Page 38 of Kodiak's Heart

“Pwesent! Pwesent!” Ruby bounced up and down as she waited.

“Just a sec.” Emersyn pushed the door open and motioned Rissa inside with them. She left the door open, wanting the fresh air flowing through the screen door. “What do you say?”

“Peas,” Ruby cried, making Emersyn grin.

“Here you go, kiddo,” Rissa said, putting the gift on the floor in front of Ruby.

“Daddy got me pwesent,” Ruby sang over and over as she carefully unwrapped the box. She tugged the lid off then squealed with delight as she started pulling things out. “I gots baw-bies! They’s pwincesses. Dare’s fwee of ‘em. And yook! Yook, Mama, dare’s a beawr for me. It’s a byack beawr just yike my Daddy!”

“Yes, it is,” Emersyn agreed. “Why don’t you sit down and play for a little bit while Rissa and I finish talking?”

“I pay!” Ruby yelled, clapping her hands.

Emersyn squatted down to take the dolls out of the boxes for Ruby and realized Malachi had taken the time to take off the multitude of fastenings that attached the dolls to the boxes. They easily slid out. She put them by Ruby, kissed her atop her head and stood. “I’ll be right outside on the porch.”

Ruby nodded, already carefully looking over her new dolls and talking to them. Emersyn led Rissa back out to the small porch and picked up the conversation.

“I didn’t leave you. I had Ruby. I stepped away to take care of her.”

“Exactly. You left us. I’m not saying we blame you for the choice you made, but it didn’t have to be one or the other, Em. We would have stepped in to help you with Ruby. To help Malachi. Amber was part of us, too. Losing her wasn’t exclusive to the two of you,” Rissa reprimanded.

Emersyn shook her head. “I never thought. I… I’m sorry, Rissa.”

Rissa shrugged. “You lost a lot that day. Amber was like a sister to you. And your dad… We all know how much the two of you meant to one another. We wanted to be there for you. He was our alpha. We were lost without him. Then you pulled away. When Titus stepped in, some were just glad to have a leader. Some wanted to stay in the pack, and if that meant accepting him until something better came along, then okay. Others left. Once word reaches them that you’ve come here, I expect many of them will show up.”

Emersyn shook her head. Why would they follow her? Why would they want her to be alpha? She’d hidden among them, always playing the role of a human.

“Why?” She couldn’t hold in the question.

“My mother used to watch you when we were younger. I remember her saying there was a fire inside you that would burn down the world if your dad didn’t let you be what you were always meant to be,” Rissa shared.

“I’m nothing special,” Emersyn argued.

Rissa laughed. “I used to tell my mom the same thing, but it was a lie. And I knew it. There’s something about you, Em. A core of strength and honor so many are lacking. When you give your word, it means something. Every now and then, I swear I can glimpse something inside you, something you’ve become far too good at hiding. And I wonder how much better the world would be if you let it out.”

“I…” Emersyn stopped, shaking her head as she swallowed.

“I’m not sure why you look so panicked at that. I didn’t mean to make you feel that way. All I wanted to do was let you know we support you. If this is the pack where you plan to make your home, then we’d like to join. No offense, but it smells as if you’ve already mated with the alpha here, anyway.”

“We haven’t mated,” Emersyn disagreed.

Rissa lifted a brow. “If you say so.”

Emersyn let it go. “You’d want to stay here? To join the Holloway den?”

Rissa nodded. “If you’re here. Don’t you get it, Em? You’re our alpha. Whether you want the job or not. It’s been yours since we said goodbye to your dad.”

“Rissa—”

“Think about it,” Rissa encouraged. “If you want us to go after a few days, we will.”

“I’d never ask you to leave,” Emersyn told her.

“Maybe not,” Rissa agreed. “But will you ask us to stay?”

Emersyn didn’t know what to say. Rissa patted her on the shoulder, turned and headed back toward the cabin she, Natalie and Adam were sharing. Emersyn stood there for a moment, watching her. What had Rissa’s mom seen in Emersyn? What did Rissa see? Had she not been as successful in hiding her bear as she’d thought? Even worse, had she been so wrapped up in her own grief she’d turned her back on the den? She bit down on her bottom lip to hold in her groan. She had. Her father would be so disappointed in her.

She stepped back into the cabin, shutting the door behind her this time. Keeping an eye on Ruby, she took a quick inventory of the space. Two bedrooms, one slightly larger than the other. The front room where Ruby played opened into a kitchen. Half-bath lay between the bedrooms, and what she figured was a full bathroom was attached to the bigger bedroom. It would work for them. Matheus had set the suitcases in the bigger bedroom. A quick glance at the kitchen showed it stocked with plenty of essentials. She wouldn’t be cooking any big meals, but there were basic staples she could work with if she wanted.

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