Page 67 of The Finder

“Which is exactly what I said,” Garrett said.

Emma crossed her arms over her chest and scowled at Garrett. “Thank you for coming,” she said to Paul.

Paul looked at Garrett. “I know it’s not any of my business, but when are you going to tell the pack about Emma?” he asked.

Garrett scowled at him. “You’re right. It’s not any of your business.”

Paul nodded. “I’m just letting you know there’s a lot of questions and assumptions going around right now with the alpha of the Chicago pack coming to challenge you.”

Garrett nodded. “I’ll do it soon.”

Paul nodded. “All right. You two get some rest. Let me know if you need anything else,” he said before he let himself out the door.

Emma stood still, not really knowing what to say or do next. Garrett looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders, and she had no idea what to say or do.

“Are you going to talk to the pack tonight?” she asked, hoping she wouldn’t upset him. He nodded once. “Let me go with you,” she said. He was already shaking his head. “Just hear me out,” she said. He watched her with a brooding expression and crossed his arms. Emma took a deep breath. “If this,” she faltered for a second before continuing, “thingis going to work between us, we need to start being more open with each other.”

“This is not athing,”he said in a gruff voice. “And you’re the one who ran away from me,” he said in disgust.

Emma cringed. “I know. I’m sorry.” Obviously, she wasn't going to live that down any time soon. “I don’t know what I’m doing. I know I messed up. The thing is, Garrett, I’m probably going to mess up and blow it again. This is all new to me.”

Garrett blew out a breath of frustration. “I know. It’s my fault too. I need to go talk to the guys. Then we’ll go from there. Come with me?” he asked.

Emma nodded and followed him out of the room. As they came down the stairs, everybody turned to face them. Emma saw Madison and Kyle, Liam, Wyatt, Paul, and a few others, though she couldn’t remember their names. The smell of food hit Emma’s nose, and her stomach growled. Garrett turned to her. “You need to eat,” he said. He walked over to where the island was covered in food. There were foil containers filled with food. Emma wasn’t sure where they had ordered from but it smelled delicious. There was chicken, beef, brisket, beans, rice, corn, chips and salsa, along with tortillas and all the toppings. Before Garrett could get any food, one of the guys stopped him and he was pulled into a conversation. Emma walked around them and worked on filling a plate for her and a second larger one for Garrett. She wasn’t sure what all he wanted, so she put some of everything and loaded up on the meats. She grabbed two bottles of water and their plates and moved towards the table. Two guys got up and moved when they saw her coming. “Oh, you don’t have to move,” Emma told them. “You’re fine.” They moved anyway. She turned around to find forks and saw Garrett grabbing a plate while talking to somebody. She walked towards him and put her hand on his back. “I got you a plate,” she said quietly.

She grabbed napkins and utensils and walked back over to the table. She sat down and started to eat. She didn’t have much of an appetite after everything that had taken place today, but she knew she needed to eat. Garrett slid into the seat next to hers.

“Thanks,” he said. Emma simply nodded. “Liam, go ahead and make the call. Let the pack know we’re gathering in thirty minutes.” Liam nodded and left the table. “Wyatt, grab twelve enforcers and get set around the meeting hall. Only one entrance open and check each person coming in.” Wyatt nodded. He grabbed a few guys, and they left. “Kyle and Madison, you’re protection duty for Emma 24/7. You’ll stay here with us until things settle down a little bit. Whenever you go somewhere with Emma, always have two more enforcers with you. Emma doesn’t go anywhere without four enforcers, understood?” Garrett asked.

Kyle and Madison both nodded and didn’t say anything. Emma knew they still felt bad about what had happened to her at the coffee shop. She hated that they felt that way. That was her fault. “Ricky,” he called out to a guy she didn’t know. “I want four enforcers around this house, 24/7 starting now. Max is working on something for me, but he knows all this. He’ll let you all know the schedule going forward when he gets back. Head it up for now.” Ricky nodded and grabbed the two remaining guys and walked outside.

It was finally quiet. Only Garrett, Emma, Madison, and Kyle were left in the house. Kyle and Madison stood up and disappeared, leaving Garrett and Emma alone. Garrett stood up. “You ready?” he asked. Emma nodded at his plate.

“You need to eat something. You have to be depleted after your fight,” she said. “I need to go change anyway.”

Garrett looked up at her. “You don’t need to change,” he said.

Emma laughed. “I’m meeting your entire pack for the first time. I’m not going to do that wearing your sweatshirt.”

“You could, though,” he said with a disappointed expression.

Emma smiled. “I’ll be right back.” She leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “Madison,” she called as she walked through the house.

“What do you need?” Madison asked, coming towards Emma.

“I need help finding something to wear to meet the pack for the first time,” Emma said.

“On it,” Madison said. She led the way to Emma’s room. After skimming through Emma’s closet, she pulled out skinny black jeans and a black v-neck top that had crisscross straps in the front right over her chest. “Put those on,” she said. Then she dug around the bottom of Emma’s closet. “Found ‘em,” she said. She handed Emma a pair of black heeled boots.

“I didn’t even know those were in there,” Emma said.

“I did,” Madison said with a grin.

Soon, Emma had on the pants, top, and boots. She turned around for Madison. “What do you think?”

“Hmm,” Madison looked at her for a moment. “I’ll be right back,” she said. She left the room and was back moments later. “Here, try this.” She handed Emma her black leather jacket.

“I can’t wear this; it’s yours,” Emma said.

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