Alpha Heart: A Paranormal Werewolf Romance (2 page)

“What job line are you in?”

“I’m an antique dealer.”

“So you don’t have a home?”

“Not really, I’m always hopping from place to place, so it’s hard to tie down roots.”

“You don’t have a girlfriend or boyfriend?” Emma took a sip of her coffee and turned to look out the window. Travis felt himself smile again at the innocent question.

“No, I don’t have a girlfriend or a boyfriend.”

“What about-“

“Stop with the twenty questions. How about I ask you one?” Travis placed his mug on the coffee table before leaning his elbows on his knees.

“Okay, I guess.” Emma shrugged and turned her body to face him.

“Why can I smell your wolf so terribly?”

Emma’s face drained in color and her mouth started to move, but no words came out. She shook her head before turning her back to him and running her hands through her shoulder-length, red hair.

“It’s okay. I’m not going to tell anyone. Although, if you don’t get your wolf under control, it will start attracting other shifters.”

“What do you mean it will attract other shifters?”

“I could smell your wolf from outside of town. You need to shift as soon as possible, so the scent disappears.”

“No, I can’t shift.” Emma shook her head so fast that the hair flew around her face in a fiery waterfall.

“Why ever not?”

“I shifted once. It was painful and I was disgusted with what I had done.”

“What did you do?”

“I killed another wolf. A real wolf.” Emma turned back to face him and Travis could see the torment in her eyes. Travis understood that, without the proper training, shifting for the first time could be excruciatingly painful. Obviously, Emma had a traumatic experience when she first shifted.

“How long has it been since you have shifted?”

“Five months.”

Travis felt his own wolf whine at the thought of that. He knew how painful it could be to suppress your wolf. Once the full moon started to show, then the inner wolf would start going crazy, demanding to be released.

“Emma, you need to shift. I can help you so it’s not painful.” Travis reached across the table and touched the palm of her hand. Emma gasped and looked down at their hands. Travis knew what she was feeling.  He’d heard the rumours about touching your mate for the first time; it would feel like an electric shock passed through each of them.

“What was that?”

“I’m not sure you’re ready to know,” Travis said, believing it with everything in him. If Emma couldn’t bear to shift into her wolf, she wouldn’t be able to accept the fact that each wolf had a mate in the world that they were destined to be with forever.

“Tell me.”

“We’re mates. I knew the moment that I stepped inside your bakery that we were.”

“What do you mean
mates
?”

“Wolves in the wild usually mate with one wolf for their entire lives. So, they find their partner and stay together until death. The same applies for shifters, once we find our mates we are destined to be with them for the rest of our lives.”

“What happens if one doesn’t want to mate with other?” Emma hadn’t removed her hand from his yet and Travis took that as a good sign.

“It is hard for a shifter not to be attracted to their mate, so usually the mates end up together, no matter the challenges they may face.”

“You think I’m your mate?”

“No, I know you’re my mate. Tell me that you couldn’t stop thinking about me when I left yesterday morning.”

“This is a lot to process right now.” Emma took her hand back before holding her head between both of them. Travis felt the need to wrap her up in his arms and tell her everything would be okay, but somehow he knew that she wouldn’t accept his comfort at this moment.

“We can talk about being mates another time, but allow me to help you and your wolf.” Travis was desperate to get close to her and knew this was one of the best ways.

“How?”

“You need to be in the right place for it. If you’re born into it, then your family helps you for years before you even shift. I take it you weren’t born into it?”

“No, I was scratched.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter. I can still help you. The full moon is in two days. Each night, if we meet someplace public or private, I can teach you how to get your mind in the right place. If you would like my help that is?”

“I would be grateful for your help.”

“Not all wolf shifters are bad, Emma. There are only a few rouge packs around the whole country. I swear by the time the full moon comes shifting won’t be painful and you will be able to control your wolf.”

“Where do you want to meet then?”

“You know the town better. Pick somewhere public for the first session, so I know how suppressed your wolf actually is. Here is my number, give me a call.” Travis scribbled his number down on a napkin and handed it to her a few moments before the door opened to the bakery again.

“There is a park just beside the motel. Meet me there at nine?” Emma whispered to him. He nodded his head before placing the money on the table with a smile.

Emma stood and headed behind the counter again, a smile on her pretty face. She really was an amazing creature. The old man she was serving said something that Emma obviously found amusing, since the laughter that flowed through the bakery was magical.

Travis picked his helmet up off the sofa and nodded his head at Emma before leaving the bakery. He needed to figure out how to calm Emma’s wolf so she could shift, yet still allow her to remain in control.

****

Emma was excited, but nervous about tonight. She wanted to be able to accept the wolf that was inside of her, but at the time she didn’t want to. While she wanted to feel free and not feel the desire to suppress her wolf, she also didn’t want her wolf. She just wanted to be a normal twenty-six year old woman who ran a bakery in a small town.

She was wiping down the counters when the bell on the bakery door dinged again. It was near closing time and nobody usually visited her shop around this time. Surprisingly, Mrs. Humphrey came inside, dragging her wheelie basket behind her.

Emma knew something was wrong or weird. She asked the elderly woman, “Are you okay, Mrs. Humphrey?”

“Yes, dear. It’s my grandson’s birthday tomorrow and I was wondering if it was too late to put an order in?”

“Of course it’s not too late. What can I help you with?” Emma grabbed the pen and pad that was beside her cash register and waited for Mrs. Humphrey’s order.

“I would like one hundred cupcakes.”

“One hundred?”

“Yes, by nine tomorrow morning. It’s not too much is it, dear?” Mrs. Humphrey clasped her hands together and smiled widely, her gap-toothed smile melting something inside of her.

“No, of course not. They should be ready tomorrow.” Emma didn’t really want to take on the order, but the money would be good for business. The only downside was that she wouldn’t be able to spend the evening with Travis.  She sighed before dialling the number that he had left her.

“Hi, Travis. It’s Emma. I can’t come tonight,” she blurted out, as soon as he answered the phone.

“Why not?”

“Mrs. Humphrey just asked me to bake one hundred cupcakes for her grandson.” Emma sat down on the sofa with a sigh.

“Well, I could come and help you. Kill two birds with one stone and all that.”

“Have you ever baked cupcakes before?” Emma asked, as she smiled to herself. The thought of Travis wearing one of her flowery aprons in her kitchen amused her.

“I used to help bake at home.”

“Come on over then. Be prepared. If you mess it up, then you’re replacing it all.” Emma hung the phone up and headed back into the kitchen. If Travis was really going to help her, then she needed to make sure he knew what he was doing before letting him loose in her expensive kitchen.

Travis rolled into the bakery five minutes later, a smile on his handsome face. Emma tossed him an apron and he cast a disgusted look before donning the garment. She mixed the batter, then she made him scoop the batter in the cupcake trays before putting them in the oven. The system worked well and, soon enough, there were one hundred cupcakes on the table, waiting to be iced.

“Okay, break time.” Travis dragged her away from the kitchen and into the bakery storefront. She watched in silence, as he pushed the sofas out of the way so there was an area on the floor where they could sit.

Travis sat cross legged on the floor and gestured for Emma to do the same. Once they were both sitting on the floor, Travis took a hold of both of Emma’s hands and smiled.

“Okay, close your eyes.”

“Why?”

“Just close your eyes, Emma.”

Emma sighed before closing her eyes and Travis squeezed her hands gently.

“I want you to bring your wolf forward.”

“I don’t know how to do that.”

“Just think of your wolf. Think of how it’s trapped. Think how it needs to be freed.”

Emma scrunched up her nose, as she thought about her wolf. Her head felt funny for a few seconds before a picture appeared behind her eyes. As the gray and white image came into focus, she saw that it was a small wolf with her tail between her legs.

“Tell her you’re sorry.”

“What?” Emma thought Travis was being ridiculous. No way was she saying sorry to an image of a wolf. She wasn’t crazy.

“Emma, you’ve denied her the chance to get to know you and to be free. You need to say sorry to her, so she knows you feel for her.  She needs to know that she doesn’t need to be a true animal once you release her.”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, as tears welled up behind her eyes. If it was true what Travis was saying, then she’d denied her wolf for too long. She could have caused her wolf’s anger each time she was released.

“Good. Now let her out.”

“I don’t want to.”

“We need to get a hold of your wolf before the full moon. When you shift on the full moon, for a while the wolf will take over. We need to control it now.”

“It hurts too much.”

“Open your eyes and watch me.” Emma opened her eyes and was confronted with a bare stomach. Travis was stripping his clothes off in front of her and she couldn’t help but stare at the man’s amazing form.

“Why are you getting naked?”

“I don’t want to rip my clothes.” Travis winked before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. Emma tried not to stare at his crotch, but it was hard not to, since it was eye level with her. She didn’t have long to stare before a golden glow appeared. Within a second, a burgundy wolf stood in front of her.

The wolf whined and nosed her hand. Emma smiled, as she buried her hand in Travis’ warm fur. When the wolf looked up, she was stunned to see that the wolf still had Travis’ eyes. He wasn’t a wolf for long and, before she knew it, Emma had her hand on naked skin.

“See, no pain.” Travis smiled so big it made her heart ache.

“I’m not sure I can do it.”