Chapter 17

17

HUNTER

Emma leaves the room and heads to the clinic.

“Thank you for helping her,” I say as I turn back around to sit.

“Anytime, brother

“Kyler confirmed what we had already suspected and discussed earlier. That Cole is here and somehow has his sights set on taking Emma. Kyler also said that Cole was in the forest last night and is the one that chased him away from the pack.” My brother pushes back in his chair, sliding his hand through his hair. “Hunter, why is he trying to take a puppy?”

My foot rests on my knee as my irritation spikes, “Why haven’t we been able to stop him?” Jackson nods at my annoyed tone.

My fears of Emma being hurt strangle me as I look at my brother. “What do I do?”

My brother's head shakes from side to side, “Hunter, I don’t know. Right now, my main concern is the puppies. I can not have someone trying to steal our future. The future of our pack.”

The only way our bloodlines continue is through genetics, so puppies are our miracle. This is why our instincts to mate and reproduce are so strong, and it's why some packs in the Greater Community actually buy and sell their women to ensure the best breeding bloodlines. Before my father took over the pack it was considered normal. Over the last century our pack has worked hard to establish healthy balanced power between mates. We have small social gatherings with other packs in the Greater Community to choose mates, some are lucky enough to be fated.

My phone breaks our heavy silence, and I pull it out to see Emma’s name. She’s only been gone for fifteen minutes. “Emma?”

“Hunter, it's Amy. She was attacked here at the clinic. She’s okay, but can you come?”

“Fuck.”

My brother stands and walks to the door before I can register, “Emma, stay on the phone with me? We are coming.”

“Yeah.” Her voice shakes. The tremble presses on me like a weight—that I can’t keep her safe, that she keeps ending up in these positions. Jackson gives me a look, one I have trouble reading, as we slide into his truck and tear out of the parking lot.

My body is humming with the energy that she is constantly in danger, and I have also put my pack in danger. Maybe there was some truth in what my dad said. Bringing a human to Solaris may have blessed me with a mate, but the future of our pack is in trouble.

Jackson makes the final turn into the parking lot and doesn’t even put his Bronco in park before I’m slipping from the truck and running towards the clinic. “Emma, I’m here.” I open the front door and head down the hall to her office. She’s talking to Amy, who has an almost healed head wound.

I pull Emma up into my arms as Jackson follows into the doorway. “Amy,” his tone is harsh and rough.

“Alpha.” Amy’s automatic response.

Jackson crosses his arms over his chest, blocking the doorway, “Tell us what happened.”

“I was getting ready for a shift change. I came into the back room to sit for a while. Then someone knocked on the back door. When I checked outside, I couldn't see anything, but a man pressed in.” Amy’s eyes shoot to Emma’s, who was now standing in my embrace, her back pressed to my chest.

“The man stuck a syringe in my neck as he overtook me. It was so fast. He was a human, and the concoction had my head spinning. I tried to fight him, but he slammed my head against the door frame.” She gestures to the red mark on her head, now almost completely healed.

“He said I would only have a few days to live with the dose he gave me.” Emma’s harsh intake has my arms banding around her tighter.

Emma’s voice is soft, “Amy, I will make sure nothing happens to you.”

Amy nods in kindness and understanding and continues, “Then he said he had a message for Dr. Fawnsbeck—that he was coming for her, and the flowers were a present.” Amy points to the odd-looking flowers on the counter wrapped in a lavender ribbon.

Jackson pushes from the doorway and gives Amy a curt nod. His voice is clipped. “Come to the pack house if you don’t feel safe, and I'll have a room for you.” My brother's eyes drag from Amy to me, holding Emma safely in my arms. “Hunter, we need to chat. Outside?” He tilts his head to the door.

I kiss the top of Emma’s head, and she walks towards Amy, asking about the syringe, the color of the liquid, where the injection site was, and her symptoms right now. My girl flips into compassionate doctor mode and leads Amy to an empty clinic room while Jackson and I step outside.

My brother's military training has his hand on his gun as he scans the area around the clinic, but with our senses, we can already tell there is no one here.

“Hunter, I know things with Emma have been slower, but a mate bond may be the best way to keep her safe. There are rumors that the threads of fate weave so deeply that you can sense her unease or fears and will better be able to respond to her if she’s in danger. Also…” his sigh is annoyed, “I need you here a hundred percent helping me with the pack. I need you to know she’s yours, and then I need you to help me find this bastard. Goddamn . Hunter, I need Emma to focus on healing Holly and now Amy. We need answers…a lot of fucking answers.”

The idea of claiming Emma has a new pulse in my body, the ache I had experienced for the last thirteen years throbs, but only slightly. That pain of severing our soul now almost feels completely healed. Maybe our mate bond would also offer her a better understanding of my love for her.

My head dips in understanding. “Okay, brother, I will talk to her.”

“Lastly, I want you both moved into the Lodge by the end of the week. Emma is our best hope to save those who are sick, and you are my right hand. I need both of you to be able to focus on your respective jobs.”

“And what if a mate's claim pushes her into heat?” My question sits between us.

Jackson looks sympathetic as he considers his answer. He says, “Then I hope you get her pregnant, brother. She has a brood of wolves. There’s no evidence of human mates in our history, but that could be our own fault for keeping our cultures separate.”

Emma’s voice carries through the heavy metal door, “It’s Wolfsbane. It’s a poison.” Her excitement is confusing as she shouts again and opens the back door. “I can cure this!”

Pride swells in my chest as I take in her confidence. “Good!” I respond as I close the distance between us and kiss her soundly. Her bright green eyes pull between mine, and her brows furrow slightly. “Hunter, he literally told me what he's using to poison the residents here. Could he be behind all the murders as well?”

Her question causes my stomach to drop. Jackson’s hand lands on my shoulder, his voice growling, “Emma, you focus on the cure, and Hunter, Will, and I will solve the mystery of murders.”

Fuck. If this man knows about shifters, he knows our secret. He knows about Emma, and if he is capable of murdering shifters, the things he could do to my human mate have my hands fisting as Emma nods to Jackson, pushing back into the clinic.

Jackson's voice drops low as he pushes me through the backdoor. “Complete that mate bond, brother, and get your head in the game. We are going to need all hands on deck, and I need you to be by my side.” Jackson's words hang off me like ornaments on a tree, pulling at every strong branch I have. I don’t know if Emma is ready for the bond. This morning's reaction to last night says a lot about how she's feeling.

I nod woodenly and follow him into the clinic. Emma has the bushel of flowers in her gloved hands. My instincts have me ready to rip them from her fingers. If that is poison, my mate is in danger. “Emma.” The growl of my wolf makes my eyes shift. Her eyes meet mine as they shift, and her gasp is cute as she sees my wolf watching her.

“Hunter, your eyes…”

“Yes, Mate. My wolf’s eyes are ice blue, nearly white. He’s not pleased you are touching something so deadly, sweet girl.”

She sarcastically tips her eyes to the ceiling, “Hunter, I am trained in this. We are going to develop an antitoxin, now?—”

Her words are cut off when Trevor, the other clinic assistant, presses into the room. “What did I miss? Oh shit, Alpha.” He bows slightly, and then his worried eyes flip between the three of us, “Why is Amy hooked up to IVs.”

Jackson takes Trevor to the hall. I’m sure to tell him how he is in charge of security and helping Emma. The nice part about being part of the pack is every male here is trained in basic protection skills. They teach it through the school, so I know that Trevor has the same.