Filed To Story: A Claim of Fortune Book PDF Free by Jaymin Eve
I grunted, wondering if there were other mythical creatures hidden in our world too. Just wandering around, in giant-ass bodies. “Ever since Emme came into our lives, all I’ve had are questions. Hopefully we can finally get some answers, and that they’ll help us deal with the threats always lingering in the background.”
Hunter nodded, his expression harder. More resolute. “Yeah, that’s the gameplan moving forward. We get our answers and take out our enemies.” He shot Talon one last, disgusted glare, and then headed farther into the plane. “I need to check on Emme. My wolf is raging, and we don’t like her out of sight.”
He strode off before I could assure him that I felt the exact same way. After days without Emme, I was filled with restless energy, and no matter what it took, we couldn’t let her ever be taken from us again.
While I kept an eye on the dragon, Finley wandered into the main cabin, dressed in just a pair of sports shorts. “We’re almost ready for takeoff,” he said when he reached my side. “Slade’s done with his final checks?-“
Slade stomped into the cabin cutting him off, and we watched as the now dressed shifter secured the main door behind him. He radiated annoyance and anger as he tapped on the cockpit door to let the pilots know we were good to go.
When he reached us, he eyed the chains and ropes strapping down Talon, and his expression didn’t shift. “Get ready for takeoff,” he said, his voice calm. Too calm.
Our brother wasn’t okay-he was very fucking far from okay.
As if he’d heard that comment, Hunter stepped out of the bedroom, his gaze meeting Slade’s down the aisle. It was a charged stare, a silent communication between the pair.
As the engines grew louder, and the pilots got the plane moving, I headed for the bedroom. Emme opened her eyes as I slid in beside her, wrapping her up in my arms. “Are we safe?” she whispered, and the break in her voice shredded my heart.
“We’re safe, baby,” I whispered, barely restraining myself from squeezing her until I could feel her bones imprinting on mine. I was so fucking gone over her. If I could have crawled under her skin, I would have. “No matter what it takes, we’ll make sure you’re safe.”
Emme pressed her face into my chest, and I took a second to breathe her in, and I found my beast calming under her presence. “Whatever it takes,” I repeated, determined that this would be the last time she suffered at the hands of another. “We will destroy them all and live happily ever after.”
I felt her smiling against me. “I love you, Golden. Wake me when we get home.” She pressed her lips to my shirt in a brief kiss and then promptly fell asleep again, her exhaustion too great to fight.
“I love you too, Shortcake,” I whispered, my throat tight as darker emotions raged below my calm surface.
I managed to keep it together all the way back to Golden Claw, and when the familiar city came into view, Emme was awake to see it, snuggled in my arms.
For the first time, she released a true sigh of relief, and her old spark shone in her eyes. “Home,” she murmured.
“Yep, sweet mate. We’re finally home.”
And here we would stay, until we figured out a way to eliminate Fletcher and his evil from the world. Permanently.
FINLEY
We’d been back in Golden Claw for a week.
A week of confusion, council meetings, and plans for what we needed to do next. A week of Slade losing his shit and crushing everyone under the might of his dominance. But it didn’t make a difference. The traitors were missing or dead, Fletcher and his band of fuckheads had gone to ground, and the only one he could take his fury out on now was Talon. Who was resolutely not giving up his cone of silence.
All of us were fraying at the edges, and unless something drastically changed soon, the Reeves pack were on a downward spiral to destruction.
Ironic, considering I was probably in the best mental space of the last few months.
I’d suffered a huge wakeup call out in that desert with Emme and had decided to stop denying my true feelings for her. I was just as fucking obsessed with that omega as the rest of my pack, and I was determined to finally deal with my trauma and past.
So it didn’t destroy my future.
Over the last week, I’d made it to three training sessions with Coach Connor, the defensive line assistant coach, and two with Coach Gerrado, who’d been quiet since we returned. There wasn’t much he could say when our mate had been kidnapped, again, but I got the sense he wasn’t happy.
“Take as much time as your pack needs to deal with this,” he’d told Kellan and me when we returned, but I knew I wasn’t the only one wondering how much longer we’d be able to make hockey work with our pack dramas.
The thought of losing hockey should have sent me into a spiral, but with my new mental clarity, I was mostly indifferent about it. My priorities had changed, and it was clear that someday soon, there’d be a point that hockey didn’t fit in my life. For the first time, that didn’t feel like the end of the world.
After finishing my gym session for the morning, I found Kellan perched in the doorway of the kitchen, staring at Emme. “She hasn’t stopped baking,” he grumbled as we watched her pull a tray of cookies from the oven. “I mean, the cookies, tarts, and mini-cakes are the second-most delicious thing I’ve had in my mouth, right after our omega, but my heart breaks watching her hurting like this. Why doesn’t she cry? It’s like she’s channeling all of her demons into baking.”
Kellan didn’t understand; he’d grown up in a stable, loving environment. In his house, you talked through your problems, and everyone jumped in to figure out a solution. That wasn’t how it worked for Emme and me. Even Slade and Hunter had each other, but we’d had no one. Not really.
My brother was too young when he was murdered, and Kenzo had been dealing with his family, leaving me to handle everything on my own. Or with my beast. Hence why my bear took control at times, in his own bid to protect me.
“Compartmentalizing and staying busy is a way to cope and deal,” I told him, keeping my voice low so the omega locked in my gaze wouldn’t hear. Not that she appeared to be mentally present, her eyes vacant as she moved about in a well-rehearsed routine.
“She’s not dealing,” Kellan muttered. “My Shortcake is absolutely not fucking dealing.”
I couldn’t deny his statement. Our mate was pale, the dark circles under her eyes standing out prominently. Even with Hunter and Kellan on either side of her at night, she cried out with nightmares that we all heard, and brought our own dark thoughts to the surface.
“I can count every damn freckle from here,” Kellan added, releasing a ragged sigh. “I love her freckles, but they shouldn’t be visible from outer space. She’s too pale.”
“I love her freckles too,” I murmured, proud that I could finally admit the truth. “Though, I agree. Seeing them stand out so starkly isn’t my favorite, but if she’s anything like me, she needs to work through this in her own way. It won’t last forever.”
Kellan side-eyed me, his expression drawn in pissed-off lines. “Yours has lasted forever, asshole. You’re still over here angry at the world.”
I opened my mouth to argue because fuck this smug fuck-