This chapter is dedicated to abbierin for being the 100th vote on this story! Thank you all so much for your support, it really does mean a lot! :)
Chapter 14
Emma's POV
My dad pulled away slightly, looking down at my tear stained face and smiling. "Oh, Emma," he murmured, resting a hand gently on my face. I smiled up at him through my tears and he pulled me back against him, squeezing me tightly.
I was soon pulled away from him by my mom who wanted me to herself, making him growl playfully before kissing her cheek and mine. "My baby!" she sobbed, clutching me to her so tightly it was nearly painful. I didn't care. It was so good to see her again after two years of thinking I'd never see them again.
"Hi, Mom," I whispered against her shoulder, making her sob even harder. My dad wrapped an arm around her and me and stared down at us, happy tears shining in his eyes.
I looked over at Will and Ally and opened my arms. They rushed me, nearly tackling me to the ground. The only thing that saved us was my dad catching us and setting us back upright. It hurt my stomach but I didn't care. Ashton had wrapped so much gauze around me that I knew the stitches weren't in danger of ripping open.
"We were so worried about you, Emma!" Ally sobbed into my shoulder.
"Are you okay?" Will asked me worriedly at the same time.
"I'm great now," I told them happily, a few more happy tears dripping down my cheeks.
I looked over to see Ashton, Dane and Rick all smiling broadly as they watched our reunion. They walked over slowly as we all calmed down and controlled our tears. Well, everyone but my mom that is. She was still sobbing under my dad's arm, gripping tightly to my hand.
I watched as my dad's face changed, hardening before he turned to Ashton and said, "Did you say stitches?"
I couldn't help but giggle slightly at how long it had taken my dad to process Ashton's words from before, when he yelled at me to slow down because I had stitches. Everyone looked at me like I was crazy and I just shrugged.
"Daddy, this is Ashton, Dane and Rick," I introduced him. "And these are my parents and my two friends, Will and Ally," I told Ashton, Dane and Rick.
They all smiled and exchanged pleasantries for a moment before my dad said, "I've met Dane and Ashton, but who are you?" He was looking at Rick and I walked over to Rick taking his hand and pulling him closer to my dad.
"Daddy, Rick was a prisoner with me and became my best friend over the past two years. I wouldn't have survived or been able to escape without him."
My dad stared at us in shock before reaching out and dragging Rick into a tight hug. "Thank you for taking care of her," he said to him before releasing him.
Rick nodded, bowing his head slightly. "It was my pleasure," he told my father. "You have an amazing daughter."
My dad looked over at me and a smile slowly grew on his face. "I know."
"Why don't we go inside and we can have a good long talk," Ashton suggested. "We have some news to tell you."
My dad furrowed his eyebrows, looking at Ashton with suspicion. "What news?" he asked.
I grinned at how protective he was. I had missed him so much. "Let's talk about it inside," I told him. "Ashton's got a great living room that we can all sit in instead of standing out here."
"Fine," my dad agreed, not liking to have to wait, even just long enough to reach the living room. "No one ever answered my question about the stitches."
"We'll answer it in the living room," I told him, tossing him a smile over my shoulder.
I saw how hard he tried to keep his scowl but he finally gave up, grinning back at me and pulling me against his side as we walked into the house. Ashton smiled at me as he held the door open for us and walked on my other side on the way to the living room.
My parents sat on one couch, Dane and Rick took another and Will and Ally took the left over two chairs. Ashton and I remained standing in the middle of the room.
Everyone looked at us in confusion, wondering why we were standing together while everyone else was sitting.
"I guess the first thing we should tell you," Ashton began, "is that Emma is my mate."
The room was dead silent as everyone stared at us in shock. Then my dad glared at Ashton and stood. "You're not taking her away from us again," he growled angrily, pointing a finger at Ashton's chest.
I grabbed the finger, holding tightly to my dad's hand. "No one is going to take me away from you," I promised him fervently. "We're planning on going back with you tomorrow and staying for a week and I promise that we'll visit often."
He scowled and almost looked like he was pouting. "We just found you again," he told me, complaining.
I smiled at him. "And I just found you again," I told him, "do you really think that I would leave you?"
My mom smiled, standing up and leaning into my father's side. She reached out and pulled me into a hug, then dragged Ashton into it as well. "I'm so happy for you guys," she told us. "But you better come see us often," she warned.
Ashton grinned at her. "We'll visit as often as we're able," he promised her.
As we were released from the hug, Ashton wrapped an arm around my shoulder. My parents resumed their seats on the couch and Will and Ally gave me grins that promised an interrogation about Ashton later. I rolled my eyes at them and their grins only grew bigger.
"Now what about the stitches?" my dad asked.
I grimaced. "I have stitches in my stomach," I told him. "It's not that big of a deal."
"Not that big of a deal?" my dad growled angrily. "What the hell happened that you had to have stitches?"
I frowned. I didn't want to tell him what had happened, knowing that he would blow up. He definitely didn't need to know that I'd had much worse injuries in the past two years that made the cut on my belly look like a scratch.
"I don't really want to talk about the last two years, Dad," I told him quietly. "It's not anything I want to relive."
He looked like he was about to protest when my mom placed a hand gently on his arm. With one look, she got him to be quiet and accept my statement. She knew that I had gone through things that I didn't want to talk about and she understood that I couldn't talk about them yet.
I smiled at her in thanks.
"Fine, if you won't answer that question, can you at least tell me who it was and why they took you?" he asked, his voice gruff. He wasn't happy about being kept in the dark, but I think what bothered him the most was knowing that what I had went through was bad enough that I was too emotionally scarred to talk about it.
"It was Max," Ashton answered. "Of the Blood Moon Pack."
My dad snarled loudly, jolting off the couch and punching the closest thing he could reach, which happened to be the wall. As he wound up for another, my mom snapped his name. "David!" she growled, "Knock it off, right now!" she ordered him.
He growled angrily but froze, standing there, shoulders hunched and breathing heavily. My mom stood to go to his side, resting a calming hand on his shoulder. I walked over and wrapped my arms around his waist hugging him tightly.
After a moment, I felt his arms wrap around me and he held me close. "I love you," he whispered. "I'm so glad you're safe now."
"Me too," I whispered back.
"Why?" he asked me quietly.
"He was trying to force me to mate with his son, Jeremy," I replied.
A low, dangerous growl emanated from him again, but with my mom and I there, he didn't punch the wall again, simply held us both tighter. "He will pay," he said lowly.
I nodded in agreement. "Yes, he will, but later. For now, I just want to enjoy being safe for a little while."
On that note, we decided to save the serious discussion about what to do about Max and his pack for tomorrow and we all relaxed in the living room. Ashton took a seat between Dane and Rick on the couch and pulled me into his lap. For the rest of the night, we all spent time getting to know each other again.
My parents had lots of questions for Rick, what his pack was like, what his rank was, what his family was like, etcetera. I noticed they avoided any questions that would bring up the past two years when he and I were kept in captivity and I appreciated it.
In return, I asked them, Ally and Will a million questions about the pack and how everything and everyone was doing. I was sad to hear how depressed the pack became after I was taken. I didn't like feeling responsible for their depression. I felt so loved that they'd continued searching for me, but I didn't want them so sad while they were doing it.
We talked until my lids grew heavy and I once again fell asleep in Ashton's arms. It was quickly becoming a habit of mine, but I couldn't say I didn't like it. I felt so safe and loved in his arms that sometimes I never wanted to be away from him.
~~~*~~~Author's Note~~~*~~~
Well, I think today is going to be a good day :) My classes got cancelled until noon. I only have one class before noon, but still, its cancelled. I hope you all have a wonderful day too :)
Let me know what you thought of the chapter as well :)
Thanks for reading!
~Haley~