Page 34 of Predator (Stope Packs #4)

“Thanks for flying in to get us,” Jackson said, stepping out of the truck with Emily already in his arms, considering she’d ridden on his lap from the landing area. Thane had flown the helicopter to pick them up, and Jackson had piloted it back, needing to get the hell away from Slate territory before Emily challenged Victor.

Oh, Jackson would’ve stepped in, but then they would’ve fought to the death. No matter who won—and it would’ve been him—their packs would’ve ended up in a war neither could afford.

“Any time.” Thane flipped the switch to turn down the heat. “Want a ride to the office?”

Jackson shook his head. “No. I’ll take one of my other rigs after I get Em settled in.” Nothing in him wanted to leave Emily alone right now, but he had to put measures in place to protect his pack. Plus, her eyelids kept closing. The female needed a nap.

Thane rolled his neck. “Great. I left everything you need on your desk as well as tons of cookie platters and holiday cakes for Emily from pack members. They really want her to join the quilting, knitting, Mah Jong, bridge, golf, soccer, book, and gin rummy clubs. If you have questions, give me a call. For now, I plan on getting some sleep.”

Jackson shut the door and moved through the snow and up his porch.

“You don’t always have to carry me.” Emily had an arm over his shoulder and felt exactly right against his chest.

He clomped across the porch and reached down to twist the doorknob. “You’re exactly where I want you.” True statement. Completely.

She looked over his shoulder as Thane no doubt drove away. “How are you going to get your truck back?”

“Dunno. I’ll figure it out later.” A truck was the least of his worries. His new mate had been entirely too quiet for the trip home. He opened the door and walked inside, placing her gently on the sofa before lighting a fire. Warmth flickered through the room, casting light over the walls and catching on the worn fishing gear that had once belonged to his father. Rods and reels, polished and maintained, hung neatly along one wall, reminders of summers that felt a lifetime away.

In the corner sat the single armchair that had belonged to his mother, its dark leather soft from age. It was the only thing of hers he’d ever known since she’d passed when he was a baby.

Jackson glanced at Emily, her face pale in the firelight. “Would you like something grander?” he asked.

Her gaze shifted toward him, distant as if she’d forgotten he was there. After a moment, she blinked. “Grander than this place?”

While he loved the home, he’d give her whatever she wanted. “We could build something else.”

“No,” she murmured, her voice soft. “I like your home.”

“Our home,” he corrected, crossing over to sit next to her. Her unique scent, all female and wild berries, calmed him. Completely. “I’m sorry about your pack.”

She swallowed and looked at him, composed as usual. He could feel her unshed tears since they’d mated, but he doubted Emily Nightsom cried very often. “I’ve been thinking,” she murmured. “There has to be a way to combine the packs under you.”

He’d tried to reason out the possibilities as he flew them home through the light storm. It wasn’t nearly as bad as the one from the day before, but it was enough to force him to focus. “We don’t have the numbers to defend more territory yet,” he admitted. “One-fourth of my soldiers were poisoned by the Ravencall pack five years ago.”

She sat back, her eyes widening. “What the hell? You never said a word.”

“Of course, I didn’t.” His voice remained smooth. He didn’t blame her for being irritated. “The second your father discovered the Copper Pack was vulnerable, he attacked. It was only because Erik Volk took over that they survived.”

Her head dropped. “Yeah, you’re right. I know. So, wait,” she said, her brow furrowing. “You’re down members. Is that why you work the mine?”

“It’s one of the reasons,” he replied. “I actually like getting my hands dirty. But yeah, we’re waiting for the next generation to come back. We’ll be better off once they return from college and other training programs. Until then, we make do with who we have, and we keep building.” His fingers brushed hers, grounding them in the moment. “We’ll figure this out, Em. Together.”

“That’s why you’re also bringing in new packs and new wolves,” she murmured, the firelight casting shadows across her face.

“Affirmative,” he said. “I’m glad I am, especially after learning the cause of your illness. All the packs need new blood.”

Damn, she was pretty. Tall and classy with that unreal hair. He’d thought of it before as spun gold, but that wasn’t right. The strands were like moonlight on frost, cold and luminous. Shit. He’d only been mated a day, and he was already waxing poetic. He wasn’t a guy who believed in love, not really, but he believed in family. In this connection between them.

Sorrow darkened her eyes. “It sounds like Victor is going to stop any programs to bring newcomers into the Slate Pack. We need new people. All the other packs are bringing in outsiders.”

Jackson wasn’t entirely sure about the Silver Pack, since Seth Volk was one stubborn bastard, but with his brother succeeding in the Copper Pack, maybe Seth would come around. Jackson didn’t give a shit about that right now. What mattered was Emily’s pack.

“I can’t reason with Victor,” Jackson said. “I could reason with your father and find an agreement, but Victor will challenge him. Your father won’t win. We could go to war, but we’d both lose too many soldiers. Neither pack can afford that. It would leave us vulnerable.”

Emily dropped her gaze to her hands. “I’ve been trying to think of a way to combine the other three packs to take him out, but the territories are too spread out.”

Jackson had already done the math. “If my pack was twice its size, or better yet, three or four times larger, we could combine our territory outside the other two packs with the Embervault Mine dead center.”

“It would be perfect,” she breathed.

Jackson shook his head. “We don’t have the numbers, Em. I’m willing to consider it, will even go to war, but you have to understand how many wolves would die.”

Her shoulders slumped. “That’s not what I want.”

He had to fix this for her now and not in thirty years. “We’ll figure it out.”

She swallowed hard. “Are you hungry?”

“No.” His eyes darkened. “Not for food, at least.”

Before she could respond, he pulled her onto his lap, his hands threading into her hair as he kissed her. Her heart stuttered against his chest.

“Tell me you’re feeling better,” he whispered against her lips.

“I’m feeling better.”

His brow lifted slightly. “Are you lying?”

“Yes,” she admitted, laughing softly. “I’ll call the doctor tomorrow and see if there’s any way to?—”

He silenced her with another kiss, slow and consuming as if he could chase the sickness from her body through sheer will. Finally, he slowed down, knowing she needed rest. “I want you to call the doctor first thing tomorrow.”

Emily ran her palm across his jaw, no doubt scratching her tender skin. “My guess is she’ll probably want to wait a week or two before testing my blood.”

“I would think so.” He enjoyed the heat of her body against his lap. Her warmth seeped into his skin, stirring something low and insistent inside him. “We’ll figure this thing out with your pack, but it may be that Victor steps up as the Alpha for the time being.”

She sighed, her fingers curling slightly against his shoulders. “I don’t completely trust him not to kill my father. Just to make sure the threat is gone.”

“I don’t think he’s that stupid,” Jackson replied, voice rough. “The pack would turn on him whether he liked it or not.”

She nodded, her eyes clearing. “That’s true.”

He could at least give her that peace. “I’ll speak with Seth and Erik. Even though none of us interferes with the business of each other’s packs, I think I can get them to agree to protect your father. We can tell Victor we’ll all go to war if he hurts Philip.” It was a long shot, but he’d give it a try.

She swallowed. “Okay. That would go against tradition, but why not ask?” Her hands slid down his chest. “What now?”

His breath hitched. “Now, you figure out what you want to do with my pack,” he said. “And I expect you to keep writing because you enjoy it. We could use your help with the safety procedures for the mines, like you’ve done for your father.”

“I’d like that,” she said, though the lost tone in her voice hadn’t disappeared. She barely concealed a yawn.

He stood, lifting her effortlessly. She yelped, smiling as he laid her back down on the sofa. The smile lingered on her lips as he grabbed a blanket somebody had given him at some point from the nearby chair and draped it over her, smoothing it into place and lingering on the good parts. “I want you to take a nap.” He let the Alpha show in his voice. “Your body needs to heal, and sleep is the best way. I have to run into town with Thane and look over schematics.”

Her eyes met his, heat flickering there. “Hurry back.”

“I will,” he promised, brushing a kiss across her forehead and stepping away before the temptation to stay overruled everything else. “I’ll have patrols on the house the whole time.” The place felt like home with her in it. He crossed the room, his boots scuffing softly against the wooden floor, and paused near the wall beside the fireplace. Reaching up, he removed a small painting, revealing a sleek security panel embedded in the wall.

Emily sat up, surprise widening her eyes. “What is that?”

“A security system.” Given the price of the damn thing, it’d better be as good as Thane promised.

She blinked. “You have an actual security system? Like a human one?”

He snorted. “Yeah. We’re all modern, remember? Thane insisted upon installing it when he updated City Hall awhile back. To be honest, I’ve never used it before, but now, your safety is all that matters.” He booted it up. Hopefully, it still worked. Relief flitted through him when the green light blinked and then glowed. “The code is 0802, just in case you need it.”

Her lips curved slightly. “0802?”

“August second.” He felt warmth rise in his chest despite himself. Would she remember the date?

“The day we kissed at the lake so long ago?” she murmured, her smile softening the tension in the air.

Jackson’s pulse kicked up. “Yeah. That was one hell of a kiss.” The memory still stirred something primal inside him. He’d waited so long to feel her mouth beneath his again, her hands gripping his shoulders.

Silence thickened between them, charged with something that had always simmered beneath the surface. Her gaze dipped to his mouth, and for a moment, he considered crossing the room and showing her just how much he still remembered that kiss.

Instead, he exhaled roughly and adjusted the panel. “Okay, that’s good. I’ll be back in about an hour. Take a nap.”

“You’re bossy.”

“You have no idea,” he muttered, hoping she understood him. “You’re gonna need your rest, baby.” With that, he engaged the alarm, opened the door, and jogged out into the swirling snowfall, his mind already focused on finding whoever the hell was trying to sabotage his mines so he could return and spend the night with Emily.

His mate.

Finally.