Chapter 32

"How do you like your room?" I asked Emma as she sat in the floor staring at her blank sheet of sketch paper.

She had been with the pack for two weeks and she was slowly coming out of her shy, scared stage and now she was showing a lot more anger and irritation at everything. Dr. Heath suggested that it could be the result of her being out of control in her own life for so long, she was just now lashing out. In other words, these were the side effects of Axle's work.

Emma shrugged and starred at the floor.

"Are you hungry? Lana made lunch. I could have her bring some up or we could go down to the kitchen."

"Whatever," she mumbled.

I sat and waited on her to clarify which she preferred, but when she didn't say anything more I pushed myself up from the floor and stood.

"I thought we might go outside after you finish eating. It's pretty and you could swim if you want."

Her reply was silence.

I sighed. "What do you want to do, Emma? We can do whatever you want."

She looked at me then and with a pitched voice said, "Can you take me to my parents and my brother?"

I froze. "N-no."

She knew they were gone. She saw them die. I knew this was one of times she was lashing out at me. She was hurting for her family and I was there.

"Then I'll stay here, thanks." She picked up her sketch pad off the floor and flipped through the pages. I barely caught sight of the pictures of her family before she closed it. She grabbed her pencils and stood up. She had extreme talent for someone so young. I didn't know many eight year old who could draw so well.

"Okay then." I didn't know how else to deal with this situation. "If you change your mind, let me know. I'll ask Lana to bring up your lunch."

"Don't bother. I'm not hungry."

She tossed her art materials on the bed and left for her small bathroom. She shut the door rather loudly and turned on the shower. After a moment that's when I heard it. Her soft sobs just under the sounds of the running water. No matter how much she tried to hide her emotions, they were always there, just beneath the surface.

"How did it go with Emma today?" Lana asked after returning from her room with the empty plate. I knew Emma would be hungry regardless of what she said. She was wired to be difficult right now and she had every right to be.

There was no right way to grieve. She would do whatever she had to to get through it.

"The same," I told her. "I don't know what else I can do besides keep trying. That is Dr. Heath's suggestion anyway."

She raised her brow at me. "Do you have a better suggestion?"

I shook my head.

"Maybe you should talk to your mom. She seems to be the mom of moms after all. She might have some suggestions."

A small laugh escaped my lips. "She is that. I'll never live up to her legacy."

"Who could?" Jennifer joked upon entering the kitchen. I was so glad to have her back from our old pack, even though it had been more than a week ago since she arrived.

"Hey," I smiled.

"Hey," she grinned. "Tall, blonde and handsome is looking for you."

I narrowed my eyes. "Kieran isn't blonde."

"Really?" she said in fake shock. "I never noticed." She then shook her head at me. "I'm talking about Wyatt, sweetie."

"Has your mate heard you call Wyatt handsome?"

She rolled her eyes. "I do have eyes. It doesn't mean I'm in love with him just because he has a pretty face."

Lana laughed.

"He said he would be in Kieran's office," Jennifer said.

I nodded. "Fine. Will you please look out for Emma today?"

Jennifer narrowed her eyes. "The kid? You know, I don't think she likes me very much."

"She doesn't like anyone very much right now," I supplied.

"Fine. Go see tall and dreamy. I've got you covered."

I laughed at her. "Thanks."

I knocked on the office door even though there was no need. I knew Wyatt was waiting for me there. When he opened the door to me he looked frazzled and worried. It was clear he had been pacing the floor for some time. He was restless.

"Um...hi. Is everything okay?"

He shook his head and pulled me inside by my hand and shut the door. When he released me, he began pacing the floor again.

"It's bad, Claire. I don't know what to do."

"Oh jeez. What happened now? Did you and Kieran fight again?"

He shook his head. "It's nothing like that. We're good for now."

I raised my eyebrow. "For now?"

"I went to town today."

"Okay."

"And I had a fender bender. It was one of the new SUVs."

"Okay. Well that's bad, but I don't think Kieran will kill you over it. He can have it fixed."

He stopped his pacing and looked at me. "That's not the worst of it."

"There's more?"

He ran his hand through his hair making it stick up in places. Mixed with his nervous manner he looked a bit crazy. "She got out of her car to give me her insurance information and...oh heavens, Claire. What am I going to do? She was beautiful."

"Okay...so you told her she was beautiful and it freaked her out?"

"Worse. I sort of took her."

My heart quickened. "You what?"

"I know," he said guilty.

"You took a girl because just because she was beautiful? People go to jail for things like that." I started pacing the room now. "Jeez, Wyatt. I know you want to find your mate, but this is just insane. You can't just walk around abducting pretty girls. What were you planning on doing with her?"

"I don't know. I didn't plan that far ahead. I put her in my room. I didn't want her to see a wolf walking around and have a heart attack."

"Why would that scare her unless- great. Just great." I spun on him. "She's human?"

"There's more."

I shook my head. "I can only imagine."

"She's my mate."

My eyes widened. "Your mate? A human? Wyatt."

"That's what I'm saying."

Oh no. No. No. No. I stared at him in disbelief before letting my head fall in to my hands. A human here on the pack grounds. Kieran will flip. He will kill Wyatt. Of all the stupid things he could have done, he brought her here. Some random stranger, and human one at that and...wait. I looked back at Wyatt.

"You said she was your mate."

"Yes."

"How did that happen? How is that possible?" I had never heard of it before. Can wolves have human mates?

"It has been known to happen. It's just extremely rare," he explained.

"What will Kieran say? What are we going to do with her? Take it from someone who has been kidnapped. She will be pissed at you and probably never trust you again."

"I know. She hit me twice." He rubbed his chest and winced. "She hits hard for a girl."

I held up my hand. "Okay. First, don't say things like that in front of...what's her name?"

"Gray."

"Gray," I repeated.

"I was sort of hoping you could talk to her, maybe calm her down."

I pulled a hair band out of my pocket and tied up my hair. It was suddenly getting very hot in here. "I am only doing this because I'm afraid of what she'll do to you if go back to your room. Go get Kieran and tell him everything so he can fix this."

He nodded eagerly. "Right. Okay. I'll go do that."

He already seemed calmer.

I reached for the door and pulled it open allowing him to go ahead of me. "Tell Kieran I'll meet him here once I've assessed the situation."

"Got it."

I made my way up the stairs and to Wyatt's room and waited outside his door for a moment to listen for any signs of danger, but it was completely quiet. I took that as a sign it was okay to enter the room.

Without knocking I slowly opened the door and took a quick glance around. Within a few seconds something was abundantly clear to me. Gray was a small thing, but she was deadly and just as I suspected, very pissed off.

I opened the door wider and stepped in the room. She immediately picked up a broken lamp from the floor preparing to hurl it at me when I held up hands in surrender. "I'm unarmed and pregnant. Could you please lower that thing?"

She looked alarmed at herself for a second dropped it immediately. "Sorry. I thought you were someone else."

I took another glance around the room. "You made quick work of this place." Chairs and dressers were turned upside down, clothes strewn about the floor. Shampoo bottles from the bathroom busted and seeping into the carpet. And lastly a busted lamp lay on the floor. Small, but deadly.

"If you see that jerk that put me in here, tell him if I ever see him again I'll kill him," Gray said. I could see that she meant it too. She crossed her arms over her chest.

I blushed. "That was Wyatt. I'm sorry about him. I promise once this whole thing is sorted out we'll let you go home."

That seemed to relax her a little. She combed a hand through her long red, wavy hair and blinked. "What is this place, anyway? Are you all rich or something? This house is huge. It looks like a resort."

I offered her a gentle smile. "It's something like that."

"Are there anymore kidnapped girls here or am I the only one?"

"You're the only one. We don't make it a habit of kidnapping people, I swear."

She narrowed her eyes at me. "Then why take me? Is that guy Wyatt mental or something?"

I titled my head and tried not to laugh. "You could say that." His wolf is certainly mental.

"Great. I'm kidnapped by a mental person. Just when I thought my day couldn't possibly get any worse. " She sighed. "Look, I promise not press charges, just let me go and get him some help. I know a great therapist. I could refer him if it means he won't be taking anymore girls and locking them away."

If only she knew.

"Fair enough. I'll talk to my ma- my husband, and we'll get this whole thing sorted out."

She nodded. "Done. Just don't be all day about it. I have to pick up my kid brother from school at three o' clock and if I miss work again I'll be fired from the gym. I have two appointments today I can't miss."

"Work, brother, got it." I looked around the room. "Just try not to destroy anything else while I'm gone. Okay?"

"Fine, just hurry."

I stepped from the room and locked the door behind me with Wyatt's key. Lucky for him to have to two sided lock. On my way back to the office I heard Kieran raising his voice to Wyatt so I tried to hurry to them before they strangled each other.

I pushed open the door without knocking and stared at a red faced Kieran. He was giving Wyatt his best death stare. I quickly stepped between them and I looked at Kieran. "You know then. Good. Gray has agreed to not press charges if we let her go and get him..." I motioned over my shoulder to Wyatt, "some help."

He crossed his arms. "And you believe her?"

"She seemed genuine. I don't think she was lying. At least that's the feeling I got from her. She really just wants to pick her brother up from school and go to work. I think we have to trust her here. We can't keep her captive. I won't do that someone else."

Kieran's eyes softened and cupped the side of my face. "I know. I wouldn't expect you to."

"Wait, you're letting her go?"

I spun around to Wyatt. "Yes, we're letting her go! We can't keep a human here."

"She's my mate," he stated.

"I'm aware of that, but keeping her here isn't going to make her love you. Trust me, I would know about that. Humans don't feel things like we do. If you want her, you're just going to have to get her the traditional way. And don't freak her out anymore. I don't think your relationship can take any more damage. It would probably be best if you gave her some space."

His look of hurt squeezed at my heart. Poor Wyatt. He really didn't have the best of luck where his mate was concerned. I couldn't imagine having a human as a mate. They don't understand these things. This will certainly complicate things for him. "She hates me, doesn't me?"

I bit my lip. "I mean she did say if she ever saw you again she will kill you. But that was before I convinced her you were mentally insane. Maybe you should play that card and get her forgiveness."

He looked shocked. "You want me to tell my mate I'm crazy? She'll never accept me."

"It's not looking so good right now either," Kieran added. "I don't think you have a choice. She can't stay here so make it work."

Wyatt sighed. He looked upset by Kieran's words, but he was fighting hard to keep his wolf at bay. Through gritted teeth he said, "Fine," and spun on his heel and left the room.

Kieran sighed and sat down in his chair. "Does it ever stop around here?"

I rounded the desk and sat down in his lap. "I'm sorry. You can't really fault him though. His was only acting on instinct. What would you do if I tried to leave?"

He frowned. "Point taken. But the difference is you aren't human. She is. That complicates things. How could we ever trust her around the pack? If she finds out who we are she can't ever leave here. We can't take that risk. She has to go."

I sighed. "I know. I'll keep her out of the back where the rest of the wolves are and take her home using the front. You'll have to keep the wolves out of the way until we leave."

He agreed. "Take Leland and Lana with you in case you run into trouble."

I nodded. "Will do. Keep watch on Emma while I'm gone? Jen might need some help. And see if my mom will talk to her. She's in the nursery with the pups."

He cupped my face and brought my lips to him. "Of course. Be careful. You're wearing your tracker?"

I pulled up my wrist showing off my bracelet. "It's here."

"You can't be too safe with Axel still out there." He smiled, but only a little. "You know, maybe I will lock you up too."

I frowned. "We already had this conversation. I'm not going to live my life in fear. I won't give him all the power. I'll be careful."

He kissed me again. "I know you will. I love you, Claire."

"I love you, too."

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A/N

Another update for you! There will have one more chapter and then the epilogue. I also want to write Wyatt's story. Who would be interested in that? I don't know when it will be posted, but I'll announce it when it is. Stay tuned!

Comment, vote and follow!

Also, be patient for the next updates. My grandmother is not doing well at all and I have to help my family care for her. I'm having a very hard time with her condition so I'm not sure I'm in right state emotionally to write, but I'll do my best. Right now I only have two emotions. Worry and stress.

Thanks for sticking with me this far.

Gray is played by Molly C Quinn in my mind. Pic in this chapter.