Page 3 of Predator (Stope Packs #4)

Emily protested with a strained breath. “I’m fine.” Jackson carried her up the stairs to her bedroom. How did he know where it was? His grip was firm yet careful, the warmth of his bare chest pressing against her bruised arm sending tingles of awareness through her. At least the gashes in her side had almost healed.

Behind them, Nadia followed quickly, her footsteps light but hurried. “Are you all right? I didn’t see you go down. I’m so sorry. I should’ve covered your six.” Her voice sounded tight with guilt.

“My six was fine.” Emily tried to keep her voice steady.

Jackson’s breath warmed her temple as he spoke. “You must still be off from the kidnapping months ago. That kind of trauma can take a while to handle.”

“I must be,” she agreed quickly, wanting him off the subject.

His steps slowed slightly as if he considered her words, but he didn’t respond. He carried her into her bedroom, his stride purposeful when he laid her on the bed as if staking a claim.

Nadia hurried behind them and grabbed the throw blanket from the foot of the bed to drape over her sister.

“There are clothes in the closet,” Emily mumbled.

“Thanks,” Nadia said, rushing inside. She returned moments later, pulling a T-shirt over her head and hopping into leggings that were capris on Emily but fell to the tops of Nadia’s feet.

“You need clothing.” Philip had already yanked on pressed pants and stepped inside to toss Jackson a pair of slacks.

Jackson caught them, frowning but gracefully stepping into them. The pants were too loose and stopped awkwardly above his ankles. Emily coughed out a laugh despite the ache in her ribs.

“This isn’t funny,” Jackson growled. “You’re not safe here.” He turned to face Philip, who stood in the doorway, arms crossed over his bare chest.

Irritation clocked through Emily. “I’m absolutely fine.” The slight hoarseness in her voice belied her words.

“She’s a good fighter,” Philip snapped.

“What the fuck’s going on here?” Jackson snapped. “Your daughter gets kidnapped mere months ago, and now the Ravencall Pack attacks you? They had no idea I’d be here. They came from downwind. I didn’t smell or hear them.” His eyes darkened with something lethal. “Who sent them?”

“The attacker died before I could question him.” Caidrik stepped into the room, still naked with blood smeared across his chin and chest.

“Damn it, put on some pants,” Philip muttered, storming into the hallway.

Emily kept her gaze resolutely trained above Caidrik’s chest, but yeah, she’d snuck a peek at Jackson’s strong body before he pulled on the ridiculous pants. The rumors were true. The Alpha was built…well.

Wolves were accustomed to nudity since shifting shredded their clothes, but there were limits. Philip returned with another pair of pants and tossed them to Caidrik. The male caught them with an easy motion, his blood-streaked chest still rising and falling from the aftermath of the fight.

“You should reach out to the new Alpha of the Ravencall Pack.” Caidrik pulled on the pants, the fabric sticking to spots where blood had dried. “Either he sent these attackers, or they went rogue on their own.”

Jackson wiped blood off his cheek. “Perhaps the pack isn’t aligning with their new Alpha, although I understand why Erik Volk took out the previous one. I thought the pack just wanted to harvest and sell herbs and crap now?”

“I’ll call the new Alpha,” Philip replied grimly. “At the very least, they can come and collect their dead.”

A tremble started in Emily’s ankles, climbing up her legs like an icy current. The adrenaline crash was hitting hard. She gripped the blanket tighter, hoping no one noticed how her hands shook.

“Everybody needs to leave.” Jackson’s voice cut through the air like a whip. “Emily and I have to talk.”

Caidrik hesitated, his sharp gaze sweeping over Emily as if assessing her condition. “Nadia? I’ll be outside.” Then, with a brief nod to Jackson, he headed out the door.

“We’re leaving.” Philip cut off Nadia’s protest.

Emily twisted a loose thread from the blanket around her fingers. “Please set her up in the west wing. We’ll talk later,” she said to Nadia. “Sister to sister.”

Nadia lingered for a moment longer. Her eyes met Emily’s, and something unspoken passed between them. A flicker of concern? Loyalty, maybe? But when Jackson’s gaze shifted toward her, she huffed a breath and marched after her bodyguard.

Something unfamiliar and warm bloomed inside Emily. This female, her sister, had tried to protect her. That mattered. It stirred something deeper than obligation within her. Maybe having a sibling wouldn’t be so bad after all.

Jackson’s lips twitched as Nadia disappeared, amusement dancing in his eyes. He masked it quickly, but Emily caught the faintest curve of his mouth before his expression shifted back to something more serious.

Philip lingered in the doorway, his gaze flicking between Emily and Jackson as if considering what to say. “I rarely go back on my word, Jackson, but I didn’t have the right to promise my daughter to anybody. In addition, she has decided to lead this pack once I’m gone. So, she can’t mate you.” His gaze narrowed on Emily. “Unless she wants to. Because I’m young and healthy and don’t need an heir right now.” He gracefully exited the room and shut the door.

Silence thickened in the air around them. Jackson shifted his weight, the too-short dress pants doing little to diminish the air of authority he carried. His gaze found hers, steady and unflinching. Blood streaked his chest and chin—none of it his. His eyes gleamed with something primal, a reminder of what he’d done to keep her safe.

The room seemed to shrink around them, the air heavy with the weight of unspoken words. He stood at the foot of the bed, his broad shoulders casting long shadows against the wall, his gaze steady and unyielding as he took a step closer. Emily swallowed against the lump rising in her throat.

“You’re not as fine as you claim,” he murmured, gaze dropping briefly to the bruises peeking from under the blanket.

“I’ve had worse,” she replied, lifting her chin.

“I don’t like that. At all.” The rough edge in his voice made her chest tighten.

The rain began falling again, tapping softly against the glass like a distant heartbeat. The smell of water hitting earth drifted through the slightly open window.

Jackson stepped back and dropped onto an antique chair next to a feminine vanity, the seat creaking beneath him. His gaze hadn’t left her.

“I never agreed to mate you, so I haven’t broken my word,” she muttered. Of course, she was lying her ass off about stepping up as the Alpha for the pack. But they had to keep Victor from challenging her father until they figured out a better solution. “Unless you want to mate and take over my pack.” She kept the teasing tone in her voice, but she was only half-joking.

“Funny, but no. I’m rather attached to leading my pack.” His voice was low and steady. The antique chair groaned as he leaned back, his broad shoulders making it look too small.

Emily bit back a wince. If he broke that chair, she’d kill him. The beautiful antique had been her mother’s. “Why are you looking for a mate, anyway? Won’t that cut into your partying?”

“Not if you party with me.” He flashed a grin that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I would mate you, you know.”

“I’m not into partying.”

“I do that a lot less than you think.” His tone softened, the playfulness fading as honesty slipped in. “Truth be told, it would be a good alliance, and I’m fine with a contractual arrangement. Love is a myth. I don’t know where Seth and I stand, but if there’s ever a dispute between our packs and his or Erik’s, they’ll band together faster than wolves scenting blood. If that happens?—”

Emily cut him off. “I’m friends with both Seth and Erik. They won’t go to battle with us.”

Jackson shook his head. “They might not have a choice. A weak pack can’t be allowed to continue in the coalition. Plus, you and Erik were more than friends. You were engaged, and he’s already mated to somebody else. That should be a declaration of war.”

Emily’s left arm felt numb. How badly had she been hit? “I called off the engagement, which we created to free his brother to mate the woman he loves. It was an arrangement. When I saw how Erik felt about Luna, I broke it off. I’m happy for them all.” It’d be nice to be happy for herself, but she didn’t see that happening anytime soon.

Jackson held her gaze. “You really do seem fine that Erik mated Luna so soon after you ended the engagement.”

“I’m thrilled for them.” Her eyes drifted, almost against her will, to his bare chest. Even in a world of wolves, Jackson stood apart with cut muscles and impressive ridges that invited a female’s gaze. She dragged her focus upward, locking onto his blue eyes. A myriad of shades swirled within them, from icy and pale to deep navy, intense yet unreadable. Seth Volk had similar eyes, but Jackson’s held something darker, heavier. Something she couldn’t quite name.

“Thrilled, huh? I guess that’s better than war.”

Emily didn’t have the time or energy for war. Or for mating. “Your pack and mine can create a contract to protect each other even within the coalition. We don’t have to mate.” She probably didn’t have that much time left, anyway.

Jackson waved a hand in the air. “Contracts mean jack shit to wolves, and you know it. Bloodlines matter. Matings matter. My council is on me about finding a mate and settling down, and an Alpha female is needed. There are now two in your family.”

“Nadia? You’d mate her?” Emily questioned, the idea sending a sharp, unexpected pang through her chest. The sudden intensity of it shocked her. The idea of Jackson with her newly found sister made her want to puke.

“No. She’s adorable,” Jackson said with a slow smile, “but my eyes are on you, baby, and you know it.”

Yeah, she did. Probably because she was the only female who’d ever turned him down. Oh, the kiss that summer had been spectacular, and he’d wanted to take it further, but she had said no.

He had rolled his eyes and made some flippant comment about her being cold to his buddies later. It wasn’t the last time she’d been called that, but she blamed him for starting the rumors.

“What’s that harsh look on your face?” he asked.

“When you called me cold,” she said bluntly. “Years ago, at the summer get-together. The nickname stuck.”

His eyes sobered. “If it stuck, I’m sorry. But you’ve rejected your fair share of males throughout the years. If it helps, I find nothing cold about you.”

She didn’t want it to help, but it did. He was appealing and dangerous. And she wanted him. She always had.

But right now, she was the only thing keeping her damn cousin Victor from challenging Philip, and she knew it. She would side with her father, and the pack would side with them both, thinking she would step up or mate somebody who would. They didn’t know she was getting weaker every day from some odd illness that apparently the females in her lineage suffered from. That fact wasn’t common knowledge, and she wanted it to stay that way.

If she left and became a member of Jackson’s pack—her only option if she mated him—it would leave her father alone. Without her here to back him, Victor would attack immediately. Also, it wouldn’t be fair to mate Jackson with her sickness. She’d been getting weaker for more than a month. While Nadia’s arrival was amusing and welcome, she lacked fighting skills and wouldn’t survive as the Alpha.

Victor would probably kill Philip. And Philip couldn’t even see it. Or perhaps his ego was such that he didn’t believe it. She loved her father and wanted to protect him. She was also short on time. If she mated Jackson, would his pack protect hers, even if she died?

It was a fucking conundrum.

A knock came at the door.

“Come in,” Emily muttered.

Caidrik walked in and looked directly at Jackson. “Nightsom reached out to the Ravencall Alpha. Or at least he tried to.”

Jackson stood. The chair protested with a loud creak, but it didn’t break. Emily breathed out a relieved sigh.

“He’s dead already,” Jackson guessed.

“The Volk brothers probably don’t even know that yet,” Caidrik replied grimly. “But there’s more. The Ravencall and Ghostwind Packs are in negotiations to combine forces.”

“Oh, shit,” Jackson muttered.

The two rogue packs had been making inroads with the Stope Packs Coalition for nearly a decade.

“It looks like they decided to attack the Nightsoms and the Slate Pack first,” Jackson noted.

Caidrik nodded, his face grim. “Nightsom just took off to up the patrols and warn his soldiers. Should be back in a couple of hours.”

Silence fell like a dropped stone. Emily crossed her arms tightly over her chest. Jackson ran a hand through his hair, his teeth clenched. When he met her eyes, something shifted in his expression. Maybe resignation. Perhaps resolve.

“Emily,” he said, voice low but steady. “Your pack needs help and your father wants you safe. Mate me and you will be.”

“What’s in it for you?” Emily asked. Seriously. He was hot, dangerous, rich, and an Alpha. He surely didn’t need an unwilling mate.

He took a step forward. “My pack’s running low on Alpha blood. We’ve been holding strong, but the council’s been breathing down my neck since I took over at fifteen. They’ve decreed that if I don’t take a mate with Alpha lineage, they’ll try to remove me. I’d win the fight, but I’d have to put down too many of the pack’s elders.”

Ouch. So much for the thought in the back of her mind that he wanted her. Like really cared for her. She was so dumb sometimes. “So, you need a political mating to keep from killing a bunch of old wolves?”

“Pretty much.”

Emily let out a breath and rubbed the back of her neck. Her entire body felt like one long bruise, and her healing abilities had slowed. She had to hide that simple fact from him. “That’s about as romantic as a tax audit.”

Jackson’s mouth twitched. “Not aiming for romance here. Just honesty.”

She should’ve been mad. Should’ve been insulted. But instead, a laugh broke free before she could stop it. “God, I’m an idiot. I was actually pissed for a second that you weren’t proposing because of my hot body.”

“I mean, it doesn’t hurt,” Jackson said, deadpan.

She shook her head, laughter still bubbling under her ribs. The absurdity of it all hit like a slap. Politics, bloodlines, pack elders who were probably too old to even jump into the fight. And now, Jackson standing there like mating her was just another box on his to-do list.

But damn if some part of her didn’t admire the honesty.

The other part? That one howled in protest. Damn bitch.

She would find a cure for her illness and protect her father. And the entire pack. Plus, Jackson was dangerous on a level the female inside her felt. “I appreciate the kind offer, but my answer is no.”

Tension rolled from him, strong and sure. Then he smiled. “All right. Let’s negotiate this. You come into my territory as part of our courting ritual, get my council off my back, fall in love with the town, and then mate me.”

The words unfortunately sent a shock of thrill through her. “Counter-proposal.” She’d never mate out of convenience, damn it. But she did want to get into his territory—sooner rather than later, if the rumors she’d heard about his doctors were true. “I’ll come visit, get your council off your back, and find you a mate. I write romance and will put that to good use. In return, I have free rein while I’m there. You know, to see how modern you all are.”

His eyelids dropped to half-mast. “Final proposal. You visit, get my council off my back, and try to find me a mate. Good luck, because we’re really low in Alpha blood. If you fail, then you mate me. Either way, I’ll then give your pack a ten year license to dig deep in my Embervault Mine.”

She blinked. “Your what?”

Jackson snorted. “You didn’t really think your father wanted to hand you over just for an alliance between our packs, did you?”