Page 62

EMME

A dream woke me. It had been a while since I’d been drawn out of sleep so abruptly that I couldn’t relax enough to fall back asleep.

It hadn’t been like the days after I was forcibly bonded, when I’d come awake screaming.

This just felt like a more run-of-the-mill dream, where the anxiety of our hidden enemies kept my mind from fully shutting down.

Neither of my mates moved as I crawled out from between them, desperate to pee, drink some water—I was dehydrated for a very good reason—and maybe grab a snack. Only a few aches remained in my body, the reminder of my night of absolutely mind-blowing sex.

My healing abilities were improving, which was what I’d hoped would happen after bonding my alphas. My pack was strong, and I got a boost of that strength through our bonds. I would argue that the alphas had adapted some of my calmer temperament too.

It wasn’t that they were less dominant, but their beasts felt calmer.

Even Slade’s. Despite the way he continued to hold himself back.

When I finished in the bathroom, I slipped on one of the shirts off the floor, realizing it was Hunter’s when the scent of coffee surrounded me.

Padding silently through the hall and down the stairs, I let the moonlight guide me to the kitchen.

Florence or Gerry had left a pantry light on, making it very easy for me to find the snacks.

I headed straight for the container of baked goods, only to pause at a loud crack and rustling from outside the windows over the sink.

Creeping in that direction, I peered out into the darkness, unable to track any movement.

The rustling came again a second later, but it wasn’t as loud, as if the culprit had moved further away.

When a grunt and burst of laughter followed, I relaxed, recognizing that deep rumble. Finley was home.

Abandoning my snack, I headed for the front door, pushing down my annoyance at him being out until almost dawn.

My stupid brain flashed right to the last time he’d stumbled in the door drunk and smelling like a damn florist. He’d assured me nothing had happened during those nights out, and I believed him.

He hadn’t cared about hurting me in the early days, that was for sure, so he wouldn’t have lied to spare my feelings.

It meant everything to me that he’d remained loyal from the moment I arrived in Golden Claw, and in the hopes of our reconciliation, I doubted he’d fuck it up now. Still, it was hard to completely dismiss my worries.

When I reached the front door, there was a heavy thump against it, and I could hear his voice clearly. “—get to bed, and I need her, brother.”

My stomach flipped and I pressed in closer.

“I know, Fin,” Kenzo mumbled, sounding almost as drunk as Finley. “You need your mate, which is completely understandable, but… brother, you can’t drag that gift up to her. I swear to the goddess, Hunter will kill you.” He started to laugh, and I was filled with curiosity about what was so funny.

“She’s sooo beautiful,” Finley said, his words muffled, like his face was pressed to the door. “She deserves the world, and I owe her all the gifts.”

Another thump, this one louder, and my curiosity won out. I flipped the deadbolt and disabled the alarm. When I pulled the door open, two massive shifters straightened on the small front stoop, comically trying to fit together. And they weren’t the only thing needing to fit.

Finley, covered near head to toe in what looked like mud, had a tree clasped in his hands.

It had to be ten or fifteen feet tall, and the bright green foliage was dotted with blooming white flowers, which should not have been so vibrant in winter.

“Ice!” Finley called, sounding happy. “My queen. There you are, darlin’.”

Swirls of desire and excitement kicked to life in my stomach. When he drawled darlin’ to me… on top of the full effect of those gorgeous eyes and dimples.

Lethal. Fucking. Combination.

“What’s happening, guys?” I asked, trying to sound casual, though I felt anything but.

Kenzo swayed forward and almost toppled down the stairs before he caught himself. “Fin brought you flowers,” he declared, puffed up like a proud parent.

Pressing my lips together as hard as I could, I tried not to let my laughter spill free. “I see that. Your flowers are lovely, thank you, Grouchy.” Finley beamed, and I let loose a small chuckle before I got myself back under control.

“We need to find a thingy to put the thingy in—” The bear shifter said, swaying as he examined the thick base of the tree.

Don’t laugh. Don’t laugh. “Do you mean a vase?”

He fucking beamed again. “Oh, you are so smart, baby. Yes, a vase.” He glanced down and squinted at the base once more. “Or maybe a bucket? I’m not sure there’s a vase big enough for this one.”

“I think you’re right. It’s very impressive.” More laughter bubbled up inside, and I would pop soon if I kept holding it in.

Finley’s smile faded into the saddest expression I’d ever seen and I no longer wanted to laugh.

“A simple bouquet of flowers was not enough,” he whispered, his gaze intense.

I wasn’t sure he’d blinked since I opened the door.

“You deserve the biggest flowers in the world. I’m so sorry I hurt you, baby.

I’m so damn sorry. I have something else for you upstairs in my room with the magazines. ”

My chest tightened at him calling me baby again. The first time I’d thought it had just slipped out, but he’d used it again, so casually. Not only that, but he’d also just confirmed he was the one to leave the magazines and origami. I’d suspected, of course, but it was nice to know for sure.

Kenzo snorted out such a loud laugh, that these idiots would wake up the street if they weren’t careful. “That’s a secret,” he boomed. “She’ll know you made her the origami too.”

These two were hilarious, and I was happy that I’d been out of bed to see them like this. Swaying together, holding a damn tree that would topple most shifters.

“Happy birthday, Kenzo,” I said, remembering why they’d gone out in the first place. “Do you want to come inside?”

He shook his head. “Nah, I’ve got two beauties waiting in bed for me. Which is exactly how one should end their birthday. But I’ll see you both at the family BBQ.”

He pointed slowly at Finley, and then slowly at me, before shaking his head like he forgot what he was saying. With a final slap on Finley’s shoulder, that sent the bear stumbling forward until his tree got caught on the doorframe and rained white petals on us, Kenzo left.

My focus returned to Finley, who was patting me down with one hand, while the other clutched the stuck tree. “Oh, shit, sorry darlin’. I got you all dirty.”

Fuck me . His deep rumbly bear voice had my body waking up in a way that should be nearly impossible after the night I’d just had.

“You’re totally fine, Fin,” I said, helping him untangle from the doorway, so he could fit himself and his “flowers” in the house.

Together, we got the tree into the kitchen, and he waved off my help as he dropped it into the large sink, resting the branches against the windows. It was right around the time he started filling the sink to use as a vase that I lost it, leaning forward to laugh until tears ran down my cheeks.

Finley glanced over his shoulder, and his smile was soft as he watched me.

“I love it when you laugh,” he whispered, his emotions blaring across his face.

I read regret and despair and hope and love all wrapped up in one longing stare.

“Your eyes were so sad when you first arrived. Every time I looked at you, I drowned in your pain.”

That knocked the laughter from me. “Your eyes were the same,” I replied, my voice hushed. “I felt this instant connection, even as my heart ached.”

With the tree now chilling in the sink, water covering its roots, Finley headed toward me.

He was so dirty that mud covered him from the ends of his boots to the tips of his forehead.

He didn’t appeared to care as he wrapped his arms around me and hauled me up into him.

“I missed you,” he breathed, burying his face into my throat.

“Fuck, I missed you so much. Please don’t ever leave me.

I swear to the goddess, I will follow you.

I don’t even care if you go where it’s eternally summer and they’ve never even heard of an ice rink.

I’ll take up surfing, and we can live in the sand.

Just please… please, darlin’. Please never leave me. ”

Deep in my heart, I’d suspected that Finley would be the one to wreck me in a way I’d never recover from.

He’d hated me so intensely, or at least he’d tried to, and it appeared he loved just as fiercely.

When he was like this, with no pride or hurt feelings between us, I could admit that I loved him too.

I’d probably loved this asshole from the first second I stared into his eyes. Now that he was showing up in the ways I needed, I didn’t have to deny it any longer.

“I won’t leave you,” I promised, voice thick as tears hovered on the edge of my control. “Fin, I need you in my life. Now and always. I had no idea how truly broken and empty I was before I found this pack. You’re all—” I choked out a sob. “You’re the greatest fortune I’ve ever received.”

He wrapped himself tighter around me, as if we were imprinting into each other’s skin. I had grown more used to hugs, but there were times, like tonight, when it tore me apart once more.

My wolf howled and she was happy. So goddess be damned happy.

With the sound of her joy in my head, I sobbed silently, and Finley lifted his head from where he’d been huffing in my scent like he’d die without it. When I saw a tear slip down his cheek, cutting through the mud, my sobs were no longer silent.

“I haven’t really cried in years,” he admitted, sounding almost confused.

I coughed to try to catch my breath through the tears soaking my face. When another tear slid down his cheek, I reached up and captured it. Pressing the muddy, salty drop to my tongue.

Finley’s eyes darkened, and I groaned as his lips landed on mine, our tongues coated in our sorrow. We kissed for so long in that dark hall, leaving mud on the shiny floors, and fractures in our hearts.

“I love you, mate,” Finley breathed against my mouth. “I have loved you from the first second I stared into your beautiful, icy blue eyes. My ice. My mate.”

I’d barely gotten myself under control when the tears started again, and Finley kissed them away.

I was so caught up in this pivotal moment between us that I didn’t even notice him carrying me up the stairs until we were in his room.

I’d never stepped foot in his space before, and there was no time to notice anything, as he whisked me into his bathroom.

“I’m going to clean you up,” he warned, still kissing my cheeks, his beard marking my skin in ways I’d dreamed of. “Then we’re going to sleep in the same bed. I can’t sleep without you, darlin’. I hope you don’t mind that I’ll need you forever.”

“I don’t mind,” I promised, feeling the sort of peace that was terrifying when we were still in so much danger. Everything was going so well in my world… too well.

That anxiety dream had happened for a reason, as I sensed the impending doom that would steal all of this happiness from me. No matter how hard I fought to hold on to it.