Dark Fates (A Paranormal Anthology)(4)

“I like calling you Em. Everyone else calls you Emeline, so I wanted to use something different.”

“That makes no sense, Noah. I’m nothing to you. I’m just an elder.”

The words sliced through him, and he had to hold back everything he’d wanted to say to her since he first laid eyes on her in the Alpha’s home. She was his mate. A potential. His wolf had known from the first scent and the man had known from the first look. There were only a few—if not just the one—potentials in the world throughout a wolf’s lifetime that could become a mate. If both parties fell for one another, they’d form a mating bond, connect their souls, and start their journey into their long lives together.

Noah had never heard of someone finding their potential mate, only to realize that the other felt nothing.

Fate wasn’t that cruel.

However, maybe because Emeline was an elder, she was different. Noah knew she had a connection to the moon goddess, their deity that had created wolves in the first place long ago, and had more memories than he could ever dream of, so maybe that meant her wolf worked in a way he’d yet to understand.

Just because he didn’t think she recognized him as a mate didn’t mean he’d give up. No, he’d take it one day at a time. Court her until she saw in him what he saw in her.

Until then, he needed to keep her healthy.

After all, since North was incapacitated until they found a way to heal him, Noah was the Pack doctor—something he never thought he’d truly be doing on his own at this young an age.

Best not think of him as young when Emeline was already thinking of him as a pup. While others might frown on the age difference, he didn’t care. They were wolves. It wasn’t as though he was a teenager, and it wasn’t as though she actually looked her age.

No, they both looked to be in their twenties, and though she had more practical experience, he wasn’t about to be left behind.

He shook his head then cupped her face. She didn’t pull away this time. Progress.

“Did you eat, Em?” At her sigh, he rubbed her cheekbone with his thumb. “Don’t change the subject like you normally do. You need to take care of yourself.”

She rolled her eyes then pulled away. He didn’t frown at the loss because at least she’d stayed in his hold for as long as she had. It could have been worse. She could have looked revolted and run away at the first hint of a caress.

It was the little things—like her momentary acceptance—that made courting worth it.

“No, I haven’t eaten yet. I got caught up in spells then Lexi called, and I got distracted again.”

Noah let out a breath then went to her fridge to get out the salad fixings he’d put in there two days before.

“Noah, I can take care of myself. Stop acting like a dominant ass.”

He raised a brow then took out a hunk of goat cheese and some apricot and herbed jam he’d bought as well. “I know you can. You’re just spending way too much time worrying about others. It’s okay. North needs us. But now I’m going to make sure you’re cared for as well.” He made her a small plate of goat cheese, jam, and thick croutons he’d made at home for her. The croutons were really more like small bread slices that went well with the softness of the goat cheese.

“Eat, Em. I’ll make you a salad. You’ll need protein though. Do you still have that salmon?”

She rolled her eyes then took a bite of the bread and cheese. A small amount of the creamy filling dotted her lip, and her tongue slid across the curve, cleaning her mouth in the sexiest movement he’d ever seen her make.

Not that she’d done it to be sexy.

But hell.

“It’s in the middle drawer where it wouldn’t spoil right away,” she answered then put her hand on his back. He froze, relishing her touch. She didn’t open touch him purposely, no, in fact, it was only when she was bleeding, out of breath, or passing out that she reached out to him. This though, this wasn’t any of those.

His wolf loved it.

“Do you need anything to drink?” he asked, his voice oddly thick. Great, he was acting the age she’d always treated him, not the man who’d been through war and had started to fall in love with the woman behind him.

“Thank you, Noah. I know I’m being stupid by not accepting your help. You do so much for me, and yet I push you away. I just hate that my mind wanders so much that I forget to take care of myself. I’m getting so old and senile it’s a wonder that I’m not put out to pasture.”

His wolf snarled. He set the salmon and milk jug on the counter and turned, cupping her face. She let out a little gasp, but he ignored it because he needed to get the words out.

“You are not senile. Your mind works more than any other wolf I know. You’re working your butt off for others, Em. So what if you forget to eat? People younger than you tend to forget what they’re supposed to be doing for themselves when they’re focused on other things. It makes you scatterbrained. Not old. Get the thought out of your head that you need to be, as you put it, put out to pasture, or anything like that. You got me? You don’t get to talk about yourself like that in my presence. You saved us all, Em. You did it with your mind, your heart, and your strength. You’re allowed to forget a meal or two.”

She swallowed hard, and it took all within him not to bend and brush his lips against hers. She wasn’t ready for that. And come to think of it, he wasn’t sure if he was either. Because once he did, he wouldn’t be able to stop.