Page 83 of The Finder

She heard a howl. She looked up and saw three wolves racing towards her. Her magnificent black wolf was at the front. He never stopped. He leaped at the man holding Emma. Liam’s wolf was with Garrett and together they pinned down the man. Emma turned to see Max and Kyle pinning down the other man. Garrett shifted. “You touched my mate,” he said in a tone Emma had never heard him use before. “You’ve signed your own death warrant. Why are you here? Why would you break a century-old pact and step foot on pack lands?” he asked with absolute authority. The man just stared up at Garrett with a small smirk. Emma looked around and saw more wolves gathering around them. They all were growling and baring their teeth. Emma wasn’t sure what was going on, but she knew it was serious.

“Enforcers, get my mate into the house and keep her safe,” Garrett commanded. Soon, Emma had no less than four wolves surrounding her.Go inside, Emma, Garrett said in a fierce voice through their bond. Normally, she would have argued to stay with him, but not this time. There was genuine fear in his voice, and that was something she had never heard from him before. With one last glance at Garrett, Emma moved quickly towards the house. She held the door open as the wolves came in with her. She closed the door behind her and went to her room to give the guys privacy to shift back and get pants on. She knew Garrett kept stacks of black sweat pants in the front closet for that very reason.

She didn’t have to wait long. She heard the front door slam and Garrett’s voice rising above the others. She took a deep breath and walked out of her bedroom. Garrett was striding towards her. He met her in the hallway and pulled her tightly into his arms. “Are you okay?” he asked.

“I’m fine,” she said, trying to help him calm down. “I’m safe.” He just held her in a bruising hold for a few moments. Finally, she felt him relax slightly. She pulled back a tiny bit. “Who were those men?” she asked. Even she could hear the fear in her voice. Garrett looked down at her. She could tell he was debating on what to say. “Shoot straight with me, Garrett.”

“Vampires,” he said. Nothing else could have shocked Emma more than that one word.

“Vampires?” she asked dumbly. “I didn’t even know they existed.” She felt like her world had just imploded.

“They exist all right, but we haven’t had any doings with them in over a hundred years,” Garrett said in an angry voice.

“Why here? Why now?” Liam’s voice came from behind Garrett. Garrett turned them so they could face Liam. She noticed he didn’t let go of her, though. Max came and stood next to Liam.

“I don‘t know, but I don’t think I’m going to like the answer,” Garrett‘s voice rumbled. Garrett looked at Liam. “Assemble the pack. Tell them we meet in thirty minutes.” Liam nodded and turned away. Garrett looked at Max. “Gather all the enforcers. We double security everywhere, including night watches. Nobody guards alone. Groups of two always.” Max nodded and was gone a moment later.

Garrett turned back to Emma. Emma could see the tension in his body. “What can I do?” she asked.

“Stay safe. Until we figure out what’s going on, you are with me every second of every day,” he said.

“Okay,” Emma said simply. Garrett leaned down and kissed her, but it was brief. She could tell he was distracted.

“Do what you need to do. Get something to eat. We leave in ten minutes,” he said. Then he turned and walked away from her.

Emma leaned against the wall in the hallway and watched him go. She couldn’t help shake the feeling that their world had just changed. It had shaken Garrett, and that man was unshakeable. She wasn’t sure what any of it meant. Only time would tell. She only hoped they would be strong enough to face whatever was coming.

We will,Garrett said in her mind.

Emma smiled.Yes, we will because we will face it together.

Always,came his response.

Epilogue

Emma stood in front of the mirror trying not to panic. She closed her eyes, trying to ease down the anxiety building inside her. She had spent the last eight hours getting prepped and ready for her bonding ceremony tonight with Garrett. She couldn’t believe how fast the time had passed, and it was finally their special day. They needed today. Their pack needed today. They needed one day to forget about what the future held. They needed a day to forget their troubles and celebrate. She was glad that she and Garrett would be able to give them that.

They didn’t really know much more than they had a few weeks ago when the vampires showed up. It had been strangely quiet since then. Everybody knew something big was coming. They were all simply trying to be as prepared as possible for it when it came. Garrett had been running himself ragged trying to get to the bottom of why the vampires had shown up and broken the treaty by stepping onto wolf land. But he hadn’t made any progress yet, and he was beyond frustrated. Emma was glad to have today. He needed it just as much as anybody else did. Emma sighed. After today, they would finally be mated or married, however you looked at it. She was excited about that. That wasn't why she was panicking.

No, right now she was panicking over the dress she was wearing. While it was beautiful, absolutely exquisite actually, it wasn’t her. It was a soft sequined cream dress that was strapless with a plunging v-cut that clung to every curve in her body. And since she had been taken in by the wolves and started finally eating more, said curves were much more noticeable. If that weren’t enough, there was a scandalous slit that went past mid-thigh. Paired with ridiculously tall nude heels, she looked like she was ready to walk the runway, not head to her bonding ceremony.

The dress had been created by one of the women in the pack, and Emma knew it was a great honor to wear it. The ladies had told her that repeatedly. She just wished it was a little less revealing. The older, mated ladies in the pack had fussed over her all day. Madison had spent most of the day with her and helped with her hair and makeup, but even she hadn’t seen Emma in the dress. Emma closed her eyes, willing the panic to go away. She would just have to choose not to think about it. It was almost time to head outside anyway.

“Are you ready?” Greta, the dear woman who had helped her all afternoon asked.

Emma turned and smiled at her. “Yes. Thank you for all you did for me today.”

“It’s my greatest honor to help the mate of our alpha prepare for her bonding ceremony.” She handed Emma a wrap that was created specially to cover the dress while traveling. Emma followed her out to the car and carefully climbed in.

Max sat behind the wheel. Emma was glad he was her security today. She didn’t want to have to talk; she wanted to just be able to focus on breathing. All too quickly, they were in front of the beautiful hall the shifters used for weddings and events. Max opened her door for her and put his arm out for her. She shakily put her hand on his arm. They walked towards the building. When he opened the door and walked into the entryway, Emma could hear the music playing. She could hear the quiet buzz of voices. Suddenly she panicked. She just stopped. Max looked down at her. “I can’t do this, Max,” she whispered. He looked down at her. “I need to see Garrett.” He simply nodded.

Garrett? She reached out through their bond.

Emma, you okay?Garrett asked. She could hear the concern in his voice.

I need you. I’m in the lobby,Emma said.

I’m on my way.

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