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Jackson

“Of course. I need to go say goodbye to Sofia,” Emily mumbles, stepping back from me. “I’ll find you before I leave.” She turns and runs out the door. Practically sprints. By the time I’ve picked my jaw up off the floor to go after her, she’s already gone.

What the fuck just happened?

She’s acting like everything has changed. And I guess, in a way, it has. But she doesn’t know why. She doesn’t know what I’ve just learned, what’s at stake. And I can’t even tell her.

I pace the length of the cabin, dragging my hands through my hair.

I can’t leave the pack. Not now. Not when we might have a lead on Katie.

It would be like abandoning her all over again.

And I can’t do that. Not when lives hang in the balance.

But I can’t let Emily leave, either. Not alone.

Not with Aidan out there. The memory of the state she was in when I found her in the forest has my wolf snarling with rage.

If she’d just stay here... But Aidan finding her again is her biggest fear. It makes sense why she doesn’t want to take any chances. And today, waking up and realizing I’m not her fated mate? That I wasn’t there. I’m such a fucking idiot.

I have no idea what to do. I wish I could talk to Katie or my mom right now. Their guidance would make everything so much clearer. But they aren’t here. On to the next best thing I have right now; Sofia.

I mindlink her, desperate for any update. She shuts me out instantly, telling me she’s already with Emily and can’t talk. She also calls me an asshole and tells me to see how being shut out feels.

Still, at least that’s another voice to try to convince Emily to stay. Hopefully Sofia can talk her round.

But there’s something else—something under my skin that wasn’t there before.

It’s faint but familiar. Like the day Emily arrived, when my wolf first reacted to her.

And now he’s clawing at me again. Anxious.

Hyper-aware. It’s like he knows something.

And for the first time, I let myself ask the question I’ve been avoiding:

Is it possible that she is my mate? And there’s just some sort of delayed reaction or something. I’ve never heard of anything like that, but maybe it’s possible.

The scent of antiseptic burns my nose and the fluorescent light burns my eyes as I enter the pack hospital. I've no idea how Doc or his nurses manage to spend so much time in this building. The nurse at the front desk directs me to Doc’s office when I say I’m here to see him.

“Hey, Doc, you got a minute for a chat?”

He gazes at me, curiously. Like I'm not supposed to be here. I get it. I’ve only ever come to the pack hospital when absolutely necessary. It reminds me too much of Katie. She used to work here. Training to be a doctor. I take a deep breath and stamp down the familiar painful tugging at my heart.

“Sure, everything okay?” he asks, eyeing me curiously—scanning for injuries that aren’t there—as he points to the seat in front of him.

Doc is one of the oldest pack members, but he always seems to stay up to date with everything going on.

He has a way of being gentle while still calling you on your shit. Perfect for what I need right now.

“Physically? Sure. Mentally? I’m about ready to claw my own damn face off.”

He snorts. “So, a normal day in the life of a shifter in love?”

“Yeah I guess. I was hoping you might give me some of your famous pearls of wisdom,” I say with a shrug. Doc barks out a laugh and slaps my knee.

“Is this because I’m the pack doctor, or because I’ve been happily marked and mated for close to fifty years?”

“Uh both, I guess.” I sigh, running my hands through my hair. “It’s about the girl I brought in here a couple of weeks back, Emily. But you probably know that already.”

Doc nods his head and raises a bushy eyebrow. “I’ve heard you’ve gotten close.”

“Yeah,” I laugh. “You could say that. Today is her twenty-first birthday and I guess we were both hoping we would be mates. But when she woke up this morning... nothing. Her scent’s the same.

The sensations I get when I touch her haven’t changed.

I’ve been drawn to her since the first moment I saw her, but I don’t feel any different now from how I did yesterday, and neither does she. ”

I let out a long breath of disappointment.

Doc nods slowly. “And?”

“And I forgot what day it was.” Shame floods me all over again. “She showed up, realized I wasn’t her mate, and I didn’t have a single good answer for her. She left thinking I don’t love her. That I wouldn’t go with her. That I chose the pack over her.”

The look on Emily’s face felt like a knife in my chest. Knowing I had hurt her was the worst feeling imaginable. My girl shouldn’t ever have to feel hurt ever again.

Doc doesn’t say anything, just watches me quietly. His silence forces more out of me.

“I guess I have a lot going on right now and I’m wondering if it’s possible that we could still be mates?

Is it possible the bond falling into place is delayed?

” My voice trembles, a desperate plea barely audible above the rising tide of my fear.

The need to have something to hold on to when everything is such a mess in my head.

I cling to the fading hope of keeping Emily.

“What makes you think you might be mates?” Doc asks. And if that’s not the million-dollar question.

“I don’t know, Doc. She made me wake up.

I love her. She makes me happy, and I think we have both been through a lot that helps us understand each other.

Honestly, she’s everything I could have ever imagined in a mate.

I get tingles when we touch, even when it’s not sexual.

Sorry, Doc,” I say, squirming in my chair.

Mentioning sex to Doc has me feeling like a kid who got caught with his hand down his pants.

“I am a doctor, Jack,” he deadpans. “Tell me, did you feel a pull toward her? Even before her birthday?”

“Yes. Since day one.” Even when I didn’t want to acknowledge it.

“Does your wolf recognize her as something more?”

“My wolf wanted her as soon as he saw her. He’s protective of her, but it’s different from how he is with others. He was furious with me when I held back. And now... he’s agitated again. The same way he was the day she got here. Like he knows that my life is about to change completely.”

“Hmmm,” Doc hums. “Sounds to me like Emily is important to you and your wolf. And typically, it's hard to get both on the same side when it comes to relationships. Unless, of course, they are pack, family, or mates.”

“So, you think there’s a chance? ”

“Not in the way you think,” he sighs. “The mate bond is a funny thing. We tend to believe that it’s the goddess assigning our perfect partner; our other half.

But sometimes, bonds are there for other reasons.

It might be that two packs have been at war until the opposing Alpha’s children learn they are mates.

Sometimes the bond is an opportunity for not just the mated pair, but for a much wider group. ”

I’m about to ask what he means when a mindlink from Sofia interrupts me.

“Hurry, edge of the pack boundary, past the boathouse. Aidan is here. He’s Emily’s mate.”

And all at once, nothing else matters. My blood turns to ice. I don’t care if he’s her mate. He can’t have her.

Hair sprouts from my arms and my vision becomes clearer as my wolf pushes against me, trying to force a shift immediately.

My wolf shreds the thin wall of control I have left.

Claws rip through my fingertips mid-stride.

He roars in my mind and thrashes against my strained control.

He doesn’t care about rules. He just knows she’s in danger.

I don’t pause to explain what’s happening to Doc.

There’s no time. I burst through the doors and leap down the steps to the medical center, shifting into my wolf in midair.

The sound of my bones cracking and the tearing of my clothing cuts into the quiet of the forest outside.

My paws hit the ground, and I race towards the lake.

I’m five minutes away at a run. The trees blur past. I push faster, faster. I have to get to her.

Communicating via mindlink with Ryan and Luca, I ask if they know what’s happening.

“Yes, we’re together. We’ll be there in less than two minutes. Warriors on alert and cutting him off. He’s not alone,” Ryan responds. There’s no time for formalities here.

My heart is about to burst. Why didn’t I leave with her when we had the chance? And how the fuck did he get here so quickly? Blood Moon is a nearly twenty-hour drive from here without stopping. It doesn’t make sense. We should have had more time to figure this out.

Every second before I get there drags out into what seems like an eternity. I should’ve left with her. I should’ve never let her out of my sight. The thoughts running through my head keep getting worse. It’s like the night I lost my family all over again. Only this time it’s Emily I could lose.

And it’ll be my fault this time, too.