by Rae Foxx
It didn’t help, not with the increased banging from the roof.
Was he fighting a woodpecker up there?
“No, it’s them! They're here!” Gerald continued to scream, now pulling at his hair as he paced. “They want you to make excuses for them and think everything is strawberries and peaches.”
Oh, dear.
“I see. Well, how about we walk outside and track down these aliens. I’m gonna give them hell for being on my roof.”
I stomped out of the building, angry as hell that Emmet was making such a racket even though he knew I was having patients all day. And I meant all day. I’d thought things would be slow as I built up my client base, but my schedule had filled up in the last seventy-two hours. Pack life must’ve been harder than I remembered.
Gerald followed me out of the squeaky door, pulling his jacket around him as though that would make him invisible to Emmet or the aliens. Hell, if that made me vanish from Emmet, I was going to steal it and use it.
“Emmet, get your ass down here! You’re making my patients…” I almost said insane, but thought better of it at the last second. “Think they are hearing other things.”
A few seconds later, Emmet appeared, head over the side of the rafters like it was disembodied. “See, Gerald, it’s just…”
I ping-ponged my gaze from Emmet to Gerald and tried my damndest not to laugh, and I failed. Emmet was covered in dirt, sticks, and tar from the roof, so much so that his eyes and his smile were the only signs that he was human.
But Gerald was already screaming and Muppet flailing his arms. “I told you it was the extraterrestrials! I told you!”
Emmet shook his head in confusion, eyes wide before he darted from the rafters to the ladder as he made his way down. I already knew that wasn’t going to work. He did look like a huge, dripping, shiny black alien, especially if you were already paranoid about such things like Gerald was.
“It’s not, Gerald. It’s just Emmet. See? He was fixing my roof!” I gestured to the roof and the grungy man that was now coming closer.
“Stand still! If you stand still, they won’t be able to see you!” Gerald went stiff, going so far as to click his heels together. Despite his yelling for stillness, his knees knocked together while his teeth chattered. Poor Gerald. He needed my help more than Sam.
“He’s not a T-Rex, Gerald. He’s Emmet. You know Emmet. He’s dirty from working on the roof.” I was trying so hard to calm him down and help him see, but it wasn’t working.
Gerald refused to open his eyes but began to reach for something in his back pocket as Emmet reached us. Even covered in dirt the man was beautiful and hard as a rock in all the right places. Muscles. I was talking about muscles.
“Gerald, what are you doing now?”
“I’m stopping him from reading my mind.”
I slapped my forehead. Even his delusions didn’t make sense. One minute he couldn't see us if we didn’t move and the next minute, he could read our minds? Emmet came over and stood next to me while Gerald pulled a tinfoil hat from his pocket and put it on his head. When he was satisfied with the wonky fit of the silvery device, he opened his eyes and whispered, “He’s right next to you.”
“Gerald, come on. Let’s calm down. Emmet, talk to him.” It was clear that Emmet was enjoying this too much, so I fixed him with a warning glance that seemed to do the trick.
Emmet smiled at me and then nodded, trying to be serious.
“Gerald, it’s me, Emmet. You know me. Your wolf knows me.”
Gerald stopped in his quivering and cocked his head as though he were having an internal conversation, which he probably was. “Oh, no, he doesn’t. I don’t know what you are!”
And then Gerald was gone, screaming into the trees as he shifted. His wolf kept the little metal hat on his head.
Emmet and I stood, watching him go. I have my hands full with that one.
With a sigh, I turned on Emmet. “You can’t hammer and beat on things while I’m trying to have a session, Emmet.”
He smiled and peeled off his shirt, shaking the dirt and twigs out of his hair as he did so.
Could he keep that on? He was already distracting enough.
“I like it when you say my name, female.”
I denied the shudder running through me and squared off my shoulders. “Are you going to bang all day or not?”
He cracked up and I realized what I’d said. The smile that rose on my face couldn’t be helped, so I slapped my hand over it. “I can stop banging all day, Lucy. But how am I going to get your roof done?”
“You are infuriating. Why can’t you hammer and stomp after I leave?”
“Then I won’t be here to protect you from the aliens. Speaking of…” He rushed me and I screamed as he grabbed my waist and tossed me over his shoulder.
“Earth to the mothership! Earth to the mothership! Beam me up! I have an intelligent human with me!” I beat on his back, kicking my legs before I remembered that I was in a skirt, with my ass only inches from his face.
Shit!
“Put me down!”
“Why? The aliens will be pleased with my find.” He was clearly teasing, even though his hands were firm on my hips as he gripped me.
“Put me down, Emmet.”
“Okay, fine.” He slowly lowered me, my body pressed against his the whole way down.
Every inch of the front of my body touched every inch of the front of his, and the full strength of his attraction to me poked my abdomen.
“Yeah, that’s fine,” I muttered incoherently, betraying myself. His blue eyes nailed me in place, and I couldn’t have moved if I wanted to. I inhaled deeply, his pine and sunshine scent penetrating my senses and making me a little dizzy.
“Good Gods, you are beautiful.”
My body swayed into him involuntarily as he dipped down, barely grazing his lips against mine. I closed my eyes for a split second, but then reality took over--my mind kicked into overdrive.
And I smacked him.
And ran.
Twelve
Emmet
With both hands on my wheelbarrow, I whistled while I brought the supplies to the clinic. I had always wanted to do this kind of work, and doing it for Lucy… for my mate… it made it all even better.
For the first time in what felt like years, I woke up eager to start the day. Hell, I was excited to see her, to provide something for her, even if it was only a new roof and electrical work.
There was a fulfillment there that I never thought was possible. And to think I had resigned myself to harvesting pot and drinking with bitter old men.
It would be better if she stopped pushing me away, but I was determined to give her space. She was still mourning her first mate and was confused about having a second one.
I didn’t blame her.
It had hurt to lose Emma and we hadn’t even been mated. I had no idea what she was going through.
So, space it was. Thankfully I still got to see her. Which was why I was whistling, my heart beating erratically as I pushed the thing further up the path, right to the warped wood of the stairs.
Whistling louder, I barged into the old clinic, not wanting to wait another minute to see her.
I’d had one whisper of a taste of her lips and now I was hooked.
“Good morning,” I called into the rickety silence, sure she was already there. The door was unlocked and her ice and smoke scent permeated my senses. My wolf had already been excited, but now he perked up eagerly.
“Emmet? Where have you been?” Her voice echoed over rotted wood and peeling paper as she rounded the corner in one swift movement. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes bright and wide.
She made my breath catch, but not just for her. For what she had said.
“Were you worried about me?” I couldn’t help it, my voice caught on the question. Which only made her flush more.
“No!” Her voice was a shriek and I only smiled more. “But you are always here when I get here. T
oday when I got here, you weren’t here and I thought…”
She jumped and pressed her lips together as though she was forcing herself not to respond.
“I went to the hardware store.” I kept my voice level as I stepped closer to her. She stood there with her lips pressed together, cheeks turning a gentle shade of red. “I needed some paint and some sandpaper. Are you okay? Did something happen?” She shook her head furiously. “So, you were worried about me.”
She opened her mouth and made a clicking noise as her cheeks reddened even more. Gods, she was gorgeous when she was flustered.
“Maybe. I know you well enough that you could have been kicked out in a bar fight.”
I chuckled, she wasn’t wrong. I stepped toward her and brushed some of her auburn hair from where it fell over her shoulders.
“Your cheeks are red, Lucy, and your heart is racing a mile a minute.” I was whispering now, leaning in. But she didn’t resist, not even when the tips of my fingers brushed her neck.
“Must be the caffeine.” She could barely get the words out.
“I’m sure. I like that you were worried about me.” I couldn’t help the smile that grew on my face.
I didn’t think it possible, but the blush on her cheeks spread down to her neck and across her chest. I’d love to explore exactly how far it went, but we weren’t there yet.
One of her eyebrows went up as she tried again to cover her tracks. “That thought never entered my mind, Emmet.”
“You sure about that?” I stepped forward again, and she exhaled before turning away, mumbling something to herself. She slammed her back into a wall of peeling paper and slid down to the floor.
Seeing her so forlorn broke something in me, all of my teasing nature melting away as I tasted her anguish. I curled against the wall beside us, both of us sitting on the floor, inches from each other.
I could feel her warmth.
“I don’t understand any of this,” she finally said after a minute of silence, leaning her head against the wall. “I had a mate. I was there when we turned off the machine. When he died. I thought I would be alone for the rest of my life.”
“I can’t even imagine how that would feel.” I couldn’t. I had been foolishly mopey over Emma.
Childish even.
I exhaled, my head turning toward her as my heart stopped at seeing the lines of wet that were tracing from her eyes to her chin.
“But I can’t deny this pull toward you,” Lucy continued as her head flopped to me, both of us leaning against the wall. Staring at each other. “I can’t stop thinking about you. You’re in my dreams. I get distracted when I’m with patients. I don’t know what the hell to do.”
I wanted to tell her what to do. I wanted to reach over to her and grab her and hold her. I wanted to cry with her.
Her admittance that there was something between us was exactly what I needed to hear. I knew it would still take time and patience, but she was worth it.
“I wish I could make this easy,” I said honestly, and she exhaled with a nod.
“Did you know I had a crush on you? Back in middle school. But you were always connected at the hip with Emma so I never said anything.”
“I wish you would have,” I admitted, reaching out to take her hand. She didn’t pull away. She held on, her hand warm in mine. “Maybe it would have saved us some pain.”
She nodded. “I don't think so. Clint was always my mate; I think that’s why I felt so strongly that I needed to leave and why I didn’t feel anything more from you back when we were kids. Does any of that make sense?”
I leaned my head back and knocked it against the wall. “It does make sense. And while I’ve never heard of a second mate, I believe you that Clint was your mate, but so am I. Maybe Fate knew what she was doing in this.”
“Maybe that’s why I came home…”
We sat there in silence, my thumb running along the back of her hand, enjoying every second that she allowed it. My wolf wallowed in the sensation. She was ours, even if she hadn’t admitted it yet.
“I want to explore this, Emmet,” Lucy said. Her voice was a whisper, but the sound of my name could have been a bass drum with how my heart reacted. “But I can’t make promises. I gave my heart away a long time ago and I’m not sure there’s anything left.”
“We’ll take it as slowly as you want, Lucy. I’m choosing to trust in us.” Whatever I’d said had her whipping her head to look at me as though she was seeing me for the first time.
“Thank you, Emmet. Right now sweet is exactly what I need.”
I couldn’t help myself. While she spoke, I couldn't take my eyes off her lips but this time, as I leaned in closer, she didn’t resist, didn’t tense up like the day before. “May I kiss you, Lucy?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
This time when my mouth touched hers, her lips were warm and pliant. She let out a little moan as I deepened the kiss, as sparks of heat and pleasure rattled over my skin. Her hands were hot on my neck as she pulled me in gently, her tongue grazing mine.
What had started as a sweet kiss, a trial of sorts, had gone to a full make out session that left us both breathless. She broke the kiss and leaned back, looking at me with those full eyelashes. “I didn’t expect that.”
She wasn’t the only one.
Thirteen
Emmet
Rich had caught sight of me when I was walking home in a daze after the afternoon I had spent with Lucy. Talking. Hugging. Kissing.
I had been on cloud nine.
Which made it all too easy for Rich to drag me into the woods and right up to their mid-life crisis fire. This needed to be my last time here.
I wasn’t angry anymore, not even close.
I wasn’t angry at females taking over the pack or even existing. I was happy for Emma and now knew it was for the best that she found Noah. At some point, I would have to apologize for the way I’d treated him.
“We have to end all of them!” Sam roared, the marijuana they were smoking hadn’t dulled any of his rage against Cami and Emma.
I sighed and put my beer down. I really needed to get out of here, I had hoped they had grown out of this weird conspiratorial ramble.
“Wait, who is all of them? We’re getting rid of all of the females now?” I asked it in an attempt to pull them away from this nonsense again. No one returned my smile. Rich passed me a joint but I turned it down.
“The Alpha, the Beta, and now that damned shrink,” Sam snapped, I half expected him to throw his bottle in the fire. “She fucking thinks she knows everything. Asking me all of those nosey questions, trying to break me down. I won’t have it! Next thing we know, she’ll recommend that the Alpha put us all in straitjackets and take medicine that makes us foam at the mouth. Not me!”
I kept my chuckle to myself. Lucy would never do that. She would rather help someone than resort to those dramatic tactics. But now they had included her in their list there was no way I was leaving. Talk or not, I needed to know what they were talking about. I needed to stop whatever they were planning.
“So what’s the plan?” I asked, pretending to be interested.
“Whatever it takes to get them out of here, but they are so stubborn. I can only think of killing them. I want to wrap my bare hands around their necks and…”
“No!” Rich interrupted Sam with a snap, his wolf growling through the single word so loud I half expected them to shift and fight, but both men stood down. “We have to make it happen in a way so that we aren’t kicked out. There’s no reason to change the pack if we’re going to be pushed out. What about poison?”
Gods above, so much for some extrication or kidnap plot, they were making plans to kill females and mine included. No way in fucking hell was anyone was going to touch my mate or the Alpha for that matter.
Guilt threaded through me that I had ever been a part of this group, who had turned into a bunch of murder-hungry thugs.
“You’ve gone too far.” The words were
out of my mouth before I could stop them. My voice was a mix of my human and my wolf. The animal inside me wanted to kill them before they had a chance to discuss killing the females for one more minute.
“Excuse me?” Rich said, both of them standing to face me. “What the fuck are you on about?”
I stood to face them, all of my muscles coiling in preparation for what was coming.
“Just because they are females and aren’t doing exactly what you want them to, doesn’t mean you get to sit in here like a bunch of cowards, planning to murder them.”
“Oh, the puppy finally grew a pair,” Sam laughed, joining Rich as the two of them stepped closer to me. “This have anything to do with you sniffing around the shrink lately? Don’t think it’s escaped our notice that you’ve been working overtime at that place. Got a hard-on for the new girl?”
I couldn’t stop my fist from balling up, stop the rage from boiling over as my fist slammed into Sam’s nose in reply to his bullshit. He swore and stumbled back, Rich howling as he caught his friend.
“You fucking asshole.” Sam spat the words between his blood. “I knew you were too weak to join us. I told you this, Rich!”
I kept my fists in knots, squaring off my shoulders in anticipation of the fight. What I didn’t count on were the four others that arrived in time to beat my ass into next week.
“We need to make sure he won’t tell anyone, especially that snotty shrink!”
Sam rushed me and I prepared to punch him, but he got there first. Sam punched me right in the gut, which had me bending over in pain. He was stronger than he looked. Facing both of them might not end well for me. I needed to get out of there, but Rich grabbed me when I was doubled over and held me in place.
“I knew it was a mistake to let you in here, to try to be one of us. You’re just like Luke and Noah. Fucking weak pricks who will do anything for a piece of ass.” Sam hissed in my ear as Rich used me as a punching bag.
I coughed and tasted the metallic essence of blood in my mouth. “She’s not a piece of ass. She’s my mate.”