Healed by the Alpha (Hunted Book Two)

Chapter Four

Dominick

It was as if the room had frozen for a second, why in the world would I want to see Logan to build bridges right now? Why did she even want to build bridges with him right now? I could feel something inside me bubbling, building like tension on a rope that could snap at any minute. "Boxing ring." I told Malik, I didn't even look at him, I couldn't take my eyes off of the woman pottering around my kitchen but I knew he understood my need to work off some stress.

"I'll go ahead and sort out the gym," he told me, leaving me some alone time with Emily to work out exactly what the hell was going on. She smiled cheerily at him as he left and put the muffins she'd just made on a tiered display plate. "Why so much effort?" I asked, thumbing the side of the coffee mug she'd handed me. She turned to face me, leaning over the other side of the counter. Her crop top did a terrible job at hiding anything and it was increasingly hard to watch her leaning there knowing I could just take her from beh... No. Focus Dom. "I just want him to know that he's welcome and that we aren't angry." The use of the world 'we' settled me momentarily, at least she was implying that this was for everyone.

I nodded and sipped my coffee, she watched as my lips closed around the coffee mug and I leaned my head back taking in a mouthful of the delicious bean syrup. She bit her lip. My eyes didn't leave hers the entire time. I placed the mug back down on the counter and licked my lips, Emily closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. I couldn't stop the smirk that made its way onto my face, "you feeling okay?" I asked her. She opened her eyes and leaned further forward, she was playing a game with me and she knew it. "I really want to try some of that..." she said pointing to the coffee mug. With the tips of my fingers I pushed it towards her, she locked her eyes on my hand that was slipping across the marble counter approaching her.

I pushed up all the way up to her arms and then retreated. She stopped my hand with her own like a mouse catching its victim, "I've always wondered how you get your skin so soft," She remarked. The smile turned into a full out grin, she was making excuses to keep me here, to touch me. I took her hand in mine and placed it on the coffee mug, "I moisturise and drink coffee." She pouted and held up the mug to her lips, her eyes seemed to search the drink as she spun it in her hand and took a sip from the side furthest away from her.

My eyes rolled back into my head and my head spun as she placed her lips over the coffee stained side I'd been drinking from. Why did she have such an effect on me? Was it because I knew she was purposely playing with me? She tilted her head back and then froze completely as she swallowed the coffee. Her eyes opened wide and she looked at the drink with shock, "is it okay? You can have it differently, I just like it black." She shushed me and took another sip, causing her to have the exact same reaction as before, "This. Is. Amazing."

My worried expression turned into one of amusement, "If this was one of those sitcoms you like so much, it would be called 'The one where Emily discovers coffee for the first time'." She smiled into the mug, "you can keep it," I told her, "I need to get moving anyway, Malik is going to be expecting me in the gym." She paused and placed the coffee on the table, "can I come?" I took steps back towards the door, "you know you can do anything here little varg, I won't stop you." She nodded and went back to the coffee, I couldn't wait to see what effect this would have on her later.

The walk to the gym was short, it wasn't too far from the pack house but it was far enough that I still got my daily dose of cardio at the same time. The glass door welcomed me and eased my mind straight away. The gym was like a home to me, wherever I felt stressed this is where I would end up. Unluckily for me, specific people I couldn't care less about also knew this. I could see Fran in the door to the boxing ring as soon as I walked through, I groaned internally. "Don't you have better places to be?" I asked her, pushing past to get to my awaiting beta.

"Why would I be anywhere else when I could be watching you getting hot and sweaty in here?" She grinned, I threw up in my mouth. Malik saw my discomfort and shouted from the ring, "Francesca, can you maybe just go get lost in the woods for a few years?" She smiled and turned towards him, "still jealous that I didn't want you?" I laughed as Malik made gagging motions, pretending to fall down and die on the floor. Why did I have to have the world's most dramatic beta?

"Oh no," he said, "how am I going to continue living knowing that the pack's biggest creep doesn't want me." I hid my smile as I walked towards the ring and held out a hand to Malik, "get up idiot." He grinned and took it, pulling himself up to stand next to me, "if I were you, I'd leave Dom alone from now on, you know his sister is one of the strongest witches associated with the pack right?" Malik questioned her, she shuddered, I knew very well that her encounter with Whitt had scarred her. I thought that she would lay off after that incident, but it seemed that she just got more desperate, especially when Whitt wasn't here.

"Go," I told her, "I'm having a training session and I don't want to be disturbed." She walked backwards, preparing to leave, "anytime you need any other kind of relief... well you know where I am Alpha." A shiver of ice cold fear ran down my spine. This woman was crazy. Before I could stop him, Malik opened his big mouth, "Yeah right! You think you could even compete with Emily." My eyes shot open as I glared at Malik, "Emily huh?" Francesca mimicked, "thanks for the info beta." And then she left.

I hung my head and ran a hand through my hair, "you have no idea what you've just done..." Malik looked at me confused, "you can't keep her sheltered forever, Fran was always going to find out sooner or later." He started to lace up his gloves, "besides, the way you look at her like a lost puppy is a massive giveaway." I looked back at him, shaking my head, "you're a real ass you know that?" He smiled, "it's just part of my job description boss." My eyes trailed back to the door, I might not be able to protect her forever, but with Logan coming over, the last thing she needed was trouble from Francesca.