Goal Two Still in Play

Emily

I am awake but I can't seem to make my body catch up to my brain. I can smell the disinfectants and hear the beeping from monitors somewhere close to me. I am definitely in a hospital. I can feel the hum of my wolf inside of me, so far, so good. I struggle to get my eyes open; I get them working, but it is taking me a bit to get my focus back. Why do all hospitals have those ugly drop panel tiles on the ceiling? I try stretching and get a good toe to wiggle in the process. Working legs, check. I turn my head to look around and catch the eyes of that beautiful god from my dreams. He is sitting in a chair next to me. Oh, shit! That dream was real. I am screwed.

He is wearing that tight white t-shirt stretched snug over his wide chest, just like in my dream. I can see all his ripply muscles and the vague outlines of his nipples. Oh, sweet goddess, I want to flick those with my tongue. I can feel my face heating, like literally my cheeks are radiating heat right now, and I know he can see them. He just raises one of his sexy eyebrows in question. Memories of me trying to feel him up come flooding back, making the heat in my face worse. Maybe if I pretend to go back to sleep, he will leave. I squeeze my eyes closed and pull up the blanket. I am so embarrassed right now.

I hear a chuckle coming from the Hottie and the rustle of movement before he yanks away my blanket, uncovering my face.

"Nice try, little wolf. We both know you are wide awake." He says. I can hear the amusement in his voice. "Do you want me to lift your bed so we can talk?" he asks. I nod yes and he leans towards me, and I catch a whiff of his scent. Hints of shampoo, soap and maybe cologne mixed in with his natural, manly scent. He straightens up and leans over me to grab a pillow to tuck behind my back and my senses go into hyper-drive. I need him to back up before I do something ridiculous like pledge my undying devotion to whatever cult he wants me to join. He slides a hand behind my back and gently lifts me and that large hand is so warm, his thumb slides down my spine, skin on skin with opening of my hospital gown and I pray he cannot feel that jolt that just went through me. The damn beeping from my monitor just sped up, and I hope he did not notice. I can feel his breath against my neck, his full manly lips nearly touching skin and my eyes roll back in my head. Fuck me... I am going to lose my damn mind. My toes just spread out and then curled. He tucks a pillow mid-way down my back and straightens up without meeting my eyes and clears his throat before sitting down with his laptop over his lap. He looks a little flushed, but I could be wrong. The lighting is dim.

"I am guessing be now you have realized I am not a dream?" He asks. I can hear the laughter in his voice. Not a dream, my ass. Best damn dream a girl could ask for. I nod yes. I am not trusting my voice just yet. It is probably going to come out all cracked and high pitched.

"I do not think I have had a chance to introduce myself yet. I am Gamma Thomas Winters," he announces.

My eyes go wide, and then squeeze shut. Shit. I audibly groan and mutter under my breath, "Fuck... I just felt up my Gamma." Goddess, take me away. I am screwed. I can hear him snort and I open my eyes again to look over at him. Those devil dark eyes are twinkling back at me.

"I should probably explain why I am here, you have been out of it for two weeks, and a lot has happened." He shifts in his seat to get comfortable and then gives me a detailed run down of everything that has happened from the time he left his office two weeks ago until now. It is a lot of information to take in and it eats up a couple of hours. I close my eyes for a moment to just take it all in. "Is this too much for you right now? I can come back later." he asks.

I shake my head no. "Just give me a minute, I am processing," I answer with a shaky voice. " Where is Jake? You have two of them in the prison right now, so where is the fourth?" I ask.

"We do not know where Jake is, but we are actively hunting him. He has been trained well." he answered. "As for the fourth...I killed him. He did not make it even two steps away from you." He looks down at his hands and then back up at me. He licks his lips nervously and my eyes immediately glaze over, watching those lips, "I still have his head in the morgue. I will give it to you if you want it." He clears his throat and looks away again.

Gosh, what the hell? Does he not know what that means? From the way he is sitting there, I do not think he does. You only present you kill to a female you are intending to court, mate, or both. I have to be looking too deep into it, I am obviously misunderstanding. But I need to give him an answer either way. You don't just dismiss a shifter when they present you with a kill. It is just rude. I can feel my cheeks heating. I am permanently burned in front of this guy.

"I would like to see it if that is okay, but I do not know where I can keep his head. Thank you for the opportunity for me to drop kick his miserable head into a trash bin. He does not deserve a proper burial, and I don't want him to have one." Thomas sat straight and his eyes meet mine again. He seems content with my answer, but there seems to be a lingering doubt behind his eyes.

"If that is your wish, we will find the nastiest dumpster in this city to drop it into," he says with a smirk. I could not help but chuckle. He is cute.

"I still do not know why you were looking for me to begin with. I do not exactly fall into people's radars." I look down at my hands. I need to do something about these nails. He shuffles a bit and leans over into a small leather case and pulls out a file.

"Actually, you have been on my radar for a while now." he answers. I am surprised, and I know he can see it on my face. I do not exactly have the best poker face. He opens up the file on his lap and pulls out a couple of pages. Who still uses paper? "You are Glitch, you have done some impressive work in the IT field, mainly with security." He looks back up at me. "You have your hands in multiple different areas when it comes to technology and to be honest, I am more old school and I need someone like you." He scoots a bit closer to me. "I am offering you a position as a cyber security specialist. Right now, we have been outsourcing everything, but I have a suspicion that our info id being leaked from the company er use. The pack has decided to invest in our own IT division and eliminate outside threats."

I am stunned, really shocked. This was, no, this is my dream and here is this Viking god just offering it up on a platter. What country did I save in a previous life?

"If you need time to think about..." He started looking uncertain.

"NO!" I interrupted "I mean, I do not need to think about it, this is what I have wanted" I am on cloud nine right now. I want to get out of bed and do a jig. Do people still do jigs? I am shaking, I am so happy. Goal one down. I wiggle in my seat and adjust my hospital gown.

He chuckles. "You do not know how glad I am to hear that, especially after the two weeks I have had. At least this is one issue I can scratch off." he sighs and looks down at his phone. "It's late. I will let a nurse know you are up, and I am sure you are hungry by now. How about I come by tomorrow and we can discuss things further?" he asks. I nod my head in agreement.

"Sounds good." I answer.

He looks towards the door and scratches his beard. "Jake has been spotted near your apartment and on the hospital grounds. I have guards at your door and two each at either ends of the hall as well as some making their rounds outside. If you need them, shout. I need you to stay put in here, not wandering around." He looks over at me with narrowed eyes. "That's not going to be a problem, right?"

"No, Gamma" I answer. Gamma...I feel a lump in my throat. He is leagues above me. If he was just a regular pack member or even a warrior, I might have a chance but a Gamma? I do not have a shot. His tier is upper level. My tier is way below that. I need to stay in my lane. I feel frustrated suddenly and sad. Damn, for the first time, I wish I was more than just a runt. Goal two...gone.

Thomas opens the door and with his hand on the doorknob he looks back over his shoulder with and inscrutable expression on his face. "Emily...do you know what it means to be presented with a kill?" and with that question he walks out and closes the door leaving me with my mouth hanging open and my face erupting in flames. Goal two, still in play.