(Emily POV)

"Emily, would you make me the luckiest man in the world and be my wife?"

I took in the sight of my mate, kneeling on one knee. A mix of fear and hope drawn all over his face. I stole a quick glance around the room, he had put so much thought into this moment just for me. He loves me more than I deserve, and I love him with everything I have. He was frozen in place waiting for my answer, waiting for me to either make his day or break his heart. I know how big of a step this was to him, I know what he's been through. My breathing hitched in my throat as tears slid down my face. I love this man. I've loved him for what feels like a lifetime. I tried to speak but the words came out as more of a choked sob than words, so I nodded my head.

"Yes?" He whispered as he let out a shaking breath. "Yes. Yes baby. A million times yes." I could see the relief flood his handsome features as he took my quivering hand in his. He took the ring from the box and delicately placed it on my left hand. The cool metal slid down my finger and sat perfectly on my small hand, glistening in the candlelight. He jumped up to capture me in an earth shattering kiss, leaving both of us breathless by the time we pulled away. Suddenly slow music filled the room as he pulled me into his waiting arms, slowly guiding us around into circles. I'll take dancing with my future husband like this over anything. I snuggled my face into his chest as we twirled around the room. I want to remember this moment with him, capture it in my memory to have forever. As the music slowly faded away I leaned out to look at my mate. His twinkling eyes met mine as he bent down for a sweet slow kiss.

"We're getting married." I breathed into the kiss. He paused to look me over and shook his head, a huge grin on his face. "My god I'm the luckiest man in the world." He pulled me in for another kiss, this one more urgent, filled with passion. I returned it eagerly as he picked me up and led us to the bedroom on the far side of the room. I fell onto the bed with an oof as a spray of flower petals flew around us. I looked around the room to see he had decorated in here as well, the room littered with flowers and candles. I looked up at my fiancée to find him studying me in the candlelight. I sat up and grabbed him by the waist and pulled him down on top of me. We spent the night making slow sweet love, unlike any that we'd ever had before. It was literally the most magical night of my life.

I sat straight upright in the bed at the sound of a wolf howl, Reese jumping up beside me. I glanced at the clock to see it was 5:30 am, I can't think of any reason why someone in the pack would be out calling us at this time of the morning. Another howl shot through the quiet of the morning, closer to the guest house than the first. Without a word we were both out of bed and rushing to throw our clothes on. Whoever this was on the property wasn't Pack. The next howl sent shivers down my spine, it was right outside the house. Reese was at my side in a minute, pulling me back into the bedroom and closing the door. He looked at me and placed a finger to his lips, motioning me to go into the bathroom. I quietly stepped in as he closed the door.

"I want you to stay here, don't move and stay quiet. Okay?" Reese wasn't in lover mode anymore. The look on his face was murderous and I knew this was the side of him that has been in training to become pack enforcer. Clay had been showing him everything he knew, and he was one of the best fighters in the pack, but Reese wasn't ready yet. I tried to argue with him but the look he shot me shut me up pretty fast. He kissed me hard before he walked back out of the bathroom and shut the door quietly behind him. Bile rose in my throat as I heard another unknown howl ring out, this one different than the first. One on one I had no doubt Reese could handle the situation, but one against two- I'm not confident in those numbers. Mutts rarely fight fair. Without thinking I unzipped the back of my dress and stepped out of it. I quietly turned the handle and opened the bathroom door just a crack. I held my breath and listened but there was no sound coming from the house, Reese must have gone outside. I gingerly laid my engagement ring on the sink. My stomach rolled with dread as I crouched down onto the floor on all fours. I calmed my breathing and focused on getting to my mate.

The process was excruciating as each bone popped and snapped into place, but I focused on staying quiet. I urged my wolf to hurry, but I still felt like it was taking forever. Once I was finished I laid on the cold tile floor panting for a moment before I heaved myself up onto my feet. Letting my wolf take over as I urged her to get to our mate. I used my snout to slowly open the door and sniffed the air as I made my way out of the bathroom. I crept through the shadows of the now dark house, all of the candles burned out from the night before. I hopped up to place my front paws on the windowsill and peered around the yard, allowing my photoreceptors time to adjust to the lack of light of early morning. I saw a flash of movement on the side of the house as Reese came flying past the window. I growled lowly as I watched an unknown mutt step out of the shadows and advance on my mate. They were evenly matched in size and skill. I wanted nothing more than to go to him and pull the mutt off, but Pack law prevented me from intervening unless Reese was in danger.

I watched the two men throwing punches and kicks with pinpoint precision. Anticipation gnawing at my insides. They went on for a few minutes before a small movement caught my eye from the edge of the woods behind them. A stocky black wolf sauntered forward from the tree line with his teeth barred. In the seconds it took for the wolf to get out into the open, my wolf decided that was too close to our mate. I took a few steps back and took a running leap at the window, wincing as I felt my body soaring through the glass. I bursted out of the window, coming to rest on my paws just in front of the black wolf. He towered over me much like any other wolf I had met, but I refused to back down. A deep warning growl came from my throat and I saw Reese steal a glance at me before he turned back to deliver a punishing blow to the other mutt.

The black wolf looked at me and growled, sinking lower to the floor in a pouncing stance. I refused to back down, planting my paws firmly on the dirt and lowering my head with a final warning growl. I surprised myself with the sound, it was menacing and viscous. The black wolf eyed me amusingly, taunting me to make the first move. I stole a quick sniff to the air and almost winced at the smell. It was him. I knew he was coming for me. He seemed to assess the situation before lunging forward with a powerful snap of his teeth. I danced out of the way just as he turned and took off full speed into the mass of forest he had just come from. The human part of my brain told me to stay put with Reese, but my wolf refused to back down from the chase. I let out a loud howl to let the others in the main house know we needed help, and took off. I could hear Reese yelling for me to come back, but I couldn't stop my feet from moving me forward.

I ran deeper and deeper into the woods trying to find the wolf, stopping every so often to pick back up on his trail. I heard rustling coming from somewhere to my right, I spun around just as the black wolf bounded out from a bush and tackled me to the ground. We clashed with each other in a flash of snapping teeth and ripping claws. After a few minutes I finally saw the opening I needed and rushed forward to clamp my teeth down on his neck. He jerked out of the way in the last second, dipping his head down just before I made contact, causing my teeth to catch on the sensitive skin over his eye. I sank in and raked my teeth down his face. He yelped and ran backwards, retreating into the forest.

Just as I was about to follow I heard a scream ring through the air. Reese. I turned and bolted back toward the guest house, desperate to get back to my mate. As I came crashing out of the woods I could see the mutt he had been fighting had him in a headlock, seconds away from breaking his neck. Both men bloody and bruised from their fight. At seeing my mate in peril I shut off all parts of my human brain and allowed my wolf complete control. I lunged forward with a ferocious growl, grabbing the man by the arm. His grip on Reese loosened as he spun around trying to knock me off him. I watched my mate hit the ground hard, but I couldn't stop to check on him now. I let go of the mans arm and circled him slowly, growling and snapping. I could smell his fear seeping into the air. He glanced over his shoulder looking for an escape. He faked to the left and bolted to the right in an attempt to .

I waited until he was a few feet away before I took off at a dead run. Using my speed as leverage I launched myself into the air just before I reached him. He tried to swerve out of the way, but it was no use. My teeth sunk into the soft flesh on the back of his neck. I latched on and used my momentum to propel him forward onto his stomach. He tried to roll over to get me off of his back, giving me the entrance point I needed. With freakish accuracy I lunges forward and clamped my teeth around his throat. Blood poured into my mouth as I clamped my mouth deeper around his throat. With one swift movement I jerked my head. Blood splattered my body as I ripped out the mutts throat. He jerked and grabbed his throat attempting to stop the bleeding, but it was no use. After a few seconds of gurgled noise the man went limp, life draining from his eyes as his blood poured onto the ground.

I rushed over to my mate as soon as I knew the threat was over. Crouching down to lick his wounds. I could smell lots of blood but my wolf couldn't find the source. I paced around his body, nudging him with my snout and whining. He opened his eyes a crack and lifted his hand to rest it in my fur as I laid down beside him. I heard the sound of twigs snapping and people yelling my name. As the group came crashing into view I stood up and placed my body over my mate, growling and snapping. Someone walked toward me. Too close to our mate. I lunged forward slightly and snapped my teeth. "Nick. Back away" I heard someone say slowly. My eyes were darting between the four people standing in front of me. Slowly someone crouched down and met my eyes. It took a moment before I could understand the words they were speaking. "Emily. Listen to me honey, everything's okay. We're going to help Reese. I need you to go back inside and change back." I felt the pull of an order to move but my fear for my mate kept my feet glued in place. "Emily, go change back. We need your help" she ordered more forcefully.

I grudgingly submitted and felt my body moving toward the house. Once I'd made it in the door I urged my body to change back quickly, but my adrenaline was fading and the process took longer than usual. I laid on the floor breathing hard once I was done. A knock on the door caused me to jerk up quickly, I winced at the sharp pain in my side. Noah came in carrying clothes in his arms. He laid them down beside me and turned his back to me while I slowly dressed. I was bleeding from quite a few gashes on my side and back that I must have gotten from the black wolf, but I didn't care. I needed to get to Reese. As soon as my clothes were on I slipped my feet into my shoes and took off at a run toward the house. I stopped dead in my tracks at the sight of the dead mutt laying on the ground. I had mauled him with my claws and there was a large hole where his throat should have been. I felt my legs start to shake as I fell down to the ground and vomited. I felt arms pulling me up and steadying me. I looked up to see Nick and Noah looking at me with worried expressions. They led me toward the house, the smell of Reese's blood making me want to lose my stomach again.

When we got into the house it was a flurry of commotion. Elena was cutting away Reese's shirt, Nick ran to grab my medical kit from Jeremy, Noah left my side to grab some towels. The sight of my mate laying bloodied on the table my medical training kicked in. I rushed to his side to survey his injuries. Most were just superficial and would heal in a few days, but one deep gash on his side was oozing blood. Too much blood. I grabbed the wad of shirt laying beside him and pressed it hard into his wound, causing him to groan in pain. I barked out orders to everyone who rushed to get the supplies I needed while I kept pressure on the cut. "Reese, baby listen to me. I'm right here and I'm going to fix this okay?" I murmured into his ear. Nick barreled back into the room with my medical supplies and started handing me the things I was asking for.

The gash was deep, but as far as I could remember from my anatomy classes I didn't have to worry about any major arteries being damaged. I set to work cleaning and stitching the area; all while reassuring my mate that I was going to make this better. It took 30 stitches to close up the wound properly. I sanitized the area again before Elena and Noah helped me sit him up to wrap a bandage tightly around the wound. Just as I started to wrap the front door burst open, Jeremy and Antonio rushed over to us. Jeremy took in the situation with a calm demeanor, inspecting my work before smiling slightly and reassuring me I'd done everything perfectly. He patted me on the back and frowned as he pulled his hand away. It was covered in blood. He instructed the others to finish up and get Reese upstairs as he led me to a chair in the corner of the room and ordered that I sit while he looked over my injuries. I tried to protest but quickly realized there was no way in hell I was getting out of that room without obeying my Alpha.

I sat down and pulled off my shirt as Jeremy inspected the cuts that peppered my back and side. He grabbed some antiseptic and winced slightly as I hissed at the sting. He decided there were two cuts on my back that would have to have stitches. He apologized that he didn't have anything to numb the area before he set to work patching me up. It took 16 stitches to close everything up properly and I fidgeted In anticipation as he finished. "For you to be so good at doctoring everyone else, I must say you're a terrible patient." Jeremy said as he was finishing up. I gave him a small shrug as I got up and started to the stairs. I ran up to my room and tried to pull a loose shirt over my head, but the stitches in my back made my skin feel too tight and I winced in pain. I heard someone walk through the door and looked up to see Elena walking toward me. She grabbed the shirt from my hands and helped me slowly side it over my head. "Elena, is he going to be okay?" My voice sounded so small. "Yeah honey, I think so. He lost a lot of blood but you saved his life tonight." She said while giving my hand a small squeeze.

"Can I go see him now?" I asked as we started out of the room. She nodded and led me down the hall. We entered the room to find Noah sitting in a chair beside Reese, worry etched all over his features. He stood up when he saw us and walked over to me, enveloping me in a tight hug. I squeezed him back and buried my head into his chest, willing the tears pricking at my eyes not to fall. My mate needs me to be strong right now. I pulled away and looked up at Noah, silently communicating that we needed to talk. He gave a slight nod of understanding. "Oh." I said when I glanced down "I forgot my ring in the guest house. Noah, will you come with me to get it?" I glanced at Reese as I spoke, unsure if I should leave him alone. "You guys go, I'll stay with him until you get back. You should be safe but if anything happens yell for Clay, he's checking the perimeter of the property now" Elena spoke from the corner, sensing my uneasiness about leaving. I nodded and headed toward the door and into the woods with Noah following quietly behind.

Once we got to the guest house I ran into the bathroom and slid the beautiful ring back on my finger. I checked the area to make sure we were safe to speak freely before I told Noah everything that happened. His face paled when I told him that it was the mutt who bit me. The situation was escalating too quickly and I couldn't keep it from him anymore. "Noah, I want you to walk outside and tell me if you recognize his scent." He nodded and I followed him out the door to the spot where the wolf had come out of the woods earlier. He crouched down and inhaled deeply before he jumped up and spun around to face me. He was panicked as he realized the scent was the same as the one he had picked up near Taras apartment. Before I could stop him he took off toward the house, saying he needed to get to her. I yelled after him but he ignored me as he raced ahead of me. His bike shot out of the garage just as I got to the house.