Page 16 of Sanctuary

“Really?” Gemma laughed at his grin. “Oh, I wish I could have seen that.”

Eric shrugged. “We can pay him another visit if you want.” His tone serious until he added with a grin, “It was quite enjoyable.”

Gemma would have loved it. She glanced to see a younger woman standing alone looking lost. “Who’s that?”

“That’s Leeza.” Eric’s voice turned hard. “She is one of the women who was raped. Sherry is the other one, but she stayed behind. She’s visiting a neighboring pack before joining up with us.”

“Oh no.” Gemma made a mental note to include her as much as possible. “Any luck with finding him?”

“No,” Eric sneered. “But we will. All the packs in the area know. Hewillbe found. His freedom is fleeting.”

“Well, I’ll make sure to get her busy, so hopefully that will help her,” Gemma said, having no doubt Eric would find the one responsible.

“And that’s exactly what the mate of the alpha would do.” Eric tightened his hold on her.

“Well, I don’t think that’s all that needs to be done. I can also find someone who specializes in helping rape victims who she can talk to. It’s really what she needs.” Gemma was already planning on ways to help the poor girl. She couldn’t even imagine something like that, but she knew that she would do anything to help. “She will get the help she needs, I promise.”

“Thank you. As alpha, I know a lot, but this…” His eyes went back to Leeza. “…is something I’m not very good at.”

“I’ve got it, but I want her comfortable, so I’m not going to jump right away. Let her get used to things first.” She smiled as Leeza finally moved and headed toward one of the enclosures. Once there, she knelt and stuck her hand inside, then smiled as one of the wolves walked toward her, nudging her hand with his head. With a beaming smile, Gemma looked up at Eric excitedly. “Maybe she found a friend already.”

They both watched as Alex headed toward Leeza. He stayed a distance away from her, but started to talk. Gemma felt a little hope when Leeza nodded at something Alex said and then gave him a shaky smile.

“Well, maybe she had found two friends.” Gemma gave a relieved chuckle then looked up at Eric.

Eric was staring down at Gemma with an intensity that had her stomach doing all kinds of crazy flips and dips.

“Come on, Larry and Alex can handle everyone for a bit. I need to teach you how a mate properly welcomes her alpha back home.” Eric tightened his hold on her, his grin promising things she couldn’t say no to.

Gemma laughed as he pulled her toward her small home, their home. It was no longer just her anymore, and she had never been happier. With one last look around, she already saw Eric’s family,herfamily, working with Larry, and her wolves were already thriving under the attention. For the first time in a long time, she felt excited about the future, not the overwhelming fear she had grown to know.

She stopped him before they entered so she could take one glance around. “I thank you, Eric Jackson, and so do my wolves.” Then a thought hit her and her eyes shot back to his. “Where in the world is everyone going to stay?”

“Never thank me,” Eric whispered as he also glanced around. “Family does for family. Your grandfather would be proud of you. And that is my problem to take care of, not yours. We will make do, as always. Just know you will have some very close neighbors.”

Gemma nodded, choked with tears, wondering if Eric knew what his words meant to her. Before she started blubbering and ruining the moment, she gave him a push.

“Come and teach me how I properly welcome you back,” Gemma teased as she was pulled into the house. “But I should warn you, I’m a very slow learner.”

“Never fear, mate,” Eric growled down at her, then picked her up. “We have the rest of our lives for you to learn, starting now.”

Chapter 11

Gemma woke to find the bed next to her empty. With a smile and a stretch, she reluctantly got up to start her day. The smell of coffee filtered through the room, and her first goal of the morning was to drink as much coffee as possible because after last night with Eric, she was going to need it.

Grabbing a pair of shorts and a shirt, she slipped them on and headed to the kitchen, which to her disappointment was empty. She had hoped to see Eric still there. She wasn’t very confident yet in their relationship because, well, she had never really had a relationship before and definitely not one with a shifter. With Eric, it had happened almost overnight. What was she talking about? Itdidhappen overnight and seemed unreal to her. With a sigh, she poured herself a cup and went to the window to look out. All she could do was go with the flow and hope her heart didn’t get broken in the process.

She watched the activity of strangers taking care of her wolves and honestly didn’t know how she felt about that. It had always been her and her grandfather, then her and Larry with a little help from others here and there. The assistance was new for her, but as she watched with a knowing eye, she saw the wolf-dogs under her care responded positively. With strangers, they would usually hang near the back of the enclosures until the stranger had left. Instead, the wolf-dogs greeted them as they did her. While she was happy that she finally had the help she desperately needed, she couldn’t help feeling a little sad that her wolves were reacting to others as they did her. Dumb, she knew, yet her wolves were all she’d had for so long. Rationally, her feelings were just human nature, but still, she felt bad feeling this way. With a sigh, she rolled her eyes.

“Just be happy, idiot,” she told herself, then turned, almost spilling her coffee as she ran into a hard chest.

“And why wouldn’t you be happy?” Eric had snuck in and was smiling down at her, but concern edged his eyes.

“It’s nothing.” Gemma looked up with a half smile. “Just me being me.”

Eric peered out the window behind her and frowned. “Is this too much?”

“No,” Gemma replied quickly. “No, not at all. It’s just…. You know what, it’s nothing.”

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