Page 69 of The Finder

Emma thought about going down to say goodnight to Garrett, but she thought that might be awkward. She finished getting ready for bed instead. She had just laid down in bed when she heard a soft knock at the door. She sat up in bed. “Come in,” she called out. The door opened and she saw Garrett’s broad form slip inside. He walked towards her bed, and she slid over so he could sit down.

“I just wanted to check on you before you went to sleep. I know today was a lot. How are you handling everything?” he asked gently.

“Itwasa ridiculous day,” Emma said with a sigh. She hesitated for a moment before asking, “Do you think more challengers will come?”

Garrett was quiet for a moment. “I do,” he finally said.

Emma cringed. “Will they always come? Will we never get peace as long as I’m part of your pack?”

“Things will settle once we complete the mating bond,” he said in his deep voice. Emma was quiet. Maybe they just needed to move forward with it. Garrett reached out and took her hand. “I can tell where your mind is going. There’s nothing to worry about. I will deal with as many challenges as I need to; we’re not going to rush this. We’ll wait until you’re ready.”

“You’re ready?” Emma asked.

Garrett chuckled softly. “Yeah, baby. I was ready the first time I ever laid eyes on you. But that’s because I've waited my entire life for you. You’ve just been thrown into this life. It will take some time for you to adjust to all of it and for you to be able to give your heart to me. That’s okay. I’ll work for it.”

Emma wasn’t sure what to say to this incredible man. “Thank you,” she finally settled on. She sat up and hugged him. Feeling brave, she turned her head towards his. He eagerly met her halfway. He took control of the kiss right away. He pulled her towards him, eventually picking her up and pulling her onto his lap. She sat straddling him as the intensity of the kiss increased. He put his hand under her shirt in the back and traced his hand up and down her spine. Emma shivered from his touch. He finally pulled back slightly. Emma stared up at him, trying to control the racing of her heart. She put her hand around the back of his head and moved her hand through his hair. “You’re a good man, Garrett. I could see how much your pack respects you tonight. You’re a good leader to them.”

“I hope so,” he said and Emma heard the uncertainty in his voice. It was strange because he was always so confident, so in control.

“You are,” Emma said confidently.

“Thank you,” he said. “I’d better let you get to bed,” he said reluctantly.

Emma climbed off his lap and back under the covers. He stood up and bent over her, kissing her gently on the lips. “Sleep well, beautiful,” he said in a low voice. A moment later, he was gone. Emma missed him immediately. For as big of a man as he was and as intense as he could be, he had the ability to make her feel so calm and at peace. Those feelings stayed with Emma as she drifted off to sleep.

Chapter39

It wasn’t long, though, before her sleeping became interrupted and disjointed. She kept having dreams of wolf attacks and being kidnapped. Thankfully, none of them made her wake up screaming; but it was a long night anyway. She was thankful to get up early so she could workout with Madison.

She quickly got dressed and headed to the basement. Thankfully, Garrett and the other guys were nowhere to be seen. When she got to the basement, she was surprised to see Kyle there with Madison.

“I’ve got a proposition for you,” Madison said.

“What is it?” Emma asked.

“Well, every month, the pack hosts a fight night on the last Friday of the month. That’s next Friday night. I think you should participate,” she said.

Emma just looked at her. “Who fights?” she asked.

Madison shrugged. “Anybody that wants to. Everybody shows up at six p.m. If you want to fight for the night, you sign up. Garrett then assigns fights based on size, build, and ability. It ends for the night with the best fight of the night. It always ends with somebody facing off with Garrett. The regular contenders are Max and Liam or one of the other enforcers, but sometimes they forfeit their spot and let somebody else try. Kyle’s done it several times. I got to do it once,” she said with a grin.

“How’d you do?” Emma asked, curious.

Madison laughed. “He let me get a couple swings in then pinned me in like five seconds flat, but at least I got the chance to try.”

Emma smiled. “It sounds fun. Wait, you don’t fight in your wolf form, right?”

“No. You immediately forfeit if you shift. We actually have training for fighting in our wolf forms too, but that’s not what fight night is for,” she explained.

“I don’t know,” Emma said. “I’ve never gone against anybody but you before.”

“I know,” Madison said. “That’s why we I brought Kyle today. You’re going to spar with him for the next few days to get you ready for next Friday night.”

Emma looked at Kyle; he grinned at her. “He’s going to decimate me, isn’t he?” she asked Madison with a grimace.

“Yep, but it will be good for you,” Madison said without skipping a beat.

“Oh boy. Whenever somebody says something is good for you, it means it’s going to be terrible,” Emma said, cringing. Madison just laughed.

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