Dark Fates (A Paranormal Anthology)(3)

“Have you eaten yet, Em?”

Emeline screamed and jumped off the chair, phone crashing to the floor, claws bared.

“Noah?” She blinked, her chest heaving. “What are you doing in my home? How did you get in here? And why are you here scaring the life out of me?”

He smiled at her, and Emeline wanted to strangle him.

This man. This wolf.

He just wouldn’t leave her alone.

The pup was twenty-eight for God’s sake. A mere blip in the radar of her long life. It didn’t matter that her wolf practically preened when he smiled. No, she didn’t want any of that.

That stupid dimple on his cheek deepened, and Emeline held back a growl. She refused to notice the long, lean lines of his body, the waves of chestnut hair that fell to the back of his neck, or the muscles that bulged just right when he bent to pick something up.

Nope.

She didn’t want this pup.

No matter what her wolf said.





Chapter Two


Noah smiled at the wide-eyed look on Emeline’s face. Considering he came to her place at least three times a week, she shouldn’t have been surprised that he was there. However, he didn’t think she really understood why he was there, so maybe he could forgive her for her being startled.

At least a little.

Her blond curls lay in a tangle on her shoulders, as if she’d been running her hand through them throughout the day while she was buried in texts. Those violet eyes held a wealth of knowledge and an innocence he didn’t quite understand.

Or maybe he did and he wasn’t sure what to do with it.

At least not yet.

She stood at least a foot shorter than him, all pixie and gentle, until someone pissed her off; then she was all wolf, biting, clawing, and forcing her way to independence

The perfect woman for him.

If only she felt the same way.

“Well, Noah? What are you doing here?”

Was it wrong to love the little line that formed between her brows when she got angry with him? He had issues, apparently.

With a small smile, ignoring the fact she didn’t seem pleased to see him, he brought his hand out from behind his back, the clutch of wildflowers he held looking slightly wilted on the edges. His nerves were starting to grate on him.

Her eyes brightened for a moment—making his wolf howl—before she narrowed them in suspicion.

“Why are you bringing me flowers, Noah?”

Noah raised his brows then shrugged before moving past her to the kitchen. He knew where she kept her vases in this new place and took care of getting the flowers in water for her. He could feel her presence behind him, that calm, yet unearthly quality that he was falling for as each day passed.

It took everything within him not to fall completely.

She might be his mate, the other half of his soul, but from the way she acted around him, he didn’t think she felt the same way.

The sharp pang across his heart was as subtle as a dull blade, but he ignored it. He might be only twenty-eight to her five hundred, but he had all the patience in the world.

He had to, considering fate had given him a sheltered elder for a mate.

“Noah? You can’t just come in here and start taking over.”

He placed the vase on the breakfast island counter then turned to face Emeline. “I wanted to bring you flowers, Em. You can at least say thank you.”

She shut her eyes, her chest lifting as she took a deep breath. She opened her eyes again and the lost look that was always there broke him just that much more. “I’m sorry. Thank you for the flowers. They’re beautiful.” Her gaze drifted to the wilting wildflowers, and Noah held back a wince.

She probably had received dozens of flowers from her late mate and countless others in her lifetime. Beautiful buds that made his dingy sprouts pale in comparison. He hadn’t thought to bring her any when he’d set out to her place that afternoon. No, he’d seen them on the hillside and thought of her smile.

He didn’t tell her any of that though. As it was, he was sure he scared her enough with just his presence. He still wasn’t sure how to fix that, but he’d find a way.

As he studied her face, wanting to memorize every contour for when she sent him on his away again, he saw what he’d missed before. The dark shadows under her eyes had grown more pronounced since the last time he’d seen her, as had the paleness of her face.

He knew that working on a cure for North’s blindness was taking a toll on her, but right then, she looked even worse. It didn’t help matters that she’d about killed herself when they’d sent the demon Caym, who had almost killed them all, back to hell.

She’d saved them all with her insight, wisdom, and countless hours spent with her nose in a book.

And she’d sacrificed her health in the process.

He’d spent the past year trying to get her to see him while not scaring her away. At the same time, he’d slowly worked on getting her back to a healthy weight and schedule of sleeping and eating.

By the look of her right then, his efforts hadn’t been good enough.

“Have you eaten today, Em?”

She narrowed her eyes again. “Why do you keep calling me Em? My name is Emeline. Use it.”

He tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, and the stillness of her body at his touch set his wolf on edge, but he let it pass. He’d get her used to him.