Carter's Choice

Chapter 11- Mate

I woke up to find Emmett's arm wrapped around my waist. I chuckled lightly when I could hear the sounds of his light snoring, his heart beating slowly in his muscular chest. I took the moment to assess my new "mate" or whatever he had called me last night. His back was well toned and the tattoos stood out against his tan skin. His chest and abs were fit, like I could do my laundry on those suckers. He had toned thighs and calves. I swear this man must work out twenty times a day. My eyes roamed over him once more and I saw a faint scar on his left hip that was being covered by his waistband. I felt the urge to touch it and so I lightly laid a finger on the tip of the scar. Emmett's eyes shot awake immediately and before I knew it, I was underneath him. He had flipped us around so that he was on top. His breathing was heavy and his eyes looked wild. I had never seen him like this. I put my cold hand onto his face. He held it there with his own and kissed my palm. "Emmett I-"His lips were on mine before I even knew it. I was stunned at first and didn't know how to react. I kissed him back slowly, wanting to savor the moment. The kiss was warm, like the feeling of hot chocolate spreading throughout your body. I had to come up for air at one point and he laughed at me. I could feel it rumbling through his chest. "Emmett," I asked again. "What did you call me last night?" "Carter Arabella Andrews you are my mate, my soulmate, my one and only, the one I live and breathe for... I don't know how else to explain it but-"I cut him off. "Do I have any say in this?" I asked, frowning because I already knew the answer. "Well, you could reject me..." I didn't want to do that, I didn't know what it meant, but just the word made a knot form in my stomach. "No," I said firmly. "What?" "No I am not going to reject you." I said which earned me a big grin and a big kiss on the lips. Again I had to come up for air. I thought about the voice, my wolf that had been talking to me about him. I wondered where it had gone. "Baby, for the next day or so, you're going to be going through some changes. I don't even know what these changes will be like, but I'm going to help you through as best I can." I took this moment to flip us around so that I was on top. "Did you just call me baby?" I asked, putting my hand over my mouth in a fake shocked manner. Emmett laughed and put his hands on my hips running them up and down my thighs which gave me goosebumps. "What would you rather I call you? Princess, sweetheart, darling, baby girl?" He began to list off a string of pet names. "How about you come up with something more original and then we'll talk," I said, starting to climb off of him to go get dressed. He growled and sat up, looking me in the eye. I wrapped my legs around his waist and kissed him on the nose. He kissed me on the lips passionately, making me feel the absolute love that he held for me. "You're mine," he whispered as we held our foreheads against each other's. "As you are mine," I whispered back. I don't know how long we sat there, but when I started to smell bacon and waffles being cooked down stairs, it took all I could not to run down there as fast as I could. I threw on a pair of denim shorts and a batman t-shirt and was downstairs with a plate in my hand before Emmett was. I walked into the dining room and saw the big breakfast all set up. Emmett's entire family sat around one large table. Emmett came up behind me and put his arms around me, nuzzling his nose into my neck. Part of me felt like I was rushing things with him, I mean I barely knew the guy. Another part of me felt like this was okay, that it was okay to feel like this. "The big guy at the head of the table is my father, Dominic Easton. He runs the pack. The woman next to him is his wife and mate, Myra Easton. She is my mother." I remembered the woman but I didn't know how. It was like she was from a dream. "The girl next to her is my sister Rylee and her mate, Ian Parker. They were married last spring and are expecting their first pup on the way shortly." I heard Emmett whisper into my ear. I couldn't see it but I could already picture the dirty blonde haired girl with a full belly. "You already met Kylie last night, who is sitting next to River her fraternal twin. They're kind of weird. Oh and don't get discouraged if River doesn't talk to you, he's just shy." Emmett kissed my neck and sent shivers down my spine. "And lastly next to River is my brother Liam. He rarely ever leaves his room and keeps the heavy metal music turned up at all hours." I laughed at this quietly but I guess not quietly enough because every head in the room turned to me. "Well now that you've introduced us all son, why doesn't the girl introduce herself." The deep voiced man said loudly from the head of the table. Emmett gave me a nudge, which I took as a sign. "Um... Hi... I'm Carter." I said shyly, giving a slight curtsey. I saw Emmett's mother smile which I took as a good sign."So... You're the new meat everyone's been talking about..." Rylee spat at me, giving me a dirty look. "Do you know how many people died and could've died because of you?" "Rylee, you best watch how you speak to her. She is our guest and will be treated with respect." Myra said, spreading out her napkin on her lap. Rylee sighed loudly in her seat and Ian rubbed her back in an attempt to calm her down. I sat between Liam and Emmett at the table. "Hormones..." Liam mumbled. I laughed at this, being the only one that found it funny. I coughed awkwardly and looked over at Emmett for help. He smiled at me and held my hand under the table. The food was put out on the tables by servers and everything looked delicious. There were hash browns and eggs and toast and pancakes and waffles and biscuits and fresh fruit and salad and bacon and sausage and steak and foods that looked good but I didn't know the name of. I took at least two of everything and then went back for seconds. The family looked at me like I was going to eat them out of house and home. I just felt so hungry. Emmett leaned over and whispered in my ear. "Honey, you're going through one of those changes right now. Eat as much as you like." I swallowed the mouthful of food that I had in my mouth and kissed him on the lips in front of his family. "Ew," I heard Rylee say with a mouth full of bacon. "Aw," Kylie said with a grin. "Emmie has got a girly friend; Emmie has got a girly friend!" She began to sing. I laughed and turned to Emmett. "Emmie?" I said with a laugh. "She's only six, how do you tell a six year old no?" He said with a small laugh and a blush on his cheeks. A man came rushing in through the door. He looked like a general of some sort but I had no idea why. "The execution is all set up alpha; we await your orders to bring out the prisoner." The man said, bowing in front of him. "Let's get this over with shall we, children stay here..." Dominic said. "Emmett come along and bring... Her... Along with you." I tried not to be offended by that, but as soon as I looked at Emmett, i noticed that all he gave his father was a curt "Yes Sir" and didn't even look at me the entire way out the door. We walked outside into the bright sunlight. The morning air was cold but not unbearably. We walked until we came to a building that looked like a gymnasium without a roof. "Welcome to the Arena." Dominic said bluntly. We walked in through the double doors and went down into a door labeled basement. In the basement there was a chain of cells, lined up like the ones in Axel's chamber. I didn't see anyone I recognized except for one girl, the small brunette from last night. She looked cold and helpless in her cell, held by so many silver chains that she must be burning up. I walked over to her cell and grabbed the keys from the guard on the outside of it. "What do you think you are doing?" Dominic asked me with an attitude that id didn't care for. "She is hurt; do you not see the silver chains burning her?" I said, pointing to her wrists, arms, neck, ankles and waist. She was chained to the wall behind her that was slick with water. I opened the door and walked over to her. She let out a whimper and scrambled away from me towards the wall, slipping on the cement floor. "I'm not going to hurt you." I said softly, as I began to unlock the chains around. Suddenly, two large men pulled her away by the chain on her neck. She let out a hiss as they pulled her up the stairs. I looked at Emmett with a look of pure horror as they led her up to the arena. He did nothing but follow his father, not giving me a second glance. I pushed past them all as we went up the stairs, trying to get to the brunette. I felt protective over her, like I knew what she was going through. She looked so shy and helpless in that cage. The men were chaining her to a post in the center of the dirt arena. She was screaming, the sun beginning to burn her pale skin. "We have to help her," I yelled to Emmett as he made his way to the balcony I was standing on. "Keep her under control Emmett." Dominic said sternly. Emmett grabbed my arm and whispered harshly in my ear, "Shut up will you?" I was very offended from this and yanked my arm from his grasp. I gave him a look that would make a grown man cower in fear. Emmett continued to ignore me and remained stone cold. I gripped the edge of the balcony and watched as they finished chaining her. "They're going to execute her by shooting her with a silver bullet." I listened as I saw a man walk out with a small pistol. I jumped off the low balcony and into the arena before anyone had time to react. I raced to the girl like my feet were on fire. I blocked the sun from her and she looked up at me gratefully. "Why are you doing this?" She said with her fangs bared. She panted heavily as she tried to catch her breath. Her red eyes shifted shades from red to brown to mulberry then back to red, repeating the process. I knew she was dying. She needed as soon as possible. "What do you think you're doing lady?" The man with the pistol asked me. "This lady is saving a life of an innocent girl." I said, standing in front of the brunette. "She's a blood sucker, she has no soul therefore she has no life." He said, trying to point the pistol behind me. "Is she breathing? Then she has life. Have you ever stopped to ask her about her life? Or about how she feels?" I said as I put my hands on my hips. "Well, no bu-" "The how do you know she has no soul? If you never take the time to get to know someone, then you have no room to judge them." I confidently shouted, holding my chin up high. I felt my arm being pulled hard, causing me to fall to the side. Suddenly Dominic grabbed the gun and shot the girl in the head. I gasped and a tear fell from my eye as I watched the life leak out of her and onto the sandy dirt. I looked to see who pulled me and saw that it was Emmett. I scowled at him and stood up, whipping the dirt off of me. "Carter i-" "Don't." I said to him, looking over at his father. I smacked him across the face hard, watching as a look of surprise and anger spread across his stony features. He hit me back harder and Emmett just watched. I felt hurt spread through my entire body. Dominic looked at Emmett and pointed at me. "You need to teach her some manners." He said, pulling me to the post by my hair. I screamed and fought as he tied me to the post by my hands. The rope had silver string laced within it, which burned on my bare skin. "Emmett, take this and teach her a lesson." I heard Dominic say but I couldn't see. "Yes sir." I heard Emmett say. I braced myself for the unknown. I felt the silver chips slice my back as the nine ropes sliced my back. I began to remember the cage in Axel's castle. I began shaking and clinging to the pole as my shirt was torn from my body. With another hit I was laying on the ground, coughing up my own blood. I looked back and saw that Emmett was holding the whip and was about to strike me again. I used all my strength and broke the silver chains that held my wrists in place. I ran and ran until I reached the pack house. I ran up the stairs and into the room that I had just woke up with Emmett in a few hours ago. I grabbed my clothes and shoved them in a backpack, along with the silver box. I hadn't noticed Rylee standing in the doorway until she spoke. "I knew you were weak." She said, holding her large stomach. "Excuse me?" I said, feeling a lump rise in my throat. "You're weak, pathetic; I knew it the moment I laid eyes on you." I wanted to say something back but I couldn't think about what to say. I just shrugged and went back to packing and listened to her walk back down the hallway. I didn't want to stay here anymore. I couldn't stay here anymore. "You're leaving?" I looked up and saw Emmett standing dumbfounded in the doorway. I nodded and tried not to cry as I zipped up the bag. "Why?" He asked as I threw the bag around my shoulders. I shook my head, unable to talk without sobbing. My back still stung as I felt the weight of the bag on it. I went to walk out the door and he grabbed me by the arm, hard. "Why," He yelled at me as he squeezed harder. "You're hurting me." I choked out as tears spilled down my cheeks. I pulled my arm from out of his grasp and ran out of the house, slamming the door behind me, knowing that Emmett would not be following me.