Catching Kate (Book 2.5 She-Wolf Series)

Emerick

I blinked against the bright morning light. My splitting headache screamed against the stimulus, but I stifled a groan. When my eyes met the ceiling, I frowned. I wasn’t in my room.

A quick glance over my surroundings revealed I was in the pack house medical bay.

Fuck.

I passed out last night.

Kate must be worried sick.

At that thought, I felt a stirring at my side. I looked down to find her curled up in the crook of my arm.

She was here. All was well.

She’ll probably kick my ass for scaring her when she wakes up.

The thought brought a grin to my lips and I gently squeezed her ass with the hand that was wrapped around her. When she blinked, I kissed her forehead. She sat up abruptly and stared at me.

I smiled. “Hey, baby girl.”

She stared at me with her blue eyes wide. A million emotions flashed across her features in the span of seconds. I held my breath, waiting for the beratement I knew was coming.

She seemed to come to her senses a moment later. She set her jaw and I could see the fire return to her eyes.

“I, Kaitlyn McClain, take you -“

“Kate,” I said firmly.

“- Emerick Stone to -“

“Kate! Stop!” I shouted at her.

She stared at me in shock. Slowly, it turned to hurt and she looked away.

“Then reject me,” she said, quietly.

“Kate, that’s not what I meant,” I squeezed her hand. “I just don’t want you to make a rash decision because I passed out.”

“Because you passed out?” She repeated, her tone flat.

I nodded. “Yeah. I’m sorry for scaring you, but I’m fine. Still healthy as a horse.”

Truthfully I wasn’t fine. My head felt like it would implode at any minute. Every bone in my body ached as if I had been crushed under boulders during the night. It took increasing effort to maintain a neutral expression and keep Zef from growling audibly against the pain.

Kate stared at me in clear disbelief. She tilted her head and seemed to be waiting for me to say something further. I met her hard stare in confusion.

“Emerick, you didn’t pass out,” she said, her fierce gaze blazing into my own. “You had a brain hemorrhage and a prolonged seizure. You’ve been in a coma for over two days.”

My stomach dropped. I looked for any signs she was joking and found none.

She continued to explain, her voice devoid of any emotion, “I got out of bed to find you and you were sitting at the kitchen table. When you got up to go back to sleep, you collapsed. I called Luke to help me get you here, and they were able to save you with emergency surgery.”

She paused and looked away. I could see tears welling in her eyes, but she kept her tone even.

“Dr. Martin wasn’t sure you would wake up. If you did, no one knew what the lasting damage would be. They didn’t know if you would be able to recite the mating vow and secure our bond.”

I frowned. I knew that my healing had been greatly compromised, but I wouldn’t have guessed I was dancing that close to death. I assumed it would be a slower process.

“If I hadn’t woken up, you could’ve died alone on our living room floor. If Luke hadn’t answered my call, I might not have been able to get you help fast enough. If Trinity hadn’t healed you during surgery, you may not have made it out of the operating room.”

She looked me dead in the eyes before she said, “So, excuse me for not believing your 'healthy as a horse' bullshit.”

I swallowed hard.

“Kate, I accepted my fate. I know what’s coming.”

She narrowed her eyes at me and glared hard. “You would rather die than mate me?”

I shook my head and reached for her hand, but she pulled away. I let my own fall and took a deep breath.

“I’m just not willing to let yourself make a lifelong decision out of fear, hun,” I said, gently. “I know mating isn’t what you want.”

“How fucking dare you,” she snapped, her cheeks flushing. “I sat here for two days begging every deity I know of to save your goddamn life because I don’t know if I can live without you. When I pictured my life without you in it, I wanted to curl up and die myself. I fucking love you, you idiot! How can you think I’m making a rash decision?”

My mouth fell open in surprise while she scolded me.

She loves me?

She was still yelling, but I didn’t hear any of it. I grabbed her beautifully furious face and kissed her hard. She tried to shove against my chest, but I refused to let her go. After a moment, she gave in and sobbed while returning my kiss.

When we broke apart, I looked into her blue eyes still full of tears.

“I thought I was going to lose you,” she whispered. “I thought I was never going to get to tell you.”

I smirked. “You can’t get rid of me that easily.”

She snorted and reached up to wipe her cheeks. I watched her for a breath before speaking.

“I, Emerick Stone, take you Kaitlyn McClain to be my mate. Now and forever.”

Her eyes widened in shock and her mouth fell open before she quickly recovered and said, “I, Kaitlyn McClain, take you Emerick Stone to be my mate. Now and forever.”

I captured her lips in mine as I felt the bond slide tightly into place. Immediately, my entire body was flooded with a radiant warmth. Strength that had been absent for months returned with a vengeance. My once broken heart finally felt whole.

Zef gave a triumphant howl in my mind.

I pulled back far enough to say, “I love you too, Kate. Now until the day I die, I will stand by your side as the luckiest man in the world.”

“I’m the lucky one, Emerick,” she said. “Thank you for never giving up on me.”

Six Months Later

“How long did it say?” I asked, pacing in the kitchen.

“Five minutes,” Kate answered, biting her thumb nail.

“Okay,” I nodded. “How long has it been?”

She looked down at the timer in her hand. “Forty-seven seconds.”

“Goddammit,” I muttered.

“It’ll beep when it’s time,” she assured me.

“Maybe we should just check.”

I reached towards the counter. Kate quickly slapped my hand away.

“Ouch!” I jumped back, shaking my now red appendage.

“No!” She said, wagging her finger in my face. “We agreed.”

“You can look also!” I argued.

“The instructions say five minutes, Mr. Stone,” she said and held up the box. “We are waiting the five fucking minutes.”

I groaned and ran my hand through my hair in frustration. We glared at each other in stubborn silence for the entirety of the remaining time.

The piercing screech of the timer had us both jumping towards the stick on the counter. With werewolf reflexes, I grabbed it first.

“Hey!” Kate slapped my arm. “You don’t get to look first!”

“Woman, you better stop hitting me,” I growled. Truthfully, her attack was barely an annoyance. I just loved getting a rise of my fierce mate and judging by the fire in her pretty blue eyes, she was ready to let me have it.

“Or what?” She stood back and put her hands on her hips.

“Or I’m going to look without you,” I said, smirking.

“You wouldn’t dare,” she snarled and I couldn’t see her shifting to plan an attack. “You pinky promised we would do it together.”

I pursed my lips and looked at her as though contemplating. Zef chuckled in my mind.

“You could say doing it together is how we got here,” I mused.

Suddenly, she launched herself and jumped for the test in my hand. I easily raised it over my head and out of her reach. Even at five-ten she was much to short to challenge me for it.

“Dammit, Emerick!” she shouted. “You’re wasting time.”

I laughed. “Fine. Count of three?”

She nodded emphatically and I smiled back at her.

“One, two, three.”

Our faces squished together as we both examined the little plastic window where two pink lines stared back at us.

“Oh my god,” Kate breathed. “We’re going to be parents!”

She squealed and jumped into my arms as I whooped loudly. I spun her around the kitchen and held her tight. Her mouth crashed into mine in the next second and I staggered before pressing her back against the wall.

We parted, breathlessly a moment later. Both of us looked at each other, grinning like lovesick fools. I supposed we were. I knew I was. I was absolutely obsessed with the sexy redhead in my arms.

“Baby girl, I love you so goddamn much,” I told her.

Her eyes shone brightly and she cupped my cheek.

“I love you, too, Mr. Wolf."