Page 64 of The Finder

“To complete the bond; we mate,” he said in a low voice.

“By mating, do you mean we have sex?” she squeaked out.

He smiled at her. Reaching up, he put his hand on her neck and fingered her hair. “Yes, but it’s much more than that. In our world, it’s the equivalent of marriage. The actual mating is private, but we have a public celebration. The mating is the act of sex; but it’s much more intense. It’s a binding of our souls together. After the bite and then sex, the bond will fully lock into place. Then it can never be undone. It’s forever.”

Emma blew out a breath. “That’s a lot to take in,” she said.

“I know. That’s why I've been reluctant to share all this with you, but that was a mistake. I don’t want there to be anything between us. But with all that said, I’m not going to push you into anything,” he said gently.

“What if we don’t choose this?” she asked.

“I’ve already chosen,” Garrett said in no uncertain terms. “But if you reject me, I will do my best to let you go but I will forever watch over you and make sure you are protected. That’s my duty as your mate.”

Chapter 36

“You won’t just move on to someone else?” Emma asked.

Garrett shook his head. “You’re it for me, Emma. There will never be anyone else.”

“What if you don’t like me? How do you know it’s not just this ‘pushing’ you towards me because I'm your supposed mate?” Emma asked.

“I don’t expect you to understand all this right away. That’s okay. You didn’t grow up a wolf. But understand this: I have waited for you every day of my entire life. Trust me. I know what I want, and my wolf does as well—not just because you’re my mate, the one created to be my other half, to complete me in every way. Even if you weren’t made just for me, you would have caught my attention. No other female has ever caught my attention the way you have. Believe me when I say it’s not just the bond talking. We can agree to take things slow and just see what happens between us. But please, come to me if you have any questions. Don’t run from me. I’ll do better keeping you in the loop, I promise. Just don’t run away from me.” The last part was more of a growl.

“I won’t,” Emma said, grimacing. “I still think you don’t really want me; you just think you do. I mean it’s me. I’m certainly no supermodel or—”

Whatever she was going to say next was swallowed up when Garrett pulled her against him and kissed her hard. She gasped, and he took advantage of it, slipping his tongue into her mouth. Emma froze mentally, but her body responded. She leaned against his tight, muscular body. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer to him. Only when her lungs were screaming for oxygen did Garrett pull back, but he didn’t drop his hold on her. Emma looked up at him and ran her tongue over her swollen lips. Garrett dipped his head for another brief kiss. Then he dropped his head to her neck and breathed her in. She tilted her neck to the side, giving him better access. “You have no idea what you do to me,” he said in a low, growly voice. Emma felt his voice rumble through her entire body.

When he pulled back to look at her, his eyes were definitely mostly yellow. “Your eyes,” she whispered.

“My wolf is right at the surface,” he said, his voice still gruff. Garrett closed his eyes and rested his head against hers. He released her and took a step back. He put out his hand to her. “Come on. We need to get out of this room.” He pulled her to the door. “I need to grab something from my room,” he said, leading her to his room. He stepped inside and came back a moment later with a black sweatshirt. “Here, you need to cover up,” he said in a growly voice again.

“Oh,” Emma said as she glanced down at herself. “I can just grab one of my sweatshirts; I don’t need to wear yours.”

He stepped closer. “I need you to wear it. It’s the closest thing I can do to get my scent on you for the time being. Please,” he said earnestly.

Emma was still trying to understand all this wolf stuff. “Is this the equivalent of a dog peeing on something to mark its territory?”

Garrett smirked. “Sure. Now can you just put it on? I can’t have you around all the males that are downstairs right now. This is the best I can come up with. My wolf is really on edge.”

Not wanting to make him any more miserable, Emma took the sweatshirt and quickly put it on. It was huge on her. “It doesn't exactly fit,” she said with a grimace.

“It looks perfect,” Garrett said and Emma rolled her eyes. He helped her roll up the sleeves before taking her hand and leading her out to the living room.

Emma recognized most of the people in the room, with the exception of a few. Garrett was all business now. He snagged her hand and pulled her over to the table and sat down, pulling her into the chair next to him. “I’ve called each of you here because you need to hear what's going on as my top enforcers first before I tell the pack. I’m sure you’ve already heard rumors. Levi betrayed us,” he said in anger. Angry shouts and snarls sounded. After it quieted down, Garrett continued. “We have yet to discover the depth of his betrayal. He tried to take my mate away from me,” Garrett said through clenched teeth; his hand on hers tightened. He was quiet for a moment. “What I'm going to tell you tonight stays in this group for now until I decide to tell the entire pack. Even then, we are going to have to guard this secret with our lives.” He looked at Emma, and Emma hated the pain she saw in his face. “Emma, my mate, is a finder,” he said finally. Complete silence followed his announcement. “For those of you who don’t know what that means, it means that through touch, Emma can tell you who your mate is.” Emma looked around at the shocked faces in front of her. On every man’s face was the same look. She saw it for what it was—hope. She swallowed hard. She really hoped Garrett was right, and that she wasn’t going to be a disappointment to all of them.

Before Garrett could say anything more, they heard a commotion outside. The door flew open a moment later, and a guy Emma had never seen before came in. “Apologies for the interruption, Alpha, but the alpha from the Chicago pack is here.” Emma noticed the immediate tension in the room.

“Okay,” Garrett said. “Tell him I’ll be out in a moment.”

The man nodded and left the room. It was so quiet, you could hear a pin drop. Emma was terrified. Garrett dropped her hand and stood up. “Remember, what I told you tonight is to be kept a secret. Guard it with your life. I don’t have to tell you how valuable she is, not just because she’s my mate, but because she is the finder. She is your future. You guard her with every fiber of your being and protect her, no matter what,” he said. He looked around at each of his enforcers; each of them nodded at him.

Garrett turned to her. “I’ve got to go deal with this. I’ll be back. Eat something and rest,” he said.

Emma crossed her arms. “You said you weren’t going to do that anymore.”

“Do what?” Garrett asked.

“Keep stuff from me,” she said. “I’m going with you.”

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