Exposed Memories

by Sienna Aylen

  After a minute, Kyle pouted. “Do we have to call you Daddy now?”

  Damien shrugged. “You don’t have to but I would be okay with it if you did. Or you can just call me Damien.”

  With the wisdom of a six-year-old, Kyle nodded.

  Ten minutes later, the three of them were walking downstairs. Damien stilled when he saw the look on Emma’s face. She was pissed. Desiree stood by the windows with a frown on her face as well. Damien sighed. “Desiree, would you mind taking the boys out to play in the front yard for a little while? They have some new toys to show you.”

  Desiree shot one worried look at Emma before moving to the boys with a smile. As the trio walked toward the front door, Damien took the seat next to Emma. It took a moment, but she finally noticed him.

  Leaning into the cushions, Damien wrapped one arm around her shoulders. “What’s going on, Em, you and Desiree have a fight?”

  She shook her head. “No, nothing like that. Hunter was here with Gene. Tessa and Gwen went with the two of them to check out his alibi.”

  Damien growled at the mention of the older man’s name. As far as he was concerned, Gene was involved in one way or another. Knowing that Gene had been in the same room as Emma and he hadn’t been there to protect her angered him and his bear. “What happened? Are you all right? Hunter knew better than to let that man in the same room as you.”

  Emma lifted her good hand and cupped the side of his face. “I’m fine. Hunter kept a gun trained on him the whole time and Tessa had a few knives at the ready. What gets me is I honestly think Gene might be innocent. I’m not one hundred percent sure, of course, since I can’t read his stuff. But he seemed genuinely shocked that I’d been attacked.”

  Damien felt his bear calm down at her touch, knowing she was safe and uninjured. Well, not injured further than she was already. “When did they leave?”

  Emma leaned her head against his shoulder. “About fifteen minutes ago. They should be back soon. I feel so useless just sitting here. I mean, really. Tessa and Gwen charged Desiree with babysitting me while they were gone. I may be hurt but I’m not a child.”

  “Not a child, no. But they did the right thing by leaving her to look over you. As for the useless thing, what do you do to keep busy when you’re on vacations from work?”

  Emma frowned and looked out of the window. “I’ve never had a real vacation. I wouldn’t know what to do with so much free time.”

  Right as Damien would’ve responded, the back door opened to Hunter, Gene, Tessa and Gwen. The tension in the living room was palpable. Hunter palmed his gun, though it wasn’t pointed at Gene’s head anymore, where he sat across from Emma and Damien. Tessa stood by the fireplace, staring through the window at the scenery beyond.

  “I assume his alibi checked out since he isn’t cuffed?” Damien rumbled.

  Hunter nodded, looking to Tessa before answering. “It checked. There’s a substantial treehouse tucked into the back trees on the other side of the lake, just like he said. Though if he really made it for the both of you or not, I’m not entirely sure.”

  Tessa scoffed at Hunter. “What does that make me, chopped liver? I told you he was innocent but you obviously don’t believe me.”

  Emma sighed and met Gene’s worried gaze, taking Damien’s hand and squeezing it reassuringly. “Why would you build us a treehouse?”

  Gene looked sheepish. “Damien let me into the territory when things got tense in Cranston. I was the mechanic there too but Lucinda and her flock of crones were on my every move. Nagging old bitches made my life hell, so I asked for a transfer. Damien was generous enough to give it to me, and I wanted to give something back to him now that he’s found his mate, now that he has you.” At Hunter’s continued scowl, Gene continued, “What could I possibly have against Emma? I just met the woman a few weeks ago.”

  “What about Desiree, Kyle and Lucas?” Gwen’s question was casual and calm, her eyes giving away nothing.

  Gene shrugged. “Who the hell are they? I’ve never heard those names before in my life.”

  Before Hunter could berate Gene, Tessa stepped forward. “Don’t, Hunter, he’s telling the truth. Gene, a little over a week ago you were out in the woods with your truck. Who were you talking about that day on the phone? Emma overheard you say that someone wouldn’t be in their position for much longer.”

  With a long hiss Gene crossed his arms. “I was talking about Rafe. He’s been slacking off lately…showing up late for work, taking unscheduled breaks, missing entire days, and then he gives me sass when I ask him where he’s been. I was waiting until the Bear Games were over before firing him.”

  Tessa nodded. “Do you know where Rafe is right now?”

  Shifting his weight, Gene moved his hands to his pockets. “He’s not in the valley or the garage? What does he have to do with any of this?”

  “Rafe was the one who attacked me last night.” Emma’s voice was faint as she leaned against Damien’s chest, his arm around her shoulders. She could feel the faint echo of a vibrating rumble emanating from the broad chest she drew strength from.

  Damien’s voice was gruff as he kept a suspicious eye on Gene where he sat across from them. “How do you know it wasn’t Gene?”

  Emma shifted to look Damien in the eye. “First off, he doesn’t have a limp. I shredded tendons and muscles but Gene doesn’t even have a scratch on him.” Seeing that Damien was still skeptical, she continued, “What color is Gene’s fur when he shifts?”

  Hunter answered from his position behind Gene, “A mix between gray and black.”

  Emma stifled a yawn before looking between her sisters and Gene. “The bear who attacked me had brown fur, the same shade as Rafe’s hair.”

  Gene’s mouth hung open. “Rafe attacked you? Why would he do that? The boy’s got ideas of grandeur, sure, but I couldn’t see him biting another person.”

  Hunter crossed his arms across his chest. “He also kidnapped three kids. Do you know where he might be?”

  “No, I don’t. I wish I did, though, that boy’s got some explaining to do. I raised him better than this.”

  Damien stood and tucked the blanket tighter around Emma. “He’ll do more than explain when I get a hold of him. If you’ll excuse me, I have a few phone calls to make. Hunter, take Gene home.”

  Hunter nodded. “Will do.”

  Tessa crossed one leg over the other once the men left. “It definitely was Rafe and not Gene. Gene didn’t even blink an eye at Desiree when she came back inside for a cup of water. He didn’t recognize her at all.”

  Emma reclined farther into the pillows. Gwen had taken Desiree and the boys to Stella’s and Damien was in his office, leaving Emma and Tessa alone in the living room. “Here’s my question, how did Rafe know about my Next Gen? We always make sure to keep that sort of information to ourselves and there isn’t anyone left alive from when we were being trained to talk about it. He’s too young to have found it out himself, which raises the next question. Who’s helping him?”

  Tessa nodded. “Also, how did they even know what to look for, and where to look? We need to put a call out to the rest of the sisters to warn them, just in case this isn’t an isolated incident. I have a feeling there is a lot more going on than we even suspect. All our Next Gens could be targets.”

  Emma ran a hand down the length of her braid and sighed. “I feel completely useless just sitting here. I should be out helping or doing something.”

  “You are doing something, Emma, you’re healing. Speaking of that, I have your next dose of antibiotics and painkillers that Aslynn said to give you. We wouldn’t want you to get infected, who knows what sort of germs were coating those nasty canines of his.” Tessa shivered in disgust while uncapping the syringe and walking over to sit on the couch. Pinching the soft flesh of Emma’s arm, Tessa pushed the needle in and released the medicine.

  * * * *

  The next six days passed at a snail’s pace for Emma. Sitting patiently while waiting for h
er wounds to heal was driving her crazy. Even the smallest things were getting on her nerves and she couldn’t shake the sense that something was seriously wrong between her and Damien.

  Even though Damien was acting weird, she at least had company during her stay on the large island of couch-land. The twins, with action figures in hands, were always playing some game or another, turning the couch into a rocket or pirate ship or the kitchen table into their fort. It had taken a few days but they had warmed up to Emma and made sure to include her in all their games even though she couldn’t leave the confines of the couch.

  Desiree had accepted her offer of training and she was turning out to be a quick study, taking everything Emma told her in stride and putting it into practice. They spent most of the afternoons with Desiree on the floor in front of the couch, testing her control with different objects. Emma had Desiree take each object and find a specific memory attached to it, expanding her control over her ability as well as her focus.

  Things were going so well that even Gwen had gotten in on the training. She was teaching the twins their math tables, as well as how to speak French. Desiree was learning the language along with other necessary survival skills, such as hunting and foraging. Emma wished she could go with them on their foraging excursions but she was bound to the couch. Every time she even thought of getting up, Damien would walk into the room. I swear he has some sort of sixth sense.

  Visitors came and went during the day. Besides Damien’s parents, she had been visited by almost every Clan member who was still on the territory. Lysa came every day with a new delightful dessert for Emma and the kids to try and she also kept Emma updated on all the gossip. Augustus and Stella were there almost every day to play with the twins. They adored the boys and were excited to have grandchildren, even though Stella exclaimed that she was too young to be called ‘grandma’ and so had the twins and Desiree call her Stella instead.

  Damien was with her for at least half of each day, only leaving to ‘take care of business’, which she knew meant he was still searching for the elusive Rafe. When she tried to bring up the topic with him, he gave her that stubborn look she was coming to loathe. She tried numerous times to engage him on the topic but he shut her down every time, reminding her that she was off-duty and needed to rest. The only person who kept her updated on that front was Tessa. Thankfully, her sister understood she would go crazy if she didn’t have any information at all.

  The worst part of being an invalid was that she wasn’t getting any intimate attention at all. Damien refused to bestow anything more than a kiss on her, though she had tried multiple times to tempt him, attempting to breach the gap of space that was between them, both physically and mentally. Lying in bed with him wrapped around her each night was torture of an acute kind.

  The gouges on her leg were already scabbed over and her shoulder was coming along nicely thanks to a few more visits from Aslynn. Pain was a relative concept. She could endure a bit of pain if it would restore the closeness with Damien that had been missing the past week.

  Emma was ready to get back to moving around and living life. Okay, so she wasn’t ready to do somersaults just yet but going to the bathroom and walking around on her own were feasible. Maybe if she started moving, Damien would stop seeing her as an invalid and would instead see her as a woman again. He was shutting her out and it was frankly getting on her last nerve.

  Reasoning with Damien about her plan to get up was out of the question. She’d been trying that approach for days without success. It was obvious he was stressed out but he wouldn’t even talk to her, wouldn’t include her in anything. He’d treated her more as a child than as an equal. It hurt that he wasn’t treating her like his partner, or his mate.

  Today, she was just going to do it, whether he liked it or not. There wouldn’t be any more sitting on that couch and doing nothing. She was going to get up and close the gap between them if it was the last thing she did.

  Emma looked around once to make sure that she was alone. She knew she wouldn’t be for long and she wanted to try this without anyone else around just in case she fell flat on her face. Not standing much in the past week had taken its toll on her muscle mass and stability. She swung her legs over the edge of the couch then got to her feet, standing still for a moment to steady herself. Once she was sure that she would be able to move without falling over, Emma made her way to the kitchen to make herself a sandwich.

  Just as she was placing the top slice of bread on the ham sandwich, she heard the sound of pattering feet come to a halt. Whispered voices behind Emma had her turning around to two sets of wide eyes and mouths. Kyle turned to Lucas and muttered, “Uh-oh, she’s up.”

  Lucas replied with a whistle and a sing-song voice, “Ooh you’re in trouble. Damien is going to be mad you’re off the couch.”

  After refilling her glass of water in the sink, making sure to keep her gloves dry, Emma gave the cup to Lucas and motioned for him to set it on the table while she carried her plate. “Damien can be mad all he wants. I need to stretch my legs. What did you think I was going to do, sit on the couch forever? I’m feeling much better today.”

  “You should go back on the couch, I can make sandwiches for you. I’m a big kid and sandwiches are easy,” Kyle said with determination. He was turning into a little Alpha and Emma found it both exasperating and adorable at the same time.

  All of a sudden the twins scampered up onto the bench opposite Emma and grinned like cats who’d gotten the mice. Folding their hands neatly, they tried their best to look innocent but their stares were directed over her shoulder. Emma knew why when she heard a familiar deep voice right behind her.

  “Damien can be mad all he wants, huh?”

  Glancing over her shoulder, Emma watched Damien lean back against the counter and cross his arms while next to him Stella tried not to laugh. Raising one eyebrow, Emma parried, “You can be mad all you want, but I’m getting up and moving around today. Who knows, I might be adventurous and take a walk through the valley, maybe go rock climbing, or cliff diving. Ooh, I know… Bungee jumping sounds like fun. Nothing ‘too strenuous’ of course.”

  Stella burst out laughing and tried to contain it behind one hand. Motioning to the boys, she cleared her throat. “Do you boys want to walk over to Bleu’s house? Desiree is there and I think they’re planning on having chili dogs for lunch.”

  With a whoop and a laugh, the boys ran out the front door with a smiling Stella following close behind.

  As soon as the front door clicked shut, Damien strode over and sat down kitty-corner from Emma. “Bungee jumping? I take it you’re trying to tell me something.”

  Emma mumbled around a mouthful of sandwich, “Yeah, I need to move around to heal the rest of the way. I’m getting stiff sitting there all day.” She swallowed and sent him a sultry grin. “I would exercise in a more enjoyable way, but you turned me down last night…and the night before…and the night before that. So a nice walk through the valley is my alternative. I have to work off the tension somehow.”

  Damien wiped a smudge of mustard from the top of Emma’s lip with one finger. “That sort of workout would’ve been too strenuous on you. It would open your wounds back up. Don’t ask me to intentionally hurt you, Em. I won’t do it.”

  Emma blew out a frustrated breath. “You do realize there are other ways to do it that wouldn’t hurt me, right? Won’t you even consider it? You have been shutting me down all week and not just about this. You still haven’t answered any of my questions about Rafe and the search.”

  “No, not until your shoulder is healed.” His face was stone, immovable and implacable. There was no compromise in his eyes at all, no concern for how she was getting restless.

  Pushing away her now-empty plate, Emma took a sip of her drink before slamming the cup down on the table. “Fine, if you won’t take care of it, then I’ll take care of it myself. I’m sure Gwen can order a few things for me online.”

  Tessa and Hunter waltzed in right a
t that moment and, seeing the looks on both Emma’s and Damien’s faces, turned around and walked right back out.

  Standing up, Emma then went to the sink and dropped her plate in with a thud. She heard a growl behind her before Damien’s voice became dangerously low.

  “Don’t even think about it, Emma. The only way you get off is with me, not some damn toy. In a few days when you’re healed more, we’ll discuss it. Until then you’re still on bed rest.”

  A hot, flaming burst of telekinesis left Emma before she could control it, sparking and shattering the plate in the sink. Her voice went low with her increasing anger. “Was that a dictate you just gave me? As though I were a child? I’ve been sitting on that damn couch for a week! I’m going for a walk and doing whatever the hell I want because you no longer have a say in the matter.”

  Damien shoved his chair back underneath the table with a bang. “You’re going to sit back down on that couch. I still have business to take care of today and I don’t have time for a petty argument about sex. It isn’t going to happen. End of story. Just because you’re a Council member doesn’t mean that you’ll get everything you want when you want it. I can understand a child whining that they’re bored while they’re sick, but not a grown woman. Speaking of your job, it’s over. I won’t allow my mate to place herself in danger like that. You can tell your sisters that you’re retiring.”

  “Taking care of business is all you seem to do these days. Go ahead, Damien, go back to ‘business’. See if I care,” Emma replied.

  Her eyes narrowed on him dangerously but the rest of her face was calm. Without another word, she brushed past Damien as though she were going to listen to him but at the last minute booked it out the back door and into the trees.

  Emma ran, her bare feet sloshing through the mud and dirt. She ran as if she was being chased, and she was. She was being chased by a dam of feelings that welled up. She’d never been this emotional in her entire life. Her lungs burned and her sore body protested the intense exercise but she pushed the pain into the back of her mind and thought over what he’d said. He’d treated her like an errant child, so much so as to call her one to her face. What the hell had happened to working things out, and to respect?