Chapter 4

4

HUNTER

One second, I’m a wolf out for a run with the pack, and the next, I’m standing naked in a ditch on the side of the road. The smell of gas is overwhelming. My heart is racing from my run—sweat’s building on my brow. I’m so confused as to why my wolf would shift now. Looking up the embankment, I see the tire marks where a car slid into this old gully. Hickory Road is a dark, forested, one-lane highway that leads to town, and on really foggy nights like tonight, it's hard to keep track of where you are. The 4Runner is still running, and a woman is lying over the steering wheel.

My heart is in my throat as I race to her side, checking her vitals. She appears to be unconscious, but her heart rate is steady. The soft floral smell of orange blossoms explodes as I lean into her car. Every part of me needs to get her help. Pulling her phone from the floor, I type in Will's number.

While on the call with him, I search through the backseat to find something to cover myself up with, pulling out a large bed sheet. I quickly wrap it around myself like a toga as I end the call.

I drop the phone into the front window as my hands work down the seat belt to get her free. I'm so distracted by her smell that I’m having to fight an undeniable instinct that courses through my body to claim her. The feeling has me by the throat. A million impossible threads of fate drawing me here, right here, to her.

I give into the baser urge that's begging me to wrap her up in the safety of my arms. I watch her soft face as I carry her bridal style away from the crash. Her hair is a wild mess of golden blonde curls that bounce haphazardly with each step. The smell of orange blossoms wafts to my nose, I inhale deeper this time. The whispers of words echo through my mind as I take in her beauty.

Hold her. Claim her. Keep her.

My wolf.

He’s here, peering at this stranger while I slide down an old pine tree to sit with her in my lap. The rough bark grates against my bare back, but I’ll heal. I barely notice the pain as she stirs slightly. I watch in awe as her mouth barely parts to release a slight sound.

“What happened, sweet girl?” I whisper, running my fingers over her forehead, trying to keep myself calm as I see fresh blood. Her beautiful springy hair has been hiding a small gash. Without a second thought, I rip off a corner of the sheet I’m wearing and apply pressure to her wound.

My wolf’s still watching intently. He’s anxious, which makes two of us. He wants to fix this, but with no pants and no medical supplies, the only thing I can do is continue to monitor her heartbeat and keep pressure on the wound.

I can feel my wolf engage with me for the first time in years. He’s so aware of this woman that it has me wondering why. Who is she to us? I ask him. He still refuses to speak and instead pushes to shift. I fight the urge and pull her closer to my chest. Now is not the time for a four foot tall wolf to take over the situation.

Every inch of my body prickles with awareness as I take in this woman, sweeping my hands down her arms and checking for any other injuries. She's young, her skin a light beige, if not slightly pink. A smattering of freckles accentuate her small button nose like jewelry. Then, the knowledge of who this woman is—of what she is—slams into me with crystalline certainty.

This human is my mate.

I lose sight of reality as this fact courses through me. A pair of pants lands heavily next to me, causing me to jerk her back behind me and prepare to protect her at all costs. Looking for the threat, I see Will smothering a smile at the top of the gully.

“What the fuck, dude?”

“Hey, I thought you would’ve heard me! I’ve been calling your name.”

I gently move the woman out of my lap, laying her on the discarded sheet, my eyes never leaving her as I watch her breathe slowly. “I obviously fucking didn’t, asshole,” I barely contain my growl as I work the pants up my large thighs.

Will slides down the embankment. “It's not like you to not hear someone calling.”

Clenching my jaw, I don't even respond to his comment. I know.

The overpowering need to have my mate safely back in my arms has me bending over, wrapping her in the sheet, and picking her back up. She stirs again but doesn't wake. The fact that she's been unconscious this long is distressing. My primal need to keep her safe crawls along my skin as I pull her closer to my chest.

Hold her. Claim her. Keep her.

Will heads over to the vehicle and pulls out her purse. “It's her,” he says, waving the ID card in the air, “our new town doctor.”

I close my eyes and squeeze them shut as I pull Emma closer to my chest. Her name is a symphony of letters. My wolf wants to howl out.

“Fuck.” How have I not seen the signs, the ache in my chest, the need to touch her? The feeling of hope I felt when I pulled her file and this impulse to get her home makes sense now.

Hold her. Claim her. Keep her.

I turn towards Will and urgently say, “I’m going to carry her to the access road about half a mile south. Can you meet us there?”

He nods, watching me. His head cocks to the side, a frown deepening his brow.

I continue quickly, “And grab her purse and any bag that looks essential so she can change into something once we get her home.”

Will is standing stock still next to the vehicle. The fact that he hasn't moved is agitating my wolf; he finally breaks the silence. “Are you feeling okay, man?”

The question catches me off guard. Because, no. I don't feel okay. The woman in my arms was always destined to be there. And I’ve lied to her, hidden things from her. I will hurt her with my truth, but if fate has destined this, maybe there is hope for us still.

I don’t say any of that, though.“Yeah. I’m just worried about her.”

He eyes me warily. “Alright…”

With that, he turns and heads to her car, and I see him grab two bags and toss them back up the steep embankment to his truck.

I don’t wait for him. I run towards the road. Within minutes we break through the thick brush. Will’s leaning against his truck. I quickly lay her down in the backseat and slide in next to her .

Will gets in the driver's seat. “Okay… what do you want to do?”

You would think I would be used to making tough decisions, but whether to take Emma to the hospital or home has something in the center of my chest tightening, crawling up my throat until I can barely breathe around it. “Let's take her to her house.”

She stirs again, letting out a soft sound. My wolf latches onto the sound like a siren's song pulling us under.

Will cuts me a glance over his shoulder. “Okay.”

I slide my leg under her head to keep it safe as we return to town along the bumpy back road. I itch to sweep my hands through her soft, curly hair. Instead, I wrap one around her body as the truck maneuvers around large potholes. I watch her chest slowly rise and fall. This moment feels entirely too intimate, but the ache is gone for the first time in years. The war in my heart is softened. Touching her… is healing something that's been broken for too long.

Will’s voice punctuates the few minutes of peace. “You okay back there?”

Finally, pulling my gaze from her, I see him in the rearview mirror. “I don't know. There’s something about her—something that feels too familiar and foreign at the same time.”

My friend nods in understanding, making the turn onto Main Street. “If I didn't know any better, I'd say she was your mate.”

My eyes drift back down to her. “I know.”

“What you're feeling is perfectly normal. Well, sort of. She's human.”

My thoughts exactly.

He continues, “I’ve never heard of a human mate.”

I nod woodenly, still not taking my eyes off her. “What a cluster fuck,” I whisper. This woman technically works under me, is a solid ten years younger, and the most significant issue is that she has no clue I am not human.

“We’ll keep this between us for now,” Will says as if he has heard all of my thoughts.

Will pulls the truck into her dirt driveway. The plot of land I built both houses on sits perched at the edge of a large rolling field surrounded by tall old pines. I had initially built the two houses as rental properties, but once it was decided to bring Dr. Fawnsbeck here, I moved into mine, and Holly helped me decorate hers. My house is a mirror image of hers, with large wood frames and red metal roofs. The wrap around porch protects the two story windows from the weather but gives the cabin a cozy, open feel.

Will jumps out and opens my door. Without even thinking, I quickly sweep Emma up into my arms. My eyes look over her small frame, which suddenly feels so delicate. And a new burn ignites in my chest—one I’m not used to—fear.

Pushing through her large oak door, I walk quickly towards her bedroom, laying her in bed. Will follows with her bags in hand.

“Sweet girl…” I brush the hair out of her face again. The motion is soothing to every part of my beast. “Beautiful, please wake up.” My hand sweeps across her forehead just as she lets out a soft moan.

Her eyes slowly peek open. “Where am I?” Her voice is melodic if not a little raspy.

For the first time, I’m speechless, my hands itching to reclaim hers. I want to kneel at her bedside and swear an oath to protect her, keep her.

Will coughs and steps forward, seeing my hesitation. “You had an accident outside of town. But you’re safe now in Solaris Village.”

My eyes flip to Will’s. He gives me an encouraging nod.

“My name is Hunter White, and this is Will,” I say, pointing to my friend. “We’d like to take a closer look at the cut on your head and make sure you don't have a concussion.”

Her nod is soft. She blinks slowly, looking between us. “Um, that's okay. I can take care of it in a little bit.” She sweeps her fingers up to her forehead, and her body flinches when she grazes the wound.

I choke on a growl, seeing her hurting. Without much thought I pick her hand up in mine. The contact has her eyes flashing up to mine with panic. A ripple of fear moves through her, tightening her like a spring as she slowly pulls her hands from my grasp.

“I will take care of myself.” Her firm voice wavers slightly as she maintains eye contact with me as if I’m going to hurt her.

I look to Will in dismay because what the fuck do I do? He steps further back and motions his head to the doorway, then says to her, “We are going to step out for a second. Be right back.”

I take two steps toward the door. She gives a tight smile and winces again as her hand grazes over the cut on her head. That's when I see a bruise lacing her wrist like a bracelet. The deep shades of purple must have been hidden by the shadows of the night when I held her in the forest.

A deep rumble pulls from the base of my throat as Will pushes me out of the room, holding me by the arms, doing his damndest to keep me from going back in there. My wolf is demanding I get answers because our fucking mate is sitting in the room, scared, hurt, and oblivious to the bond we share.

“Alright, man,” he whispers, checking over his shoulder to see if she can hear us. “I saw it too. You need to breathe, though. She is scared and used to taking care of herself.”

I wrench free from his grasp and shift towards the kitchen, a rush of rage pulsing through my body. I pull a glass out of the tall cabinet and fill it with water. Will follows me.

“Hunter. I know you have a lot on your plate with the pack and the deaths—” He winces.

I run my hand over my head and grab my neck because, fuck, isn’t this exactly what my dad said? I hope that the doctor doesn’t cause more problems for the pack . Well, the push and pull of my mate bond is a big fucking problem because the only thing the base instinctive part of me sees is the flash of uncertainty in Emma’s eyes, all it hears is the hurt in her voice, and all it knows is the need to do, act, protect.

Will continued to speak, but I can’t hear him over the war I’m waging against myself. My mind is preoccupied with the need to shield her until whatever hurt her is eliminated and she’s safe. His words fall off as I return to her room with the glass of water.

How am I supposed to earn her trust, protect her, and claim her when everything that I’ve told her is based on a big fucking lie?

With the first aid kit on her lap, she's sitting up now. Her eyes shift to mine, and she studies me.

I set the water down on the table beside the bed, then step back. I need to earn her trust; clearly, she wants space that I don't want to give her.

“Thank you.” She returns to the mirror, dismissing me, and applies the bandage. Her eyes pinch slightly from the pain.

My urge to know who hurt her is so fervent that I can’t stop the words from tumbling out, “Who did that?”

She looks at me with confusion, and I point to her wrist.

Her gaze drops to where I’m pointing, and she twists her graceful hand. “Oh, this must have happened when I crashed.” A shadow passes over her features.

S he's lying to me .

My lips purse. I can see the fingers outlined in bruises on her arm.

“How long was I out for?”

Will quickly answers, stepping up next to me. “We don’t know the exact time of your crash, but it's been thirty minutes since we've found you.”

“Thanks.” She nods toward the bags that Will brought in at the end of the bed. “Can you hand me my phone? Then I should be fine.”

Like fuck she’s fine. I huffed but grabbed her purse anyway, passing it to her. She glances to the doorway as if to dismiss us, but she doesn’t get it. I can't leave her, not like this.

Resigned to make her believe I’m leaving, I say, “I’m the house next door. Should you need me, just call.”

She nods, and Will forcefully pushes me to the doorway.