Page 26

HUNTER

T he entire time Emme was in our containment rooms with Slade and that other fucker , I paced the front entrance. Paced and yelled at whoever I could get on the phone.

Reeves Industries didn’t exactly fall apart when I wasn’t in office , but it always had more snags.

If it weren’t for the thousands of jobs that’d be lost across all of our facilities, I’d shut the whole fucking thing down.

For now, my senior staff were handling the day-to-day, but when I returned, there’d be more than a few incompetent assholes on the chopping block.

I already knew I’d have to make an appearance tomorrow to ensure the launch of our new product wasn’t a complete disaster. The magic-resistant, armored chest plates were about to ship out to the general population, and would change the face of the impending war.

These plates could be stitched into any shirt or worn over the top, with nothing more than a few easy-to-manipulate bands.

It’d been in the works for a number of years, but I’d pushed up production.

With all the magical attacks on our pack, I knew there was a battle on the horizon, and I wanted to create easily accessible and relatively cost-effective protection for shifters.

The full armored vests took longer to manufacture, and worked best when sized correctly to the purchaser. Custom-made didn’t come cheap or easy, and while this new product wouldn’t be quite as effective, it would still give us an edge during a magic war.

A war brought on by Fletcher. I should have killed that bastard years ago and dealt with whatever mental fallout resulted when you murdered your sperm donor. I’d have taken that fallout ten times over if it meant Emme never had to go through the last few weeks.

I had no fucking idea how I’d even missed all the signs that Fletcher was connected to our issues with the Rogers pack, but I should have known. It was a huge oversight, and it cost my pack too much.

By the time Emme and Slade slogged up the stairs, looking exhausted and emotionally shattered, I was ready to murder every fucking shifter who’d ever bothered either of them, including that rogue doppelganger in the containment room.

“Did you learn anything?” I asked, and neither of them showed any surprise to see me standing where they’d left me earlier.

When Emme stumbled into my arms, allowing me to support her as a mate should, a strong wave of satisfaction hit my wolf. Through our bond, she released a pulse of relief at being in my arms, and fuck, if I could bottle this feeling… I’d have many more billions.

Slade remained stiff, and I knew my brother well enough to see him trying to rearrange all his broken pieces.

“We learned a little. He’s much more receptive when Emme is close by.

The main points are that Talon is a scent match for Emme, and that we were born in the same egg.

Fletcher separated us at birth, but we’re most definitely salatrina . ”

Fuck.

That word was immediately familiar, and swallowing roughly, I met my brother’s wide-eyed gaze. Slade had gone through a ten-year period where he’d attempted to uncover every piece of information about his species of shifter, and I had helped out.

Salatrina meant… twin souls.

“Fletcher separated you at birth?” I huffed, unsurprised that the bastard had stolen that bond from them. “And kept you apart for decades…”

Emme snuggled closer, and I slid my palms down the back of her thighs to lift her up into me. When her long legs wrapped around my waist, securing her firmly against me, relief filtered through my essence.

“Your sperm donor is a real piece of shit,” she mumbled against my neck, breathing deeply as she took in my scent, soothing her beast. “Not only did he make your lives hell growing up, he stole Slade’s brother—his fucking twin soul—and kept him all but locked in a cage, trained to fight and obey.

Talon has never been treated like a living being worthy of love or care. We have to help him.”

My wolf howled in response, and I chose my next words carefully. “You really want to help him?”

Over her shoulder, I stared into Slade’s eyes, which all but glowed green in the dim light.

When Emme didn’t immediately respond, he said, “We might not have any other choice. Talon is strong and well-trained. Our one hope might be to turn him to our side and show him that Fletcher is not the alpha he believes him to be.”

I snarled, “Or even better, we kill Fletcher and forget he ever existed.”

Slade shrugged. “Yeah, that’s my plan too. I always worried that killing him would break the final shreds of your humanity, and if you broke, then I’d lose myself. But he signed up for death the moment he touched Emme. I’m quite looking forward to ending him.”

“Get in fucking line,” Emme mumbled, and I was relieved to hear the snark in her words. She’d been lost to us for days, but the pulse of her beast and essence was stronger, more like her old self.

“We can discuss our murder-list tomorrow,” I said, running my hand up her spine and into her hair. “For now, our little omega needs to rest.” I eyed Slade as I added, “Do you want to be alone, brother? Or do you need company?”

For three decades we’d held each other together and accountable. We checked in on the sanity of our beasts and fought our demons as a team.

Since our return from Texas, though, Slade had been pulling away from me, and from the pack. He was fraying around the edges, and I was done leaving him alone to deal with it.

“I need to fly,” he said shortly, meeting my gaze with a steady one of his own. “I’ll do some scouting, and then I’ll hang out with my twin and see if he’ll offer up any further information. I’m starting to think he might be the key to winning this battle.”

I nodded, trusting in his instinct. “Well, you know where we’ll be. If you need grounding or to share in pack energy, you know where to find us. Promise you won’t keep fighting this alone.”

Emme lifted her head, and I no longer had Slade’s focus. It was all her.

“Promise us,” she repeated softly. “Don’t fight alone.”

His chest heaved as he shared with her a look I’d never seen him share with anyone. Emme had no idea how precious she was to all of us. “I promise, Snow,” he told her, and she sighed happily, as if she knew she could trust in his words.

Slade lifted his shirt to start stripping to shift and headed for the door.

We watched him until he was gone from view, then I took the stairs up to my room.

When I stepped inside, I thought Emme had fallen asleep, as she leaned heavily into me, but when I moved toward the bed she whispered, “Can we shower first?”

Through our bond I was hit with a surge of her need, and my own desperate desire roared to life.

My dick kicked in my pants, and I willed the bastard to calm down.

Emme was as fragile as I’d ever seen her, and she needed care and healing from me.

As her entitled alpha, and a male who loved her more than my existence, I’d kill myself before I took more from her than she had the energy to give.

Nothing would ever be forced or stolen from her again.

Keeping the lights dim, I set her down only long enough to strip our clothes off, before gathering her into my arms once more.

Her scent exploded, and all I could feel was soft skin as she wrapped herself around me.

The heavy throb in my balls joined in the pulse of my dick, but I was determined to only soothe her ragged soul.

Once the water reached her preferred temperature, I moved under the stream, and she buried her face against my shoulder. We stood under that fall of water for a long time, letting the rainfall showerhead do its job.

Tension slowly eased from her, and I tried to ignore how frail she felt in my arms.

She’d lost weight again. Of course she had . Those fucks had held her for a week, and we weren’t there to ensure she was safe or fed. In the days since we’d returned, she’d started to eat regular meals again, but it wasn’t enough to reverse the damage done. Not yet.

“I love being with you like this,” Emme said, her lips brushing across my neck. My fingers flexed against her ass to shift her higher, stifling my groan as she ran her tongue over my shoulder, tasting me. Goddess . I wasn’t strong enough for this.

The urge to slide my fingers lower, over her soft curves, until I could enter her heat and taste her desire, was almost too much to contain. When Emme moaned and wriggled against me, I gritted my teeth and prayed for control. “I know you usually soothe me in here, but, Hunter…”

She trailed off, and like the desperate asshole I was, I pushed for more. “Yes, what do you need, baby girl?”

She arched against me, and I swear to the moon I blacked out for a second. “I need to forget,” she went on, shredding my control. “I need you to command me and destroy my body until I feel nothing but pleasure and pain. I want them both. I want it all.”

My wolf surged forward, and my jaw shifted as I sank my teeth into her shoulder, over my bite. It was a reaffirmation of our bond. Now that we knew Talon was a scent match, I understood why his forced claim hadn’t damaged our quintet energy.

Even if we didn’t have all the information, it was clear that the twin soul magic made it all work. Somehow.

Emme gasped and arched into me, and as my jaw returned to normal, I lapped at the wound to seal it, enjoying the sweet metallic taste of her blood.

When she thrust her hips, I slid my hands down her ass, spreading her cheeks as I moved, and let the tips of my fingers run back and forth between her ass and her pussy, unsurprised to find she was already dripping wet.

“I want to fuck you so badly here,” I murmured, pressing my finger to the tight ring of muscles in her ass, swirling but not pushing too hard. If pleasure and pain were what she wanted tonight, I knew exactly what would destroy us both. “Have you ever been fucked here before?”

Her breaths came faster as she shook her head, tensing briefly before relaxing into my continued strokes. I slid two fingers through her folds, pumping them inside her tight, wet heat, before using her natural lube on her ass once more.

“You want this, baby?” I breathed, needing to hear her explicit consent. “You want me to bring you pleasure with an edge of pain?”

“Yes!” Her gasp was loud as I pushed harder, the resistance only lasting a second before I slid inside her ass.

Fucking hell . She was tight around my finger, and I wondered if I was about to come without even getting inside her.

“Oh fuck, yes,” she choked out. “I want everything, Hunter. Please, please, fucking please just use my body and make me forget.”

The throbbing in my balls grew. My dick was so hard that it was one pulsing ache between our bodies. Just the knowledge that I’d be inside her soon was almost enough to send me over the edge.

With my finger inside her virgin ass, I moved slowly, rocking her against me.

“We’re going to take our time,” I whispered softly, and I loved the mewling cries she released as I slid deeper inside her.

“If I do anything you don’t like, you just need to say ‘Red.’ Do you understand, little omega? Red means I stop immediately.”

I slid my finger to the first knuckle, and she rasped, “Oh yes, that feels so good.”

“Do you understand, little omega?” I repeated, slowing my movement so she could focus.

Her nod was rapid against my chest. “Yes, yes. I understand. If I say ‘red,’ you’ll stop what you’re doing.”

“There’s my good girl,” I murmured, and I wasn’t surprised to feel her tighten on my finger. She loved praise almost as much as Kellan. “Now, let’s get you cleaned up so I can spend the next several hours devouring you.”

If the way she thrust against me was any indication, she liked the sound of that a lot, and it was with great reluctance I removed my finger.

I’d be inside her very soon, but first I would taste every fucking inch of her body, and edge her until she exploded all over my face. Then I would take her wherever she wanted to go.

A promise I intended to keep.