Blindsided: Book 2 of the Bound Trilogy

~Emily’s POV~

Sometime during the night I decided to give Jack a chance.

Standing under the boiling, pounding, spray of my shower, I thought about my choice.

He is my mate, he wouldn’t do anything to purposefully hurt me.

It was ingrained in every wolf to love, cherish, and take care of their mates. It was basically unheard of for a wolf to hurt their mate on purpose.

Although, there were rare cases where a wolf would kill his/her mate and their families. But those wolves had become rabid before they attacked.

Jack wasn’t rabid.

I had nothing to worry about.

Ugh, why am I obsessing about this!

I decided to give him a chance and that is what I am going to do.

Turning the water off and stepping out of the shower, I reached to the left for the towel I left hanging on the wall.

I towel dried as I walked slowly towards my bathroom door.

I didn’t want to bump into the toilet or sink, so my feet shuffled across the floor rather than my normal walk.

My right foot bumped into the door and I pulled it open to enter my bedroom.

Thinking I was alone I did not wrap the towel around my naked body.

Instead, I walked without a care into my room and towards the direction of my dresser.

A low growl caused me to jump and drop the towel I was using to dry my hair.

“Who…who’s there?” I stuttered out.

A hand brushed my shoulder as the towel I had dropped was draped around my body.

The shocks rocketing through me from the brief contact informed me who was in my room.

“Jack!” I spun around, hoping I was facing his general direction. “What the Hell are you doing in my room?!” I screamed at him.

I had been in the shower, and unable to hear anyone knock on my bedroom door. There was no way to tell how long he had been in here.

Was he there the entire time I was in the bathroom? Had he opened the door and seen me behind the clear shower doors?

Was he disgusted at the sight of my deformed belly?

Goddess! Why am I thinking things like that?!

He is in my room, and I’m NAKED.

I need him to leave before I do something stupid, like kiss the living daylights out of him.

Instead of answering my question, he placed a gentle hand on my shoulder and turned me slightly to—what I assume is—where he was standing.

I forced myself to shrug his hand off. His touch was distracting, and doing some wonderful things to my senses.

My mind needed to be clear to deal with him. If I continued to let him and those blasted shocks get to me then I really was going to do that something stupid—probably more than just kiss him silly.

“Answer me Jack,” my voice came out more strained than I would have liked it to be. “Why are you in my room?”

I heard him clear his throat and sensed his hand reaching for me again.

Taking a step back, I gave him—what I hope is—a stony expression.

“I’m sorry,” his voice washed over me, sending delicious shivers down my spine.

Oh boy, I was in so much trouble.

~Jack’s POV~

I woke up this morning with the intention of talking to Emily.

I needed to prepare her for the fact her might-be-twin-sister and the said twin’s mate, were showing up today to meet her.

I was glad Devin and Leah could make it out here quickly, but it left me very little time to warn Emily.

Knocking on her door, I waited, rocking back and forth on the heels of my gym shoes.

My stomach was in knots about seeing her, about being close to her.

My wolf was straining against the hold I had on him to claim her as ours.

I knew if I let him free to do what he wanted then Emily would most likely never speak to me again.

We had to take our time with our mate. She has been through too much already without adding in my--and my wolf’s--raging hormones.

Glancing down at my watch, I noticed I had been standing outside her door for a few minutes.

I knew she had not come out yet this morning, as I had left my door open to keep an eye on her room.

My eyebrows drew together in frustration. Was she going to ignore everyone who comes to her door, or just me?

Deciding I had enough of waiting, I tested the knob. It turned with ease, and I peeked around the now open door.

Looking around the room, I noticed her bed had been slept in but was currently unoccupied.

Stepping in further, the sound of her shower going reached me.

Maybe, she just didn’t hear me, and was not necessarily ignoring me, I thought to myself.

Hearing the water shut off in the next room, I decided to stay and wait for her since I was already here.

No sense in coming back later and have her try to ignore me.

Better to get this out of the way quickly.

The bathroom door opened and my breath caught in my lungs.

She was stunning.

She obviously didn’t know I was here otherwise she would have dressed or at least wrapped the towel around her naked form.

Instead, she walked out, blissfully unaware that I was privy to her gorgeous form.

She brought the towel up to her hair and rubbed it against the damp locks.

I watched as her plump breasts jiggled with the movement above her rounded belly.

Still unaware I was in the room, she walked past me towards her dresser, giving me a delightful view of her derrière.

I could feel my wolf taking over and a low growl escaped my lips.

She startled, dropping the towel.

I was straining to keep my wolf from mounting her right here and now, but her naked form was not helping matters.

“Who…who’s there?” she stuttered out.

I couldn’t speak as the breath was still clogged in my chest.

Slowly, I reached down and grabbed the towel she had dropped.

I wrapped it around her shoulders, trying to cover the tempting body she had unintentionally displayed for me.

Realizing, it was me, she spun around to face me, only she was looking at her bed instead of me.

“Jack!” she yelled, “What the Hell are you doing in my room?!”

I could tell she was upset with me, but the site of the terry cloth towel barely covering her body, was sending my libido into overdrive.

I reached out with a shaking hand and gently turned her so she was facing me.

She shrugged my hand off, and I have to admit, that hurt.

I could see the frustration clear on her face from not answering her question.

“Answer me Jack,” she said in an unsteady voice. I must affect her more than I thought. “Why are you in my room?”

Finally, reigning in my wolf and my hormones, I sighed.

I wanted to comfort her, and unconsciously my hand lifted to touch her again. Her step back shot a stab through my heart.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I knocked, and when you didn’t answer I came in to see if you were all right.”

Well, that was a partial truth. I had knocked, but I came in because I thought she was ignoring me.

Emily just stood there staring blankly at me, her face showing no emotion.

Wanting to fidget like a boy sent to the principal’s office, I tried to explain my intrusion.

“I needed to talk to you about something, and when I came in you were just coming out of the shower. I hadn’t been in here long. I didn’t mean to startle you or anything. I just...” I was rambling, and from the small smirk on Emily’s face, she knew I was trying to dig myself out of this hole.

Rubbing the back of my neck, I tried to look at anything but her half naked body in front of me.

“Um, I guess,” I cleared my throat, “I’ll just leave and come back in a few minutes?” it came out more as a question than a statement.

She was nodding her head, “Yes, you should leave. I’ll come out when I’m done getting decent, and you can tell me what was so important you had to barge into my room uninvited.”

I could feel my cheeks heating up in embarrassment. She was right, I had come in unannounced, and it was humiliating to have it pointed out.

The last time I had been this embarrassed was when I was caught spying on the senior girls in the school locker room when I was thirteen.

The girls’ coach made me strip down to my skivvies and parade around the entire gym class.

I don’t think I’ll ever get over that humiliation, but seeing a mostly naked Janet Kimpke—the hottest senior girl in our school—was mostly worth it.

“Um, okay, I’ll just go…now,” and I made a beeline for her bedroom door.

Once the door was closed, I leaned against it and slid down to the floor.

This girl was going to be the death of me.

~Unknown POV~

I threw the surveillance equipment I had been carrying onto the lumpy bed in my hotel room. This day has been a total waste of time. That pregnant bitch never left the pack grounds!

If she were to come to town, it would make my job easier. I could follow her and get a sense of her routine. As it stands, she never leaves home and there was no way I could get in, as I was human.

I could probably sneak in if her family was like any other and lived in their own house, but no. This bitch’s family had to live in a fucking hotel full of monsters.

Frustrated, I ran a hand through my hair and grabbed my disposable phone. I didn’t want to make this call, but I needed help. There was no way I could get to her on my own.

“Slater,” came over the line after three rings.

“It’s Jax. I need some help with an assignment,” I informed my colleague.

“Well, this is a surprise,” amusement floated through the connection and I stopped myself from grinding my teeth.

If I let on he got to me I’d never get his help.

“What does the great Jax need help with?”

“I need to kidnap an Alpha’s daughter.”

“So, what’s the problem? It’s not like you haven’t done it before,” was the snarky reply.

I fisted the hand at my side to keep from crushing the phone in anger.

True, I usually worked alone, and could handle most assignments by myself, but this time was different, and Slater would never let me hear the end of it.

“She never leaves their fortress of a pack house,” I ground out. “The entire pack lives there and I can’t get in without getting caught. I need you and some others to come out here and cause a distraction.”

“Hmm…I don’t know Jax. What would be in it for me and my boys?” the greedy bastard asked.

Money wasn’t an issue, I was getting a hefty commission out of this and could afford to pay Slater and his men. Only, I knew Slater wouldn’t want money, he’d want something a little more…fun.

“Perform a raid on the mutts and do what you want with them,” I said, swallowing the bile that threatened to rise. I had heard of the things the sick bastard did to the bitches of the packs him and his men have raided. He doesn’t discriminate when it comes to his…play toys. “You just need to leave the Alpha’s daughter to me. No one is allowed to touch her other than myself,” I told him with force, if she came to my client injured it would be my head that would roll.

“Well, since you put it that way,” Slater’s voice lowered and became sickeningly sweet. “When do you need us by?”

Taking the battery out of the phone, I threw both into the trash. Slater had the information he needed. Now, all I had to do was wait.

In three days, the bitch was mine.