chapter 25

I managed to convince johnny not to drag his pack into this. They were completely innocent, and it wasn't fair to drag them into this when it had nothing to do with them. So luckily, a war hadn't broken out yet, But the boys kept a good eye on me almost constantly Gremich and Marx had become a pretty permanent sight around the pack house, But Ryan kept a 6 ft distance of me always from that day. I felt somewhat guilty for hurting him. I wish he would slowly open up to me about what had happened over the last decade. But nothing. The boys also refused to tell me too.

In Ryan's absence, gremich and I became close. He would tell me stories from when he was a child living in Italy with his rhumba. They had all been healers; I was surprised to learn that gremich was a trained doctor. I wasn't sure why he chose to let me past his exterior, but I was so glad that he did. He learned when I began to struggle and calmed me with that snake trick of his. It wasn't long before he started working at my clinic. Gremich wasn't the type to play well with anyone when I got upset for being as kind and soft as he was. It was nice to have someone else that I could trust in my life.

Jeremy and I haven't spoken much since I flipped my shit on him for his role in Ryan's little chat. It was a betrayal for me. He knew out of everyone why it was that I was avoiding Ryan. He knew everything since I was fifteen, But he took that trust and betrayed me. I knew that he meant well and thought he knew best, But it wasn't his decision to make, and I couldn't forgive him for that, not yet anyway.

It was a cold march morning, and it had stormed the night before, and it was still raining in the morning on my way to work, but I couldn't help but love how the rain fell on my face as I walked. It didn't take me long to get to the clinic and set up my stuff.
The morning was pretty dull doing paperwork, Around one o'clock, I hear a knock at my door, and Gremich's smiling face peaks round the door. "Heya. Fancy a costa at lunch?" He says, looking at me.
I check my watch and nod at him, "I've got to be back by two, though. Got a new patient." I reply to him, grabbing my coat.

We grab our costa and sit on the grass by the riverbank.
I don't know how long we sat there in silence. For us, words weren't necessary because we got each other. He knows how much the mate bond affected me with the heat and the distance.
I cry, needing to let out all the feelings of the last few months. I wasn't sure what was worse, knowing Ryan's alive and that he didn't want anything to do with me or how it felt when I thought he was dead. Gremich wraps his arm around me, pulling me into him and crying onto his shoulder.

I look up and meet his eyes, expecting to find annoyance at the black stains all over his shirt but instead, I get a slight chuckle. "You've got," He says, wiping my face with a tissue from his pocket. "You look like you from a horror movie with all that black shit running down your face." He chuckles as he finishes wiping my face.

The rest of the day was slow, just some more paperwork before heading home, just a typical Friday. That's what I needed. No drama, nothing. I headed home, and the alarm beeped a few times while heading to the bathroom. Either Jeremy or johnny was home. I brush the alarm off and get ready for a chill evening. Throwing on my yoga pants and tank. Tie my hair up in a ponytail before opening my bathroom door.


"What the hell are you doing here?" I ask the man in my bedroom. Relaxing on my bed, flipping through the pages of animal farm.


"Well, hello to you too. I came to see you." He says, looking up at me.
"You're a dick. You know that, Ryan?"
"Yes, Emilia, I know I am. I wanted to see you; I need you..." He says, scanning my body with his eyes.

"UGH...Fine, but you better have a good reason for ghosting me the last couple of months." I roll my eyes at him and continue walking into the kitchen to grab a rum. I knew I was going to need it. I can play this game and act like being in the same room with him isn't ripping me apart. Easy, right?

I head up the stairs towards my room when the doorbell rings. Swinging open the door, A gorgeous woman with bleach blonde hair curled around her face, but something about her eyes was deadly. I wasn't sure why, but my first reaction was to shut the door. But when I close it, I'm met with the resistance of her bag pushed into the door.

She pushes her way into the house with unhuman stregenth; her eyes turn red, letting her wolf consume her as a murderous smile takes over her face.

"Found you, mongrel." She says.
Before I could even process the danger I was in. She pushes me against the wall, Hard, causing me to let out a small grunt of pain. She closes her hand around my neck and squeezes, cutting off my air supply and keeping my cries for help from escaping. My wolf tried to take over, but something about this woman stopped me from shifting.

Run, Run, Run, my mind screamed. I was begging for Ryan to hear me and save me somehow.

"Hello, Emilia. Do you think you can start over with Ryan again? He's mine, not your's bitch!" She screams at me.

"Don't think I don't know who you are either. I was there, remember, little bitch. Do you think you can threaten my position by being his mate? You don't deserve him your just a mongrel.
You're a little whore who he fucked when he was a teenager. And if you know what's good for you, you'll stop sniffing around my business before you end up like your dead bastards."She looks psychotically mad, with her face so close to mine. That the spit from her whispered words hits my face.