Page 6 of Burned By My Mate (Twisted Oak Pack: First Responders #3)

SIX

Logan

I don’t like this.

I don’t like any of this.

The second I stepped into my house and saw thefearin Emerson’s eyes, something inside me snapped. I wanted to tear through the woods,hunt downwhoever had come sniffing around my home, and make sure they never set foot near her again, but I can’t do that. Not yet, because right now, the most important thing is making sureshefeels safe.

And judging by the way she keepshugging her arms around herself, like she’s trying to hold herself together, she doesn’t.

I take a slow breath, forcing my bear to settle as I turn to face her.

“Did you see anyone?” I ask, keeping my voice even.

She shakes her head, her hands tightening into fists.

“No, but I know what I heard.”

“I believe you.”

Her head jerks up, surprise flashing in her green eyes. Like she expected me to doubt her. That pisses me off. I step closer, my voice low.

“I’m going to find out who did this.”

She swallows hard, her green eyes filled with worry.

“And if it was Red Fog?”

My beargrowls so loud in my head that it almost deafens me.

Then we’ll destroy them, he roars, and I nod in agreement, but I can’t tell my mate that.

“Then they’ll regret ever coming near you.”

Her breath catches, but she doesn’t look away. Sheshouldbe scared of me right now. She should back away, demand answers, ask why I’m taking this so damn personally, but she doesn’t. Instead, she just exhales, shaking her head.

“I don’t get it.”

I frown. “What?”

“This,” she says, waving a hand between us. “Why do you care so much?”

I go still.

Because you’re mine. Because I knew the second I smelled you, the second I saw you, covered in smoke and glaring at me like you wanted toset me on fire, that you were meant to be mine.

Because myentire bodyburns with the need to protect you, even if you don’t understand why yet.

I grip the back of my neck, choosing my words carefully.

“I don’t like seeing innocent people get hurt.”

She stares at me for a long moment, like she’s trying to figure out if that’s thewholetruth.

It’s not, but I can’t tell her that. Not yet.

Instead, I take a step back, forcing my body to relax. “You should eat.”

She blinks. “What?”

I nod toward the kitchen. “I’ll make something. You need to eat.”

Her mouth opens like she wants to argue, but then she sighs.

“Fine.”

She follows me into the kitchen, and as I move around, pulling ingredients from the fridge, I canfeelher watching me.

“Do you cook all the time?” she asks, sliding onto a stool.

I shrug. “Yeah. Gotta eat.”

She huffs a laugh. “You said that last time.”

I smirk but don’t respond as I crack eggs into a pan.

For a while, we sit incomfortable silence—me cooking, her watching. The tension from earlier slowly fades, replaced by somethingwarmer. When I set a plate in front of her, she gives me a look.

“You do realize I can cook, right?”

“I’m sure you can.”

She narrows her eyes. “So why are you feeding me like a stray?”

I grin. “You gonna complain or eat?”

She grumbles but digs in. I watch, satisfied, as she takes the first bite, her shouldersrelaxing slightly.

Good.

She might not realize it yet, but as long as she’s here,I’ll take care of her. Even if she fights me the whole damn time.

An hour later, I sit across from Emerson, my fingers tapping against my thigh as I consider my next move. I need to tell her. Not everything, not yet, but she needs to know enough to understand that this isn’t justrandom. That whoever did this might come back. That she needs to stay here.

I exhale slowly. “Emerson.”

She looks up, her green eyes questioning.

I hold her gaze. “We need to talk.”

She stiffens. “That phrase never leads anywhere good.”

I smirk. “Probably not.”

She smiles slightly, leaning back. “Okay. Talk.”

I hesitate for a split second before deciding there’s nogood wayto ease into this.

“I don’t think your house fire was random.”

She swallows. “You think it was Red Fog?”

I nod. “The footprints. The way they’re testing the boundaries of town.” My jaw tightens. “The fact that they showed uphere.”

She goes still. “You think they’re targeting me?”

My bear growls.

She shouldn’t be scared. She shouldn’t have tolive in fear.

I exhale, forcing myself to keep my voice calm. “I don’t know yet. But I’m not taking any chances.”

She’s quiet for a long moment, her fingers twisting together. Then?—

“What aren’t you telling me?”

Shit. I should’ve known she’d pick up on it.

I look away, gripping the edge of the table.

“There are things about this town,” I say slowly, “that you don’t know yet.”

She narrows her eyes. “So, tell me.”

I clench my jaw. “I will. But you need to trust me first.”

Her lips part slightly,her breath catching. She stares at me like she’s seeing something she doesn’t understand. Somethingdangerous. Somethinginevitable.

I brace myself, waiting for her to push back, to argue, but then she just sighs, rubbing her temples.

“This town is insane.”

I huff a quiet laugh.

“Yeah. It is.”

The silence stretches between us. Then, quietly, she says, “Okay.”

I frown. “Okay?”

She exhales. “I don’t understand this. Any of it. But if you say, I need to stay here…” She meets my eyes. “I’ll stay.”

Somethingdeep inside mesettles. For the first time since this whole thing started, Ibreathe. She’shere, and she’smine.

She just doesn’t know it yet.

“I can’t stay cooped up here all day, though. I need supplies so that I can work.”

“What do you need?” I ask instantly.

“Paint, brushes, canvases, a new computer, some new clothes…” she rattles off, and I nod.

“Okay, let’s go to town now.”

She hops off her stool and my hand wraps around her waist, pulling her to my side as we head out the front door.

My bear and I are on high alert, scanning the area as I lead her over to my Jeep and open the passenger door for her.

I help her inside and then round the hood and climb behind the wheel.

“You’re a painter?” I ask as we make the drive to town.

“Yeah. I need to get some supplies so that I can work on my commissions,” she says and I nod.

“Is that what you do for a living then?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s cool. You must be really talented.”

She blushes, and my bear rolls over onto his back inside of me.

Fuck, she’s so cute.

I want to reach over and hold her hand. I want to touch her all of the time in so many small ways, but I can’t. Not yet. She needs to know about us.

How do I start that conversation, though? How do I do it without freaking her out and potentially scaring her off?

We pull over in front of the small craft store in town, and Emerson hops out before I can stop her. I growl and hurry to catch up with her.

“Wait for me to get to your door from now on,” I tell her, and she huffs.

“I can open doors. See?” She says, opening the door to the craft store.

“Smartass,” I grumble under my breath as I follow her inside.

She grabs a basket, and I pry it from her hand. She just rolls her eyes, but I smile. She heads down one aisle and the next and I follow after her dutifully as she fills up the basket.

“Is this all?” I ask her, and she shakes her head.

“I just need to grab some canvases.”

We head to that aisle when the front door opens, the bell tinkling as someone else comes into the quiet store. I turn and growl when I spot who just walked in.

“What?” Emerson asks me, her body going on high alert.

“Those two are from Red Fog,” I tell her. “Stay close to me.”

She nods, moving closer to my side, and I turn, putting myself in front of my mate.

“What are you doing here?” I snap at the two men.

They’re staring at us with cold, wild eyes. One of them sneers at me, and I shift in front of Emerson more.

“Hey there, pretty girl,” the shorter one croons at Emerson, and I snarl at him.

“What. Do. You. Want?” I snap again.

“We just wanted to come and see if you had gotten our message,” the taller one says, and I drop the basket full of art supplies to the ground and lunge for him.

“You?” I roar.

Emerson’s little hands are tugging at the back of my shirt. I can smell her fear, can feel how tense and nervous she is.

Get her out of here. Then tear these two apart, my bear orders, and I know that he’s right. We promised that we would keep her safe and we need to do just that.

The two men snicker, and I bare my teeth at them. The bell above the door dings again, and I see Griffin and Ryker, our pack’s two Alphas, come inside. They must have heard that members from the Red Fog Pack were here.

“Is there a problem here?” Ryker growls.

“These two were just asking if we had gotten their message,” I explain, and I can see that the Alphas know that they mean the fire, too.

“We did, but we have some questions about it,” Griffin says.

He steps forward and grabs the tall one while Ryker grabs the short one, and I smile as they drag the two men out the back exit.

I hope they kill them, my bear snarls.

I turn to check on Emerson and see her white face.

“Pick the canvases, mate. We need to go.”

She blinks, snapping out of her thoughts, and nods. I watch, on guard, as she grabs a few different canvas sizes, and then we head for the checkout. I throw some money down on the counter, and we rush out to my Jeep.

I open her door and help her inside before I put her things in the back and climb behind the wheel.

We speed home, and I can tell that Emerson is on edge.

“You’ll be okay. I’m going to keep you safe.”

“Maybe we should get a home security system,” she says nervously. “You can’t be with me all of the time.”

I want to argue with her, but I know that she’s right.

“We will,” I promise her.

She said we, my bear says happily, and I huff out a laugh.

We need to tell her, he says, and I know that he’s right.

We will. Soon.