Intransigent

Intransigent | 12

I nodded, knowing everything that he told me. "I know," I growled, running my fingers through my hair. "I'm going to have a hell of a time controlling Axel when she's ready to talk, but I will do it."

I saw approval flash in Rick's eyes. I certainly didn't need his approval, but I knew that Emma would want it, and it made me happy that she would get it.

"When will her father get here?" Dane asked, speaking up for the first time since I walked into the room. That wasn't unusual; he preferred to watch body language before he spoke. He was really good at reading people.

"Probably in about five hours," I answered. "He was leaving as soon as he got off the phone with me."

Dane nodded, smiling slightly. "Their reunion is going to be a sight to see."

"That's for sure," Rick replied.

I nodded in agreement with them.

There was a knock on the door and I could smell the pack's omega outside the door. "Come in, Cindy," I called.

She opened the door, keeping her eyes down on the ground out of respect. "Lunch is ready, Alpha," she murmured quietly.

"Thank you, Cindy, we'll be right down," I told her. "Please have everything on the table and ready and set another place for our guest."

Cindy and her two daughters were the pack omegas, and they were basically servants. They did the cooking and cleaning around the pack house every day. They were the weakest in the pack, putting them at the bottom of the food chain.

"Let's head down and eat," I said, standing up. "We'll let Emma sleep and have Cindy make her something later."

I cocked my head to the side in confusion when Rick froze. "Sleep?" he asked. "Emma's sleeping right now?"

I nodded, not understanding what he was getting at. "I said she was resting earlier, didn't I?" I asked him.

He moved quickly for the door. "You don't understand; she can't be left alone when she sleeps."

I followed him in confusion. "Why not?" I asked, right when a terrified scream rang through the pack house. It was filled with pain and fear and it was coming from my mate.

"That's why!" Rick exclaimed as we all ran towards the sounds of her screams.

We burst through my bedroom door in a group to see Emma shaking and crying, huddled in a ball against the headboard of my bed. Before I could reach her, Rick was already pulling her into his arms, rocking her.

She curled up, sobbing in his arms as he rocked her. I couldn't help but feel jealous that he was the one comforting her as I sat beside them on the bed.

"Don't cry, Em," he whispered to her. "It's over, it was just a dream, you're safe now." He continued to murmur comfortingly in her ear until she calmed down. She held tightly to him even after she'd stopped crying, hiding her face in his shirt.

"Go back to sleep, Emma," he told her softly, like he was talking to a scared child. "I'll watch over you."

I wanted to growl at his words, Axel and I should be the only ones watching over her as she slept, but I held back. I didn't want to scare her anymore than she already was.

When she was peacefully asleep again, Rick returned his attention to me. "Unless someone is with her when she's sleeping, she has nightmares," he said.

I looked sadly down at my mate. She would never sleep alone again. I promised her that I wouldn't let her get hurt and I wasn't going to let her relive the past two years of her life in her sleep either.

"I won't let her sleep alone then," I told him. "I don't know how comfortable she'll be sleeping with me, but I won't let her go through the nightmares."

Rick laughed slightly. "I don't think you'll have too much of a problem," he told me. "Once she gets tired, she's like a kitten. She loves to cuddle."

I growled quietly, being careful not to wake Emma up. "I don't even want to know how you know that."

He laughed again. "You have nothing to worry about, Alpha," he said, still chuckling slightly.

Apparently I'm funny. Weird, I didn't find anything about that funny.

He stood carefully, before passing Emma to me. She shifted in her sleep some at the movement, but soon she curled closer to my body, let out a soft sigh and relaxed once more.

Rick smiled at us and then moved to the door, going downstairs with Dane to have lunch.

I smiled down at the girl in my arms in amazement. She had a terrible past and she was damaged, but she was strong and she was mine. She was all mine.

~~~*~~~Author's Note~~~*~~~

Monday again everyone! For everyone who has the day off because of MLK Day, I hope you're enjoying yourselves ;)

I'll post another chapter next Monday :) Claribelle tomorrow :)

~Haley~