienced before. Blistering and hot, it lit my body on fire. It sank down deep into the very core of my soul and awakened my entire being with a flaming and seemingly unquenchable desire. A desire that burned past all my inhibitions and had me melting against him.
It wasn't until he pressed the steely and terrifyingly big length of his erection against me that I came to my senses. I already made enough stupid mistakes yesterday. I wasn't going to add fucking a virtual stranger to the list, no matter how much my body argued otherwise, then and now. So I fled like a coward before I did something else I was going to regret. But even hours later, the heat and feel of his hard body against mine still lingered. As did the confident skill of his lips and tongue on mine, and the heady scent of man and something else wild and untamed that I couldn't name or describe.
Wild Blood: The Trueborn Saga Book 1 Page 5
