Chapter 6

SAMANTHA

After pouring us both a glass of wine and dragging Emerick into my office, I started showing him baby pictures of Luke. We laughed and chatted until I pulled out my wedding album.

I fell silent as I looked at the man for whom I would have given anything to talk to again.

Emerick came up behind me to look over my shoulder. “You two made a lovely couple,” he said softly.

“Thank you,” I replied, my voice filled with longing. “Travis was a great man.

“We met in high school. He was captain of the football team, tall, and good-looking, with strong shoulders and deep blue eyes. I fell hard and fast.

“We enrolled at the same university when we graduated. Planned a whole life together.”

I ran my fingers over a photo of Luke as a baby. “When I found out I was pregnant at eighteen, it threw a bit of a wrench in things.”

Emerick touched the space between my shoulder blades. “That must have been hard.”

I chuckled. “You would think so, but somehow, we made it work. He proposed right away, finished up his degree, and started his own construction company.”

I put the album down and looked around. “He built this house.”

My eyes fell on the office doorway. “Some days, it feels like just yesterday he would come walking in with a smile on his face and a story to tell. Others, it feels like a lifetime ago.”

“I think I understand that feeling,” Emerick said quietly.

“I don’t know how I’m going to say goodbye to this place tomorrow. My entire life is in this house.”

“We can have everything moved to the Alpha’s Residence for you.”

We had talked in the car about how the acting alpha was expected to live in the “Alpha’s Residence,” a house with extra security near the pack house.

I shook my head. “It’s not about the stuff. I designed every inch of this house, and Travis’s company built it.

“Almost every happy memory I have of our family is here… It feels like I’m closing the last chapter of his life when I leave.”

I was surprised at how open I was being. I was rarely this vulnerable, especially with a stranger.

But Emerick was easy to talk to, and he listened without judgment.

I supposed I was looking for a lifeline, someone to help me navigate the storm. He could be that for me, even if it was just for the afternoon.

“He will always be with you, Sam. And I think he would be damn proud of the life you’ve built.” His voice was gentle, but his face was serious.

“I appreciate that,” I said, giving him a sad smile. “It wasn’t always that way. After he died so suddenly, I was a mess.

“I was lucky to have my parents’ help, or I don’t know if I would’ve been able to pull myself out of my grief. I was heartbroken.”

I paused, looking at a few of the pictures on the shelf. I smiled at the one of my dad, Travis, and Luke on a fishing dock. They’d loved spending their weekends on the lake together.

“That’s probably why I’m struggling so much with my dad. All my life, I’ve thought he’s the one man I could trust the most.”

Emerick took my hand and stroked the palm. “I don’t know why he kept it from you or what his life was like when he lived with Emilia and Stephen, but Emilia never forgave Stephen’s infidelity.”

Dad had mentioned he’d moved in with Stephen for a while. I’d been too upset and confused about the whole werewolf revelation to ask.

“How long did he live with the Reddings?”

Emerick shrugged. “I’m not sure. Two years, maybe three. I wasn’t born, but I can’t imagine Emilia made life easy for him.”

I looked at Dad’s smiling face in the photo again. “It can’t have been easy for Emilia to have a constant reminder of Stephen’s affair in their home.”

“Plus,” Emerick continued, “Stephen already had an heir in William, so I’m not sure he paid Elias much mind either.

“William always spoke fondly of his half brother though. He’d often relay pack updates to him after holding meetings with Christian and me.”

It was still hard to wrap my head around the fact that my dad had a secret life away from our family.

I wondered how much he had told my mom. I couldn’t imagine Kate knew anything about it. Surely, she would have told me. We were best friends.

“Thank you for that,” I finally said to Emerick. “I’m glad to hear William feels he can be trusted.”

Whatever my personal issues with Dad, I would need as many werewolves as I could trust around me as possible. At the moment, there weren’t many.

“Emerick, the odds seem stacked against me,” I confessed. “I don’t know how anyone expects me to succeed.”

“Well, I can tell you this…,” he began.

I looked up to meet his gaze.

“We believe the Moon Goddess handpicks every alpha. Each of you is destined for the role even if it doesn’t always seem clear.”

When my gaze fell, I heard him get up and move to stand next to me.

He lifted my chin to meet his eyes. “You may not feel ready, you may be overwhelmed, but the pack already loves you.

“I’m not saying every single person is going to welcome you with open arms, but to us, the ‘pull’ is a real, tangible thing. As real as the air we breathe. The entire pack ~wants~ to follow you.”

“I’ll try to remember that,” I murmured.

“Besides,” he continued, “you already stamped your authority in a room full of the most dangerous wolves in the pack—two of whom are former alphas.

“You may not grasp what that means yet, but most dominant wolves are used to getting what they want. They definitely did not want you leaving the pack and spending another night as a ‘normal human.’”

I chuckled at the way he put air quotes around “normal human” as though it were a ridiculous concept.

“Okay, you’ve convinced me,” I joked. “I’ll be great at this. You will all be at my mercy by the end of the week.”

“That’s the spirit,” he said, flashing that smile that made my heart skip a beat.

He reached over and grabbed a bill off the stack piling up on my desk. “Now let’s get to work. You keep way too much junk. What’s this? A water bill from two years ago?”

“Hey!” I said, trying to grab the paper back from him. “You never know!”

The teasing didn’t stop all afternoon as we sorted the office, but he was surprisingly effective at helping me make quick decisions about when to file and when to throw.

Eventually, it was time for a break, and I led Emerick into the kitchen to pour us both a much-deserved glass of wine.

All the while, he made me laugh as he shared his stories.

I wasn’t sure if he’d picked up on me wanting to know more about werewolves or if he was just trying to distract me from thinking about leaving my entire life the following day.

Either way, it worked.

Emerick was born and raised in the Red Claw Pack. He was reluctant to tell me about his so-called “bored and normal upbringing.”

I had to remind him that I hadn’t known werewolves existed a few hours earlier. There was nothing boring or normal about it.

He really came alive when he started talking about growing up with Christian.

“We became close in junior high, and after our first shift, we started training together.”

“Training?” I said while tracing my finger around the lip of my wine glass.

“Oh, sorry. All wolves train in hand-to-hand combat. We have to be able to defend ourselves. Most conventional weapons don’t work on us, so our claws and teeth are our best defense.”

“Of course, what with Christian being an alpha, he was too strong for most, but I occasionally held my own…”

I studied Emerick as he spoke about his late friend. The light in his eyes, the joy in his tone. It was all so…human.

~How strange to think that underneath that handsome exterior, there is a powerful creature.~

~How strange that there’s supposedly an even stronger one inside me…~

A car door slamming shut sounded from outside, and I heard muffled voices approaching my front door.

~Yikes, werewolf hearing is no joke.~

I glanced at the clock and realized how late it was. “Shit, Luke’s home.”

“Do you want me to sneak out the back door?” Emerick asked, half-joking.

My face was serious. “No. Your car is in the driveway, so he’ll know someone is here.”

Emerick stood and tried to put his hands on my shoulders, but I flinched away. A flash of hurt crossed his face.

“I haven’t had a man here since his dad died,” I explained. “I really just wanted a normal night. How the hell do I explain the attractive, muscular man sitting in my kitchen?”

I didn’t miss the way Emerick’s eyebrows raised at my use of the word “attractive” and fought the urge to roll my eyes.

“Hey, Mom,” Luke called from the front door, “whose car is in the drive—?”

He rounded the corner and froze.