Chapter Five

As I continued to listen I found myself sitting down on the top step of the landing trying to process what both Aggie and the unknown woman had just said. 

A mate?   

What in the hell did they mean by that and why was my name being tossed into the mix as the mate of this woman. Not to mention I could feel my irritation level increasing with all of this.    As calm as I wanted to remain I really wanted to scream with frustration.    Every time I turned around I was being enlightened with a new revelation but not one fucking answer was being given to me.  I sat there breathing heavy and counting to ten to try to calm myself before I stormed down there and started kicking shit in.  I cannot remember ever getting this mad and usually reserved my outburst to the professional level inside a courtroom, but I felt sure I was owed this one time to let it all hang out and explode.  

If you thought about it the last 24 hours had been pure hell with the small fact that all my questions were still questions.    As if I need to add one more thing to that mental list I could now throw a mysterious woman claiming to be my mate in the mix. I chuckled to myself darkly, soul mates my ass, that crap was what fairy tales and romantic novels were made of.    I wanted what every other person wanted, to find the love of their life and to live happily ever after but this nonsense was beyond ridiculous.   

I stood up making up my mind that I was going to barge down there and get my answers and find out who the woman that Aggie was talking to that had such a pull on my body.  I started my descent down the stairs when I stopped in mid step as I heard Aggie crossly say the name of the one woman that I was entirely intrigued by, Emory.   Emory the mysterious woman that had captured my curiosity and left me in a state of confusion was here right now and she was claiming to be my mate.   This just became interesting and now I knew no matter how much it killed me I was going to wait right here on these stairs and hear this out for a moment longer.

"You should not be here yet Emory, it's too soon" I heard Aggie tell her sternly.  

"Aggie, I cannot stay away, my soul is yearning for him", Emory replied to her with a voice full of sadness and pain. 

I could hear and feel the frustration in Aggie's voice, it was clear she was not prepared for Emory's visit.

"He is not ready, we have to be careful when we tell him everything.   If we tell him all at once it could cause the transition to overload his body" Aggie cautioned.  

"He deserves to know everything Aggie, and all of you are wrong for keeping it from him" Emory said through gritted teeth.

It was clear that Emory knew what was going on and she was upset about it.   

"If you had never gone to see Ian than none of this would be happening right now, so it's your fault" Aggie replied coldly.   

"No, it's his family's fault.    This is his destiny, he deserves to the right to decide if he wants it or not." Emory yelled. 

I found myself cringing at the force and power that I could feel just through her words alone.    More than anything her words sent a wave of emotions throughout my body forcing me to lean my head against the wall for support. I began to rub my temples as the dull aching returned in my head and began to pound around my brain forcing me to wince in pain.    As painful as it was I turned my head back towards the kitchen area to continue listening to the conversation unfold.    I could still feel Emory's pain deep in my chest and the anger as she carried on her tirade with Aggie. 

"I will not be denied either, I have been a victim to this crap for too long and I want him as my mate.  But more than anything I want him to choose what he wants and not have his choices decided for him.    There is no longer a threat, they should have returned years ago" Emory spat venomously.  

I slowly got up bracing myself and my aching head and began to walk down the remaining stairs. Once I made it to the bottom of the stairway I quietly made my way to the kitchen. The closer I got to that room the more of Emory's feelings seemed to absorb into my soul and our emotions began to intertwine. It became hard to tell where mine began and hers ended, and the entire incident was once again leaving me drained and more confused if that was even possible.   I reached the doorway and stopped for a moment to process all that had been said by the two women and to try to make some sense of how to approach them.

Obviously, something big had been kept from me, everyone knew about it and Emory was here to make sure I was made aware and had the choice to decide my fate.   I already began to realize that something unnatural was happening due to the changes that were taking place within my body, so I might as well approach them head on.   I made no attempt to hide myself and swung the door open startling the both. I stared at them both for a moment taking in Aggie's tired eyes and watched as emotions flitted across her face as she gazed between Emory and me.   There was a pleading in her eyes as she looked back and forth from us as if she was trying to decide what and how to tell me.  I turned my attention to Emory and saw her taking in every little detail of my face and body.   She opened her mouth to say something and I held up my hand never breaking eye contact.   As hard as it was to break eye contact with Emory I knew that I had to stay in control and keep my emotions in check.  

I cleared my throat and glanced between the two women "Ladies I believe it's time that we all sit down and you both tell me what's going on" I said sternly. 

If I heard correct my dear uncle was in on this meaning that he very well could be on his way over here.   I glanced at the clock on the microwave in the kitchen and saw that it was nine thirty in the morning which would mean that it was approximately six hours' difference in California making it around three thirty in the morning. It probably did not matter the time difference because knowing him like I did he undoubtedly had caught a flight last night and was well on his way here since I had not been answering his phone calls. The good thing was that he believed me to be at our family estate so that was at least on my side and bought me a little bit of time before he found me.

I motioned for them to move to the living room and held the door open allowing Aggie to lead the way and Emory following her.   As I closed the door behind me I saw Emory hanging back looking at me with a hint of a smile on her lips and her emotions playing out all over her face.   She leaned in toward me and placed her hand on my forearm causing a shock to ignite with just her touch, which caused both of us to yank away from each other dramatically.  

As our eyes met we mirror each other's shock of what just happened and I heard Emory gasp and reach out again which I pulled my arm away "Don't".  

It came out harsher than I intended but I had feelings swirling around inside that were overwhelming me and when I glanced up at her I could see she was in the same boat. She cast her eyes downward and bowed her head in submission which annoyed me causing me to instantly regret what I said.   I felt my heart squeeze in my chest and urgently reached out with my hand and gently tilted her chin up forcing her to meet my gaze.   The shocks surged through my hand into my arm causing an electric connection and sending a rush of feelings that were causing me to feel warm and fuzzy. It was a feeling that I could definitely get used to and had never felt in my entire life, but I knew that I never wanted to be without it.  

I could see a myriad of emotions flitting across Emory's face at an accelerated pace and pooling into her eyes, lighting them up into gray and gold swirls.   Her eyes alone captivated me but the sheer beauty of this woman was mesmerizing leaving me with want and need like I had never experienced.   If her eyes only could do that to me then I was in real trouble here.   I watched as she closed her eyes gently and leaned into my hand, sighing softly as she brought her hand up to cover mine.   I stepped forward closing the short distance between us and watched as she opened her eyes in surprise as I towered over her small frame.   She looked up at me with curiosity as she nervously ran her pink tongue over her lips before she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. It was my undoing causing me to become lost in the moment.   I lowered my head to hers with one thing on my mind which was to capture her lips with mine. Just as my lips grazed hers we were disrupted by someone clearing their throat causing us to jump away from each other in shock.   I glanced at Emory seeing a mixture of surprise and hunger in her eyes and tore my gaze away as I looked in the direction of the person that interrupted us to find Aggie glaring daggers at me.

I felt myself glaring back at Aggie as I tried to regain my composure.   I was slightly panting and fighting the urge to turn back to Emory, grab her up and finish what we started.   It was a strange feeling but I fell so connected to her and never in my life had something felt so right.  It was like I had no control with her and found myself turning back to Emory and running my eyes up and down her body checking to make sure she was okay.   Our eyes found each other and I was met with a longing deep in her eyes.  

Again, Aggie was there to snuff out the burning desire that was overly evident by huffing loudly drawing us out of our lustful daze.   I turned my full attending to Aggie arching my eyebrow in question for her behavior.   Aggie motioned her hands toward the living room as she cut her eyes between me and Emory not trying to hide her annoyance.   It was evident that Aggie was not happy that Emory was here and maybe there was a part of her that just did not like her and that bothered me.   I grabbed Emory's hand reveling in the electricity that ran up and down our arms and gently tugged her towards the living room. Emory leaned into my shoulder as she followed me to the living room sighing contently.  

As we passed Aggie I could hear her suck in her breath "We have a lot to talk about and we are running out of time".  

Her cryptic talk was beginning to become annoying especially since I had been asking for the very answers she kept hidden from me. I nodded in agreement as I walked in front of the couch letting go of Emory's hand as I left her standing in front of the couch. I instantly felt cold and alone and I could see she felt the same, however her face showed a bit of confusion as I sat down in the recliner across from where she still stood.   As much as I wanted to sit by her and wrap my arms around her small waist I wanted no distractions during this conversation. I watched her lower herself to the couch as she sat down and placed her hands in her lap showing that she was overly nervous.   I watched her eyes dart around taking in her surroundings and for someone that seemed to be overly confident at the tavern seemed way out of her element today.  

I felt eyes on me and looked up to see Aggie staring at me with a genuine look of being upset and placing her hands on her hips she huffed and turned back towards the kitchen.  

"I will bring us some tea and then my dear you can get your answers as I promised" she threw over her shoulder in a pinched tone.  

I cringed hearing her so upset causing part of me to want to go to here but there was no way I was leaving this intriguing beauty of a woman sitting across from me.

"Care to tell me what this is between us" I questioned her in a low tone.  

"Don't you want to wait on Aggie" she fired back at me as she arched her eyebrow.  

Her voice was breathy with a small tremble so I knew she was more nervous that she was showing.  

"I really don't" I scoffed.  

I pinned her with a hard stare thinking to myself that I really did not, regardless what was or wasn't between us I was more interested in knowing what was really going on.  

"Well how much do you know about soul mates" she whispered.  

"I know it's pretty much fictional bullshit" I tossed back at her.

My words seemed to hit her like a knife that cut straight into her heart.   I watched as she outwardly flinched causing her face to go pale and tears welled up in her eyes.   I began to feel like an ass and felt compelled to try to smooth it over.

"Prove to me I am wrong" I said to her to try to keep her from crying.  

"I don't know where to start" she said lowly.  

"How come neither you or Aggie want to start at the beginning, like how about the truth and why we have a connection?   I know you felt it and what we are feeling is not normal is it?" I questioned her sternly making sure to emphasize starting at the beginning.

"Well its very normal between two people who are destined to be together.  You know like soul mates" she explained.

"So, my dear Emory, what you are saying is that you and I are soul mates" I scoffed and rolled my eyes causing her to clasp her hands tightly and lean back on the couch in discomfort. 

"Yes, because you and I are different but the same" she replied cryptically.  

"What do you mean by that?" I said loudly, probably more loudly than I intended but I did not understand.

"You and I are different. Ethan we are" she started to tell me something but were cut off by Aggie screaming .

"Don't you dare say another word to him".

I looked at her like she was crazy "Stop screaming at her.   Emory what were you going to tell me" I asked her as I looked her straight into her eyes as I held my hand up to silence Aggie.  

I watched Emory's eyes dart between me and Aggie as she was clearly very uncomfortable in this situation.

"Emory I asked you a question, what are we?" I demanded.  

Emory stood up and walked over to me and sat down on the coffee table facing me.

She placed her hand on my knee and looked me straight in my eyes "We are not human" she said softly.

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A/N: Oh yea we are making progress. Finally Emory is going to tell him or is she. Is Uncle Ian going to show up or will Aggie stop? Why is Aggie dragging her feet? So many questions!!! Hang on its going to get dramatic next Friday lol Emory's POV is coming soon too.

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