Page 49 of The Finder

“Because you’re mine,” he said, his eyes flashing. He stepped closer to her. His hand transferred to the back of her neck as he slowly lowered his head, leaving her plenty of time to back away. His lips met hers in a gentle kiss. Emma didn’t even have a chance to respond before he pulled away. He looked down into her eyes. “That was for earlier. It should have happened before we had our night stolen away from us,” he said quietly.

Emma was unable to say anything. She just stared up at him. How was it even possible that this giant of a man was interested even the slightest in her?

“Well, I need to go to bed,” Liam said loudly, causing Emma to jump. She had forgotten they had an audience. Emma felt her face heat up.

Garrett shook his head and smirked. “I have to leave tomorrow to take care of some pack business. Please promise you will stay until I get back and we have a chance to talk. I know you have questions. I want to answer them for you, but I have to deal with tonight first.”

“Wait, what are you going to do?” Emma asked.

Garrett looked down at her and feathered her hair with his large hand. “Just take care of some business. Nothing to worry about. I’ll be back in a day or two.”

“Are you going after the wolves who attacked us?” she asked.

“Yes,” he said tersely.

“Will you be in danger?” Emma asked and placed her hand on his arm.

He looked down at her hand on his arm then back at her. She saw his eyes flash with a different color for a moment before it went away. “Nothing I can’t handle,” he said in a deep voice.

“Garrett,” she started, worried. “Do you have to go? Can’t you just, I don’t know let it go or something?”

He stepped closer to her. “Those wolves attacked my m—” he paused briefly. “They attacked you; I can’t let that go,” he said in anger. “I am also trying to track down who those men in the coffee shop were working for and why they were after you.” Emma saw more color in his eyes than had been there before. She was starting to realize he did that when he was really angry or emotional.

“Okay,” she said simply. She didn’t pretend to know anything about the world she had just fallen into. She wasn’t going to tell him what he should or shouldn’t do. “I’ll be here when you get back,” she said quietly.

“Thank you,” he said in a deep voice, relaxing slightly.

“I just have one question,” Emma said. He nodded. “Are you like in charge or something? Everybody calls you boss and gets their orders from you?”

“I’m the alpha,” he said in a powerful voice.

Chapter 28

“Oh,” Emma said, unsure of what else to say.

“Liam’s my beta,” Garrett continued. “My second in command.” That surprised Emma. It must have shown on her face. “I know,” Garrett said knowingly.

“Hey, what’s all this secret talk? I’m a good beta,” Liam said as he came over to join them.

“Max is my top enforcer and in charge of all security. Levi, Kyle, Madison, and Wyatt are some of my enforcers. You haven’t met the others yet,” Garrett said.

“There’s more of you?” Emma asked breathlessly.

The guys at the table laughed, and Garrett turned his scowl on them. It got quiet fast. Garrett turned back to Madison. “There are close to four hundred wolves in the Northwoods Pack,” Garrett explained.

Emma stared at him in shock. “Yep,” Liam said, still standing next to them. “We’re the largest pack in the country.”

Emma turned her attention to the others in the room. “So, you all,” she paused. “Turn into wolves,” she said quietly. She was having a hard time digesting all this information. They nodded. Emma suddenly felt too exhausted for all of this. “You know what, I think I’m going to go to bed. It’s late.” Without another word, she turned and made her way up the stairs. Her brain didn’t think it could handle any more tonight.

“Emma,” Garrett called out behind her. She ignored him and fled to her room. “Emma,” Garrett said again, this time closer. If she could just get to her room... He snagged her hand and turned her to face him. “Emma.”

“Please, Garrett, I can’t do this right now,” she said with her eyes closed.

“Your bag,” he said.

Emma opened her eyes to see him holding out her bag. “Oh, thank you,” she muttered before grabbing the bag and escaping into her room. She tossed the bag on the floor and climbed into bed. She didn’t feel like changing for bed. She had to get up in about two hours anyway.

Emma lay staring at the ceiling, trying to comprehend what she’d seen, what they were telling her. Try as she might, she just couldn’t make it work in her mind. Two hours dragged by before she finally got out of bed and started getting ready for work. She was grateful for something to focus on.

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