Protecting Scarlet

By the end of the day, he had everything arranged for us to go back to the pack, and there was no way I could persuade him to let me go home. Emmett had mind-linked a few warriors to move everything back to Emmett's house within the pack.

Around lunchtime, all the warriors returned to eat lunch with their families, and Emmett walked into the kitchen to fix something for us to share. "Come here, princess; I need you to help me with something," Emmett called from the stove. Walking over, I noticed he still needed to grab something to make lunch with. Turning to him, "You have no idea how to cook, do you?" 

Crossing my arms over my chest, I evaluated the unreadable expression on his perfect face. "No, that's not what I needed your help with. I want this lunch to be perfect, but I'm unsure what you would like." He placed one hand on my waist while the other landed on the counter behind me. Emmett rested his head on my neck, kissing me gently along the curve.

He wanted to make the perfect lunch for me. I didn't understand how he could go from being hot and dangerous to being hot and caring. Wait, what made him change? Did he love me that much? "Well, I'm sure you can fix anything, and it is perfect." I smiled up at him and tried to back away from him. Knowing I wanted to escape his hold, Emmett released my waist, only to wrap both hands around my lower back and hold me close to his chest. "No, Scarlet, I want to make your favorite food and have everything perfect. I need to show you how much I love you." He gently kissed the tip of my nose before leaning his forehead against mine. "Why do you want to do all of this for me? I'm just a human girl. You could have any were-girl in your pack, so why me?" I managed to pull away from him to stare up at his face. What looked to be anger flashed across his face. "I don't want any other girl, Scarlet. I only have eyes for you. You are my mate; I can't just choose someone else, even if I want to. It doesn't work that way, and it never will." I understood him loud and clear. "I'm sorry, I'm just not used to this. You have to realize I know nothing about the supernatural word. I never grew up in a wolf pack; I've never even thought that the existence of werewolves could be remotely possible."

After our little dispute in the kitchen, Emmett decided that we should go out to eat. We also argued about where to go; we couldn't seem to agree on anything, but eventually, he decided to go to this small Italian restaurant near the edge of town. Once we were done and got back to the cottage, Emmett informed me that the pack warriors had arrived an hour earlier to finish moving the stuff to his house in the pack; by the time we got inside, the warriors had moved everything to Emmett's actual house.

I'm still confused as to why he didn't take me to his actual house when he first grabbed me in the woods. "Um...Emmett, you're probably still mad at me from earlier, but why didn't you take me straight to your house in the pack instead of here?" I shyly walked towards Emmett, who sat in the living room of the hidden cottage we were about to leave behind. "Look, first off, I'm not mad at you. It hurt to hear you thought I would choose someone else over you, my mate. 

Second, I didn't take you to the pack because I didn't want to overwhelm you when we first met. When you were ready, I needed to tell you about werewolves, but you wanted to leave. I had to do something you were fixing to walk out of my life, possibly forever. I will never be able to live with myself knowing that I did something to lose you forever." Emmett approached me, taking my hand and pulling me into his warm, gentle embrace.

🌕🐺

The way to the house on pack grounds was a long, rough path deeper into the forest. Once we arrived, I saw millions of beautiful cabin-style houses scattered about the land; a big, beautiful, Victorian-style house was in the center. There was one house that was different from the others. It was a small two-story Victorian-style house on the outer edge of the other houses. Emmett was behind me, taking his time to walk the path. I stopped just outside of the woods to wait for him to exit. I started walking beside him when he walked out, keeping perfect pace. At some point, I subconsciously put my arm around his and leaned into him as we walked. Emmett put a hand over mine before chuckling. "What's so funny?" I looked up at him and saw a devilish smirk playing on his lips. "Oh, just you said you weren't good at this stuff, yet you are leaning against my arm while we walk around. You also waited for me at the entrance to the pack, so you must know something about relationships." I heard a playful tone in his voice.

"Well, I have been in a few relationships before you came along. Come to think of it, I never got to break up with the person I was dating before I met you." After saying that to him, I smiled triumphantly until I heard an angry growl from Emmett. I looked up to see his eyes had changed to black. Well, this can't be good. "I didn't mean it that way, Emmett. I should probably text him and tell him it's over?" I tried calming him down but didn't know how to calm a wolf. "That's a little better. Would you like to text him now or me? Before you answer, you might want to think about that carefully." He looked at me seriously before pulling me to a stop and twisting me around to look him in the eye. "N-no, I can handle it." I squeaked out, feeling his immense power embrace us.

Breaking up with my ex proved more problematic than I thought, not because I had romantic feelings for him but because he refused to accept the breakup. Cole told me I didn't sound convincing, which wasn't a lie. I didn't even say convincing to myself, but I had to call it off with him if I wanted him to stay alive. If Emmett found out I was still dating Cole, he would hunt him down and tear him from limb to limb. No doubt Emmett would check on it later to ensure I went through with the plan.

🌕🐺

Later that night, after getting everything from the sudden move put in its place, Emmett walked into the massive primary bedroom, where I had already curled up in bed with a good murder mystery novel. He walked over to the bed and pulled the book gently out of my hand. "Emmett! What are you doing?" I jumped up, trying to grab the book, but he pulled it away. "I think you read too much; you don't spend enough time with me. You know what, I think we will start setting times for you to read, and the times you aren't allowed to read, you'll be spending time with me." He put the book on the highest shelf in the room, of course to where I can't reach it. Returning to the bed, Emmett placed one knee beside me and wrapped one of his arms around my waist before pulling me to him. "Come, little mate, you need to get cleaned up." What is he talking about? I looked up at him in confusion as he gently pulled me off the bed and led me down the hall to the primary bathroom.

Getting inside, he locked the door before going over to the shower and turned the hot water on to let it heat up. Once he was happy with the temperature, Emmett came over to me and started to undress me slowly. "What are you doing? Emmett, I can do all of this myself and decide when. I don't need a shower."

Nevertheless, Emmett did not listen to me and proceeded to undress me before undressing himself. After he finished, he pulled me into the shower with him and washed our bodies before focusing on my hair. Finishing with my hair, Emmett turned to wash his hair to clear any sweat or dirt hidden in his luscious dark brown curls. When we finished, he towel-dried me off to dress me in soft pajamas before drying and wrapping himself in a set that matched mine. Once he finished, he picked me up and carried me to bed, holding me close to his chest and providing warmth.