Chapter 7

• Emma
• Colter turns to me. He looks impossibly intimidating. There's something wild, something predatory in him. The sense of danger has melted into a threat.
• “‘Why’ you ask?” He echoes my question, taking a step towards me. “You don't see why you should stay away from me? Really?”
• I don’t back off and hold my ground. He stubs his cigarette out, exhaling the smoke very slowly.
• It doesn't look like he is hesitating. Colter looks like he is giving me time to run.
• I remember earlier- the way I froze in the middle of the chaos. It’s so different now. It’s like he's the predator, and I know that he is, but that doesn't change anything. It means nothing. Because I want to stay here.
• My heart picks up its pace again and my lips part. I am waiting for him to close the distance between us and I am aware of it.
• He knows I am waiting too.
• “You shouldn’t be here, “ he says. “You should be more scared of me. “ he speaks slowly.
• “ you are in the home of someone you’ve never met before. “
• “But I am not scared. “
• And I've met you before. The ridiculous response popped into my head.
• My answer makes his eyes darken.
• Colter steps forward and his hand closes gently around my neck. Just enough to keep me there, just enough to stop me if I move in any way. I shiver with the touch but he is right- I should be more scared of him.
• “You know nothing about me. “ he says, and I feel his breath against my lips. “You trusted me too easily. “
• “Did I?” I look up and see his eyes. We are both risking so much. If Andrew finds out about any of this, about even a fraction of what’s happening… And yet, I feel my body leaning against him, my entire being is singing with the need to be closer to this man.
• This man who is a criminal, most likely kills and gets shot. A man who had no papers, no address, nothing when he was brought to the hospital. God knows who brought him there in the first place…
• I don't even know if Colter is his real name, most likely not.
• And yet…
• Colter’s hand closes slightly. He is much taller so he leans slightly towards me, my eyes fluttering shut.
• I have never done this before - I have never kissed anyone I didn't know, never wanted someone beyond reason.
• Colter’s scent invades all my senses and I feel him as he leans in, his lips brushing mine very lightly. His muscles are tensing, his entire body is buzzing with the need to restrain himself. But I don’t want him to.
• “Kiss me, Colter,” I whisper. He pauses. And that’s when he freezes entirely. His hand disappears and I open my eyes, startled because of the abrupt change in him.
• “What…” I begin but he is already walking away.
• “Wyatt will come pick you up later, stay here until then, “ Colter says, walking towards the door, “The keys and everything are here. “
• Then he slams the door shut.
• What….
• I stared at the door long after he shut it. That’s when it all comes flooding all over me.
• I am sooooo dumb.
• How could I let this happen? I am insane? I run my hands through my hair. I start pacing around the apartment. What have I done?
• I was never afraid of Andrew. But if Colter uses what happened now against me? What if he goes to Andrew and says: “your wife seduced me?”
• Andrew won’t do anything to me - oh, no. He knows I am not afraid, at this point, I don't care what happens to me,
• But he will go after my family. Work…. He will make sure literally everyone at the hospital knows what happened. And getting the divorce now - only through my dead body. Andrew will make himself look like the victim. And everyone will f*ck*ng believe it. He will even have Colter confirm what a terrible wife I am too.
• I am so naive…
• I have never let myself get close to anyone in all these years for this exact reason.
• Why did I now….
• ***
• Colter
• Well… F*ck me, I guess.
• I send a quick message to Wyatt with the exact address and tell him Emma is safe and she will be expecting him.
• Then I discard my phone somewhere, and I get out of the apartment as quickly as I can. I make sure that I am at a safe distance and shift. I spring ahead, hoping that running will help me clear my head. I almost lost it there.
• Being so close to her- not a fat chance I can make this happen without messing things up.
• My wolf’s need to get back there is still as strong as it was earlier.
• “Charles is going to f*ck*ng kill me, “ I tell my wolf, “If he ever finds out that I did all this sh*t on the first day, we are both done with. “
• I never cared about orders or whatever Andrew might think. The truth is - Andrew’s men got him out of there and I wasn’t ordered anything.
• I just acted on instinct back there. I sensed something was wrong the moment this guy Maverick showed up. And once he got shot and someone threw the gas, all I could care about was getting Emma out of there.
• I also sensed another wolf. I have no idea who that was and where he came from but I sensed him.
• I guess Andrew Levins’ enemies from the mafia have a wolf or two on their team as well.
• “You did what you had to, “ my wolf says, “We had to get her out of there. “
• “Yeah, and I brought her to my place. Of all the f*ck*ng places we could go to…“
• “If you don’t try to justify it too much, no one will care. ““Yeah, right, “ I snarled as I jumped over a puddle. I stop in the middle of the deserted street and glance around. I am so far from my place I don’t remember how I got here.
• “You won't explain that you went back there for her, you can just say you saw her alone.”
• “I guess.”
• “You think too much, “ my wolf says.
• “Yes. And thanks to my obsession with overthinking we are still alive, remember? And it will be all cool unless pretty Miss Levine decides to tell her beloved husband that the new guy tried to kiss her. “
• My wolf doesn’t answer and I dash forward, resuming my run, I just have to move, otherwise, I would have let my wolf eyes bleed into my human ones and that would add another super big problem to the ones I already have. No fun stuff.
• “She wouldn’t tell him, “ my wolf said belatedly.
• “Right. And how exactly do you know?”
• “I just do. I can feel it.“
• My wolf is obsessed with Emma because of the mate bond. But luckily my human mind still works.
• “She is not a saint. “ I tell him “If she married Andrew Levin, I doubt she is the sweet person she pretends to be. “
• You don't marry a mafia lord if you are innocent, right? And if Emma decides to say just two words, we are all f*ck*ng done with it.
• Charles won’t like this. Not at all. I put the entire mission in danger only because I let myself stop thinking for a short second.
• I have always loved control- it gives me a sense of knowing what's about to happen. If you control the situation it’s easy to predict what’s next.
• Too bad I threw all that sh*t out the window tonight.
• I keep running until my legs grow heavy. The sky has started turning gray and I have to go back. Wyatt should have picked Emma up by now. Hopefully.
• I also mentally prepare to meet Andrew. It will be inevitable one way or the other.