Chapter 8
Emery
It’s a wild thing, coming so close to your heart’s every desire, getting tangled up in three-way sex magic, and then watching it crumble in the span of six hours.
I deserved a medal for how calm I’d stayed in the kitchen, listening while Tyler had laid out my every hope right there on the island counter.
Dying inside as Hudson shoved it all aside.
He had every right to protect himself. Every right to turn his back on his inheritance and go live the closest thing he could find to a normal life. Fuck if I didn’t understand that.
“I wanna do it again.”
Christ, those words had sent me reeling. An actual chance with Hudson? To hold him again, kiss him, and show him what he’d been missing out on all these years when I finally got my turn to bury myself inside him? To get all those gorgeous sounds to come out of him at my whims?
Hand me another fucking medal for shutting that down.
Hell, I would let Hudson ride me until his legs stopped working.
Until every muscle in his beautiful body gave out from exhaustion and he was left quivering in pure bliss.
Then I’d do the same to Tyler. I’d let Hudson watch as I bent that cocky asshole over and taught him every lesson he’d needed his entire fucking life.
“Fuuuck,” I groaned, adjusting my ripped and tattered jeans for the millionth time since I’d left the Garland house. Maybe there was some truth to that comment about the spell being incomplete. I’d gotten hard plenty of times thinking of Hudson, but this was on another level.
I rolled out from under the truck I’d been working on, slapping away grease on my pants.
A year after Hudson left town, I’d miraculously gotten the loan I needed to purchase the garage I’d been working at since my sophomore year.
The previous owner, my former boss, had only been hanging onto Felcove Auto because it had been in the family for years.
Poor guy didn’t know a carburetor from a tailpipe.
So, I’d basically been running the show my entire career there, with a little help from my right-hand mechanic, Vinny.
Must’ve done good enough work, because we never ran out of clients. Mind you, Felcove wasn’t exactly a booming place of industry, so while it paid the bills, I still had plenty of time on my hands.
Which, for a werewolf, is kind of a necessity.
My stomach rumbled as I got to my feet with a stretch.
It had been a while since I’d gone hunting, what with Hudson coming back into town, so my usual choice of nourishment had been forgone.
A deer or even a moose would hold me over for a few days at least, but once I let the wolf out, he just kind of did whatever he felt like until nap time, when I could regain control.
The one thing I really had yet to get a handle on—changing back at will.
It wasn’t like I thought of my werewolf side as a different entity from me.
We were one and the same, but he was my most primal instincts.
My urges. Only needs and overwhelming desires.
It was freeing, letting it all out like that, but my sense of self tended to vanish beneath the drive to hunt, run, and even fuck.
And that’s why I’d never let Hudson see me like that. I had a hard enough time keeping it in check as a human. God knows what I’d try to do to him, because even fully transformed, that boy still got into my head constantly.
Hunching over, I picked through the few remnants of the minifridge in the back of the garage. Nothing but a few stray cans of beer and some leftovers lay scattered on the shelves. Rubbing my stomach, I shut the fridge, then grabbed my phone to check the time.
Nearly noon. Wonder what the guys are doing for lunch.
Fat chance of getting them to agree to a quick get-together after Ty’s meltdown. Hudson was probably packing at home, no doubt making plans to scarf down some takeout. Ty would be on break, ready to smash a protein shake and a salad.
Once things cooled off, I’d have to plan a cookout on Grams’ back porch like we used to.
We’d take bets on who could handle staying in the deeper, frigid waters the longest. It was always me.
Hudson broke first without fail, scrawny thing that he was.
Ty would throw in the towel after his skin turned beet red, trying to outlast me.
Never stopped us from having another go.
I scrolled through my contacts, looking for Oman’s Butcher and Deli down the road. A mouthwatering brisket sandwich lunch special sounded perfect. Figured I’d place my order and go for a walk—
Until a scent caught my nose. A somewhat familiar and wholly unwelcome scent, especially knowing what I did about the cure.
Another werewolf.
I whipped around to the open garage door, catching a shadow blur past from the corner of my eye. With a partial shift, I summoned my claws and bore my fangs, bolting out into the gravel lot. “I don’t take kindly to trespassers,” I whispered dangerously, knowing another wolf would hear.
A laugh came from around the back of the shop. “Easy, killer,” a feminine voice whispered back, growing louder as the visitor rounded the corner. “Just a little wellness check, Emmy, baby.”
Long, tangled blonde hair flowed over the woman’s shoulders, coiling atop her leather jacket as she stepped out, holding both hands up in surrender. A smirk crossed her ruby red lips as her boots crunched over the gravel.
Vera Talbot. A constant burr stuck in my hide from the moment we’d fucked in the woods once upon a full moon run. She acted as if we were the werewolf fairytale of fated mates. Started seeking me out while in human form to see if I was up for a go with less fur involved.
I let her down easy the first time. All wolves understand there’s no strings attached when you get caught up in the heat of a shift. It’s actually considered bad manners to bring up events that transpire while wolfed out.
But she wouldn’t let it go. Still hadn’t, apparently.
“Joined the Lycan Community Outreach, have you, Vera?” I growled, curling my claws to let her know I wasn’t interested. I wanted her gone more than ever.
“Oh, Emmy, you’re so funny.” She belted a fake laugh, holding her slender fingers to her lips. “Even holed up in this tiny wreck, you have to know wolves are going missing. People are saying there’s a hunter about.”
Letting my teeth sink behind my lips and retracting my claws, I folded my arms over my chest, cocking a brow. “Heard Jem went missing a month back and that Doyle hasn’t been heard from in a few days. Wouldn’t necessarily jump to hunter over it.”
“Just a precaution, Em,” Vera sang, getting far too close for my comfort. She raised a single finger, slowly running it down my chest between my pecs. “Would hate for something awful to happen to my favorite… running partner.”
With a snarl, I swatted her hand away. “Not your anything, Vera. Never have been, never will be.” I turned away from her, pacing back into the garage.
“Oh, my,” she gasped. I turned back to her over my shoulder, glaring as she sniffed the air between us. “What on earth is that stink on you, Emmy?”
My teeth popped back out involuntarily, and my lips curled around a warning growl.
“Have you been playing with humans, Emery?” She sniffed again, her eyes widening. “And boys nonetheless?”
“It is none of your goddamn business, Vera,” I spat, flexing on the spot. “Now, leave.”
“Be careful, Emmy.” Another laugh, less humorous and more threatening than anything. “Would hate to see your heart get ripped out.”
In the blink of an eye, she was gone.
For a moment, I stood in stunned silence, my head spinning at her last few words.
She couldn’t know.
There was no way. Hudson had only just learned how the cure worked, and he wouldn’t have freely offered that to the world.
We’d been digging for information from the moment he’d learned I’d been turned.
Who knew what sort of ancient text he’d needed to translate and scour in order to find what he had.
And wolves like Vera, wanderers and forest dwellers, they weren’t exactly known for their academic qualities.
I sulked back into the garage, forcing myself to take deep breaths. It was only a figure of speech. She was just jealous.
Keep your cool. Hudson is fine.
I tugged on my shirt, lifting it to my nose, but I couldn’t smell him there. To a wolf’s senses, he was no doubt still on my skin after holding him for part of the night, but I’d showered in the small water closet and changed as soon as I’d gotten to the garage.
My eyes snapped up, staring across the room to where I’d left my clothes from the night before on the back counter. I broke into a sweat as I ran to where I had put them, finding nothing but tools.
No.
Whipping out my phone as I paced back into the lot, my words came out like a roar. “VERA! I WILL KILL YOU!”
I should’ve called Hudson immediately. I should’ve warned him first, but all I could think was that I’d send him running again. Another plan was already forming as I held my phone to my ear. An absolutely idiotic plan that I already hated.
“The hell do you want?” Tyler answered my call after a few rings.
“Shove it, Tyler,” I hissed. “We have a problem. A big problem.”
“Hudson?” His tone turned to instant panic, and I heard the roll of his desk chair. “What happened? Is he okay?”
“For now,” I sighed, pulling at my hair. “But…”
“Spit it out, Emery,” Tyler snapped. “I’m trying to lay low at work, just leaving the office area to talk to you has eyes all over me.”
“Another wolf showed up at the garage,” I said quickly. “She took my clothes from last night. They have your scents all over them. I think—I think she’s going to go after Hudson.”
“What? Why?!”
“Were you even listening this morning?!” I shouted, pacing the lot. “Hudson is in danger, here more so than anywhere else, Tyler. Most wolves out there dream of a cure, and…”
“Em…” Tyler breathed, panic filling his voice. “Is there a cure?”
Turning on the spot, I strained my ears, listening for even the faintest sound of a nearby heartbeat. I couldn’t speak the words out loud and take any chance that someone else could hear me. When I was absolutely certain I was alone, I whispered, as quietly as I could. “Yes.”
“Okay. Sounds like an office visit for Hudson then, right? Maybe some steady work will keep him—”
“The cure… is his heart, Tyler.” I swallowed back vomit even just remembering what Hudson had told me. “His actual heart, ripped from his chest.”
The line went dead silent.
“Ty…”
“What do you need me to do?” he finally asked.
“Did you mean what you said this morning?” I asked, balling my fist to stop my hand from shaking. “About me and you working together to protect Hudson?”
“Yes,” he said instantly. “Whatever it takes. Just tell me what to do.”
My legs were already carrying me into the woods, ready to break into a sprint towards Hudson’s house the moment I ended the call.
“I don’t think she’ll act tonight. She knows she got my attention, and she knows I’m onto her, but I’m headed to patrol the area around the house just to be safe.
I’ll meet you at the inn before sundown, and we’ll make a game plan. ”
“Shouldn’t we be meeting at Hudson’s?” Ty’s car started in the background. “Shouldn’t we be including him in this?”
“Not yet,” I said, berating myself as I said the words. Hudson would be livid, but I knew werewolves far better than he did. “This person has a vendetta against me, and I want to be certain before I put him on the offensive.”
“Hudson needs to know, Emery!” Tyler shouted. “If you don’t tell him, I will!”
“I will tell him enough so that he can be on guard, okay?” I relented, holding my thumb over the button to hang up. “Hudson can handle himself, Ty. Believe me.”