(Reese POV)
She had fallen asleep about 30 minutes before we'd gotten to Catskills that night. By the time we arrived back home Jeremy and Elena were there waiting on us while Clay was at home with the twins. He would be joining us in the next few days when Jamie arrived to watch the kids. As we pulled into the garage, Jeremy and Antonio walked out to help us get Emily inside. I picked up her still sleeping form and slowly made my way upstairs to one of the guest bedrooms. Once she was laying down I was able to really see the damage. She had large gashes on the bottoms of her feet, probably from running through the woods. There were bruises and cuts all along her arms and legs. She had big circles under her eyes and her cheeks were stained with tear lines.
I could feel my heart breaking looking at her. She looked so small and fragile and, broken. Elena came in to the room with a rag and a bowl of water. She helped me gently undress Emily and clean up all of her wounds. My wolf was panicking, unsure what to do to make her better. Once we'd gotten her all cleaned up I slipped my shirt over her head, she had been deeply inhaling my scent on the drive home, hopefully the smell would help her stay relaxed and get some much needed rest. Jeremy came in and began to sanitize her wounds and inspect her injuries. Though he never said anything, I could see the sadness in his eyes as he uncovered more and more damage that had been inflicted on her. He confirmed that she was indeed a werewolf now, which meant once she was on the mend he would take her back to Stonehaven for a few weeks to teach her all about pack law and start her training. He got up and left to go speak with Antonio about the best way to tell her. New wolves are very easily triggered at times and the last thing he wanted to do was push a change on her before she was mended enough to handle it.
She slept all through the night and most of the following day. I stayed by her side the whole time, guilt eating me alive. If she had never met me, they would have never taken her. Jeremy had made some calls to the pack as everyone scrambled to try to get more info on who had done this and why. I wondered if it had anything to do with the meeting Jeremy had with Antonio the night I met Emily. I didn't ask though, it wasn't my place. If my Alpha thinks I need to know, I trust him to tell me. I had just walked into the en-suite bathroom to wash up for dinner when I heard small flutters of movement coming from inside the room. Emily had shifted positions to stretch out a bit more in the bed. Peacefully wrapped inside the cocoon of blankets around her. I smiled as I turned back around to turn on the water. That's when I heard her heartbeat start to jump and she started thrashing in the bed. Trying, unsuccessfully, to get out of the mess of covers she was tangled in. I rushed over to her and wrapped my arms around her. "Calm down love. Em, it's okay. You're safe I've got you" I coaxed while tightening my grip on her. She was shaking like a leaf and I could smell her terror fade as she inhaled my scent and began to calm down.
As she turned around I noticed her taking note of the bandages on her body before meeting my eyes. She studied me for a moment with worry on her face, before flinging herself into my arms. She grabbed onto me for dear life as I folded myself around her. Breathing her scent in I was finally able to relax. Relief flooded through me just knowing that after months of searching for her, she was home with me and safe. She suddenly lifted her head and grabbed my face to give me an electrifying kiss. I knew she was trying to express how she felt the best way that she could think of. Not that I minded at all, she could kiss me like that every day for the rest of my life and I don't think I'd ever get tired of it.
We pulled apart at the sound of a light knock on the door. Jeremy must have heard her wake up. I worried that she might be uncomfortable that he had provided medical care for her instead of us going to the hospital. I knew she would have so many questions; I just wasn't sure how any of us would answer them. He stepped in quietly as I opened the door and introduced himself. I noticed that Emily kept submitting to him, even though I could see the confusion cross her face as she did. It was second nature for her to make eye contact when talking to someone, one of the things I appreciated when we would spend time together. She never minded making eye contact because everything she said was genuine. Once Jeremy had finished looking over her wounds, which had already healed quite a bit, he asked her if she would like some food. Her stomach roared at the mention and I smiled to myself. We will help her heal from this, starting with a nice hot meal. Jeremy left soon after to talk to everyone before I brought her down. I grabbed the clothes that Nick had gone out for this morning. She tried to get up but the moment her feet touched the floor I could see her losing her balance. So I gently nudged her back onto the bed and crouched down to help her with her pants. I don't even think she realized that Elena had stopped to get her underwear on the way, and put them on her after we cleaned her up last night. As she pulled off my shirt I could see that she was a bit embarrassed. Sure we had made out a few times, I'd ran my hands along the curves of her body, but we'd never gone as far as seeing the other naked. Once I'd helped her pull the bra over her she stood up to pull on her shirt. I made sure to stay close just incase she needed me. I glanced at her bruised body, clearly she had been through something terrible and I mentally cursed myself again for being the reason any of this was happening to her. I met her eyes and tried to smile. As soon as she was finished dressing I scooped her up to carry her down the stairs. Her eyes were dancing all over as we made our way to the kitchen. She was trying to make jokes about why I hadn't invited her here. I knew she was trying to lighten the mood for herself, she was overwhelmed and I could see it. I tried to reassure her as we walked in that I was right here. I'll always be right here. Nothing bad will ever happen to you again. I mentally promised her and myself as we made our way to the table.
She seemed to take the cues from everyone else well enough, I suspect Jeremy had given orders to leave all questions and comments for after dinner. I piled her plate high with food, earning an incredulous look from her before I coaxed her to begin eating. We needed to get some weight on her as soon as possible. The meal seemed to be going well, I could smell her tension but I just assumed it was because she had just gone through a living nightmare and had woken up in a house full of strangers.
Before any of us knew what was happening she had dropped her fork and jumped up from the table like it was on fire, knocking her chair to the floor with a deafening smack. She didn't say a word as she stumbled to the door leading to the back yard. I could sense her panic and pain and I immediately jumped up to follow her, Jeremy and Antonio on my heels. My heart sank when I made it to the door. She jerked in pain before her legs gave out on the grass as she started throwing her shirt to the ground. She got up and made it a few more steps before she had her pants off too, going further into the woods. At this point everyone was outside, unsure of what to do. She had no idea what was happening to her. Jeremy and Antonio ran to find her as she let out a blood curdling scream that stopped me in my tracks. She was changing. She doesn't understand what's happening. She's afraid. Help her! My wolf growled. I knew there was nothing I could do to stop the pain she was in. As I heard the pops of her bones breaking I started ripping off my clothes, keeping her in sight. I didn't care if anyone saw me in transition in that moment. All I knew is that her wolf would need mine and I would be there when she was finished waiting on her.
45 minutes. That's how long I had to listen to her screams of agony before her transition was complete. The pain was causing her to panic and she couldn't let go. I laid down on the ground and waited for the final push, my wolf whining with every scream of pain coming from our mate. Finally it was quiet. I slowly got up and walked around from my perch to see a little light brown wolf; she was studying herself as if she were in disbelief that it was her. She froze when she looked up and saw me. Fear flashing through her green eyes before she flopped onto the ground in a show of submission. I walked over to her and began to sniff her as our wolves became acquainted with one another. Her eyes lit up when she realized that it was me as I gave her a few licks to her muzzle. I nudged her to her feet just as Jeremy walked into view. She immediately flopped back onto the ground, baring her neck as Jeremy approached her. She was giving full submission to her Alpha. Jeremy seemed please with her submission as he urged her up and led her along into the woods so the others could join us. And so we played, we romped and wrestled and welcomed our little wolf into our pack. Curling up on all sides of her as we laid in a clearing a few hours later, our presence and heat lulling her into a peaceful sleep. It didn't take long for all of us to follow her as one by one we drifted off too.