17. Easton

Chapter seventeen

Easton

A few weeks ago, I would not have given a woman like Emily another look. Don't get me wrong, she's beautiful. Smart. Funny. But as she stands in front of the mirror joking about what her ex has left her, I'm reminded of how different she is from the usual type of women I'm drawn to.

I've been preparing to be Alpha all of my life. It never occurred to me until now that the women I've been attracted to were women who'd been brought up like me–in the business, loyal to family, hard, tough. What do I do with a mate who cracks jokes and looks at me in awe for saving her from something I might have brought upon her?

How will she handle all of this if she even comes to accept it? Would she ever really agree to be a Luna and accept all that comes with it?

Then, another thought occurs to me. Does she even want kids? "May I ask you a personal question?"

She raises an eyebrow and makes her way to the loveseat. "Sure, but I'm stretching out on this entire loveseat. No sharing."

"I wouldn't dream of encroaching on your territory." I wait until she's more settled before sitting down in the matching chair across from her. "Did you ever think about the alternatives when you found out you were pregnant?"

She rests her hands on her belly and closes her eyes.

"Is this a safe space, Easton?"

"I have half a dozen men that walk the property on a rotating basis that guard—"

She rolls her eyes and laughs. "I figured that. No, I mean, are you going to judge me if I answer honestly?"

I shake my head and wait for her to speak.

"I made the appointment," she pauses and sighs, "to get an abortion the day he left, but I had second thoughts. I have always wanted kids, and I started thinking about how the clock was ticking, and how horrible I am at picking out men, and…" her voice trails off. She shrugs. "I guess this honestly seemed like the best way to do it. I had thought I was getting a husband, but essentially I got a free sperm donor. At least I wouldn't have to pay for IVF when I hit forty. I'd get to make all the decisions. Wouldn't have to deal with his family interfering. I mean I'm almost thirty. Mr. Right hasn't popped up yet, and doesn't look like he's making an appearance anytime soon, so why wait, you know? Why live my life always wondering. Ivan was cute enough. At least the baby had that going for it. I could make up for the rest."

She tilts her head a bit and meets my eyes. "You don't think…Ivan showed up yesterday and then that guy tried to kidnap me–you don't think they're related, do you?"

"I don't know." I'm tempted to tell her Ivan's below us right now, but no good can come of that. Kevin saunters in from the bathroom and hops up on the loveseat, purring and rubbing against Emily's arm until she can't ignore him any longer.

"What's his name?" she asks, scratching behind his ears.

"Kevin."

She looks at me, skepticism written all over her face. "Kevin? Really? You're teasing me, right?"

"My little brother named our first cat Peter and after that, every cat we got had to have a human name."

She smiles. "You have a brother?"

I can't help but smile back. "Two, in fact. You'll get to meet them at dinner. They're my half brothers. My dad met his mate when I was five."

"His mate? Like his wife?" she asks.

It's a perfect opportunity to broach the subject. Just say the words, you fucking idiot, but for whatever reason, I can't get them out. Instead, I find myself explaining, in the most clinical of terms, mates and mating among wolves.

"There's so much I don't know about wolves. I grew up around humans and Gobelins, mostly. Did you know that Gobelins imprint on each other? Well, the woman imprints on the man. They're not like wolves, though. Gobelins can imprint on anyone and be imprinted on by anyone, not just other Gobelins. In fact, my best friend is married to a Gobelin she imprinted on and didn't even realize it. Crazy how that works for some species and not others."

I open my mouth to correct her only to have my phone ring, interrupting our species-specific biology lesson.

"Hey, Mikey," I answer the phone, excusing myself from Emily and heading out to the garden.

"I've got the guy who tried to pick up Emily back at the warehouse. I didn't want to bring him back to your place."

"That's fine. You get any information out of him?"

"Apparently, Andreev was sent to retrieve your girl. When he failed, Old Man Andreev himself sent out this asshole and his buddy to pick her up."

"Why do they want Emily?"

"Don't know, man. That's all I could get out of our friend. Mac was a little rougher than normal when he heard how close they came to taking out Darius. He'll be out awhile."

"Thanks."

"Not a problem. I'll let you know when we get more. And I'll let it be known we have Ivan hanging out at our place…maybe it'll rile up Old Man Andreev."

"Maybe. In the meantime, I'll have another chat with our guest here to see if anything else comes up. Maybe he'll be more chatty now that the cats have spent some time with him."

I end the call and head back into the bedroom, only to find Emily praising Kevin. "You're going to give him a big head. That cat already thinks he owns this house."

She looks up at me and smiles. "He probably does. Speaking of cats, if I'm staying here for a bit, I need to get mine."

"Sure. I'll send someone over right now to pick him up."

She makes a face. "You're going to send an armed man to pick up a kitty cat?"

I sigh. I can tell already that I'm not going to win this fight.

"Can't you ask the armed men to just come with us so I can grab some clothes? I'll need my own things if I'm staying here for a few days."

"Emily, we still don't know why someone would be trying to kidnap you in the first place. I'd feel better if you stayed right here where the property is well-monitored–"

"You just took out two of their men. I doubt they'll be sending reinforcements this quickly."

"We don't know what these people are capable of," I counter.

"Not much if they couldn't even nab a preggo," she smirks.

"We got lucky."

She shakes her head. "You and Darius were like a well-oiled machine. You had the situation under control in less than a minute. I am 100% safe with you by my side."

Her eyes meet mine and the absolute trust and admiration that shines back at me is too much. I've never had anyone look at me like that. I turn away and sigh. "Fine, but we get in and out."

She stands up faster than I thought possible for a pregnant woman. "Awesome. Let's go."

***

The look on Micah's face tells me everything I need to know about this plan. His furrowed eyebrows are the only things I can see in the rearview mirror as I sit in the back seat of the car, next to Emily, while another of my men, Jacob, rides shotgun. At Emily's apartment building, Micah pulls up as close as he possibly can to her front door, then steps out, checking the sides and the back of her building as Jacob stands guard at the car.

He returns after a few moments, signaling its clear, and I hop out, circling around the car to let Emily out. She ignores my attempts to help her out of the vehicle and climbs out on her own, slamming the car door behind her.

"Looking sharp today, man. Got a big meeting?" a familiar voice asks me. I've planned for every contingency except one–the neighbor I've said good night to for the past few weeks. Of course he'd be leaving his apartment at the same time I'm following Emily up the steps to hers.

Emily, to her credit, doesn't miss a beat. "Oh, hey Kyle. No. A funeral, actually. My great uncle just passed."

Kyle frowns. "I'm so sorry to hear that. Let me know if y'all need anything. The missus and I are always glad to help."

She smiles. "I appreciate it. Tell Maria I said hi."

Kyle waves as he heads out to the parking lot.

"So you come by a lot?" Emily asks me. The look she gives me dares me to lie.

"Yes, every night to check on you."

She shoves her key in the lock. "I put up with enough randomness from Ivan, I don't need–" the door swings open and she sucks in a breath. The entire place has been ransacked. Everything is a mess. Drawers have been opened and dumped. Furniture has been turned over.

"Sir Jon!" she cries out as she steps over the threshold. I wrap my arms around her, pulling her back against me. "It will be okay. Let them clear the room first." I tell her in her ear, trying to ignore my cock as her scent fills my lungs.

Micah and Jacob move ahead of us into the tiny apartment, wrenching open doors and clearing each room. Micah appears after a few minutes of this and nods in our direction. "It's clear. We'll be outside until you're ready to go, boss."

Emily will not be held back any longer. She wrenches free from my grasp and starts calling for her cat. I follow her through the tiny apartment, as she checks in closets and under furniture until the only place left is her room. She sinks to her knees beside her bed, lifts the covers on the side that still is made, and looks under the bed. The room is utterly silent.

Everything from her dresser is now on the floor, and the crib has been knocked to its side. Clothes have been strewn all around the room, drawers upended and dumped out. I pick up the crib and straighten it, only to find a leg has been broken. From her spot on the floor, Emily straightens up and watches what I'm working on.

"Ugh, that was a present from the ladies at the nursing home." She sits down against the bed and leans her head back, silent tears falling down her cheeks. I set the crib down and move to sit down beside her.

"Cats are scrappy. They're survivors. Whoever did this probably left the door open when they came in and he got out." I pull out my phone and send a text to Micah. "I'm sending the guys to look for your cat."

She shakes her head and laughs. "Yeah, Easton, let's send these big bad mafia guys out to look for my cat. They can pspsps in their nice suits and expensive shoes while they search the weeds next door."

It's the first time I've heard her actually use the word mafia around me. Usually people outside the business say it in hushed tones, behind my back–but not Emily.

"Honestly, I've sent them to do weirder things." She gives me a doubtful look and I smile. "Okay, maybe not me personally, but my stepmom was always sending them out to do random shit."

She leans her back against the side of the bed and shakes her head. "God, what a fucking mess. How the hell am I going to get this place cleaned up before the baby comes? I can't even see my toes anymore, let alone bend down to pick up things off the floor."

"We have people who can do that for you."

She opens her eyes and snorts softly. " You have people that can do that for you. That's too much for me to ask of a friend."

I take her hand in mine. "No, it's not. Especially," I swallow hard, suddenly terrified of her laughing in my face, "when I want to be more than just friends."

She gets very still for a long moment, turning to look at me after what feels like an eternity. "Seriously, Easton?"

"Seriously."

She huffs a bitter laugh. "I'm not like the women you normally date, Easton. I didn't grow up rich. My nails will always have dirt under them. I don't own a dress I could wear to a black-tie event. Plus, I'm practically the size of a boat and I'm having some other guy's baby. I-" She is gesturing with the one hand I'm not clutching onto, waving it around, increasingly more frantic as she talks on, her voice growing more shaky with each sentence.

It is too much being this close to her. How I've managed to control it this long, I don't know, but now that she's sitting next to me, the scent of her tears in the air, my wolf refuses to back down. The desire to protect her from the world wars with the desire to possess her. The wolf chips away at my humanity as I work to control my breathing.

Mine , my wolf insists.

I don't warn her, but I know she knows something has changed as my cock grows hard and lust fills every inch of my being. I lean over her, her own eyes grow wide and she reaches out a hesitant hand to my cheek. "Your eyes, Easton," she whispers. "They always change, they always grow so dark around me. What does it mean?"

I don't answer. I should, but I don't. My wolf is in control now and all I can do is try to temper it as best I can. I press my lips to hers. And despite the insanity of the past few days, she doesn't pull away. Instead, she leans into me, wrapping her hands around the back of my neck and pulling me as close as her belly allows.

I run my tongue along the seam of her lips, and she opens up without hesitation. She tastes like every craving I've ever had, everything I've ever wanted but couldn't put a name to. Emily may not be hard like the women I normally date, but she doesn't back down to the wolf that now controls me completely. Her tongue meets mine, dips, and explores my mouth with an urgency that pushes me over the edge.

I rip myself away from her mouth for a moment and put my lips to her ear. "I need you now, Emily." I kneel between her legs and let my hands wander up under her dress until my fingers slide under her bra.

A breathy gasp of surprise is my answer. "Your men, they will be back…"

"I can be quick."

She bursts out laughing and that's all it takes for my wolf to back down just a little to let Easton back in. "I don't mean–" I start to say, but she puts a hand over my mouth.

"You may be quick, but we still have to figure out how to get around this," she motions to her belly.

I press my lips to hers. "That's not going to be a problem."