“Doc said the same thing. But I don’t want to take any chances. I can’t.”
“I get that, but you do need some self-defense training and Jack’s the guy to do it. I’d love to help you myself but I’m up the walls with my stand-in Luna duties at the moment,” she replies with a roll of her eyes.
“That would be amazing, but I’m sure he doesn’t have time either. Even if he did, he wouldn’t want to.”
“Yeah, that would make sense except he already offered it,” she winks at me. “I’ll call Doc in to sign you off as ready to go and then take you over to the pack house,” she chirps before practically skipping out of the room. Not giving me a chance to reply.
A nervous shiver runs through my body. It would be great to know some self-defense. Maybe I could stay an extra few days before I get moving again.
Chapter 9
Jackson
My heart pounds fast and hard in my chest, the rapid beats reverberating through my entire body as I wait for Sofia to come out after settling Emily into the pack house. My mind races with a flurry of thoughts, unable to focus on anything else. My wolf paces in my mind, agitated and restless, snarling to go check on her.
Why the fuck did Sofia need to put her up in the pack house? With all the unmated males. I’ve already mindlinked a few warriors to keep watch over her. They jumped at the task. And as much as I want to believe it’s because they want to do their duty to the pack, it’s more likely it’s because of how fucking drop-dead gorgeous Emily is. My wolf snarls at me, he thinks I should be the one watching her.
“Ooooh, you’ve got it bad Jacky-boy,” Sofia sing songs as she steps outside alone.
“What’s going on? And don’t call me that,” I grumble, too on edge for her usual teasing.
“Oh, this is too good,” Sofia giggles. She seems to enjoy withholding the information way too much. She’s practically vibrating with glee. I’m at the end of my rope and fit to explode if she doesn’t start talking soon. I definitely should have listened in at door.
“Sofia. Please,” I snap. “Just tell me what’s going on.”
“Okay,” she sighs as her expression loses the humor that was present only a second before. “That girl has been through a lot. Like alot. I’m not about to undermine her trust by giving you all the details. But she’s from Blood Moon, in Arizona, and she was with the Alpha. Have you heard of Aidan Blackwell?”
“Why is that name familiar?” I wrack my mind, trying to pull up any information on him, but I’m drawing a total blank.
“Remember when Ryan brought me to the Alpha meeting two years ago?”
“Oh fuck,thatasshole? The one who told Ryan to put you on a leash because you didn’t ask for permission to talk?”
“Yup, the very same. And I might have thought he was the biggest asshole of all time then, but from what Emily has told me, that’s not even the tip of the iceberg. He’s a sadistic monster. I can’t imagine what life was like being his girlfriend,” she says sadly as her eyes glisten. It must be bad, because I don’t think I’ve seen Sofia cry since she was a kid.
Fur threatens to erupt along my arms as my wolf roars inside me. He wants blood. Wants vengeance. And that thought surprises me enough to snap me out of what I’m feeling. I push him back down and my fur retracts while Sofia continues to talk.
“She must have traveled over a thousand miles before you found her. All on a broken leg that she couldn’t reset without stopping for a few days that she didn’t have.”
“Shit.” I drag a hand down my face. “We can’t let her get caught. But keeping her here… that could drag a war to our doorstep.” My wolf is still ready to burst out. His hackles are up and he’s snarling at the thought of her leaving.
“She’s not planning on staying. She isn’t twenty-one yet and doesn’t know if he’s her mate. She's smart. She covered her tracks when she escaped. And she plans to move on as soon as her leg is healed.”
“Fuck, okay. How long until her birthday?”
“A couple of weeks.”
We fall into silence. I should be thinking strategically—pack safety, political risks, logistics. But all I can think about is the way she froze when I touched her. The way she looked at me like I was about to hurt her.
“She’s going to need a lot of self-defense help before she goes,” Sofia says after a moment. “But I gotta say, I think she should stay. I like her, Jack. She seems genuine. And absolutely terrified of doing the wrong thing. She’s convinced that Aidan is her mate. I don’t get it. He abused her for years. How could anyone treat their mate like that?”
My head is spinning, and my wolf is howling like he is in physical pain. I’m trying to be objective, but I can hardly hear over his howls. It doesn’t make any sense. But neither does anyone wanting to hurt Emily. She’s so tiny. So breakable.
“Will you report back to Ryan and see what he wants to do? I have a couple of warriors monitoring her.”
“Yeah, already done,” she says, waving her hand dismissively. Like I’m an idiot for not realizing she would have it covered. “He’s happy with us playing things by ear for now. Honestly, he seems kinda distracted at the moment. But seriously, you need to back off a bit. You scared her when you acted all macho earlier.”
I groan, feeling like a total dick now that I know she’s running from a psychopath, but still aware that I probably won’t be able to control that part of myself in the future. For fuck’s sake, I could pull my hair out right now just thinking about her.
