Chapter Ten
Aidan
It pissed me off that she’d gone out there with the girl alone, but what could I do? Every time I tried to protect her, she got angry. Yes, she was supposed to lead, but that didn’t mean my wolf and I were okay with her putting herself in harm’s way.
“If she hurts her …” the guy in the chair growled.
He was annoying me. He kept saying the same thing over and over, which gave me pause. That’s probably how Emma was feeling toward me. I hated to ask this question but needed to know the truth. “Do I sound like that?”
Coral leaned back on her heels. “Overprotective?”
“Oh, hell, yeah, and you need to get a handle on it.” Beth’s gaze stayed on the window.
“Well, how am I supposed to be okay with that?” This would be an ongoing struggle, and Beth was right. I already had a feeling Emma would talk to me tonight after it was all said and done.
“You aren’t.” Amethyst shrugged. “But you have to accept it.”
“You say you hated witches, and now you’re pouring your heart out to them?” The dumbass scowled openly in disgust.
“Don’t worry. You’ll have to eat your words, too.” If this was her mate, we wouldn’t be leaving without him, which sucked. We didn’t need another person making rounds with us. I wasn’t thrilled that we had six people starting out but couldn’t really fight it since we needed two vehicles.
“Yeah, right.” He shook his head.
“You do realize that girl is half witch?” It’s like it hadn’t sunk in or something.
He squeezed his eyes shut and mumbled, “Fuck.”
Yeah, I understood that sentiment all too well. “Where does your pack think you are?”
Something unreadable passed in his eyes. “They know where I am.”
The stench of sulfur filled the air.
“Really? You’re going to lie to a shifter?” Maybe this guy was a lot dumber than I’d thought, which was saying something.
His shoulders slumped. “They don’t give a shit where I am.” He moved his arms again, trying to get out of the chains. “Can I get out of this?”
Yeah, that sealed the deal. The guy was a moron. “After you attacked us, you expect me to just free you?”
“I thought you were trying to hurt her.” He paused. “Now that you aren’t, I won’t attack.”
He wasn’t lying, but damn, I couldn’t be sure.
“I think we should.” Amethyst met my eyes. “He’s telling the truth.”
I linked with Emma, needing to let her know. This guy wants to be released.
If Amethyst thinks it’s safe, it might be for the best. We need both of them willing to talk with us. Emma sounded calm and collected, which was a good thing.
That meant she wasn’t feeling upset, threatened, or alarmed.
Fine, but if I tell you to take cover, please listen. Maybe he was feeling agreeable now, but that could change in an instant. “Are you going to be nice to them?” I motioned toward the witches.
“Yeah, I don’t really have a choice.” His creepy-ass eyes met mine. “I’m grossly outnumbered.”
He had a point. I loosened the chains. “Don’t make me regret this.” I’d been raised not to give anyone a second chance. Hell, didn’t even give them a first until they proved they deserved the opportunity. This went against everything ingrained in me. When I thought about it, not being opened to others had been my struggle ever since I’d seen that mark on Emma’s neck. Now that we’d completed our bond, I knew I’d made the right decision. My dad had it wrong by teaching us not to let anyone new in, which meant he was wrong about the witches.
The guy jumped to his feet and stretched out his arms. When he looked down, he stopped. “Whose pants am I wearing?”
“Hey, I’m not too thrilled about this either.” Samuel shuddered and glared at Coral. “But they’re yours now.”
“That’s what you get for putting your shit in my bag.” Coral pointed at him and narrowed her eyes.
The guy frowned. “They’re tight as fuck.”
Of course, this made me notice how tight they were. The bulge was large, and there were some things you couldn’t unsee. “I may have something of mine you can wear.”
“What is your name, anyway?” Beth pursed her lips. “I think by what I’ve seen of you, I deserve a name.” Her eyes were glued to his junk.
“Logan.” His gaze met mine. “What’s yours?”
Did he think I’d be forthcoming with him because he’d given us his name?
Amethyst took a step forward. “I’m Amethyst,” she said and pointed to each of us. “That’s Aidan, Beth, Coral, and Samuel.” She walked to the door and let herself outside.
Okay, I guess she didn’t want to be in the room with him any longer.
“Look, I didn’t mean to cause any problems. When Gabby gets back, we’ll head out.” Logan crossed his arms over his chest.
How cute. He thought we were going to let them leave.
Emma
We were sitting on the front porch in the two wooden rocking chairs. Her eyes seemed to glow even when her wolf wasn’t surging forward.
It was nice talking to Gabby. She was still hesitant, but our stories lined up and were very similar. She had no clue who her parents were, and she’d been raised by a pack that had taken mercy on her. No one set of parents had adopted her. She had kind of rotated through the pack so the burden wouldn’t fall on one person. That’s what broke my heart the most.
It was clear I was very fortunate that Mom and Dad had wanted me without a second thought. “Look, there are three other girls we need to find.”
“I don’t know …” Gabby looked toward the house.
She didn’t want to leave him. “Is he your mate?”
“I don’t know.” Her head snapped back around, and she focused on me. “Do you think so?”
Of course, they hadn’t figured it out. “How long have you known each other?” I wondered if their story was similar to Aidan’s and mine.
“I ran into him at a grocery store, and it was odd. I was drawn to him but toward this place too.” She ran a hand through her hair. “It freaked me out, and I ran. He followed.”
“And you were scared he might attack you?” That was the only thing that made sense.
“Yeah, I mean … no other wolf had ever done that before.” She rocked in the chair as she stared forward.
“Doesn’t your pack wonder where you are?” I still couldn’t get over that she was out here alone. My parents would’ve flipped their lid, and if not them, then Aidan.
“The alpha checks in.” She flinched and lowered her voice. “He knows I’m working things out.”
“So your pack is close?” I hadn’t even considered that.
“Close enough. They’re about twenty miles from here.” She shrugged, pretending it wasn’t a big deal.