“Is your student bothering you?” he asks her.
“No he’s not,” she responds.
“How did your day go?”
She sighs, “It was stressful today.”
He massages her shoulders so she can relax her muscles, their faces close and he can feel her breath on his face. He gulped and looked away from her, attempting to kiss her might have the wrong impression on him.
He withdraws himself completely from her face and leans on his seat, closing his eyes and letting out a heavy breath. Emily is darting her eyes around her nervously, she is not sure if she is ready to be intimate with Conrad. Louis has never touched her since they started dating, they only kissed and touched themselves but never did the main deed.
Diving into the romantic aspects might be too early for her and Conrad because they are not mates. She did not want to get attached to him only to be cut off in the end, everything is going to be a gradual process.
“Let’s go home,” he finally says after calming his nerves down.
They did not say anything to each other until they arrived at the pack house, Jax was already sitting in the living room when they came in with her hands together.
“‘Em, how have you been doing lately?” he asks her.
“I’ve been good,” she replies.
Jax giggles as he notices their entwined hands, “So you two are officially a couple?”
Emily begins to blush hard, she pulls her hand from Conrad and rushes to her room. The news about her new relationship is still fascinating to her.
“I’m sorry for not telling you about my intentions with her earlier,” Conrad apologizes.
Jax nods, “All I am concerned about is making Emily happy. She’s the only cousin that I care about and after her scandal with Louis, I feel like she deserves more than just mere words. I believe that you can do better than him in every ramification, right?”
“Yes, Alpha Jax.”
“Let’s go for a hunt, shall we?” Jax suggests.
Conrad picks up their rifle and they enter the woods. Coming back to this place reminds him of Freya and how she helped him to kill his game, he realizes now that she has the scent of wood, and the fresh leaves smell like her. It is a natural scent that reminds one of nature.
They relax and wait for a game to come, and Jax strikes up a conversation.
“I will be going to the northern border by tomorrow morning.”
Conrad looks up at him, “Why?”
“News of sudden attacks by rogues has reached me and you are aware that the northern border is the most dangerous zone for patrolling, rogues enjoy trying to break in from there,” Jax replies.
Conrad remembers that Freya was assigned to serve on the northern border, an order that he sanctioned when he felt that her feelings would be an obstacle in getting Emily. Now the northern border is under attack and he isn’t sure if she is safe or not, but why is he worried about a mere girl?
Besides her duty to serve or die, she is bound to face the consequences of such an agreement however it may be. He removes his mind from her safety and focuses on Jax who will be leaving for the northern border tomorrow morning.
“Do you want me to accompany you?” Conrad asks him.
Jax shakes his head, “You have to stay back here so you can watch over Emily. I’ll go alone and come back once the issue is resolved.”
Conrad nods in understanding. The twigs shuffle and they become alert, an antelope comes into view and Jax gestures to Conrad to shoot it down. Conrad picks up his rifle and positions it towards the game, Freya’s advice on her to shoot a game down comes to his mind.
He waits for his prey to be less concerned about his surroundings before shooting it down, Jax applauds him for a job well done. But Conrad’s mind still thought of Freya, her red hair and freckles on her face.
Was his fate connected to this girl?
He wondered because he realized that she had been stalking him ever since she saw him at the training ground, she only stopped when he pushed her away and allowed her to be sent to the northern border.
“Once I return from the northern border, we will be going for this hunt steadily. it’s beginning to get fun now that you’ve learned how to shoot well,” Jax tells him.
“Who says I learned how to shoot well?” Conrad asks him.
“Freya told me she taught you how to kill a game, that girl is so obsessed with you,” Jax mentions.
Conrad raises his brows in surprise, “Is that so?”
Jax nods, “You should be happy that she’s far away from you. You might not have had your chance with Emily if she was still here.”
“That’s why I sent her away in the first place, there was something weird about her anyway.”
They returned to the pack house with their game, the servants took over their duties to garnish the meat. Conrad freshens up before going out for dinner, Emily also comes down for dinner with her shy face.
“You guys went to hunt?” she asked, surprised by the large amount of meat on the table.
“Yes,” they reply.
She sits and Conrad dishes out a meal for her, Jax makes a teasing sound at them.
“Emily, I’ll be going to the northern border tomorrow to check out some activities going on there. Stay safe, okay?” Jax informs her.
“Sure,” she replies.
After dinner, she goes to the rooftop with Conrad to take a look at the breathtaking view of the pack at night.
“I will always love this view,” she says calmly.
“Me too.”
“You seem to be unsettled this evening, is something wrong somewhere?” she asks with concern.
He can’t tell her that his mind is preoccupied with his concerns for another girl’s safety, a thought he doesn’t want to entertain.
“It’s nothing.”
She nods and continues to look out at the vast view. When her eyes are dizzy with sleep, she yawns and stretches her body.
“I’m tired now, let’s go to bed.”
She tries to leave but he holds her back, his lips touch hers as soon as she turns around to meet him. Her eyes are wide open in shock as her lips open partly to taste his mushy lips. Conrad realizes that he has gone too far, he pulls away and scratches his head nervously.
“I’m sorry for crossing my boundaries, I don’t know what came over me.”
“It’s fine, Conrad. I’m not mad at you,” she says.
“Why?” he asks.
“Maybe it’s time for me to open up to you fully and let go of my fears, I’m willing to be intimate with you in a more romantic way if you wish.”