Page 64 of His Wild Mate

“It's delicious,” I agreed.

“Are you sure you guys want to stay here tonight?” Thomas asked. “I have a guest room or I can put you up at the Pack House.”

“He's right. We have no concrete leads on this guy and no way to tell how serious this is,” James said. “I’ll have the camera system completed and online tomorrow morning, but that doesn't do us any good tonight. They're only half up and not yet connected.”

“It's okay. I can protect her. She's my mate. It's my job.”

They shared a look that made me curious but seemed to irritate Emmett.

“Maybe I should stay over just in case.”

“Thomas, you stayed here last night and it's too much to ask you to do it again. We're all exhausted. Just go home. If anything happens, I'll call you guys.”

“Are you sure that's what you want?”

“Deaton’s working tonight. I can have him run hourly checks, just to swing by and make sure all's quiet.” James offered.

He frowned. “That will just wake me up every hour.”

“You're beyond exhausted and didn't sleep at all last night. You're going to sleep like the dead tonight.”

“Why didn't you sleep?” I asked.

There was a wild look in his eye when he glanced my way. I knew then it was because I wasn't here. I hadn't exactly slept well without him either. That should bother me, but I was coming to accept that it was just meant to be.

Every time I thought about leaving him, a sick feeling settled into the pit of my stomach. I didn't know how to stay, and I didn'tknow how to leave. It was terrifying. Even if I wanted to, I wasn't sure I could.

I had never trusted anyone with my safety, and here I was, trusting him and his friends to keep me safe here. No one seemed to know what this trespasser wanted, but I did. I'd been through it before and had my fair share of obsessive stalkers beyond the week of heat. Something told me that Emmett didn't need to hear about that right now.

In the end, they all left, leaving Emmett and I alone.

I still had that creeped out feeling of being watched and didn't know how to shake it, though being close to Emmett helped some.

You're just being paranoid, Paige,I tried to tell myself.

Once they were all gone, he took a moment to walk through the house and ensure every door and every window was locked.

“My wolf is struggling to calm down. That asshole came into our home, our sanctuary, and I'm not dealing well with it.”

“Do you need to mark the yard?” I asked.

He snorted. “That wouldn't go over so well with Thomas's wolf. And while I can get away with more than most because of our friendship, I have no desire to piss off Alpha Thomas.”

“We could leave,” I suggested.

“I will not be run out of our own house.”

“Can you honestly say you'll be okay sleeping here?”

“I don't know.”

“You need sleep, Emmett. I'm worried about you. We could just go to a hotel for the night or sleep out on the range.”

“No. It'll be fine,” he stubbornly insisted.

I didn't have the attachment to a place the way he seemed to.

“Okay then. Let's go to bed.”

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