Evan entered the office looking for James and he didn’t find him anywhere. He assumed James went for a morning run to check up on things around the territory. Which, by Emily’s notes, he often checked on things first thing in the morning.
Evan decided he’d start the day by recovering the phone messages and checking email. The email went easily, and he’d got all the documents printed for the day. So, he started in on the phone messages. Nice, simple, call this person back about that. Nothing important or rushed. Until he found a message from James. His voice sounded distracted. What did Evan do now? Their guests were still here. They’d not concluded their business yet. This was a disaster in the making.
He tried calling Emily, but she wasn’t answering her phone. So, who did he go to now? James mentioned the Luna. Did he risk it? He was desperate for help and a second opinion. Evan dialled the Luna’s number and prayed she didn’t blame him for losing James. “Luna Janine? I’m sorry for bothering you, but I have a few issues down in the office. Could you please come to see me? It’s rather urgent, and we need a rather high level of secrecy on this.”
“I’ll be down in a few minutes. Is everything alright?”
“No, but I’ll fill you in on it when you get here.” Evan hoped that would stir her curiosity and concern to come quickly. He’d assumed correctly, and she breezed through the door not long after hanging up with him.
“Fine. What is so urgent that my son couldn’t come to me for once?”
“I’m sorry to have done this. But it wasn’t your son. In fact, you need to hear the message he left for me, well for us, this morning. I only just found it.” He played the message to her and watched her carefully for her reaction.
“To find himself. What a load of dung. He’s up to something, but it’s still odd that he didn’t take anyone with him. He’s not the time to go off alone.”
“I don’t know of anyone that’s missing right now. So, where would he go alone?” Evan couldn’t believe this. It’s his second day, and he’d lost his boss, and everything would fall apart in a matter of hours. “What should I do?”
“First, you did correctly and contacted me. Did you try contacting Emily?” Janine picked up the phone and dialled a number.
“Yes, and she’s not answering. Maybe she’s driving to the airport?”
“Far too early. She’s taking the red-eye out tonight. She’s still not answering. Perhaps she’s asleep and didn’t hear the phone. Send someone over to check on her.”
“Good idea.”
“I’ll see if I can get something from this cryptic message my son left us. He couldn’t have chosen a worse time for going MIA.” Janine sat down with the phone and began listening to the message again. Once Evan finished sending someone over to Emily’s home to ensure she was fine, Janine looked at him. “After I went to bed, did anything happen? I know Emily threw my son for a loop by leaving like that.”
Evan wasn’t sure what to say to that. Did he tell his Luna that his Alpha and her son, drank himself to oblivion and back? Then went over to Emily’s home and accosted her. “You will not like it. There wasn’t anything I could do at the moment.”
“I’m a grown woman. Just tell me. What happened?”
“He drank with Alpha Haden after dinner, but when Alpha Haden went to bed, Alpha James didn’t. He sat up, drinking rather heavily. Then he left abruptly, saying he’s going for a run, and I shouldn’t stay up waiting for him. Several hours later, I got a call that they saw Alpha James out near the lake house on the shore of the lake, and he was drunk. Emily was the closest person to the lake house, and I begged her to make sure that Alpha James was okay. It took some persuading to get her to go. But maybe she’s up at the lake house right now with him?”
“Get someone out there, then. Right now. Let’s find out what happened. Maybe they’ve come to their senses and mated instead of going their separate ways.” Luna Janine was always hoping for the outcome she believed everyone should have. James mating with Emily was what she’d always wanted. Sadly, she felt Rebecca wasn’t James’ mate. It wasn’t anything Rebecca did. Janine liked her well enough, but she didn’t feel their relationship would weather well.
“If they’ve just mated, wouldn’t it be bad to… Uh… interrupt them?” Evan couldn’t see this as a possibility. Emily wasn’t happy with James and resisted going to check upon him. “Look, I’ll get someone to go up there next. But what are we going to do with Alpha Haden when he makes his appearance? Or his daughter?”
“I don’t believe she came back last night. She’s with whoever it was Emily said gave her cupcakes.” Janine wasn’t a woman who suffered from those who were unpleasant. “Her father will need to track her down before he leaves, though. I don’t believe she belongs here.” What she meant was Annabelle caused far too many issues with people she encountered and last night’s dinner was just the icing on the cake. “I’ll deal with Alpha Haden and have him sign these papers. You find him. If you can’t find him, then figure out what happened after Emily went to look for him. I want to know that both are okay.” Janine snatched up the papers and stomped out of the office. As she left, she said. “I’ll find Alpha Haden and have him sign these. All you need to do is your job.” Then she’s gone, leaving him to get down to the truth. Gods, what would he find? No, he would have to go up to the lake house and look. If he found them newly mated, he’d leave them there.
“James, this is insane. What did you do? Where are we?” Emily couldn’t believe he wasn’t a victim. She was the victim. James kidnapped her, but she didn’t understand why he’d done this. “What do we have to talk about that we haven’t talked about a million times? I need to get back soon because I need to close up the cottage before I leave for the airport.” “Rebecca. Never mind about closing up your cottage.” James said simply as he watched Emily and any telltale response, she might miss and betray herself true feelings with. “We’ve never talked about what happened.” He tried to approach her but hesitated. “What’s there to say? We lost many people that night. R
It stunned Emily when James’ lips came down in an insistent, no demanding kiss. Ever since he’d found Rebecca, she’d shied away from any thought of James like this. Gods, she could feel the heat of his body as he pulled her against him. He’d caught her arms between them and now his hands roamed her back for the first time. Feeling her body for the first time. With surprise on his side, she clung there, feeling him, and the inexplicable response to his kiss, his body, even his demands. Time felt like it stood still, and Emily’s mind struggled to make sense of this new turn of events. Finally, she broke the kiss and hid her face in his chest. Breathlessly, Emily demanded. “What was that? That was wrong on so many levels. No, this can’t be happening and it can’t happen again.”
Emily’s eyes popped open to see the dusty ceiling about her. What just happened? Gods, they had sex. James just blew her mind. She knew he would. That’s why she’d avoided it. Yeah, she may have known that Rebecca didn’t plan to go through mating with James. She still felt like she was betraying her friends, and she’d never tell James about the hurtful actions Rebecca would have done if she’d lived. Oh, this complicated everything. Damon expected her to be at the airport catching a redeye to Montana. He planned to meet her at the airport, and he’d take her back to his territory. Then they’d get her settled into his territory, sign the documents, and make her joining official along with their mating. She’d made agreements, promises even to do this. Emily felt grateful to have this
Janine couldn’t figure out what her son was thinking, let alone where he’d gone. The boy infuriated her for some days. Though she was more concerned about Emily. They found the girl’s phone at the lake house amid a mess. She prayed they were together, wherever they were. Janine was thankful that they found no blood at the scene. Alpha Haden, thank heavens, was a man who kept a finger on the pulse of his pack. That meant every morning he checked in with his Beta for news, and to deal with their private business. This meant Janine needed to do something while she waited for him. So when he finished with his things, he found her pacing and demanding that they continue their search. Embarrassed that he overheard most of the situation from o
Damon’s phone rang, waking him up. “What? Talk to me.” He looked at the clock. Phone calls at three in the morning were never a good thing. “Sir, it’s Tommy. I’ve been here for three hours. The plane landed, and she wasn’t on the plane. I’ve checked she didn’t reschedule her flight. I tried her cell phone and there was no response. I tried contacting her several times over the last hour. I’m not sure how you want me to proceed.” Damon sighed in exhaustion, though he felt concerned too. Emily seemed so interested in this arrangement. Something must have happened. He’d need to call her and if she didn’t respond, he’d call her previous alpha. Someone must know what’s going on.&nbs
“What do you mean, everything’s settled? James, you’re screwing with my life here. You’re abusing your power as an alpha. This could start a war, for fuck’s sake. When will you ever listen to me? I won’t be able to fix this disaster this time because I’m involved in the mess.” Emily searched around for her clothes. She couldn’t believe now what they’d just done, and it paled considering his words. Emily couldn’t get her mind wrapped around it all. Usually, she could work out what his intentions were, but not this time. She’d been completely and utterly sideswiped. “We need to talk.” That was all James had to say before he pulled her back to him and away from their clothing on the floor.&nb
“Any response from young James?” Haden came up behind Janine and stood unnervingly close behind her. Janine felt very aware of him and couldn’t help but wonder why he did it. She knew he was aware of what he did. “No, and he’s not normally this impulsive.” Haden raised his eyebrow at Janine as she stepped away from him before turning to face him. “He usually has Emily or me, warning him of missteps he might encounter.” Haden sighed and shook his head. He didn’t comment on her strategic retreat, but continued to speak about her son. “What you’re saying is the boy never learned to think completely for himself. As an alpha, he must learn that all his actions and decisions have ramifications.
Evan sat at his desk having a private mental meltdown. Without Emily to ask, he struggled to find everything within the encyclopaedia of notes she’d given him. The bloody thing was even cross-referenced. Still no word from the search groups. He’d found nothing in all those notes about where Alpha James would disappear to. They’d checked the local motels and several of the hunting cabins, but nothing. “Luna, Alpha Haden, can I help you with something?” He prayed they needed him for anything else but searching for Alpha James. Just so he could get away from the feelings of failure and incompetence. “Have you heard anything from the search parties?” Janine asked in a gentle voice. Evan thanked his lucky stars she wasn’t in that angry state anymore. It was rare to see her in a full-blown a