Page 109 of Wanted

I peer over Chael’s shoulder to see Ms. Elsie approaching us with a huge basket in her arms and a smile a mile wide on her face. I don’t even need to ask what she’s done.

“These are for the both of you,” she says as she hands me the basket that smells delicious. One sniff alone tells me it’s full of cured meats, freshly baked bread, with the special herb butter that one of our members makes from the herbs grown in her garden and milk from local cows.

“This wasn’t necessary,” I tell her, taking the basket she insists I take.

“Nonsense. It’s only about four types of cured meat, two blocks of the cheese Emery loves, the herb butter of course, two jars of olives, one green and one black.” She stops and frowns, placing her hand on her chin. “Is that all?”

The way her eyes point to the ground as she asks this, tells me she’s more asking herself than me.

“Oh.” Her eyes widen. “I knew that couldn’t be all. Three loaves of bread and tomatoes fresh from the garden. That should be enough to last you until you get to your first stop.”

She frowns, her eyebrows dipping as if she’s not quite sure.

“Maybe I’ll grab another stick of the cured chorizo. And cheese.”

“This is more than enough,” I say as a spontaneous laugh spills from me.

I don’t even realize I do it until Ms. Elsie’s head juts back in surprise. We both stop moving for a beat. Then her eyes sparkle with the smile that breaks through.

“I told you, you would find her one day,” she suddenly says. She takes my face in her hands. I move my gaze to Chael, who watches this exchange with laughter in his expression.

“I knew this day would come for you,” she tells me, her hands still holding onto my face. “Make sure you protect her.” Her face turns serious. “Protect both of you.”

I nod because at this point it’s not even a question of whether or not I’ll protect my mate. It is a matter of how many bodies will have to be cleaned up once I’m done with whoever tries to hurt her.

But I don’t allow those words to slip from my mouth.

A second after Ms. Elsie releases me, she lights up again as she rises on her tiptoes to peer over my shoulder.

My wolf immediately stands up as we sense Emery behind us.

“What’s this?” she asks, looking at the basket in my hands.

Ms. Elsie tells her “Oh, nothing,” before going into detail about the very long list of food and snacks inside of the basket she’s prepared.

I peer down at the woman who’s become the grandmother of our pack, as she takes Emery’s hand in hers and wishes us both well on our long trip.

“Once you return, we’ll have to search out more of the caves around here for the stories that have been lost over time.”

My stomach twists as I watch Ms. Elsie’s lips move with excitement as she tells everything she’s looking forward to Emery documenting upon our return.

Either she doesn’t notice or she’s pretending not to notice the way Emery’s eyes turn slightly unsure whenever she mentions our return.

Is she having doubts?

As soon as that question pops into my head, Emery gives me a look. I have to pause to figure out if I mind spoke my private thoughts to her.

I conclude I haven’t when she smiles and then embraces Ms. Elsie, as our elder prepares to return to her home for the night.

We should go to bed early.I tell Emery.We have an early morning and a long trip ahead of us.

After saying good night to both Chael and Ms. Elsie, we close the door behind us. I don’t miss how quiet Emery’s become. I’m sure our trip back to New York weighs on her.

After placing the basket of food in the kitchen, I scoop my mate in my arms and carry her to our bedroom. Despite telling her that we need to rest, I plan on devouring her body for most of the night to remove the worrisome thoughts from her.

I don’t know what we’ll find in New York, but I do know that whatever it is, if it’s dangerous to Emery, it’ll have to go through me to get to her.

And that’s a battle I don’t ever plan on losing.