Page 23 of His Wild Mate

A man and a woman walked in.

“It's okay,” Emmett reassured me. “They're friends.”

“Thomas, did it work?” James asked.

“Appears so. They're dispersing for now. What the hell have you gotten me into this time?” he asked Emmett.

He started to protest, but the woman waved him off.

“Relax. He's just being grumpy because it takes a lot out of him to issue an Alpha restraint to that degree, but he'll be okay,” the woman assured. “So, where is she?”

Emmett nodded my way, yet he still didn't move.

The woman strained her neck, trying to a get a look at me.

“Lily,” the man warned, and I knew by his voice that this was Thomas, the Alpha.

I gulped hard.

“Can someone please just tell me what the hell just happened?” he ordered.

James started to fill him in while the woman, Lily, walked over to console Emmett.

I didn't want him. I knew I certainly couldn't keep him, but my wolf did not like another woman touching him, even if she was mated to the Alpha.

Emmett ignored her and dropped down to his knees to look at me.

“It's okay,” he assured me. “You're safe now.”

He reached out his hand but didn't touch me. A frustrated look crossed his face. He tried again, but his hand stopped just before reaching me.

“What the hell?” he muttered.

He tried once more, and still, he couldn't touch me.

“Thomas, what did you do?” Austin asked.

“Exactly what you fools told me to do. I issued an order by Alpha command that no one is to touch the girl and that they had to ignore her scent. That's what you said you wanted.”

“And you didn't think to exclude Emmett?” James asked.

My eyes flew up to his. Emmett looked like he was going to be sick.

“I can't touch her,” he whispered. “I can't touch my mate.”

“Take it back!” Austin yelled.

“I can't,” Thomas insisted.

“Take it back!” Austin exclaimed again. “You're mated. You know how crazy the mating period is. You can't do this to him. He has to be able to touch her or his wolf will go crazy.”

“Better to have one crazy wolf than a whole pack of them,” Lily said. “I'm sorry Emmett, but he can't do that. Not right now. You haven't seen the damage they did. It took everything out of him to issue that order. We can't risk it. Besides, the second he did that, they'd all come running back. Then what?”

“I'm sorry, but I think Lily's right,” James said.

“I'm so sorry,” Thomas said. “I hate issuing wide orders like that, but it was terrifying out there. Sam was in the mix already and is triaging the damages. And I don't mean to your house. We may have lost a few wolves. He's doing everything he can to save as many as possible, but he's pretty beat up himself. I've called Doc in to assist. At least I can ensure he keeps his head on straight. I've never seen anything like this. Didn't even know it was possible. But I can't risk lifting it to add an exclusion clause. Maybe when she's out of heat we can try it. But for now, this stands.”

Emmett growled.

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