Catching Kate (Book 2.5 She-Wolf Series)

Emerick

I woke before the beautiful woman beside me. I watched her sleep peacefully, and longed to experience waking beside her every morning. Instead, I committed the image to memory in case today was the first and last time.

The thought brought about the familiar feeling of pain in my chest I now carried with me at all times. It was impossible to ignore. Coupled with the headache just behind my eyes, it was no wonder I lost control the day before.

The fact that Sam dealt with the same symptoms for a year and was able to hide it was a testament to her strength. I was not even a month in and already I could feel the toll on myself and Zef. As I told Kate the previous night, I had no plans to shy away from our bond. I fully intended to give my life in pursuit of happiness with her as my mate.

Obviously, I hoped it wouldn’t come to that, but I was prepared nonetheless.

I slipped quietly out of bed and made my way to the kitchen. Although it had never done much for me before, coffee was now a necessary part of my day. Otherwise, I found it difficult to get through the afternoon.

I pulled eggs, bacon and fruit out of the fridge to started on breakfast. I still had the appetite of a werewolf, and I assumed Kate would be hungry from the previous day. I realized that I hadn’t seen her eat anything. Although she might have during my incident with Zef.

As I cooked, I thought back to first time I saw Kate. She sauntered into my office, perfectly poised despite her casual attire. The second our eyes met, it was like an arrow had been shot from her heart directly into mine, forever tying me to her. I knew beyond a doubt that life wouldn’t be worth living without her. From that first moment, Kate was the light I didn’t know I was searching for.

I hoped to be the same for her. God knows she needed it.

The sound of her feet hitting the wood floor pulled me from my reflection. She padded gently to the doorway of my bedroom and paused there.

I turned to find her leaning against the wall. Her long auburn hair hung over her shoulders in soft waves. My clothes hung loosely on her smaller frame, making the always-put-together woman appear adorably casual. I did my best to ignore the outline of her full breasts through the fabric, but she was by far the sexiest thing I had ever laid eyes on. Unfortunately, today would be anything but a good time.

“Good morning,” I smiled at her.

Without saying anything, she came and wrapped her arms around me, burying her face in my chest. I returned the hug, but felt concerned at her demeanor.

“You okay, hun?” I asked her.

She nodded. “Yeah. I just… missed you when I woke up,” she said, quietly.

“I’m sorry,” I kissed the top of her head. “I wanted to make you breakfast.”

“You didn’t have to do that,” she said, looking at the food I was preparing.

“Of course not,” I told her. “I wanted to. There’s coffee if you want some.”

She nodded and pulled away. Without asking, she started opening cabinets until she found a mug. I smirked at her independence. I was figuring out she was rarely one to ask for help, even with the mundane.

After pouring her mug and adding a bit of cream, she leaned back against the counter and watched me cook. The bruise on her face looked especially gruesome this morning as the color was starting to change. Where before the entire thing was a deep reddish purple, the edges had started to yellow.

At least it was starting to heal.

I cleared my throat. “We need to file a police report with the Pack Enforcers today.”

“Why?” She frowned. “I just want to be done with Chicago. I don’t want to press charges.”

I pulled the eggs off the stove and took a deep breath. I ran a hand through my hair as I prepared for the bomb to detonate, once again blowing up my mate’s world.

“Kate, Thomas Stiler filed charges in Chicago,” I told her. “We need to document your injuries for your defense.”

She vehemently shook her head and clenched her fists around her mug.

“No,” she said. “He hit me. I was protecting myself.”

I pulled her into a hug as her voice became increasingly shrill. It broke my heart all over again.

“I’m not going to let him hurt you,” I promised her. “The king has people working on it, but we need to make sure we file paperwork with law enforcement to refute his claims.”

She remained tense in my arms but nodded.

“Fine,” she muttered.

“Let’s just have breakfast, and then we can head to the pack house,” I said, gently. “It’s going to be okay.”

She nodded again and pushed away to grab the plate I had set out for her. She moved like a zombie, and absently picked at her food. Despite my efforts at conversation, she remained lost in thought.

Jonathan dropped off clothes for her during the night, and she dressed without speaking. She took out a cosmetic bag after fixing her hair in front of the mirror. When I reminded her she shouldn't cover her injuries with makeup, she stared at her reflection wordlessly before turning away and walking out the front door.

I held her hand while we drove to the pack house, but she only stared silently out of the passenger window. My chest throbbed in agony as I watched the pain she was clearly stifling. I wrapped an arm around her as we walked from the car and to my surprise she leaned into me heavily.

In an instant, I picked her up and carried her the rest of the way. Instead of fighting me as I knew she normally would, she wrapped her arms around my neck and buried her nose in the collar of my shirt. It was clear to me then just how scared she was.

She sat down with the Pack Enforcement Officer and gave her statement. She recounted the years of abuse as well as the most recent incident numbly as though she was talking about someone else altogether. The officer remained professional, but I could see from the way he gripped his pen and the muscles tightening in his jaw that he was infuriated for my mate.

Kate stood against a blank wall and a detective snapped photos of her injuries. She undressed without expression when they asked so that they could document her new and old wounds. I squeezed my hands into fists to the point of drawing blood to keep myself from coming apart. Kate just stared blankly ahead.

When it was all said and done, she turned to me.

“I want to go home,” she whispered.

“Okay,” I told her.

I texted Luke and told him I would be out of the office today while we walked to the car.

‘Take care of her,’ was his response.

I was sure he avoided the investigations unit to spare his aunt further embarrassment, but he would no doubt be pouring over the file. Her entire family probably would. At least it would save her having to recount her trauma if she didn’t want to.

She kept quiet on the drive back to my cabin. I couldn’t find the right words so I just held her hand and drew circles on the back with my thumb. When we pulled into the drive, she gave my hand a squeeze before I let go. It was a simple gesture, but at least it was a sign of life.

I opened her car door and reached in to grab her before she could get out. Once again, she didn’t fight me carrying her inside. I kicked the door closed before sitting on the couch, still cradling my beautiful mate.

“What can I do, sweetheart?” I asked her after a moment.

“Can we just watch movies and eat junk food?”

Her question caught me off guard.

“Uh, yeah,” I told her. “Anything in particular?”

“The Proposal with Ryan Reynolds,” she said, definitively. When I gave her an inquisitive look she frowned, “What? It’s my favorite movie.”

“The Proposal is your favorite movie?” I asked incredulously.

“Yeah,” she said, indignant. “What were you expecting?”

“I dunno. Maybe Gladiator?” I grinned down at her.

“A close second,” she smirked. “Mostly for the attractive, half-naked men though.”

I rolled my eyes. “They got nothing on me, baby,” I drawled and flexed exaggeratedly behind her.

She giggled and slapped my chest lightly. It was the first genuine smile I had seen from her all day, and it brought warmth back to my chest. Watching her act like a shell of a person all morning scared the hell out of me.

I kissed her forehead as I scrolled through movies on the TV. She sighed and pulled a blanket off the back of the couch. I kicked off my shoes and curled up underneath it with her.

"Kate?” I asked.

"Hmm?”

"Are you… okay?” I asked hesitantly. “You seemed a little distant at the pack house.”

"Oh, yeah. That was a little weird, huh?” She pondered, her tone dismissive. “I think I dissociated a little bit.”

I frowned. “Why do you sound so nonchalant? I’m sure there’s a lot of trauma and -“

"Look,” she interrupted pointedly, “I’m perfectly aware I’m going to have to unpack all this shit eventually. Not today.”

I took a deep breath trying to find the right thing to say.

"Let’s just pretend for today, okay?” Kate asked quietly, pulling my face to look into hers. “I promise we can have a heart to heart later. We can paint each other’s nail and have a tea party while we cry about old boyfriends. I just… not today.”

Despite her sarcasm there was a pleading edge to her words. I wanted to argue, but a part of me knew she would shut down completely.

"Okay, Kate,” I agreed, begrudgingly. “Eventually you’re going to have to talk about it.”

”Yeah, yeah,” she waved me off and snatched the remote to play the movie.

That’s how we spent the entirety of the afternoon. We flipped through some of Kate’s favorite romantic comedies and raided my pantry. I was surprised to find she cried wholeheartedly at sad movies, but tried to hide it.

She loved salty snacks and had almost a non-existent sweet tooth. She was always cold and didn’t like to wear shoes unless she had to. She played with her hair when she was thinking. She liked when I kissed her for no reason and hated choosing what we were going to eat.

It was a bunch of little things that made up the person I loved more than anyone in the world. Spending a simple afternoon with her gave me the opportunity to truly know her. I longed for many more with her.

Late in the day, Beta Michael Stevens called.

“Hello?” I answered.

“Can you talk?” He asked.

I pulled the phone away from my ear. “I gotta go talk shop with Michael, babe. I’ll be right back.”

“Okay,” she sighed. I knew she probably figured it was about her, but she didn’t ask.

“Go ahead,” I told the beta as I stepped onto the porch.

“We sent the report over to Chicago PD,” he said. “They are dropping the charges against Kate. Unless she chooses to file a report with them, they won’t be arresting Stiler.”

“She’s not going to do that,” I told him.

“I figured,” he sighed. “We’ve gotten word that Stiler’s pissed. He’s hired a private attorney who is working on filing a lawsuit against Kate for defamation of character among other things. He’s not going to let this go.”

“God dammit,” I growled. I kept my voice low enough that Kate wouldn’t hear me and faced away from the window so that she wouldn’t see Zef in my eyes.

“Sam said that Ivar’s got one of his men on it,” Michael explained. “Lucian something-or-other. Apparently he’s been practicing law for… a while.”

“He’s a werewolf?” I asked.

“Yeah, one of Ivar’s inner circle,” he said. “He’s flying out now on the king's plane. They want documentation of his travel if anyone looks into. They are pretty sure Stiler is going to have Kate served tomorrow. We are working on having her address changed to yours so be prepared for someone to show up. It was easier than trying to coordinate something with her fake work address or the AR.”

Both the pack house and the Alpha’s Residence were under a spell that made it impossible for humans to find. My home, on the other hand, was publicly listed.

“Fuck, Michael,” I swore. “She can’t keep going through this. It’s going to break her.”

Michael stayed quiet for a moment.

“Emerick, she’s been dealing with this for four years,” he said, slowly. “It hasn’t broken her. She has more strength than you’re giving her credit for. Just give her some warning.”

I closed my eyes and fought for composure.

“I fucking hate that she’s going through this,” I told him. “I feel helpless.”

“Look Stone, if I've learned anything being mated to Cass its that women rarely need a man to solve their problems. She doesn't need you to fix it. She needs you to support her, so stop focusing on how it makes you feel and fucking figure out what she wants.”

Michael was right. Kate was an incredible woman. She would get through this. I needed to be there in whatever way was most helpful. Right now that was inside watching movies.

“Thanks, Beta Stevens,” I muttered.

He clicked off the line without another word.

I turned to find Kate watching me intently through the back window. Her eyes followed as I walked back into the house and sat down next to her. She looked at me expectantly, and I knew she was waiting for the bad news.

I sighed. “The police are dropping the charges against you. Stiler's filing a civil suit.”

She nodded. “I assumed that would be his next move. He’s an attorney with plenty of friends who would believe him or at least make him sound believable.”

“Ivar has an attorney flying out for you,” I explained.

She snorted. “I can take on Stiler myself.”

“I have no doubt you can,” I told her and I meant it. “But I think he’s probably going to do whatever he can to hurt you. Having someone in your corner might not be a bad thing.”

“You’re in my corner,” she argued.

“I’m not a lawyer, Kate,” I said, gently. “I’ll always have your back, but I don’t have the skill set for this fight.”

She frowned but eventually nodded.

“Okay,” she said. “But if he’s doing a shitty job I’m going to tell him. I don’t care if he’s the king’s bestie or whatever.”

I chuckled. “Of that, I have no doubt.”

She grinned back at me before grabbing the remote and pressing the “play” button. I stared at my little red-head as she watched the movie. Every moment I was with her, I found myself more in awe.

Even when she seemed to hit her rock-bottom she pulled herself together and got ready for another round. Where I felt helpless, she found a way to muster more strength.

There was no doubt she would handle the issue with Stiler with more grace than I ever could.