Chapter 4 Brandt
Brandt
I’d known she was here the moment she arrived. Her scent called to me like no other, yet I’d hid in the hallway for as long as I could, waiting to decide how to handle it. Emma was here. My Emma.
And I had no idea how I felt about that.
When I finally saw her up on the landing, time stopped.
The sounds of condolences, laughter, and memories of those who knew my father disappeared into a background hum.
The pathetic human woman trying to get me to go out for coffee was nothing more than a nuance.
Almost a year had passed, yet Emma could still stop my heart.
Deep inside, my bear came alive again. Not because I’d given him time to hunt the other night, but because his mate had returned.
We’d both sensed her arousal before our eyes met.
She may have run away from her obligations, but time and distance couldn’t stop nature.
Since we’d acknowledged each other as mates ten years earlier at seventeen, the human in us had no choice but to accept each other.
Had Emma come to this realization? Is that why she was here now? Did she know how much I needed her?
I walked around those wanting to pay their respects, although I’d only met most of them once or twice in my life.
One of the faults of my father was that he kept his alpha affairs only between him and a small group of insiders.
My brothers and I were not part of that, and now I was paying the price by trying to sort out several family businesses and dozens of clan investments.
Emma stood still, lips parted, eyes wet, and pheromones wafting through the room.
Thankfully, there were only a handful of shifters here right now, and I assumed they’d all have enough respect to stay silent about our reunion.
Everyone knew that Emma had crushed me when she left.
She’d hurt us all. But I could feel the stares as they watched and waited to see how I was going to handle it.
The dark blue dress highlighted her auburn hair and turquoise eyes.
Damn if she didn’t look even more beautiful today than the day she left.
My bear rumbled in contentment, letting me know that he was happy again.
I tried to shut him up, understanding that just because she was here now, it didn’t mean she was going to stay.
Plus, I was still angry with her.
She’d given me no reason for her sudden departure and had cut off all contact, so I couldn’t even ask why. She’d put me through hell, and I had to remind myself of that as I reached her side and breathed in the wonderful aroma that called only to me.
“Hi Brandt,” she said with a shaky voice.
Dixon still waited in the corner, ears turned in our direction. I wondered if he’d had something to do with her being here right now. When I watched him though, he didn’t give me any indication. Dixon always had the best poker face. “Emma.”
She shifted on her feet and pursed her lips. The tears had almost spilled over. “I’m so sorry about your dad.”
When her words hitched in her throat, both my bear and I knew that she was about to cry—and I couldn’t stand there and do nothing. Lifting my arms, I invited her in. Was I making a mistake? Probably. But I needed to hold her right now and let her know that I wanted to have this contact.
She rushed into my arms, wrapping them around my waist and pressing her head against my chest. Her shoulders shook as she sobbed, her head bouncing underneath my chin where I’d rested it.
I held her tight. My bear wanted even more.
He smelled her, sensed her, and knew that we were whole again.
If only it could all be that simple. It was the human side in us that complicated things, not the animal.
I brushed my hand through her hair over and over to try and soothe her. While I did not doubt that some of these tears were for my father, I also knew some of them were for us. “When did you get here?”
She stayed tightly against my chest and squeezed my waist even harder. My blood came alive under her touch. “Today.”
“And when do you leave?” I didn’t want to know the answer, but my bear made me ask.
She shook her head and shrugged. Never uttering a word.
“Are you here tonight?” I asked with caution.
Emma pulled back and looked up at me. Her aquamarine eyes captured me with their magic, and every part of my body wanted to claim her all over again. Right now. “I am.” She sucked in a quick breath when my fingers grazed the bare skin on her arm.
I tried to focus. “Then you should come to the moksha. He would have expected that.” The second I said the word expected, I flinched.
I’d suspected part of the reason she’d left us was because of all the things she’d been expected to do for our clan now and in the future.
Emma had never wanted her life planned out for her, but on the day my dad took in two orphaned cubs, he’d laid out her path with us, with me.
But Emma didn’t react to my words. Instead, she reached up and rested her hand against my cheek. I froze, trying to enjoy the sensation and remember it for when she walked away again. “If you think I should be there, I will.”
I grabbed her hand and weaved my fingers through hers.
We stood still, watching each other for a few more seconds, and then turned around to scan the crowd.
Three different groups of CEOs, lawyers, and investment bankers made eye contact with me.
I sighed, not wanting to hide anything from Emma. “Here we go again.”
Following my gaze, she squeezed my hand quickly. “Has it been like this all week?”
I nodded and rubbed my hands over my eyes. “Nonstop.”
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
Shocked by her offer, I didn’t know how to respond. My bear wanted her to be by my side always. She was my mate, and she made me stronger. But I needed to be cautious, and I needed to make sure that she was here to stay before she left and ripped my heart out again. “No, not right now.”
The first woman of the lawyer group stepped up onto the landing and held out her hand. “My condolences, Mr. Callaghan.”
I shook it and wrapped my arm around Emma’s back. “Just excuse me for one moment.”
The woman looked at Emma and immediately dropped her gaze.
Humans knew when to trust their instincts, even if they didn’t believe shifters like us existed.
Pulling Emma a few steps away, I felt like I needed to say something else just so I didn’t have to part with her yet.
“The moksha starts at ten. Do you remember where?” We’d performed these ceremonies in the same place on our land for generations. Emma had attended a few over the years.
She nudged my shoulder. “Of course I do.” Her slight grin cracked through the first layer of hurt.
How could I withstand her now? She’d always held power over me, even if I was still mad at her.
“I’m sorry, but I have to meet with these…
people again. My father had his hands in a lot of places, and sorting it all out has been hell. ”
Emma lifted on her toes and kissed my cheek. My bear begged for more. “I understand,” she whispered.
Turning my head, I stopped myself from diving into her lips.
They looked so warm and inviting, glistening in the sunlight coming through the windows.
I wanted her—all over again like the first time we’d mated.
My gaze glanced down to her cleavage. It was modestly hidden yet I knew what lay underneath that dress.
Curves and muscles and…woman. She bit her lip the moment she smelled my reaction.
Dixon cleared his throat from the corner.
“I…I have to go,” I finally managed to say. Stepping away from the physical hurt in my chest. Now that she was here, I didn’t want her out of my sight. Yet if I told her any of this, I was sure I’d scare her away back into the life she’d found outside of Alaska.
“I’ll see you tonight,” she said, the pained look on her face surely mirroring my own.
“Okay,” I turned, but then stopped as I remembered something important.
“Your room is still available if you want to stay here.” With a small smile, I signaled that I was all right with that.
It had always been our room, even when we were teenagers sneaking around to find places to be together.
Then, as adults, when everyone treated us like a mated pair.
I hadn’t stayed in there for many months now. The first few weeks after she left, I couldn’t keep myself away. But then the pain had been too much, and I had to start pushing that part of my life aside, knowing that I would never see her again.
“Thank you,” Emma said as I turned.
She’d only whispered it but knew I would hear.
The lawyers and bankers were on me in an instant.
Bombarding me with questions and directing me to the conference room area my dad had also added to this house.
Their words jumbled together in a mix of terms, my mind unable to comprehend everything right now when thoughts of Emma clogged all of the space.
“Can I see you for a minute?” Brennan cutting into the chatter of my entourage was a welcome sound.
“Please go on in and I’ll be right there,” I said, ushering the group into the conference room and closing the door behind them. “Are you here to rescue me?” I joked half-heartedly.
“Do you need me in there?” he asked.
I shook my head. “No. No, you need to get ready for tonight.”
“I put Bo in charge of food.”
We were both silent for a minute, and then I laughed. “Yeah, that seems like a good choice. And something he can’t mess up.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Brennan grumbled. Then he brought up the subject I knew he really wanted to talk about. “I saw Emma.”
“Yeah, me too.”
“You okay?”
I loved my brother for being so in tune with me sometimes. “I will be.”
“Is she coming tonight?” There was a clipped edge to his voice, but I wasn’t sure if he would disapprove.
“I’ve invited her.”
Brennan ground his jaw together, biting back some kind of comment. “Well, don’t forget. You need to be there first. Before Joshua or Dixon or anyone else who might challenge you for alpha. You need to be the leader. Don’t let her get in the way.”
He wasn’t saying it to be mean, just practical. Brennan could be very robotic at times, and that was a great skill for him to have. I would stress, Bo would party, and Brennan would plan.
“I understand.” As much as I wanted to show up tonight hand in hand with Emma, I couldn’t. She’d left me, and that showed weakness, and right now I couldn’t show any weakness if I was going to fill my father’s role in this clan. “I’ll see you later, okay?”
Brennan, in a rare form of affection, hugged me tightly.
Our family was close, but we weren’t emotional.
That all started after our mom died when Bo was born.
I guess I hadn’t realized how tough this must be on Brennan, too.
After all, it was his father as well, and planning a funeral for a parent couldn’t have been easy.
With a slap on my back, Brennan let go and walked away.
I watched him leave, stalling as long as I could before facing another round of paperwork and discovery.
With a glance back at the remaining guests, my heart sank when I didn’t see Emma.
Brennan was right about me not having her by my side tonight, but that didn’t mean I didn’t like it.
Perhaps I could stop by her room later, and we could talk some more.
Or do other things that both the man and the animal were craving right now.
No, I couldn’t. Not yet anyway. Not until she explained herself. So with a sigh, I pushed open the door and entered the human part of the world my father left behind.