Wild at Heart
Chapter 37

“Emma!?” The bar doors flung open, but I still stood frozen in place. “Emma?” Nick’s voice caught my ears, but I couldn’t move. Nick put his hands on the bar in front of me and pushed off, swinging his legs around the bar, and landed beside me. He turned my body towards him and instantly began inspecting me for injuries. “Are you hurt?” He asked. I blinked, trying to focus my eyes on my mate in front of me. I shook my head.

“I’m okay.” I tried to believe it, but I knew it wasn’t true. Physically, I was fine. Mentally, I was broken.

“Come on,” he said pulling me closer to him. “We need to get home.” I gently pushed myself away from him.

“How did you know?” I asked.

“Lucas called.” He responded. “Thankfully, I was with Daniel and some Omegas. We rushed here, but a few blocks away we spotted him shifting and running to the border. They’re tracking him now, but I needed to make sure you were safe.”

“He didn’t hurt me.”

“Stefan destroys everything in his path, I don’t understand how this bar is still intact.”

“He said—” I hesitated. If I tell Nick what Stefan wants from me, he will stop at nothing to protect me and keep me from that monster. He’ll be putting himself in danger. The whole pack would be in danger. War would break out and I couldn’t say with utter confidence that our pack would make it out in victory. But he said I could save them. I could walk away from my pack...from Nick... and they would be safe. I could sacrifice myself for my pack.

“Emma?” I could save us all. “What did he say?”

“He wants me to be Luna of the South.” Nick’s nostrils flared and the veins in his muscles began to bulge. The anger and jealousy seeped from his skin like steam from a dishwasher. He said I could save my pack, he said there would be peace. But much like his son, I had no reason to trust him. There was a time in my life where I would have trusted Derek until the end of time, but that left me with nothing but heartache and blood on my hands. What would make Stefan any different? I tore Derek’s heart from his body to protect Nick from a lifetime of being hunted. But if I chose to go with Stefan, Nick would stop at nothing to get me back. “He said that if I went with him to the South, he would leave our pack alone, but if I didn’t—”

“War.” I nodded.

“Nick—” I cupped his face in my hands. “I’m sorry.”

“Emma—”

“I’m sorry, Nick.” I shook my head. “I want to help. I want to do whatever I can to keep our pack safe, but I won’t leave you.” I felt tears begin to form in my eyes. “I can’t. I need you.”

“I will never let him take you from your home, little wolf.” He leaned his head down to rest his forehead on mine. “He will never take you from me.” He stoked my cheeks with his thumbs, but the wrinkled lines on his nose told me my scent bothered him. Stefan touched me; he held his lips to my skin. The wolf in my Alpha would want to mark me and claim me as his own to relieve my skin of Stefan’s scent. “Come on,” he wrapped his arm around me and turned my body. “Let’s go home.” I nodded and let my body sink into his weight. I knew my smell would bother him, but I needed him right now.

He helped me into the truck and clicked my seatbelt in place like he always did. I leaned my head against the glass of the passenger window and just watched the trees go by. Nick’s cell phone rang, and he didn’t waste any time to answer it.

“Tell me good news, Daniel.” There was a pause as Daniel hopefully did as Nick asked. Nick let out a long sigh. “I said good news.” Another pause as Daniel spoke. Another long sigh. “I want Omegas around every border in this damn territory. I want to know how an Alpha of another pack entered my territory and I didn’t know about it. I want him found.” Nick pinched the bridge of his nose, his telltale sign of irritation. “And Daniel?” He lowered his hand back to the steering wheel. “Don’t disappoint me.” He hung the phone up before Daniel could even respond. I turned to him, but he was focused on the road.

“A little harsh, don’t you think?” I asked.

“I’m the Alpha, Emma. If the pack knows that another Alpha, especially one as dangerous as Stefan, entered my territory without my knowledge, what does that say about me?” He questioned.

“You’re not responsible for this.”

“It’s my territory, Emma. I’m responsible for everything that happens here.” I knew I wasn’t going to talk Nick out of taking the blame for Stefan sneaking into the pack. Although I was interested in replaceing out how he managed to do it.

“I’m guessing they didn’t replace him?” I asked reluctantly.

“No, they didn’t.” He shook his head in anger, his grip on the steering wheel tightening.

“You should go with them.” As much as I didn’t want Nick anywhere near Stefan, I knew he would feel more comfortable knowing he was out there helping.

“I’m not leaving you alone.”

“I’m not a child, Nick. I’ll be fine.” He turned to me; his eyes narrowed.

“No, you’re not a child, Emma, but you are the target.” He spat. “Stefan came all the way here to offer you a deal to be his Luna, he wants you. He’ll come back for you and you won’t be alone.” I nodded in silence. Stefan was giving me time to think over his offer, but one way or another he was going to want an answer from me. He would come looking for me for that answer. And it wasn’t going to be one that he liked.

I laid in bed with Nick clinging to my waist. I could tell by his breathing that he was fast asleep, yet I laid there wide awake. The image of Stefan stepping into my bar was now branded into my brain. The way his jaw was angled, the shape of his body, the way he walked. Everything about him reminded me of Derek. The gray of his eyes. His eyes. I’ve seen those eyes before, and not on Derek. But where did I see those matching gray eyes from? I gasped and sat upright as it finally hit me. Nick jumped up with me, wrapping his arms around me, his claws coming out defensively, ready to protect me from whatever startled me. But once he realized there was no one around, he mumbled in my ear.

“What’s wrong, little wolf.”

“I know those eyes.” I whispered.

“What eyes?” Nick asked.

“Stefan is Derek’s father. They have the same gray eyes.”

“We already knew that, little wolf.” He kissed my shoulder. “Go back to sleep.”

“No, Nick, someone else has those eyes.” I said. “Stefan has more than one son.”

“Who?” He asked. I turned my head so I could connect eyes with Nick.

“Chase.”