Page 23

Jackson

I stretch out my burning muscles as I finally let the warriors finish training. “Fuck, what was that about?” Luca pants beside me.

“I needed to burn off some steam.”

“You usually do that solo. And actually,” he smirks, flopping back on the mats of the training room with his legs stretched out in front of him. “You haven’t had to burn anything off lately. Anything to do with a certain pint-sized blonde omega?”

I don’t reply to him. I don’t need to. Luca is well aware of my building obsession.

The warriors skirt out of the training area quietly with their heads down.

They don’t want to draw my attention. And I can’t blame them.

I ran them—as well as myself—into the ground today.

Burpees, suicides, squats, deadlifts, and weighted planks. On repeat.

For nearly five hours.

And I still feel wired. Coiled. Like my skin doesn’t fit.

I stopped by Emily’s room yesterday, but she was out. A mindlink to the warriors I had tailing her let me know she was with Sofia in the nearby town. I had gone on patrol by the time they were back, so there hasn’t been a chance to discuss what happened yesterday.

“Weren’t you leaving?” I ask Luca, who laughs before clutching his side, still sore from our training. Good.

“Why, worried about your omega spending time with other males?”

I snarl at him, and he grins at me. He's trying to piss me off. I’m about to recount yesterday’s events to him when the creaking door swings open, releasing a tantalizing aroma that pierces through the thick musk of warriors’ sweat.

Sweet, warm, addictive.

Emily.

My eyes shoot towards Emily, who has Sofia joining her. She’s wearing a baggy grey tee shirt, knotted at the side and leggings painted onto her petite curves. I swallow a growl. I know exactly how her ass looks under those .

My eyes linger too long. She shouldn’t be this beautiful—or I shouldn’t be seeing her as being so beautiful. Not when she’s still figuring out how to feel safe. My wolf doesn’t care. But I do. Or at least I'm trying to.

As the girls get closer, Sofia spots Luca and rolls her eyes.

“What’s he doing here?” She grumbles to Emily.

Emily shrugs and grabs her hand as if she thinks Sofia will bolt.

I’m not sure if Luca has ever noticed, but Sofia only comes to training when he isn’t here.

And she works her butt off, so it’s definitely not laziness that causes her to avoid training on his days.

I want to ask Luca when their resentment and ire started, but I don’t think he even knows the answer. I settle for shoving his shoulder and giving him a pointed look that hopefully communicates play nice .

“I could ask the same question, Sofia. It’s not like you to turn up for training.

Don’t you have other things to do, like prancing around and teasing the pack warriors?

” Luca taunts her. She snaps back at him, and within seconds, they’re tearing into each other.

They fight like siblings except I don't think there's any love underneath the arguments anymore.

I ignore them both and turn my attention back to Emily. “Well, seeing as we have some extra bodies, I guess Luca and Sofia can help with your training today.”

“The Beta and Delta? Both giving me private lessons? Seems a tad excessive for one little omega,” Emily says, a slight quiver in her voice, and her hands tremble ever so slightly.

Her scent, previously a delicious blend of sweet and rich, is now subtly marred by a hint of fear. A sharp, metallic tang, like the scent of blood, cutting through the sweetness of her usual scent. What does that mean? Is she afraid of me because of what happened yesterday?

“Oh, it’s not a big deal. We’re a close-knit pack around here,” I say as she side-eyes the two enemies, verbally tearing each other to shreds. “Plus, seems you might want a buffer today.”

“Um, yeah. That’s probably a good idea.” She is looking anywhere but at me, her gaze fixed on the floor as if it holds all the answers.

The tension in the air is palpable, and I can feel the weight of unspoken words hanging heavily between us.

The events of yesterday have left us both unsure of how to proceed.

I know how I want to move forward. But this is an obvious reminder; she’s not ready.

Yet.

Fuck, I want to be the one to help her get there. But I can’t push it too hard .

“You guys done bickering?” I ask Luca and Sofia, who are glaring at each other, chests heaving. Like they’re going to either rip each other apart or rip each other’s clothes off. Huh. Why have I never noticed the sexual tension between them before? I guess it makes sense.

“Actually, it’s perfect that you are both here. This way we can demonstrate for Emily and then she can try to repeat the movements. You want to go with me, Sofia?”

I know that there’s a genuine risk Sofia will murder me in my sleep if I pair her up with Luca.

She looks at Emily before smirking and saying that it probably makes the most sense for Emily’s training to remain consistent with me.

I grin as relief hits me. My wolf might have lost it if Luca put his hands on Emily.

I try not to read into Emily’s wide eyes too much or the filthy glare she throws in Sofia’s direction.

We work on moving out of various holds, and I’m relieved that Emily seems pretty unafraid of me, even after what happened in our last training session. She’s still comfortable enough to meet my eyes. That matters.

Then we move on to getting out of a hold where your attacker has grabbed you by the hair. Sofia and Luca demonstrate, and I have to stifle a laugh when she twists in his hold and knees him in the balls. Luca crumples to the ground while groaning and clutching at himself.

“Oops, I didn’t hurt you, did I? Surely not when I’m only a weak little girl,” she says in a saccharine sweet voice.

I can’t hold the laughter in as Luca groans in the fetal position. I laugh so hard that there are tears in my eyes. But when I glance at Emily—everything in me stills.

She’s wringing her hands. The color has drained from her face, leaving her ghostly and lifeless.

Every movement she makes seems weak, as if her body has become fragile under the weight of her emotions.

The scent of fear emanating from her is almost palpable, as if a cloud of unease surrounds her.

It’s a distinct smell—a mixture of adrenaline and sweat, creating a slightly acrid and metallic aroma.

Nothing like what she should smell like.

“Hey, he’s fine. I’m sure his balls will descend again at some point,” I try to joke, forcing lightness into my voice.

“But… he’ll be so angry,” she whispers, her fearful eyes darting between Luca and Sofia like she’s waiting for Luca to jump up and retaliate.

I glance at Sofia, her expression softer than what I’m used to seeing from her.

She walks over to Emily and grips her arms firmly, sq uatting down slightly to make eye contact, reassuring her that everything is okay, that Luca won’t retaliate against her, that he won’t use this as an excuse to hurt her.

“I promise, sweetie. Luca won’t physically hurt me. Not now. Not ever.”

“Of course I wouldn’t fucking hurt her,” Luca growls, still on the floor, clutching his balls. He stares at Emily, an intensity in his eyes. “What the fuck went on in your last pack?”

Emily shrinks even further, and tears fill her eyes.

“For the love of the Moon Goddess herself, please shut the fuck up, Luca,” Sofia snarls at him as I watch on in horror.

“I haven’t told them much, Em. It’s not my story to tell,” Sofia whispers gently while pulling Emily into a hug. My heart is beating out of my rib cage, and I rub my knuckles against my sternum, trying to ease the ache in my chest.

“I don’t want to. I don’t want to talk about it,” Emily mumbles, voice cracking. She shakes her head rapidly as she pulls back.

“That’s okay.” Sofia strokes her hair. “You don’t have to talk about it with anyone, honey.” Emily nods before swiping at her cheeks.

“I…I’m sorry, Beta Luca. I didn’t mean to offend you.

It’s just where I come from… females would never get away with doing something like what Sofia did.

If someone had done something similar to the Beta of Blood Moon.

” She shivers at the memory. “Well… it would be expected he would put her in her place.”

“And what place is that?” I ask, trying desperately to keep my voice calm and collected despite the rage coursing through my veins. Emily shudders and looks down.

“Below the male, submitting to whatever he wants, being hurt and publicly humiliated until she does. The more public the infraction, the more public the punishment.” She sounds disconnected from her voice.

Like she has floated out of her body and is blindly reciting something drilled into her without hearing what she is saying.

Emily flinches when Sofia rubs her arm, almost like she forgot she wasn’t alone. Sofia looks at me, a pleading expression in her eyes that makes me realize that this isn’t the first time that she’s seen something like this with Emily. That shakes me more than I’ll admit.

“How about we call it a day for today?” Sofia asks softly. Emily nods and allows Sofia to steer her out of the training arena. Luca and I are left behind watching their retreat.

“What the fuck was that?” Luca finally asks, breaking the silence.

“I don’t know. I told you her ex was an abusive piece of shit. But I had no idea this shit went on outside of her relationship, too. ”

“This is nothing like Sarah,” Luca says while putting a hand on my shoulder, holding me back from following the girls. “She’s obviously been through a lot. You can’t fake that kind of fear and dissociation. She needs our help.”

I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. I didn’t realize how much I needed to hear that.

“Have you seen anything like that before? It was like she wasn’t even here anymore.”

“Yeah, I’ve seen it. With you. When the fight was over and the adrenaline faded. You were like that, after we found your mom and the bond to Katie snapped.”

His words pierce through me. I remember that feeling. The emptiness. The numbness. The aching desire to disappear. Emily’s still in that place. She only escaped six weeks ago. And here I am, trying to get in her fucking pants. Like a selfish asshole.

I remember how intense everything was at the beginning. How I didn’t want to be here anymore and thought I could never get past my loss. But Luca and Ryan refused to accept that, and they pulled me out of it enough for me to throw myself into making sure nothing like that ever happened again.

Maybe I can return the favor for Emily.

“She needs our protection; I’m going to ask Ryan to let her stay,” I state, nodding firmly. Finally, sure how I feel. Finally able to admit, with certainty, there isn’t some nefarious ulterior motive for her being here. She’s a completely traumatized she-wolf who needs our help.

My help.

“She’s going to need a lot of help to get past everything she has been through.”

“Yeah, I know,” I say. Truth be told, I have no idea how to help her through the trauma she has experienced. But I know that I want to be a part of her healing in whatever way she will let me. And I can be patient. I can wait for her to be ready.

I’m choosing not to listen to that little voice asking, What if she’s never ready?

Because this isn’t about claiming her anymore.

It’s about being the one she’s safe with—even if she never chooses me back.