Chapter 8

_Emma’s POV

The room did not feel the same after she left. Even though Linda was gone, I could still feel the weight of her presence. Her cruel words stayed in my mind, along with the anger in her eyes and the way she had looked at me like I was something that did not belong in this world.

I remained standing there silently, staring at the empty doorway where she had disappeared. My body was still tense and my hands continued to tremble slightly. But it was not because I was afraid of her anymore. It was because I was afraid of myself.

I lowered my gaze to my hands and stared at the fingers that had pushed her away only moments ago. They looked the same as always. They were my hands. The hands that had cared for injured animals, held medical tools and lived an ordinary life.

But what happened before had not felt ordinary. I still remembered the strange rush of strength that had moved through me. It was not just anger. It was something deeper, something unfamiliar, like a part of me that had been hidden for years had suddenly opened its eyes.

And I did not know what frightened me more. The fact that it existed….or the fact that a part of me had answered when it called.

Slowly, the people around me began to leave. Their footsteps echoed through the room as the whispers faded but I could still feel their eyes on me until the very last moment.

Before, they had looked at me like I was a weak human who did not belong here. Now they looked at me differently. Like I was something they could not understand.

I hated it. I hated feeling like I did not belong anywhere.

For my entire life, I had known exactly who I was. I was Emma. A normal woman. A veterinary nurse who spent her days caring for animals because I understood them and wanted to help them.

That was the life I knew. But now everything felt different. Now I was someone who could hear a voice inside her own head.

Someone who had pushed a woman twice her size across a room with a strength that should have been impossible.

Someone who was connected to a world that I had never even believed existed.

I closed my eyes tightly, trying to calm my thoughts. Maybe I was losing my mind. Maybe everything that had happened was simply too much for my brain to process. Maybe my mind was trying to protect itself by creating something impossible because reality had become too frightening.

I did not understand anything anymore. Not what was happening to me or what I was becoming.

“Emma.”

His voice pulled me out of my thoughts. I looked up and found Ryker standing only a few steps away from me. He was watching me carefully.

For a moment, I expected him to be angry. After everything that happened, I expected him to be disappointed. But he was not.

“Are you hurt?” he asked.

I almost laughed. “I think that is the least of my problems right now.”

His eyes stayed on me. “You are avoiding the question.”

I looked away. “My shoulder hurts a little.”

His jaw tightened slightly. “You should have never been put in that position.”

I looked back at him. “She pushed me because she thought I was weak.”

His expression darkened. “She was wrong.”

The certainty in his voice caught me off guard. I swallowed.

“You are not angry?”

“Of course I am angry.”

The answer came immediately. But then his expression softened.

“Not at you.”

Something inside my chest moved slightly. I hated that I noticed.

Ryker stepped closer. “Emma, listen to me.”

I stayed quiet.

“What happened today will not happen again.”

I looked at him. “You cannot promise that.”

“Yes, I can.”

His voice was calm but there was something powerful behind it. Something that made me believe him even when I did not want to.

“I am the Alpha of this pack. Every person here knows what happens when someone disobeys my orders.”

His eyes became colder. “They will respect you.”

I frowned. “I do not want people respecting me because they are afraid of you.”

“That is not what I mean.”

He moved closer. “I mean they will understand that you are under my protection.”

Ryker continued. “You came here because you had nowhere else to go. You were already afraid. The last thing you need is for the people here to make you feel unsafe. I will make sure that does not happen again.”

I stared at him. The strange thing about Ryker was that he never sounded like he was trying to impress me. He simply said things like they were facts. Like protecting me was not a choice but it was something he had already decided.

“You do not even know me,” I whispered.

His eyes met mine. “Maybe not everything. But I know enough.”

My heart skipped slightly. I looked away before he could notice. “You say things like you are always right.”

A faint smile appeared on his face. “Usually, I am.”

I rolled my eyes despite myself. For a moment, the tension inside me loosened. But when he stepped closer again, it returned. It was the same strange feeling I could not explain.

The air around me suddenly felt heavier as if something unseen had shifted. My breathing became uneven and my body went still.

No....Not again....Not now.

I pressed my hand against my chest. “What is happening to me?”

Ryker immediately noticed. His expression changed. “Emma?”

I looked at him. “I do not know.”

My fingers tightened against my chest. “I do not know what is wrong with me.”

His face softened. “There is nothing wrong with you.”

But I shook my head. “No.”

Because deep down, I was not sure I believed him. Something was wrong. I could feel it.

Ryker moved closer but he did it slowly and carefully. Like he was afraid that one wrong move would make me pull away. And somehow, that made my heart beat even faster.

“Emma.”

His voice was softer now.

“Look at me.”

I did and the moment my eyes met his, everything inside me went still.

Then I heard it. A voice. It was soft and clear. It did not come from outside but it came from somewhere deep inside me.

"Mate"

My entire body froze. My breath caught in my throat as I stared at Ryker. Because this time, I knew. I was not imagining it. I was not losing my mind. Something inside me had recognized him.

“Did you hear that?” I whispered.

Ryker did not answer immediately. His eyes stayed locked on mine. His expression had changed. The calm control he always carried was gone. For the first time since I met him, he looked almost shaken.

“Emma,” he said quietly.

I swallowed. “What?”

He stepped closer. “What did you hear?”

I hesitated. I did not want to say it out loud. Because saying it would make it real. But something in his eyes told me that he already knew.

“I heard a voice.”

His breathing changed. “What did it say?”

My fingers curled at my sides and I looked away. “It said…...Mate.”

Ryker closed his eyes for a brief second. When he opened them again, I could see the relief in his eyes.

“Your wolf can feel mine.”

My heart dropped. I stared at him.

“What?”

He looked at me like he was seeing something he had been waiting for. Something he thought he might never find.

“Emma…”

He stepped closer.

“My wolf has been trying to reach yours since the first time I saw you.”

I shook my head immediately. “No.”

His expression changed slightly because he knew I was scared.

“No?” he repeated softly.

“No.”

I took a step back. The words came out faster now. “No, that does not make sense.”

Ryker watched me carefully.

“I am human.”

The moment I said it, something painful crossed his face....something closer to sadness.

“Emma…”

“No.”

I shook my head again. “I know who I am. I have always known.”

I pointed at myself. “I am not like you.”

His eyes stayed on me. “You are.”

He seemed to be very certain of himself and it scared me.

“You do not understand.”

I laughed quietly but there was no humor in it.

“You are telling me that I have been wrong about myself my entire life.”

Ryker stayed silent.

“I woke up some days ago and my biggest problem was a broken window.”

My voice shook.

“Then I saw people turning into wolves.”

I looked at him.

“Then Hunters attacked us.”

My breathing became uneven.

“And now you are telling me that I am one of you?”

Ryker moved closer. “Not just one of us.”

I frowned. “What does that mean?”

His eyes softened. “It means that you are my mate.”

My chest tightened. The word felt strange.

“I do not understand.”

“I know.”

His voice was gentle. “That is why I wanted to talk to you.”

I looked at him suspiciously. “You knew? You knew something was different about me?”

“I suspected.”

My stomach twisted. “And you did not tell me?”

“I did not know how.”

His answer surprised me. Because Ryker was not someone who seemed unsure about anything.

“I knew you were human when I first found you,” he continued. “Your scent was human. But there was something else.”

I stayed silent.

“My wolf noticed it before I did.”

“No, I cannot be this.”

Ryker frowned slightly. “Why?”

“Because this is not me.”

I touched my chest.

“This voice. This strength. This thing inside me. I do not know what I am anymore.”

Ryker’s expression softened. “You are still Emma.”

I looked at him. “You do not understand.”

“I do.”

“No, you don’t.”

My voice cracked. “You were born into this world. You grew up knowing what you are.”

I looked around the clubhouse. “At least you belong here.”

Then I looked back at him. “I do not.”

The silence between us grew. Ryker took another step forward.

“Emma.”

I shook my head. “I am scared.”

The admission surprised me. Because I hated showing weakness. But with him, somehow, I could not pretend.

“I am scared of what is happening to me.”

His eyes softened. “You do not need to be afraid.”

“How can you say that?”

“Because you are not alone.”

He reached for my hand. But he stopped before touching me. Like he was giving me the choice. That small action made my heart ache.

“Can I?”

I looked at his hand then at his face. Slowly, I nodded. His fingers wrapped around mine. And the moment he touched me, everything changed.

His scent surrounded me. It was warm, powerful and familiar. My heart reacted before my mind could. The strange feeling inside me grew stronger. And then the voice returned.

"Mate."

I pulled my hand away immediately. “No.”

Ryker looked hurt. “Emma.”

I shook my head. “I cannot do this.”

His expression became serious. “Do what?”

“Accept this.”

I looked at him. “I cannot just wake up one day and suddenly become someone else.”

“You are not becoming someone else.”

“That is easy for you to say.”

My voice became louder. “Your entire life makes sense but mine does not anymore.”

For a moment, neither of us spoke. Then Ryker moved closer again. “You are not a monster.”

The words hit me harder than I expected. Because he knew. Somehow, he knew what I was thinking.

I looked away. “Then what am I?”

His voice was quiet. “You are my mate.”

I closed my eyes. That answer should have comforted me. Instead, it made me feel trapped because it meant this was real. It meant that there was no going back.

“I am not like you.”

Ryker went still. I saw the change in his expression. But I continued because the fear inside me was stronger than my guilt.

“I am not a wolf.”

My voice became smaller. “I am not part of this world.”

His jaw tightened slightly. “Emma.”

“I am not one of you. I am not a monster.”

There was complete silence. The moment the words left my mouth, I regretted them because I saw his reaction. Ryker looked at me like I had hurt him.

His eyes darkened. “Is that what you think?”

I could not answer. He looked away for a moment then back at me. “Is that what you think I am?”

My throat tightened. “No.”

But the word came too late because I had already said it. I had already hurt him. The man who had protected me. The man who had stood between me and danger. And now I was the one hurting him.

Ryker took a slow breath. He did not look like the powerful Alpha everyone feared. He looked like a man who had just heard the person meant to be his finally reject the one thing that made him who he was.

“I thought you were afraid of becoming like me.”

His voice lowered. “But I did not realize…”

He paused. His eyes met mine.

“You were afraid of me.”

My heart clenched. I wanted to explain. I wanted to tell him that was not what I meant. But the words would not come.

And as Ryker stepped back, the strange voice inside my mind whispered again. But this time, it said:

"Protect him."

I looked at Ryker and I realized that the thing inside me did not just recognize him. It cared about him.