Everyone was in a state of shock once the sound began. Dalton just smiled, holding McKenna a little closer saying she’s happy. Baby bears make this noise in the wild. He acted just like a proud Dad should, and Emma couldn’t hold the tears back any longer. Her baby or anyone child would be lucky to have Dalton as a Dad. If nothing ever happened between the two of them Emma would cherish this moment for the rest of her life. Dalton looked so happy and so proud.
Dalton hoped he didn’t let it show but Emma had floored him by naming her daughter after him. The noises McKenna made also shocked him to his bones. He had only heard those noises in wild bear cubs. Since Shifters only changed after puberty none of them ever made noises like that only proving McKenna was indeed a very special girl.
Emma had been so distant for the last couple of weeks he was afraid that he couldn’t get through to her anymore. He had tried everything to show her how much he cared and she just laid in the bed and ignored him or pushed him away. He had been at his wit's end that day and stormed out of the room. He didn’t know what happened but whatever it was he was thankful. Maybe now they could all get on with the rest of their lives.
He wanted more than anything for both Emma and McKenna to be his family, his wife, and daughter. The last couple of weeks had been hell trying to be supportive without pushing too hard for something more and her pushing back just as hard away from him. He also wasn’t happy with her attitude and considered putting her over his knee on more than one occasion.
Her scent was everywhere and as much as he loved it he also cursed it because it meant he had been walking around with a perpetual hard on for weeks now his only solace was that he knew he had been getting to her as well. He had jacked off so many times he was sure his dick had burns from the friction his hands created. He also didn’t know if his balls would ever recover. Emma was his mate both he and his bear knew it he was willing to give her the time she needed his bear not so much the beast was an animal through and through it wanted what it wanted. Dalton had been pushing him back for a while now and hoped Emma’s recovery was taking a turn for the better and now that she asked for the help she needed it seemed that things were on an upswing.
He would still be patient no matter how much it hurt. Dalton, felt he needed to take things slow but maybe he didn’t need to take things as slowly as he had been. Letting Ava work with Emma to get her better and stronger. Emma felt the connection now he knew it for sure. At least now he had some hope whereas twenty minutes ago, he didn’t have anything but wants and wishes.
After her meltdown with Ryleigh Emma’s attitude did a complete 180. She started to do little things around the base cleaning and cooking but she wore out easily and she had to take the time to rest but she was starting to feel more and more like herself. She was now taking care of McKenna mostly on her own but the guys and Ryleigh still helped which she was grateful for. Mia was gone but she was coming back and things were starting to feel like normal. Ava was able to write her a prescription for some meds to help with her depression and they talked frequently.
Well it was at least a new normal for Emma. She was a mom now McKenna meant everything to her but she was also a woman and Dalton was always in her thoughts and dreams. She wanted a life with him she wanted more than a platonic relationship it almost scared her to hope for anything more but she had decided to turn a new leaf and Dalton was part of that.
Dalton watched Emma and liked the changes he was seeing. She was no longer cutting herself off from everyone and she had even started doing little chores around the lodge. He didn’t want her to and no one expected her to do it but she seemed so happy about little accomplishments she made that he only offered encouragement along the way. Kenna that little girl had everyone’s heart. The one thing that scared him was how fast she was developing and how strong the little girl was. He was afraid she was going to shift before they knew it. She was displaying signs of being a true Shifter well before any of them had. Her eyes would brighten and glow and the little tyke was strong. She also displayed signs only wild bears did like the motor sound she continued to make after her naming. I was almost like she had just been waiting for everything to be right in her world before she let everyone know what was honestly going on. They still didn’t have any of the answer they needed though and going back to where Emma was held was the only place they could think of to look for those answers. Kenna was a true shifter but enhanced.
Emma was speaking with Eva again and Dalton was enjoying how much things had changed for the better, she opened herself up to him and told him that she was ashamed to admit what had been going through her mind. Feeling as if she could not fully trust any of them, burned because he had been doing everything to prove himself worthy to her but that was his cross to bare not hers. He had to admit her thoughts were understandable with everything she had been through. She wasn’t a Shifter she didn’t have the instincts they did.
She no longer moved away from his touch and she had even started touching him without any encouragement. At first it was a hand on his shoulder or a squeeze of his hand but lately she was getting bolder. He longed for her touch and couldn’t wait for the day that he could have her completely. Just watching her hips sway when she walked down the hall caused his aching dick to twitch. She had put on some weight and it was filling her out in all the right places. Those curves turned him inside out.
The other day when he brought her a cup of coffee she kissed his cheek but most importantly she was talking to him and the others. They all spent time with her and Kenna helping when needed but Emma was finally taking care of Kenna showing her the love only a mother could.
He loved the time they spent together. He also liked the fact that his beast seemed to be allowing him the lead on this one. It still raged and still wanted to claim Emma but Dalton was still fully in control. Dalton wanted them to build a relationship on trust and the love not lust and need even though his resolve at times weakened. Emma was human she didn’t understand what he was going through and he didn’t want her to.
Emma was his mate, all the bear within him wanted was to make her happy and safe it was instinctual. It also wanted to rut like the animal it was. Dalton was used to sharing is psyche with the beast. Generally, it wasn’t a pleasant experience but he was used to it. For most shifters, their beast stayed in a state of hibernation only waking to add to senses or when danger was around but with Dalton’s beast was different he was always there clawing to be set free. The calming effect Emma had on his beast only lasted for a couple of weeks. Once the bastard sensed that she was on the mend it started making Dalton’s live a living hell again every touch smile or gesture woke up his bear. Even the snarkiness she displayed before her and Ryleigh fought turned the fucker on. The beast wanted what was his and wanted it now. The man was willing to wait until she healed both physically and mentally something his bear did not understand.
Dalton had to change often and with one of his brothers because the beast would always try and seek out his mate. Dalton put up with this only because he knew that Emma needed time and he would do anything in his power to give that to her.
His time now consisted of too many cold showers to count along with meditation and self-pleasure sessions that came more frequently than anyone would deem normal. None of it helped, nothing would help until Emma was ready to accept his claim. His dreams were all of Emma. In them he would taste touch and caress every part of her body. He knew their life together would be amazing and he couldn’t wait for the time that he could do everything he had dreamed of to his little mate. There was one dream that he couldn’t wait to try.
In the dream, Dalton had Emma pushed up against a wall completely naked. He would kiss his way down her body until he reached the part that called to him her sopping core. He knew she would be embarrassed by his actions and her reactions but he wouldn’t let her stop him. He craved the taste of her special honey like nothing he had ever craved before... The dream never failed to send him to the bathroom for som
e private time or to his horror woke him with the evidence of his completion all over his sheets. He was a grown man but Emma affected him like his was a teenager just finding his interest in women for the first time. It was embarrassing but couldn’t be helped.
To his surprise the men of his team didn’t hassle him to much considering the unusual number of extra loads of laundry washing his bedding or the tremendous amount of time he was now spending in the bathroom. He was grateful for the reprieve; however, he knew it wouldn’t last. Cash the bastard had made a few comments about going blind. Bas asked to see his palms one day and said: “Hey look still no hair.” They all knew what was going on and felt sorry for him but the jerks couldn’t resist the occasional jab. Dalton had found everything from new bottles of lube to a mechanical pussy on his nightstand. To his credit, he never let it bother him they would all get paid back when they found their mates and Dalton would pay them back in kind tenfold. He just hoped he wasn’t still in this desperate state then.
Chapter 35
Emma was going nuts it had been more than a couple of months since she had given birth to McKenna her dreams of Dalton were becoming more and more erotic. They had been there since the moment she met him and she was starting to go crazy. His big warm muscular body turned her one like no other. His eyes drew her in like a moth to a flame and damn the tent she often seen in his pants made her mouth water. She possessed a need for him that she had never experienced for another man in her life. Dalton was special. She would imagine herself licking sucking and biting every inch of his body. More than once she caught herself staring at his manhood wishing the cloth that covered him would magically disappear.
Never before had she been so blatant or bold. Ogling a man was not something she had ever done before sure she had seen attractive men shoot the men on his team were nothing but gorgeous but Emma only had eyes for Dalton. The man sparked feelings and emotions in her that she was sure no other person on the planet to provoke.
One day she caught him working out in the yard with Cash he had his shirt off Emma could feel her panties getting wet and felt as though she was going to combust on the spot. Dalton was so gorgeous down to the smallest of details damn even the veins that rippled in his arms turned her on. She craved to lick every part of his chiseled chest she even daydreamed about sucking on his nipples. Wiping the drool from her mouth Emma knew she needed to get a grip never in her life when had she ever thought of sucking on a guy’s nipples? She didn’t even know if guys liked that sort of thing. She had started to take cold showers because her attraction to Dalton was so fierce but was sorely disappointed in the old wives’ tale remedy, it only forced her to take things further to relieve the unrelenting ache in her body.
The weeks went by in a blur of healing both mentally and physically and arousal that Emma didn’t know what to do with. Ava the Psychologist, Mia, Ryleigh, and had Emma been doing video chats they seemed to help the most but were the most difficult as well, they forced Emma to face things not only from her captivity but also her childhood. Helping her to deal with her post-partum PTSD captivity and violation but also Emma’s underlining abandonment and trust issues. Ava made sure Emma knew that there was no miracle cure that all the stuff she was dealing with took time and that was okay. Emma was grateful for the treatment.
In one of their chats Emma told her about the feelings she had for Dalton. Ava let her know that they were okay and if at some point if she wanted, Dalton could join in on their talks. Emma didn’t know if she was ready for that quite yet but knew she was open to it in the future. She just hoped that Dalton was too. In their last session, Ava promised that as soon as her case broke she would come up and visit her and McKenna, Emma was excited she genuinely liked the doctor.
The big men of Alpha Team no longer scared the crap out of Emma they all had qualities that she admired. The entire Alpha Team took to McKenna like she was what was missing in their lives and Emma loved to watch them interact with her. These huge menacing men would be standing in the kitchen or anywhere else talking baby talk getting spit up on and changing diapers like pros. Those sights alone changed a person's perspective really damn quick.
Cash was hilarious with her he would put her in the baby sling while he was cooking. The whole time he was be explaining what he was doing in a Julia Childs voice it was freaking adorable. Emma never would have thought a man that looked like Cash was such a softy. He might be tatted and pierced from here to eternity but the man had a heart of gold. Sebastian would sing her to sleep every night after her bath. At first Emma thought it embarrassed him when everyone heard him over the monitors that they all carried but after a while he told her that he didn’t honestly care what the guys thought. He liked his time with Kenna as they had all started calling her.
Ryleigh helped out when she wasn’t working even making excuses to just cuddle for a while with Kenna, everyone especially Jacks was thankful for that, the woman worked tirelessly. Not that the rest of the team didn’t but Ryleigh was pushing herself to the breaking point. Emma even started faking being tired just so Ryleigh was sitting with Kenna so she could get some rest. Jacks caught on and even thanked her for it in private. Emma was just happy to be of some help.
Jacks surprised Emma most, he wanted Kenna with him at all times the others had to bargain with him just to get their turn, only Dalton and Emma got the baby without question. Jacks had also come to her to explain the conversation she overheard and she respected him for it. His explained that his first responsibility was to his wife and child, followed by his Team. He told her that he considered her and McKenna a part of that team now but in the beginning, he needed to be cautious. Emma understood her daughter and even Dalton were just important to her. She didn’t think she could live with anything or anyone putting them in harm’s way.
She also got the shock of her life when the guys took her outside and introduced her to their bears for the first time during one of Kenna’s naps. Dalton was against it at first and Emma couldn’t figure out why, it took Cash and Jacks to promise him to that they would stay close for him to agree. Emma wanted to plead with him but kept her mouth shut. She needed to know everything about Shifters if she was going to raise her daughter right. She wanted to count of these people but old insecurities still made their way into her mind. Didn’t they say knowledge was power? Emma planned on knowing everything about Shifters just in case.
When the shift happened, Emma was drawn to Dalton he wasn’t the biggest or the smallest but she was pretty sure that she would be able to pick his bear out anywhere, anytime. It was all in the eyes he was amazing deep dark fur huge paws and big teeth were kind of off-putting but it was her Dalton and she loved him. Damn that was the first time she realized that her feeling for him were more than just superficial she loved him.
Emma then spent the next hour petting and scratching all the guys they seemed more like puppies vying for attention than the big bad bear shifters they were. Ryleigh joined her out in the backyard and they both just laughed as each one came up to get their ears scratched over and over. The fun only ended when Kenna’s cry came from the baby monitor that was attached to her side.
Ryleigh laughed, “See I told you they were all just big Teddy Bears. “That caused Jacks to shift back to human form grabbing his wife to tickle her. “I’ll show you how much of a Teddy Bear I am.” Emma loved the playful interaction between the two. They clearly loved each other and Emma wanted that for herself hopefully with Dalton. Emma was also thankful that unlike the Erotic Romances she had read the guys were able to shift back into their human bodies with their clothes still on their bodies she wasn’t quite ready to see all the Alpha Teams dangly bits. Well maybe Daltons but not the others.
The guys explained to her it was all part of the magic. If they were too stressed or the shift was too quick, then generally the shifted back sans clothes but when they were in complete control everything shifted back with them. The whole thing fascinated Emma.
She had so many quest
ions. Does it hurt? Can you communicate with the animal while in human form and vice versa? But she was holding back one of the most important ones. When did they think, Kenna would shift? She wanted to know but didn’t. She wanted her little girl to just be for a while. She accepted what was to come but also wanted her new normal for just a little while longer.
Dalton explained it like this, “When we shift it isn’t like in the movies bones popping and reforming. It’s like a burst of pure energy that causes the mutation. It happens so fast that if you blink you would be unable to see it. Believe me we have tried but our human self becomes somewhat blurred by the action. You go from feeling like a man to feeling like an animal. Smells are enhanced you vision is sharper but most of all you lose that human emotion. Instinct drives you. That doesn’t mean that we are separate though the human part is always in control it’s just pushed back a little to let the animal free.” He also explained that there were exceptions to every rule. If a Shifter was to emotionally charged say his family was in danger the beast could force a change pushing the human part back making them go full rogue. These changes were the worst the animal was more in charge and only completion of the task or intervention from an Alpha could push the animal back. It had never happened to Dalton and he was thankful for it.
Chapter 36
Emma got to know Dalton better in that time as well. The two of them spent every spare second, they had with each other watching movies taking care of Kenna or just talking. She loved it but she was also so frustrated besides the small kisses he offered her he never tried for anything more and Emma was so ready for so much more. She was also thankful that she had started to do the laundry around the lodge because no one needed to know how many pairs of panties she went through a week. She wanted Dalton like she had never wanted another man before she just couldn’t bring herself to ask her insecurities still plagued her.
Dalton: NAC & The Holly Group (Alpha Team Book 2) Page 24