“We have to find Amber.” I grit out, ignoring his barbs.
“Yes, and we will. But what about Emma?”
Beau stands over me, watching with that knowing look I’ve hated since we were kids.
“I’m doing this for her, too. Dimitri might come for me. And Emma, she’s a witness. A loose end. I need to find them before they find her.”
He opens his mouth to say something else, no doubt trying to provoke me, but mercifully, Van clears his throat and speaks up.
“Did you need something, or are you just here to give him shit? Because if so, you two need to take it outside. Your shifter mojo is making it hard to breathe.”
A long pause. We both glare at each other, torn between the temptation to work out our frustration by tearing strips off each other, and letting Van work in peace.
Common sense wins out. Beau walks backward to the door, taps his knuckles against the doorframe twice, then shakes his head and walks away, tossing one last parting comment over his shoulder before he disappears from view.
“This is your chance, Bodhi. Don’t fuck it up.”
It is my chance. To make sure no one ever hurts her again.
Grumbling, I resume my work. Beau isn’t mated, so he doesn’t understand how powerful the drive to protect her is. Mybear is frantic. Dimitri could put a bounty on Emma’s head, even now. Amber could be gone.
I don’t need Beau’s advice. I need to work.
And yet, as confident as I feel about that declaration now, there’s nothing but guilt when she finds me an hour later.
I hear her footsteps in the corridor before she reaches the door, and her tantalising scent calls to me the second it reaches my nose. My shoulders tense, my heart pounds, and my skin prickles with awareness just from being in her presence. Yet instead of standing up and going to her, I keep my eyes fixed on the screen in front of me, though the words have stopped making sense.
“Hey.” Her voice is soft. Hopeful.
I force myself to look up, even though I know it will devastate me.
She’s hovering in the doorway, her fingers wrapped around a mug of tea with steam curling up past her face. Borrowed clothes hang loose on her frame, another of Natalie’s sweaters, and her sleeves are pushed up past her wrists. Her hair is pulled back in a messy ponytail, and the bruise on her cheek that’s faded to yellow feels like a punch to the gut.
“Emma.” I set the tablet down carefully. “How are you feeling?”
Something shifts in her expression at my tone. She steps into the room, glancing at Van and Tripp, before her eyes settle back on me.
“Better. The nightmares are easing.”
The nightmares. I know they’ve improved. I’ve been keeping close to her cabin at night, hoping my presence would help her sleep.
She refused a guard and a room inside the large main compound building. My bear refuses to leave her there alone and vulnerable all night.
Dimitri tracked me here before. He’s not stupid; he must know this is where I’d come.
An image of him creeping through the woods to her cabin flashes through my mind, and I have to bite my tongue to suppress a growl. I need to find him first.
Emma regards me quietly as she wraps both hands around her mug like she needs the warmth. “I was hoping we could talk.”
My insides flip, excited that my mate wants to spend time in my presence. But then doubt creeps in. Maybe this is the ‘we need to talk’ conversation I definitely don’t want to have. Not yet. Not until I can tell her I’ve fixed this.
“We will.” I turn back to the screens, gesturing vaguely at the map that’s still glowing on Van’s monitor. “Once we find Dimitri.”
Emma visibly shudders. “Dimitri?”
She moves closer, just her existence in my space is making me feel instantly happier. I can smell her now, mouth-wateringly tempting, and all the urges I’ve been fighting to control surge forward.
Touch her. Kiss her. Claim her.
