The Alpha's Red Wolf

Her

Chapter 6 - Her

Four years.

Four years of walking into rooms like this one and wondering if she was there.

Tonight, there were three hundred and twenty-seven wolves inside the Ember Ridge gathering hall.

Midnight wanted me to personally smell every female.

No.

Could.

Absolutely not.

Coward.

I ignored him and shook hands with Alpha Marcus of Pine Hollow.

“Hell of a turnout,” he said.

“Better than expected.”

Blonde.

I kept smiling.

No.

Behind him.

Midnight.

Check.

I inhaled.

Nothing.

Happy?

No.

Of course not.

I’d spent most of the night doing exactly what an Alpha was supposed to do.

Greeting visiting leadership.

Checking security.

Making sure the bar wasn’t overserving anyone.

Watching for tensions between packs.

Pretending I wasn’t searching every unfamiliar face in the room.

That last part was becoming more difficult.

Every time a new group entered, Midnight surged forward.

Every time an unfamiliar woman came close enough for me to catch her scent, he went alert.

And every f*****g time—

Nothing.

I wasn’t surprised.

That was the problem.

After four years, disappointment had become familiar enough that I knew how to wear it without anyone noticing.

Midnight hadn’t learned that skill.

She’s here.

You don’t know that.

I know.

You said that last year.

Silence.

I almost smiled.

Then—

Could still have been there.

She wasn’t.

Maybe hiding.

I took a drink of water.

From us?

He considered that.

No.

At least his ego was intact.

“Having fun?”

Jake appeared beside me.

“Immensely.”

“You look thrilled.”

“This is my thrilled face.”

“Your thrilled face looks constipated.”

I turned my head.

Jake grinned.

“Do you enjoy being Beta?”

“Usually.”

“Keep talking.”

His grin widened.

Jasmine joined us a moment later, and Jake’s entire posture changed when she slipped beneath his arm.

I hated how noticeable it was now.

Not because I resented them.

Because I wanted it.

That effortless connection.

Someone who could walk into a room and somehow make everything else less important.

Midnight went quiet.

He wanted it too.

Jasmine looked at me.

“You need to stop working.”

“I’m hosting.”

“You’ve been hosting for two hours.”

“That’s generally how events work.”

Jake laughed.

She ignored both of us.

“Go.”

“Where?”

“Into the room.”

I looked around us.

“I am in the room.”

“You know what I mean.”

Unfortunately, I did.

“Security—”

“I have it,” Jake said.

“Visiting Alphas—”

“Have all been greeted.”

“The west entrance—”

“Derek.”

I frowned.

Jake folded his arms.

“You’ve been waiting four years. Give yourself fifteen minutes.”

I looked across the crowd.

Hundreds of wolves.

Some dancing.

Some talking.

Some very obviously doing exactly what Midnight and I were supposed to be doing.

Looking.

Near the dance floor, a man suddenly stopped in the middle of a conversation.

I recognized the expression immediately.

I’d seen it enough times.

His head turned.

Across the room, a woman froze too.

Neither of them moved for maybe two seconds.

Then they did.

Straight toward each other.

I looked away before they reached one another.

Another match.

Another pair who would leave tonight knowing the search was over.

I was happy for them.

I was.

But after four years, every one of those moments came with the same quiet question.

When is it our turn?

Midnight didn’t answer.

He didn’t have to.

Maybe she wasn’t here.

Maybe this would be year five.

Midnight growled.

No.

Jasmine touched my arm.

“Go find her.”

Something about the certainty in her voice made me exhale.

“Fifteen minutes.”

Jake smirked.

“Take twenty.”

I stepped away from them.

Finally, Midnight said.

Don’t make me regret it.

Find mate.

Simple enough.

It wasn’t simple.

I made it halfway across the room and got stopped four times.

Two visiting warriors wanted to introduce themselves.

A pack elder wanted to compliment the event.

A woman from Silver Creek wanted considerably more than an introduction.

She was beautiful.

Dark hair. Blue eyes. Confident smile.

Midnight wasn’t interested.

Neither was I.

“Dance?” she asked.

“I’m sorry. I can’t.”

Her gaze flicked over me.

“Can’t or won’t?”

I appreciated the directness.

“Won’t.”

She laughed.

“Fair enough, Alpha.”

No anger.

No wounded pride.

Just acceptance.

I liked her immediately.

Still didn’t want her.

I moved on.

Not her, Midnight said unnecessarily.

Figured that out.

Too small.

I frowned.

What does that have to do with anything?

Ours will be strong.

There it was again.

Midnight had constructed an entire imaginary mate over the past four years.

Strong.

Fast.

Fearless.

Apparently large enough to meet whatever arbitrary size requirement existed in his head.

You know absolutely nothing about her.

She is ours.

As far as Midnight was concerned, that explained everything.

I passed the dance floor.

Nothing.

Near the bar.

Nothing.

Along the far wall.

Nothing.

Ten minutes gone.

I could already feel the familiar disappointment settling in.

I should have stayed with Jake.

I should have—

I stopped.

Midnight went completely silent.

Not quiet.

Silent.

Every part of him froze.

Midnight?

Nothing.

Then I smelled it.

Sweet.

Warm.

Faint enough that I couldn’t identify it at first.

Someone moved past me, stirring the air.

The scent returned.

Wild berries.

Honey.

Something softer beneath it.

Not perfume.

Her.

My heart slammed once against my ribs.

Midnight exploded.

MATE.

I couldn’t move.

Four years.

Four f*****g years.

The room disappeared.

The music.

The conversations.

Hundreds of wolves.

Gone.

There was only that scent.

Her scent.

My mate.

Here.

Tonight.

“Fuck.”

A few people looked at me.

I didn’t care.

The scent disappeared.

Panic hit so fast it pissed me off.

Find her.

I’m trying.

FASTER.

Midnight pushed against me hard enough that my vision sharpened.

I turned.

Nothing.

Women in dresses.

Men in suits.

Couples moving across the dance floor.

Where?

Then the scent came again.

Stronger.

I followed it.

Ten feet.

Twenty.

Someone called my name.

I ignored them.

Left.

I moved left.

The scent weakened.

Wrong.

I noticed.

I turned back.

There.

Stronger.

My pulse hammered.

I had imagined this moment more times than I would ever admit.

I’d imagined seeing her first.

Maybe across a room.

Maybe walking into some other pack’s territory.

I’d imagined what she’d look like.

What I’d say.

Every version had been complete bullshit.

I couldn’t think.

I could barely breathe.

All I knew was that she was here.

Ours.

Midnight’s voice sounded different.

Not demanding.

Almost reverent.

Something tightened in my chest.

Yeah.

Ours.

I moved faster.

The scent wrapped around me.

Berries.

Honey.

Something wild.

Something that made every instinct I possessed turn toward one point somewhere ahead.

She was moving too.

I realized it suddenly.

The scent wasn’t stationary.

It shifted through the crowd.

Toward me.

My mate was looking for me.

The thought nearly stopped me again.

For four years, I’d wondered if she was searching too.

If she’d walked into rooms hoping to find me. If she’d ever gone home disappointed because I hadn’t been there.

I’d imagined her somewhere beyond Ember Ridge living an entire life I knew nothing about.

Tonight, for the first time, there was no distance between us.

No next gathering.

No next year.

She was here.

And she was coming toward me.

Four years of wondering where she was.

And right now, somewhere beyond the people separating us, she was following my scent too.

Close, Midnight said.

I knew.

I could feel her now.

Not exactly where.

Just there.

A pull beneath my ribs.

Something that hadn’t existed twenty seconds ago and already felt impossible to ignore.

I rounded the edge of the dance floor.

The scent became overwhelming.

She was right there.

Someone stepped aside.

I saw a flash of emerald.

My heart kicked.

A woman stood with her back partially toward me.

Emerald-green dress.

Bare back.

Strawberry-blonde curls falling over one shoulder.

I stopped.

No.

Midnight surged forward.

MATE.

My brain rejected what my wolf already knew.

No f*****g way.

She turned slightly.

I saw her profile.

Familiar.

Too familiar.

Emma?

No.

Jake’s little sister?

The seventeen-year-old menace who had flipped Derek onto his back four days ago?

Except—

Not seventeen.

Eighteen.

Yesterday.

My thoughts crashed into one another.

Emma was my mate.

Emma.

The girl I’d known for years.

The girl I’d never once considered because there had never been anything to consider.

Jake’s little sister.

My future warrior.

My—

Mate, Midnight growled.

Emma turned.

Her green eyes found mine.

Everything changed.

I’d seen those eyes a thousand times.

Rolling at Jake.

Narrowing at an opponent.

Bright with whatever sarcastic comment she was about to make.

I’d never seen them like this.

I’d never looked at her like this.

The bond slammed into place with enough force to steal my breath.

Her scent surrounded me.

My wolf recognized hers.

And for the first time in four years, Midnight was completely f*****g still.

Emma stared at me.

Her eyes widened.

Then narrowed.

Then widened again.

For once in her life, she appeared to have absolutely nothing to say.

I wasn’t doing much better.

I took one step toward her.

She took one toward me.

We stopped.

Maybe three feet apart.

Close enough that there was no possibility of being wrong.

Midnight pushed one word through me.

Ours.

I stared at the woman I’d known for years and somehow had never actually seen until this exact moment.

There were probably a thousand things I should have said.

Something reassuring.

Something profound.

Anything remotely worthy of waiting four years for this moment.

Instead, the only word that came out was—

“Emma?”

Her mouth dropped open.

She stared at me for one long second.

Then—

“No fuckin’ way.”