EMMA Coffee was just as important to my well-being as air was. The coffee pot beeped, and I sighed happily. Thank heavens that it was done. I eagerly filled up my cup and added just a bit of cream before taking a long sip. The delicious caffeine was exactly what I needed this morning. I had a shit night for sleeping. There were maybe three hours of actual sleep if I was being generous. Then my mind decided to kick into overdrive, ensuring that I got no more sleep. It was a relief to get all of that off my chest with Ethan yesterday. But it also made me think about things that I had pushed away for so long. Granted, now I realized that refusing to deal with all the shit I went through was the wrong move. I never worked through it all, so I would have to find to deal with it and finally let go of the pain. I was worried about what would happen now that those memories were fresh again. Eight years of memories was a lot to work through, and I was worried that they would break me in hal

EMMA I thought about what he said. I knew I liked Xander. Maybe he was just having as much conflict with this as I was. I dared another look at him. He looked up and smirked right at me. I could not help but return it. Perhaps Diana, Sylvie, and Ethan were right all along. Although, I would never tell Ethan that or else his head would grow even further. Ethan chuckled, obviously catching the smirk war. “Now, go join that group,” he pointed to a group of six people. All eyes were on me when I approached the group. I kept myself from running back to the packhouse, so that was a plus. Little steps. It would take time to branch out from the habits formed at Blacktree. I needed to get used to overcoming my aversion to being near people and interacting with them. A tall redhead smiled and bounced up to me. They all looked around my age, so I wondered what their fighting style was like. “Hey, I’m Freya. You’re new right?” Her voice was very upbeat and peppy, which was like how Marsey no

XANDER He sniffed the air again and took off running in the direction of the scent. His paws thudded against the ground with every step he took. Energy thrummed throughout his body while he chased the scent. The closer he got to the scent, the stronger the energy thrummed. That was certainly new. Neither of us had ever felt that before. His body wove in and out of the trees with ease and quickly made it to the training field, where the scent was coming from. The floodlights were on, meaning someone was there. He carefully and quietly crept closer but still utilized the cover of the shadows to remain hidden. The person did not have to turn around for me to know exactly who it was. The blonde hair floating behind her was a dead giveaway. Emma’s back was to us, so she still had not noticed we were hiding in the shadows. Part of me wanted to leave and give her privacy, but another part of me was rooted. ‘Vanilla honeysuckle,’ Kai said taking another deep breath. He found her scent j

XANDER She moved her body until she was laying against his side and watched the stars above. It felt completely natural, and she seemed much happier than earlier today. If she liked watching the stars, she would love the view from the mountaintop that could be seen from her window. There was an entirely unobstructed view up there. It was one of my favorite places to go actually. It was quiet for a little while. Emma looked out at the water, lost in thought. She looked like she wanted to say something, but she stopped herself. Kai nudged her, causing her to smile. “You’re easy to talk to. It’s not because it’s me hearing my own voice. Trust me. That would be very lame. It’s because I know you’re talking back to me. Today kind of sucked. Well, the past two days kind of sucked to be honest. That’s why I was at the training field. I was trying to release some issues. I’m sure you don’t want to hear all this. Tell me about you,” she said, trying to change the topic. Kai nudged her agai

EMMA Xander’s sudden chattiness and openness was confusing, but I surely was not complaining. Talking to him was easy, and I appreciated how he let me open up instead of demanding answers. Ethan was right. He really was not a bad guy once you got to know him. There was more to him than I originally thought. That would teach me to not look beyond someone’s exterior. Although, it was a very sexy exterior. Perhaps I had been too quick to pass judgement on him. Sometimes my insecurities got the best of me. He really seemed to be putting forth an effort. The look in his eyes when I turned around and noticed he was in the kitchen would forever be etched into my memory. The hunger in his eyes made my stomach twist in knots. I wanted to push him up against the wall and kiss him, but I was not going to ruin the chance to actually talk to him. I felt like we made progress in the kitchen. Quickly, I made it to the bedroom and changed into something more suited for a trek outside than pajamas.