Emily woke up to an empty bed the next morning, already setting the mood for the day. Which was quite down and droopy. Emily could see out the window that was right across from the bed that there were grey clouds surrounding the sky, not a bright blue crack between the clouds in sight.

Today is going to suck, Emily thought to herself as she hopped out of bed and went on a search for clothes to wear. She walked into Carlos' closet to see the once slightly empty walk-in closet now filled with the clothes she had brought with her for the ball. Carlos must have had someone hang all of her clothes in here. She'd have to thank him later.

But, Emily didn't know if she liked the fact that Carlos was basically forcing her to move in with him without asking her input or even if she wanted to live with him — which she did not. At least, not right now. She was too young. Her birthday was in two weeks so that means she'd be turning seventeen.

After Emily showered and got dressed, she stepped out of the bedroom she now regretfully shared with Carlos and closed her eyes, focusing on the sounds she could hear with her wolf hearing. She was looking for Carlos. Emily could hear kids playing outside, the maids cleaning rooms while guests were at breakfast chatting away, and she could hear one distinct voice speaking with someone on the phone. Carlos.

Emily made her way to where she could hear him from, which ending up being Carlos' office. When she was standing in front of the door, she reluctantly turned the nob and walked right in. She instantly regretted it when Carlos spun around as quick as a bullet shooting through air to face her, a stern look taken upon his features. Maybe I should've knocked? Emily asked herself.

"Ross, I'm am going to have to call you back." Carlos dismissed the phone call with Ross quite quickly before slamming down his phone onto his desk. The strong emotion in Carlos' eyes made Emily shiver involuntarily.

"What is it, Emily? Can't you see I'm busy right now?" Carlos' tone was low and sharp, causing Emily to stare at him hard. Fear slowly crept up her spine before anger of the way he spoke to her like she was a little kid started to set in. Emily was a nice and caring girl yes, but she was never the one to sit back and let people walk all over her.

Emily's defined eyebrows lowered immensely, her nose scrunched up the slightest bit in disgust. "I just came to find you to tell you that I'd like to have all of my stuff moved back into the room I was originally supposed to be staying in. We are moving too fast, and I don't like it." Emily huffed at the end, relieved she finally said what she had been wanting to say since last night. She was proud of herself for speaking up.

Carlos stood as still as water for what seemed like eternity to Emily. She started to get anxious of what he might say or do to her because he seemed like a man of action. If he wanted something, he sure as hell got it, and probably with force. Emily just hoped he wouldn't use that same force on his mate.

Carlos' lips slowly tugged into a smile, confusing Emily. Carlos looked down for a split second before back at Emily's deep brown orbs. "Of course. I apologize if I made you do something you weren't comfortable with. It was not my intentions, I promise." Carlos walked out from behind his desk to stand in front of Emily. "We can take things as slow as you want. We can also take things as fast as you want. I'm letting you call the shots... for now."

Emily narrowed her eyes at Carlos, not sure whether or not this was a tactic of his to get people to do what he wanted. She was also sort of turned on, but she'd never admit it out loud. The way Carlos told Emily that she could be in complete control sparked an excitement in her she had never felt before. She was surprised by what he had said. Emily thought he was going to explode on her like a bomb of splitting rage, but he didn't.

That wouldn't be the last time Carlos Bennett surprised Emily Clayson.

+

It was later on in the day after lunch when Emily's things were back in her room. She felt so much better now, thinking that maybe today wouldn't be as bad as she originally thought. After going on a short walk in the woods to clear her mind, Emily started to look for her parents. She hadn't seen them since last night and she desperately wanted to speak with them.

She found them laid back in their room, watching a movie they said they found in the cabinets below the TV. Emily smiled immediately when she saw them. "I feel like I haven't seen you guys in ages." Emily said to her parents as she hopped onto their bed, making her dad let out a laugh. Flashbacks of when Emily would do the exact same thing when she was a younger girl invaded his mind.

"If you feel like you haven't seen us in ages after one night alone, wait until you live with Carlos for the rest of your life, sweetie." Eliza joked around. She didn't mean to make Emily feel upset, but Emily felt saddened by her mother's words. She wasn't really thinking about living with Carlos right now. She was still sixteen. She had about a year and a half left of high school. She still didn't know how school would work out now since Emily had the sneaking suspicion that Carlos wouldn't let Emily go all the way back home just for school.

"Oh honey, your mother was just joking." George noticed the eyes of his daughter become watery. Emily forcefully smiled and wiped away her tears as her parents sat up from the bed to comfort her. Eliza rubbed her back and sent her daughter an apologetic look.

"No, no, I know. It's just that you guys are my parents. I've had you guys by my side everyday for all my life and thinking about not having that anymore is obviously saddening." Emily explained, her voice a little squeaky from tearing up. Her mouth started to water, too.

George and Eliza shared a look that Emily didn't catch because she was wiping her tears away. They then both looked at their daughter, not wanting to tell her what they're about to tell her but not having another choice because they had no control over what Carlos says. They can't control him or control their own daughter anymore because she's his mate.

Eliza took a deep breath before giving Emily a look as if to say I'm so sorry for the words that are about to come out of my mouth. "Listen honey, there's something we have to tell you... and you're not going to like it."

Emily's sad mood was long gone now and replaced with a nervous one. She didn't really want to know what her mother had to say because she knew it wouldn't be good. Emily mentally prepared herself for what was to be said next by closing her eyes. Emily could feel in it her very bones that whatever was about to be said had something to do with Carlos Bennett.

"Well, uh..." George started out, clearly uncomfortable and a little angry over the subject at hand, "Emily, when we leave tomorrow to go back home, y-you won't be coming with us."

Emily's world seemed to stand frozen when she realized what her father had just said. She isn't going home? Why? Although Emily already knew the answer as to why. And that answer is Carlos. He didn't want her to leave. He wanted her in arms reach because of his enemies... or maybe for his own selfish reasons. But, Emily kind of knew something like this was coming. She knew Carlos wouldn't like her going back to her home across the country when she was his mate. She absolutely hated that she had to be put in this situation.

But, she was also kind of angry that her parents didn't try harder to come up with a compromise. They could've negotiated with him, maybe even convinced him to let them come live here. Because Emily couldn't live without her parents right now, especially not now because she was feeling all sorts of emotions and she needed her family there to help guide her through being Carlos' mate. She also couldn't blame her parents either though.

Emily was back to crying again, and she felt weaker than ever. "Please. Don't leave me here alone with him." She was begging. It broke her parents hearts to see their daughter like this, and they couldn't do anything about it. And they hated that so much. They hated Carlos for making them leave. He thought that it would be better for Emily and Carlos' relationship if they left and gave them time and space to connect. They weren't buying what he was selling, but they had no choice but to oblige. Because even though the words never directly left his mouth, he threatened them with words with underlying meanings.

"Honey, we have no other choice. It's for your own safety if we listen to him. We will come and visit as much as possible. We promise." Eliza tried to make Emily feel better, but ultimately, nothing could make her feel better because being alone somewhere surrounded by strangers sucked even more than being alone with no one around.

"No, what you really meant to say was that you'll come to visit as much as he will allow you to." Emily spoke about Carlos with such disgust. Right when she started to think he wasn't so bad, he goes right on ahead and ruins everything she believed good about him. And that made her angry.

George felt as if he had failed as Emily's father. He was supposed to protect his family, but he's letting his daughter stay with a monster. He and Eliza finally realized why Emily felt the way she did about Carlos that night at dinner, and they wished they would've known sooner about what was to come for their daughter so they could've stopped Carlos and Emily from meeting. All they could do now was pray to the Moon Goddess that everything would be okay for Emily and that she would stay safe, sheltered from any harm.

Because being the mate to one of the scariest wolves to ever have lived comes with responsibility and danger. Carlos had countless enemies—Greyson being one of them—and once they've caught word that Carlos found his mate, they'd come for her. Eliza and George just hoped that Carlos was a decent enough man to protect her with his life.