Danger Zone Ch 09

Authors note: I am SO sorry for the delay. Between school part-time and work full-time, I lost my ability to focus on the story and it took a while to get the chapter together. Thank you for all the e-mails. I have already started on Chapter 10 which I think will probably be the last and hopefully I will have it done later this week.

*****

Emma pulled up to the gates of the compound in her rental car, unsure of the reception she would receive. She hesitated to tell Ian that she was arriving ahead of time but she knew it was the correct thing to do when entering a pack's territory but since he was ignoring her calls, she sent him an e-mail. She just hoped he hadn't deleted it without reading it.

The guard approached her window and knocked on the window with the butt of his rifle. "I'm sorry ma'am, this is private property. I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"I have a meeting with Ian McNally."

"Mr. McNally has no appointments today. Now I must ask you to leave before I need to forcibly remove you."

Emma sighed. Apparently Ian deleted her e-mail. "

Guess there is only one other option."

She thought as she released her scent. As the aroma of lemons and mint filled the car and filtered out to the guard at her window he gasped and flung the door open, dragging her out of the car.

"Terry call the alpha. It appears his wayward mate has made it to our gates." He started to walk back to the guard house, still gripping Emma's arm firmly. "If you'll accompany me madam alpha, we can accommodate you in the guard house until your mate arrives."

"Emma."

"What?"

"Call me Emma. I haven't earned the title of madam alpha."

"I..." Ethan floundered "I could never do that madam. You are our alpha."

"No I'm your alpha's mate. That doesn't mean I have earned the right to be called madam alpha."

"I disagree."

"But it's true."

"Don't waste your breath Ethan, she's would argue with a mule if it suited her." Ian stood in the doorway, an imposing figure with his arms crossed.

"Ian!" Emma was shocked at the amount of relief and joy she felt when she saw her mate. It was like coming home.

"Emma." Ian nodded at her, his expression unreadable. "You weren't due for another month."

"I couldn't wait." Emma replied breathlessly. "I needed to come home."

"And you decided to show up unannounced on your way to the MacDougalls?"

"I sent you an e-mail since you weren't returning my calls. And no I wasn't going to the MacDougalls. My home is here." She nervously wrung her hands. "Or at least I hope it still is."

Ian nodded, his expression still unchanged "Of course it is. I'm sure we'll be able to find some way for us to cohabitate."

Emma's stomach dropped at the cold words. Did he not want her here? She decided to try again. "I'm sorry you didn't get my e-mail. I may have mistyped the address. I should have called you to follow up."

"I received your e-mail Emma. I assumed you were going to be living with Lily and Dan until the baby came."

Emma shivered at his cold tone. "I...no." She whispered, her confidence waning. She figured now was not a good time to profess her love for him, telling him

he

was the reason she came home so soon.

"Well you're here now. Come inside." He turned and walked swiftly toward the main house. "Gentlemen, please have her bags delivered to her room."

Her

room. The words echoed endlessly in the back of her mind as she followed sedately behind him.

She didn't even react to the elegantly designed lobby or the dual staircases leading to the balcony above as they ascended the stairs. They walked down the hallway, Ian leading her into a room on her left. Emma took in the dark oak four-poster bed with the emerald green bedspread, startled when her shirt was literally torn off her. She looked down and watched as her pants went the same way as her. Standing there in her underwear, she looked up at Ian in shock. He stared at her, demanding her attention as he reached over and casually shredded her undergarments. Emma stood still, waiting to see what he would do next.

"Put your hands on the bed." He said gruffly "Look down at the covers."

Emma hesitated but moved quickly when Ian snapped "Now!"

Emma was barely settled into position when she felt Ian's naked body cover her body, sniffing her hair. She turned her head to look at him but Ian grabbed her chin, turning it back down towards the ground. "Don't look at me." Emma's breathing hiked as fear mounted in her body. Ian's behaviour was starting to scare her.

Ian moved down her back, sniffing her skin, saying nothing. Emma felt a trickle of arousal as his nose skimmed over her, his breath warming her skin. When he arrived at the junction of her legs he took a big inhale.

"You haven't been with any others." He phrased it as a statement instead of a question.

"Of course not." Emma replied. She jumped when his hand landed on the top of her ass.

"Don't give me attitude." He growled. He took a step away from her and Emma looked over her shoulder to see what he was doing. She cried out when both hands came down hard on her ass. "I said don't look at me!" He snapped. Emma quickly looked away.

Ian walked across the room and opened up a drawer in his dresser, coming out with a bottle of lube. He checked over his shoulder to see if she was sneaking a peek. She wasn't. He took another deep breath in, noting the intoxicating mix of fear and arousal coming from her body. He knew no man had touched her because his scent still lingered over her pussy, even a year later. She was

his

. Uncapping the tube he heard Emma's breath stutter in anticipation and grinned menacingly.

"This was going to be more fun than he thought."

He thought before he blanked his expression again. He couldn't show her how happy was she was here, she needed to be punished first. He dispensed a small amount into his palm and carefully slathered his cock. Walking over to Emma's bent over form, he put a little more onto his fingertips, pushing it into Emma's slightly damp pussy. He knew she was too afraid to be sufficiently wet for his cock right now but he was desperate to be inside her, he couldn't wait for her to be ready.

Emma jumped at the cold touch of lube on her pussy. She trusted him enough not to physically hurt her but she was wary of his mental state right now. She felt him work his fingers into her pussy but she felt strangely disconnected from him despite the intimate act.

"Ian."

"Quiet." He directed, smacking her on the inside of the thigh. "Spread your legs more."

Emma bit her lip, quelling the questions that circled in her mind.

Ian's fingers pulled away and he suddenly thrust into her, making her gasp. Without giving her time to catch her breath, Ian started driving vigorously into her pussy. Emma was so busy trying to maintain her balance, she couldn't focus on what effect his relentless pounding had on her body. She stood stiff-armed as he took his pleasure with her body. Ian stopped suddenly, fully embedded in her pussy and she felt a lubed finger circling her anus.

"Has my nephew been here?"

Emma hung her head and chose to answer honestly. "Yes."

"So you're not new to anal."

"No."

"Good." And with that his finger bluntly pushed pass her sphincter. Emma clenched against the invasion but relaxed at his command to let him in. He continued his thrusts into her pussy, working his finger deeply before adding another finger, stretching her with the scissoring of his fingers. Abruptly he pulled out of her pussy and started to push his cock into her ass. It was a slow but steady torture for both Emma and Ian as Ian joined his hips to hers. He groaned loudly.

"God you're squeezing me like a vice. Loosen up for me baby. Relax."

Emma's nails dug into the comforter momentarily irked that he called her a pet name. She wasn't sure if he had done it by accident or not but she wanted him to forgive her so badly, she would gratefully take whatever pet name he chose to give her. She closed her eyes and focused on relaxing her muscles, bearing down on his cock.

"Good girl." He petted her back and hips and felt her bristle at the touch but she didn't say anything. Ian started a slow glide in her backslide, pulling almost all the way out then pushing smoothly back in until his pelvis hit the cushy mounds of her ass. He gradually increased the speed of this movements, seemingly mesmerized by the ripple of her ass every time his pelvis hit. He brought his hands from her hips to the top of her ass, rubbing small circles into her ass with his palms.

Emma's hips started to gyrate with the motion of his hands. Ian could feel his orgasm coming and he ramped up his pace, switching his grip back to her hips, pulling her into his every thrust. Emma's breasts swung painfully below her and she reached up with one arm to cradle her breasts into her chest. With only one hand left supporting her weight, she depended on Ian's tight grip on her hips to keep her upright. With one final surge, Ian let loose a primal yell and shot his hot seed deep into her bowels. His fingers clenched and unclenched on her hips with each jerk of his cock as he leant over and marked her with his teeth at her shoulder.

Ian pulled away abruptly, causing Emma to collapse on the bed. Emma laid there catching her breath, listening to the flow of water as Ian turned on the shower. Ian returned to the bedside and stared down at his mate. "I want you gone by the time I get out of the shower." He said coldly. He turned away and walked towards the bathroom, pausing at the doorway to say "Come to me whenever my scent starts to fade from your scent." The door slammed behind him.

Emma stared dumbfounded at the closed door, tears filling her eyes. Grimly, she clenched her jaw and blinked away the tears, throwing herself off his bed and launching open the bedroom door with a loud crack, startling the man standing outside the door. "My room?" She asked calmly. The man pointed at a door across the balcony. Emma held her chin high and walked regally across the balcony to enter her room. Aware of the powerful hearing of wolves, she turned on the shower full blast, stepping into the stream before breaking down into heart wrenching sobs.

When she exited her room a few hours later, she had to be quick to react from running right into the back of a very large man.

"I'm sorry to have surprised you Madam." He said as he turned.

"Who are you?" Emma demanded.

"Ethan ma'am. You met me at the gate?"

"What are you doing standing outside my bedroom?"

"We've been assigned to your guard detail."

"To guard me from attack or to guard me from leaving the compound?" Emma asked sarcastically.

Ethan crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. "I guess that all depends on how you decide to look at it. Either way, you're stuck with us."

Emma looked past the broad shoulders of Ethan to see three other men standing in the hall, watching her. "Hmph." She said before closing the door in his face.

One month later

"And get me the report on our Q3 financials by Thursday." Ian sat back in his chair, watching the woman across his desk as she wrote down his requests in her notebook. She stood up and was about to leave when she hesitated at the doorway. Ian sat forward in his chair, resting his elbows on his desk and asked "What is it Jas?"

Jasmine Maser, Ian's sister, opened and closed her mouth and few times, contemplating her question before finally blurting "Do you know your treatment of Emma affects how the rest of the pack treats her?"

Ian stood up from his chair "What are you saying?" He growled.

"I'm saying your pack treats her like you do, cold and distant until they need something from her." Jasmine propped her hands on her hips. "She doesn't have any real friends, apart from Betty and Alice, and that's only because they knew her before they came here."

"And you?" Ian stalked around the desk to come face to face with his sister. "Are you my mate's friend?"

"I try to be but she doesn't trust my motives." Jasmine said sadly. "And how dare you call her your mate when you can't even attempt to be civil to her." She shoved him.

Ian snarled and stood over his sister, forcing her submission. "What happens between my

mate

and I is no one's business."

"It is when you publicly ignore her. I mean, my god, you eat meals together and never have I seen you engage in conversation with her." Jasmine screamed. She took a step away and bowed her head "Look, she chose to work her way up the hierarchy instead of just taking over the alpha female position. She's earned the respect of our women through her actions but they don't want to spend time with her socially in fear that they will be ostracized too." She looked up into his eyes "No one will accept her as alpha female until you accept her."

"I accept her." Ian frowned.

"Prove it then." She said as she opened the door. "Spend more time with her other than fucking her. And get rid of her guards, she's not going to run and she doesn't need protecting."

Later that night as the pack sat down for dinner, Ian reached over to dish some potatoes onto Emma plate, causing Emma to rear back and stare at Ian like he was a foreign species.

"How was your day?" Ian asked politely.

"What are you doing?" Emma demanded.

"I'm trying to make conversation."

"Why?"

Ian took a deep breath and Emma could hear his teeth grinding. "Because I don't want the pack to treat you like a pariah."

"So you're asking how my day is for the pack's sake." Emma stated quietly, her fork scraping her plate as she pushed her food around. Ian's hand came on top of her, stilling her hand.

"I'm doing it for your sake." He said "I want you to be happy here."

Emma blinked slowly and repeated "Happy."

Ian nodded and brought her hand to his mouth to kiss her knuckles "I think it would be best if you moved in to my rooms so that the pack sees that you are accepted."

Emma pulled her hand out of Ian grasp and into her lap. She turned to face him. "You want me to move in with you so the pack thinks I'm happy?"

"

We're

happy." Ian corrected.

"But we're not."

"That's none of their business."

"But it's my business." Emma said calmly. Ian grunted.

"What happens behind closed doors is our business. What they need to see from our public personas are a happy couple in the beginning stages of mating." Ian turned and picked up his fork, spearing a piece of roast beef. "Speaking of which, I think it's time you marked me."

"You want me to mark you?" Emma asked sweetly. Had Ian been looking at her, he would have noticed that her eyes had shifted to her wolf.

"Of course. We should complete the mating."

"For the pack's sake."

"For your sake." Ian reassured her.

"Can we do it now?"

"Now?" Ian's head jerked up "But we're eating."

Emma stood up and extended her hand, saying loud enough for the pack to hear "Come mate, let's retire to

our

room. We can eat later, after I'm done with you." She finished saucily. She could hear the pack whispering at her strange behaviour. Despite Ian's edict that she search him out whenever his scent started to fade, it was always him pulling her into his room to fuck her and then kick her out of bed when he was done marking her.

Ian smiled slowly and took her hand, pulling her away from the dining room and up to the bedrooms. He led the way into his bedroom, he turned at the sound of the door closing and noticed Emma's eyes were practically glowing and her canines had elongated. She was very close to shifting.

He was unprepared for the speed that Emma launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around his torso and biting him hard through his shirt. Just as suddenly, she pulled away "There's your fucking mark, you self-sacrificing bastard." She spat blood onto the floor as she walked into the bathroom, "Maybe the

pack

will be happy now." She said, slamming the door behind her.

Emma sank down to the floor with her back against the door, crying silently as she heard Ian mumble "What the hell was that?"

One month later

Ian left his office late again, hoping that his mate was already asleep by the time he got to their room. While they acted like a happy mated couple in public, they constantly bickered behind closed doors. He paused when he noticed Emma's guards standing outside the alpha female's office door. Was Emma in a late night meeting with Jasmine? He approached Ethan, who was standing outside the room.

"What's Emma doing in a meeting with Jas this late at night?"

"Jasmine isn't in there."

"Emma's in there by herself?"

Ethan nodded.

"What is she doing in there by herself?"

"I would suggest asking her yourself, sir."

"I will. I suggest you watch your tone." Ian pushed past Ethan and barged into the room, spotting Emma sitting behind the desk, typing on the computer.

Emma glanced away from the screen briefly before her attention turned back to her work "What can I do for you Ian?"

"What are you doing in here in the middle of the night?"

"Working."

"I can see that, what I'm wondering is why you are using Jasmine's computer to work late at night."

"It's not Jasmine's computer, it's mine."

"Did Jasmine move the alpha female's office?"

"No, this is still the alpha female's office." Emma replied with a raised eyebrow, waiting for Ian to make the connection.

"

You're

the alpha female?"

Emma sniffed delicately "I'm almost offended by your tone."

"When did you become alpha?"

Emma paused to mentally tabulate the weeks "Over a month ago."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because you weren't talking to me at the time."

"So why have I been meeting with Jas instead of you for the weekly alpha meetings?" Ian roared.

Emma turned away from the computer to face him. "We felt it best for pack productivity if she met with you instead of me. All

we

seem to do when left in a room together is argue and that is not an efficient way to run a pack or a business."

"So you lied to me instead?"

Emma stood and placed her hands on her desk "We're lying to the whole pack with this charade of a mating so how is this any different?"

"Because you lied to your alpha!" Ian screamed.

"And we're lying to a whole group of people who are relying on the stability of our relationship to determine the stability of their pack!" Emma's hands slammed down on the desk.

"Is that why you've been so mad at me this past month? The pack?"

"The pack?" Emma mocked "Everything about our relationship is for their sake. So that they'll accept me, so that they feel secure in our love, so that they trust our decisions for the pack." Emma rubbed her eyes to hide the sheen of tears "What about us Ian?"

"What about us?" He asked startled.

"Do you even care about me?"

"Of course I do, you're my mate. It's my responsibility to keep you safe."

"I don't want to be another duty for you Ian, I want you to care about me because you have feelings for me."

"I have feelings for you."

"Well that's good because it seems like all your decisions have been based on what's good for the pack without considering their effect on my feelings."

"Effect on

your

feelings?" Ian sputtered "If you want to talk about thinking about other people's feelings, let's talk about you leaving in the middle of the night for a fucking year, leaving only a note behind."

"I tried to get a hold of you right after I left but you've ignored all my calls and e-mails."

"I physically chased you around the world for five months before I had to return home to run my pack. Sure you wanted to talk to me but you never wanted to see me. Every time I had managed to track down the phone number or the IP address, you were already off to a different location."