The She-Wolf Alpha (Book 1 She-Wolf Series)

With that thought, I pushed off the wall and headed back down the stairs to the other wolf in my home. Emerick was texting as I rounded the corner, but looked up when he noticed me coming.

“Everything okay?” He asked.

“Yeah. Luke was making sure you aren’t holding me hostage. I told him I asked you to be here. I forgot to mention the kidnapping, though,” I said with a wry grin.

“Hey now. Kidnapping is a strong word. I like to think of it more as… an escort,” Emerick joked, “Although, I do need to talk to the boys about their approach. We had discussed asking you to come back to the pack house with us.”

I laughed, “I’m not sure demanding I come with them and dragging me from my home was exactly what you were going for then.”

“Nope. But the result was the same I suppose,” Emerick said with his cheeky, boyish smile. He pointed to his phone, “They are setting up security and a perimeter for the night.”

“Oh. Good.”

“While not the most personable, they are excellent at their jobs. Stephen also issued a message to the pack to leave you alone for the time being. It should be a quiet night.”

“Okay. I’ll trust you on that front,” I told him.

He nodded and gave my hand a reassuring squeeze.

We settled into a comfortable conversation until the pizza arrived. Then, we started eating as Luke came down the stairs in sweats and a sweatshirt.

“There’s plenty here if you want some,” Emerick told Luke, motioning to the pizza.

“Awesome. Thanks.”

Luke grabbed a slice, settling into the chair next to me. These days he rarely turned down food, even if he had already eaten.

“Your mom said you made the varsity team this year,” Emerick told him. “That’s really impressive for a sophomore.”

Luke shrugged, “I’m pretty tall for my age so I think that gives me an edge.”

“That’s true,” Emerick said, looking at me.

He had told me earlier that Luke’s athletic ability had a lot to do with the fact he was a werewolf. Even so, I felt guilty that tomorrow he would no longer be playing football for his high school.

Emerick explained the werewolf high school had intramural sports, but that they didn’t compete against other schools because it would be pretty obvious the team was unusually talented and strong. They tried to limit the attention drawn to the pack as much as possible. Putting a bunch of newly shifting werewolves on a field of human counterparts, was a recipe for disaster.

“You look like you probably played sports back in the day,” Luke said, drawing me from my thoughts.

“I was more into martial arts,” Emerick told him.

“Is that code for ‘I’m in the CIA’?” Luke countered.

“Could I tell you if I was?” Emerick responded, conspiratorially.

“Touché,” Luke smiled and returned attention to his pizza, “I’m just trying to decide if you being here is because mom and I are in witness protection or something. You certainly don’t look like a real estate agent.”

“I’m more of an investor,” Emerick explained.

“Sure.”

I could tell he was still suspicious, but he seemed to drop it for now.

We all sat and ate pizza, chatting. Luke told us about his time getting burgers with his teammates. Apparently, one of the seniors got a call from his girlfriend who was furious he had forgotten about their homework date. The rest of the team could hear her yelling at him from across the table. They had given him a hard time for leaving early, but she was “super hot” so they understood.

Emerick nodded knowingly and I rolled my eyes. As we cleaned up, I figured Emerick would head out soon.

“Hey Luke? Why don’t we watch a movie or something before we turn in?” I asked him.

“You know mom? I actually have some homework I have to get done. Why don’t you and Emerick watch something?” He asked, innocently.

I narrowed my eyes at him. Now I was convinced he was trying to set me up with the tall-dark-and-handsome-sort-of kidnapper.

“Can’t you just do it while we watch a movie? I’m sure Emerick needs to head out,” I tried not to sound desperate.

“It’s something I need my whole attention for. Sorry mom,” he apologized.

I could tell he was purposefully trying to sound nonchalant.

What had gotten into him?

“A movie sounds great. I don’t have any other plans this evening,” Emerick said cheerfully.

Now I turned my glare on him. Seriously?

“How wonderful,” I said through gritted teeth.

“Cool. You two have a good night,” Luke said with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

He bounded up the stairs. I watched him go, knowing full well he always did his homework in front of the television. I had given him a hard time about it, but he always did well in school so I hardly had a leg to stand on.

“Shall we?” Emerick asked and gestured to the living room.

I rolled my eyes, “Sure, pal.”

“It’s either a movie with you, or I have to go sit by myself down the street for the night,” Emerick pointed out.

“Ahh so I’m just the lesser of two evils then.”

“Not at all,” he frowned. “I meant I’m technically going to be here either way. This is a much more enjoyable option.”

I smiled, “I know. I was just giving you a hard time. My son is afraid I’m going to die alone, so he’s determined to get me to spend time with you.”

Emerick laughed, “Well I have to say, he does make an excellent wing man. I might have to talk to him about being overly trusting with your dates, though.”

“In his defense, my dad trained my sister and I in self defense our entire childhood, and I tend to brag I can handle myself,” I shrugged, “Although I was basically useless when Thing One and Thing Two grabbed me today. I’ve never had to use it. I completely froze.”

“Hmm. We will have to work on that,” Emerick said, his tone serious.

I grabbed the remote and settled onto the couch. I started scrolling through movies as Emerick sat next to me - like right next to me - and put his arm casually behind me on the couch.

I gave him a sideways glance, and he looked back at me innocently, albeit with a slight grin. I smirked but didn’t move away.

Honestly, I liked the comfort of his body leaning into mine. It had been a long time since I had snuggled up with someone. For a brief moment, a pang of guilt that I was betraying Travis pushed its way into my mind, but I fought it. I reminded myself we were just watching a movie.

I chose a rom-com I thought Emerick would protest, but he stayed silent and seemed content. We both relaxed and soon were laughing together. I pulled a blanket off the back of the couch as the night wore on, and we snuggled underneath.

When the movie ended, I could feel my eyelids growing heavy, but I found myself disappointed that this would probably be the conclusion to our night. Knowing I wasn’t going to have restful sleep tonight anyway, I turned to my movie companion.

“Have any interest in indulging in my late night guilty pleasure with me?”

“Always,” he replied without hesitation.

I smiled and jumped up from the couch. I made my way over to the freezer and pulled out my hidden carton of Ben and Jerry’s and two spoons. As I settled back into the crook of Emerick’s arm, I handed him a spoon and reached for the remote. He looked at me with a curious grin. I smiled back before turning on Family Feud.

“Game shows and ice cream,” I explained, pulling my knees up and draping the blanket back over me.

“I love it,” he said genuinely as he dug his spoon into the tub.

“Thank you for this,” I murmured, tilting my head back to meet his gaze.

“I’m sorry it wasn’t really the normal night you were looking for,” he replied, looking down at me.

“No it wasn’t,” I conceded, “But it was a nice, quiet evening. Something tells me I won’t be getting many of those in the coming weeks.”

He stayed quiet and I snuggled further into his chest. For tonight, I was just going to enjoy letting this man in on my life and pretend that everything wouldn’t change tomorrow. I decided I wasn’t going to dwell, and I wasn’t going to make this more than it was. While this might not be appropriate or right, I needed the comfort and someone to shoulder the burden with me. I vaguely heard the lightning round start as I fell asleep to the heartbeat of the beautiful man holding me.

~

I was startled awake when I felt Emerick move beneath me.

“Mmm,” I protested.

“I’m sorry, but I think I probably need to get out of here before Luke gets up.”

I shot up suddenly wide awake, “Oh my god. You’re right.”

“Shhh, it’s okay. It’s like four in the morning,” he said, helping me up. “I was hoping to sneak out without waking you.”

“I should probably head up to bed, anyways,” I rubbed the sleep from my eyes. “I don’t normally fall asleep on the couch. Wouldn’t want him to get the wrong idea.”

“Right,” he said with a small smile and started walking to the entryway.

I wrapped the blanket around myself and followed. At the door, he turned like there was something he wanted to say but thought better of it. Instead, he wrapped an arm around my waist and placed one on my cheek. I knew he wanted to kiss me, and I was immediately tense. He seemed to sense it. Instead, kissed my forehead, gave me a tight hug, and left out the door without another word.