Page 58 of The Finder

“Okay, Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey for the win—How to Lose a Guy in 10 Daysit is. You’re going to love this.” Madison got everything set up; then came and sat next to her on the couch. The movie started. Emma began eating her pizza. Soon, she was lost in the movie and having a great time with Madison. They laughed together, cried, and ate way more pizza than two girls should. They quickly followed the first movie with a few more movies, making popcorn in between.

At one point, Emma snuggled down into the couch with a blanket she had pulled off the back of the couch. She was having such a good time and didn’t want it to end, but her eyelids were starting to feel heavy. Sometime later, she felt as if she were moving; but she was too tired to open her eyes. She felt a light, feathery touch on her forehead but she was too out of it to know what it was. Soon she was warm again, and she let herself relax into a deep sleep.

The next morning, Emma woke up out of a deep sleep and looked around confused. She didn’t remember going to bed last night. She sat up and yawned. Looking down, she was relieved to see she was still dressed in the clothes she had on last night. A smile played on her lips when she recalled last night. She couldn't remember the last time she had had such a good time. She needed to track down Madison and thank her for it.

After a hot shower, she wrapped in a towel and walked back into her room. She looked in the closet for an outfit. She stared at all the beautiful outfits. She decided to wear something nice for a change, since it was obvious she wasn’t going to the coffee shop anytime soon. As soon as she thought that, a frown crossed her face. She sighed and pushed the thought away. Maybe she could figure out what was going on today. Maybe yesterday was just a bad day. She chose a soft pink tunic dress that gathered a little at the waist before flaring out slightly. It ended mid-thigh. Emma paired it with a pair of soft gray leggings and a cream cable infinity scarf. She took extra time to straighten her hair. Then she put on a pair of pearl teardrop earrings that caught her attention. After applying a little makeup, she felt ready to face the day, not that she knew what she was going to be facing. “Anyway,” she said to herself. “Time to get out of this room.” She opened her door and stepped out into the hallway, noticing at once the voices coming from the kitchen area. She walked down the hallway and came to an abrupt stop.

The scene that greeted her wasn’t anything she could have prepared for. Garrett stood in the kitchen shirtless, wearing just a pair of low-slung black sweat pants, but that wasn’t what caught her attention. His chest was covered in blood, one of his eyes was swollen shut and black and blue, he had a nasty scratch on his cheek, and several gashes across his back when he turned. Liam was trying to use a towel on his chest, but Garrett knocked him back. Max stood off to the side, looking angry.

A wounded sound escaped Emma’s lips before she could stop it. Everybody froze. Garrett turned around and his one good eye locked on her. Emma couldn’t even move. She was so shocked at the gruesome scene in front of her. Emma finally made herself move forward. “What happened to you?” she whispered in a tortured voice.

“It’s not as bad as it looks,” Garrett grunted out.

A humorless laugh escaped Emma. “Well, that’s good because it looks like you got beat to a bloody pulp,” she said angrily. Garrett grimaced.

Liam laughed. “You think this is bad; you should see the other guy.” Emma glared at him, and he abruptly shut up.

Emma shook her head and decided to take control of the situation. “Where’s the first aid kit?” she asked.

“I don’t need—” Garrett started.

“Shut up,” Emma cut him off. Garrett’s eyebrows rose, and she saw Liam grin out of the corner of her eye. She ignored them both. She didn’t want to hear from Garrett right now. She was so angry, not at him necessarily but that this had happened to him. Well, she was still angry at him for yesterday too. “Now either you get a shower first, and then we will start bandaging you up, or I'll start bandaging you up first; your choice.”

“I don’t need you to—” Garrett began growling at her.

Emma grabbed the towel from Liam and stepped in between Garrett’s legs and started dabbing at the cut on his chest. That shut him up fast. She bent over him as he sat in the chair so she could work on cleaning off his chest. She swore he sniffed her hair while she was bent towards him, but she let it go.

“You’re going to get blood on your dress,” he growled at her.

“Well, it’s not mine; so, I guess I don’t have to worry about it, now do I?” she responded snippily.

“Emma,” he ground out.

“Garrett,” she gave right back to him. “Now be quiet and let me clean you up.” Emma focused on cleaning the worst of Garrett’s cuts. She could tell enough by looking at them that claws had made these marks. She couldn’t imagine what kind of diseases and whatnot could be in those cuts. She used antiseptic from the first aid kit to clean them. Garrett never made a sound but she couldn’t imagine how much it hurt. She willed herself to not shake as she did so. She could feel his sculpted muscles under her hands ripple with her soft touches. She tried not to focus on the tattoos that lined his arms and chest, but it was hard not to. “How long have you had your tattoos?” she asked.

“My alpha marks,” he grunted. Emma looked at him in confusion. “They’re my alpha marks,” he said. “The more marks on a wolf, the more powerful he is.”

That explained why he had a lot of them.

“You should check his legs for injuries too,” Liam said with a grin. Garrett growled at him but didn’t turn away from Emma.

“Do you have injuries on your legs?” she asked Garrett.

“No!” he said in a surly manner.

“I was just checking. Don’t get cranky with me,” Emma said before going back to work on his chest. When she finished with that, she moved closer to work on his face. She heard him suck in a deep breath, but she ignored him. She dabbed lightly at the cut on his face, cleaning it first, then putting cream on it. He started getting twitchy before she finished with him. “Sit still,” she ordered him, like she would a child she was trying to get to stay still for a Band-Aid.

He suddenly stood up quickly, knocking the chair back and grabbing her elbow so she didn’t lose her balance. “I think I’m going to take a shower after all,” he said gruffly. Emma watched him walk away before turning and sitting in the chair he had just vacated.

She saw Liam grinning at her. She scowled at him. “What?”

“Nothing,” he said, still grinning. He took a drink from his water bottle.

Emma looked at Max and saw him still looking out the window. He seemed uptight, even more so than usual. “What happened?” she directed her question to Max.

“Not my story to tell,” he said brusquely before going outside. Once the front door closed, Emma turned to Liam.

“All right, spill,” she said.

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