Page 20 of Mate Night Snack (Hollow Oak Mates #2)

EMMETT

T he walk back to his cabin felt longer than usual, though Emmett knew it was just his mind playing tricks on him.

Katniss walked beside him on the narrow forest path, her hand tucked into the crook of his elbow, her boots crunching softly against the carpet of pine needles and fallen leaves.

The afternoon light filtered through the canopy in golden streams, painting her dark curls with amber highlights that made something deep in his chest tighten with want.

She'd been quiet since they left Twyla's café, processing everything the fae-blooded woman had revealed about Ashwin's twisted pattern.

He could practically hear the gears turning in her sharp mind, cataloguing information, drawing connections, preparing for whatever battle lay ahead.

It was one of the things he loved most about her, that relentless curiosity paired with a courage that ran bone-deep.

Loved. The word settled in his thoughts like it belonged there, waiting for him to acknowledge what his wolf had known from the moment she stepped out of that dusty Jeep.

"You're thinking loud enough to wake the dead," Katniss said, glancing up at him with those hazel eyes that seemed to see straight through his carefully constructed walls. "Want to share with the class?"

"Just processing," he said, which was true enough. "Today's been heavy."

"That's one word for it." She squeezed his arm gently. "Learning that I'm apparently the latest in a long line of doomed heroines wasn't exactly how I planned to spend my morning."

They reached the cabin as the sun began its descent toward the mountains, casting the cedar siding in warm honey tones.

Emmett had built this place with his own hands during his first year in Hollow Oak, needing something that was entirely his after losing everything else.

The river rock chimney, the wide front porch, the windows positioned to catch both sunrise and sunset—every detail had been chosen with care, creating a sanctuary that had felt empty until now.

Until her.

He held the door open, watching as she stepped inside and immediately made herself at home.

She kicked off her boots by the door, hung her leather jacket on the hook beside his flannel, and moved to the stone fireplace where embers from this morning's fire still glowed faintly red.

The sight of her belongings mingling with his sent a possessive satisfaction through him that his wolf answered with a low, pleased rumble.

"I'll get the fire going again," he said, moving to add kindling to the grate. "Evening's coming on cooler than expected."

"Emmett." Her voice was soft but firm, the tone she used when she'd made up her mind about something important. "We need to talk."

His hands stilled on the piece of oak he'd been about to place. "About?"

"About what Twyla said. About patterns and choices and what happens next." She settled onto the worn leather couch, tucking her legs under her. "About us."

He finished building up the fire, using the familiar task to steady his nerves.

Flames caught and began to dance, casting flickering light across the room and painting Katniss in warm golds and deep shadows.

When he turned to face her, she was watching him with that focused intensity that made him feel like she could read every thought he'd ever had.

"What do you want to know?" he asked, settling beside her but leaving space between them. Close enough to touch, far enough to run if this conversation went sideways.

"Everything." She shifted to face him fully, one hand resting on the couch cushion between them. "The real everything, not the careful version you've been feeding me. If we're going to face whatever's coming, I need to know exactly where we stand."

Emmett studied her face, noting the determined set of her jaw, the way her fingers curled slightly like she was preparing to hold onto something precious. His wolf paced restlessly under his skin, urging him to claim, to mark, to make this woman his in every way that mattered.

But that was exactly the kind of thinking that had destroyed the other couples Twyla had described. Fate and instinct and magical compulsion overriding choice and genuine feeling.

"Katniss," he said carefully, "there's something you need to understand about what I am. About what happens when wolves find their mates."

"I know about the mate bond," she said. "When you left to go help the Tansley brothers after this morning, Twyla explained some of it, and I've done enough research to understand the basics from there. Magical connection, heightened protectiveness, that whole 'two souls becoming one' thing."

"That's part of it." He leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees.

"But there's more. When a wolf finds his true mate, it's not just emotional.

It's biological. Chemical. The scent recognition, the need to claim and protect, the way every instinct screams that this person belongs to you—it's all hardwired into what we are. "

Her expression didn't change, but he caught the slight hitch in her breathing. "And?"

"And I need you to know that whatever this is between us, it's not just the bond talking.

" He turned to face her fully, his storm-gray eyes meeting hers without flinching.

"My wolf recognized you as mate the moment you stepped out of that Jeep.

Hell, maybe even before that, in whatever dream or vision brought you here that was more than just the cold case. But that's not why I love you."

The words hung in the air between them, simple and raw and more honest than anything he'd said in years. Katniss's eyes widened slightly, her lips parting in surprise.

"Emmett..."

"Let me finish." He reached for her hand, covering her smaller fingers with his callused palm.

"I love you because you argue with me when I'm being an ass.

Because you see a mystery and chase it down even when everyone warns you off.

Because you looked at my scars and didn't flinch, didn't see a monster or a victim, just a man who'd survived something hard. "

Her fingers curled around his, warm and steady.

"I love your stubborn courage and your sharp tongue and the way you make me laugh even when I'm trying to brood." A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "I love that you came to this town chasing ghosts and ended up saving us all from becoming them."

"You don't know that yet," she said quietly. "We haven't won anything."

"We've already won the thing that matters most." He lifted their joined hands, pressing a kiss to her knuckles.

"We chose each other. Not because fate demanded it, not because some ancient magic forced our hands, but because we wanted to.

Because when I look at you, I see my future. And when you look at me..."

"I see home," she finished, her voice barely above a whisper. "I see the man I want to build a life with, supernatural drama and all."

The fire crackled in the hearth, sending sparks up the chimney and filling the room with the scent of burning oak and cedar.

Outside, the wind rustled through the trees with the soft whisper of evening settling over the mountains.

But inside the cabin, the world had narrowed to just the two of them and the weight of words that couldn't be taken back.

"So what does that mean?" Katniss asked. "In practical terms, I mean. If we're mates but we're choosing it rather than just accepting it, how does that work?"

Emmett was quiet for a moment, considering. "It means we make our own rules. Create our own bond instead of letting instinct drive us." He traced his thumb over her palm, feeling the delicate bones beneath her skin. "It means we promise each other things that matter more than magic."

"What kind of promises?"

"The kind that hold even when everything else falls apart.

" He shifted closer, close enough that her citrus and bergamot scent wrapped around him like comfort.

"I promise to trust your judgment even when my wolf wants to lock you away somewhere safe.

I promise to tell you the truth, even when it's ugly.

I promise to fight beside you instead of just fighting for you. "

Katniss turned their hands over, lacing their fingers together. "I promise to stay and fight instead of running when things get hard. I promise to see the man you choose to be, not just the one you used to be. I promise to trust you with my heart and my safety and my future."

"And if the mate bond kicks in anyway? If the magic tries to take over?"

She leaned closer, her forehead almost touching his.

"Then we remind ourselves that we chose this first. That whatever the bond gives us is just a bonus on top of what we built ourselves and we will always have control, especially against Ashwin.

Just because he broke the others doesn't mean he can break us. "

Emmett lifted his free hand to cup her cheek, his thumb brushing over the soft skin beneath her eye. "You sure about this? Once we do this, once we acknowledge what we are to each other, there's no going back. Ashwin will use it against us."

"Let him try." Her eyes blazed with determination and something fiercer, something that looked like love mixed with lightning. "I'm tired of letting fear make my choices for me in life. I’m finally ready to have my own story instead of trying to write someone else’s."

The space between them disappeared as naturally as breathing. Emmett leaned in and kissed her, soft at first, then deeper when she responded by sliding her hand into his hair and pulling him closer. She tasted like Twyla's magical tea and something sweeter, something that was purely her own.

When they broke apart, both breathing hard, Katniss rested her forehead against his.

“I feel like we just said wedding vows,” she said with a soft laugh.

“In a way, we did.” He let himself finally smile

"So how do we mark this?" she asked. "How do we make it official without all the traditional magical compulsion?"

"With our words," he said simply. "With our choices. With promises we make to each other instead of to fate."

She smiled, the expression transforming her face from pretty to radiant. "Then mark me, Emmett Hollowell. Make me yours the way I want to be yours."

He kissed her again, slower this time, savoring the moment. Against her lips, he whispered, "You're mine, Katniss Greaves. Not because the fates decided it, but because I choose you. Because you choose me. Because we're building something together that's stronger than magic.”

"And you're mine," she whispered back, her breath warm against his mouth. "Because you make me braver than I thought I could be. Because you see me and love me anyway. Because home isn't a place anymore, it's wherever you are."

“And when the time is right, I’ll mark you the shifter way," he promised with a low sexy growl followed by a deep, promising kiss.

"I love you," he said, the words coming easier now that he'd said them once. "Whatever happens with Ashwin, whatever this town throws at us, that's not going to change. I’m not running from you anymore."

"I love you too." She curled against his side, fitting perfectly beneath his arm like she'd been made for this exact spot. "And whatever happens, we face it together."

They sat in comfortable silence for a while, watching the fire dance and listening to the evening sounds of the forest beyond the windows.

Emmett's fingers traced idle patterns on her shoulder, marveling at how natural this felt, how right.

Like coming home after a long journey he hadn't realized he'd been taking.

"So," Katniss said eventually, her voice lazy with contentment. "What happens now? Do we tell people? Make some kind of announcement?"

"If you want to." He pressed a kiss to the top of her head, breathing in the scent of her shampoo mixed with pine and woodsmoke.

"Though honestly, I think most of the town already knows.

Twyla's been giving us knowing looks since you got here, and Maeve's been making jokes about my 'mate scent' since the day you arrived. "

Katniss laughed, the sound vibrating through his chest. "Of course they have. I should have known it wasn’t as subtle as I had tried to make it."

"Nothing's subtle in a town this size." He tightened his arms around her, already dreading the moment when he'd have to let her go back to the inn. "Especially not when it involves the local grouch falling head over heels for the mysterious stranger with the sharp tongue."

"Hey," she protested, poking him in the ribs. "I prefer 'charmingly sarcastic' to 'sharp-tongued.'"

"I'll make a note." He caught her hand and brought it to his lips, pressing a kiss to her palm. "Stay tonight?"

The question was quiet, hopeful, carrying the weight of everything they'd just promised each other. Katniss looked up at him, her eyes soft with affection and something that might have been relief.

"I thought you'd never ask."

Outside, the wind picked up, rattling the windows and sending leaves skittering across the porch.

But inside the cabin, wrapped in each other's arms and the glow of firelight, Emmett felt safer than he had in years.

Not because the danger had passed—if anything, it was just beginning—but because for the first time since his exile, he wasn't facing it alone.

He had found his mate, chosen his partner, claimed his future.

And he'd be damned if he'd let anyone take that away from him.