[Rock]We went back to Gemma’s room and I could see her sitting up talking to one of the older couples I met last week. Those were the ex-Gamma couple. Ashley was there, too, with her mate. So he was family but Carmen wasn’t? I tried not to be pissed off at werewolf culture but if this were a fae situation, everyone who was close to Gemma would have been allowed to see her when she was incapacitated. Of course, all fae brought gifts and blessings, so I guess that was the difference. The nurse opened the door for us and smiled. “Your friends are here, Gemma.” “Come in. We’re mourning the loss of my favorite suit. They cut your clothes off if you’re not alert enough to take them off yourself. Did you know that? Because I didn’t,” Gemma said in a grumpy tone. Ashley and Carmen laughed. She seemed to be more herself. Carmen went to her bedside and I stayed back against a wall. This was a wolf situation, not a troll one. “I’ll buy you a new one, Gem. I’m just so happy you’re awake. I’m sorry that happened to you,” Carmen told her in a soft voice. Gemma took her hand and squeezed it. “It wasn’t your fault. It was that guy. I’m just glad you’re all right. I was so scared when I woke up and you weren’t here. I thought he hurt you. I couldn’t protect you.” I made note of that. It would be better if the person I got to be Carmen’s assistant were a dark elf. They were like mini trolls, but more human in their looks. They didn’t go all out in their glamour like we had to in order to look like a normal human. None of this fake shorter form ѕhit. If he couldn’t affect me with his magic, then a dark elf was a perfect solution. I would start talking to the guys to see if there was someone they recommended. The dark elf community was as connected as the other fae communities. “Rock, don’t hide, you’re too big for it. Why are you wearing your glamour?” “I didn’t think a softie hospital was the best place to go au natural,” I joked. “Last thing we need is a bunch of werewolves with heart attacks.” “Aunt Dot, Uncle Brandon, are you okay with Rock being in his natural form?” I didn’t know why she was pushing for it, but I wouldn’t question it. I looked at her aunt and uncle. They glanced at each other and nodded. They braced themselves to see me while I took my glamour off. Gemma’s uncle put a protective arm around his mate and she shook a little. When the door suddenly opened, I threw my glamour back on. It was the Gamma from the pack and his mate. I hadn’t seen her earlier, so he probably waited for her. I remembered him following us then he disappeared. I tried to make myself smaller. The room was too crowded, but the wolves didn’t seem to mind. Carmen moved to the end of the bed while the Gamma and his mate came in and hugged Gemma. Carmen lowered her head. “Stop that,” Gemma commanded. “This wasn’t your fault and no one here blames you for what happened. I don’t know who that guy was, but I’ll kick his ass if I ever see him again.” “He was a warlock,” I answered. “Apparently, he’s taken a liking to Carmen and me. I got ahold of him and I slammed him into the wall a few good times for you.” “You didn’t kill him?” Ashley asked. “He didn’t kill her. A life for a nap isn’t an equal return. I made a deal with him, though. He won’t do that again,” I replied. “I trust you, Rock. You did what you could. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to protect Carmen,” Gemma told me. “That wasn’t your job. You were there to learn to be her assistant and the receptionist. It was only temporary, too. If this was too much for you, you don’t have to come back.” “Bullѕhit. I’m not letting some warlock dictate what I do with my life.” She scoffed. “Gemma, he could do much worse to you next time,” her aunt said. Gemma laughed. “He won’t before I rip his arms off.” “I don’t like the idea of you being in the human city unprotected,” her aunt argued.“I’m a werewolf, Aunt Dot. This was just a learning opportunity. I’ll do better in the future. Now I know warlocks exist and Rock made a deal with this one. I won’t let strange guys touch me in office buildings.” Ashley snorted and Carmen snickered. “One of the few places she won’t let strange men touch her,” Ashley said quietly. “You should have seen her flirting with the guys at the office. They’re really going to be sad about the new decree.” Carmen laughed. “I said strange men. I’ll get to know those ones,” Gemma joked. They reminded me of my friends. Maybe werewolves weren’t as different as I thought. I found myself smiling as they teased each other. Though, the other people in the room seemed to be getting uncomfortable. “Since you’re okay, I think I’ll take Carmen home. She’s been really stressed out while you were sleeping,” I said. “She looks exhausted. Go on. I’ll be fine. I’ll see you in the morning,” Gemma replied. “In the morning? Shouldn’t you take a day or two off to recover?” her aunt asked. Gemma laughed. “From a nap, Aunt Dot? I don’t think I need a long recovery for a short snooze. How long was I out?” She looked at the clock. “Two hours. That’s nothing. I’ll be sleeping more than that tonight and I never need to recover from that.” “You don’t have to be an asshole, Gem,” the Gamma growled. “Apparently I do or I’m going to get the ‘Carmen’ treatment from your parents. I’m not broken. All my parts work. Let me live my life,” she replied with an angry expression. “You know we hate it when you try to baby us like Carmen’s parents do her. You don’t want to drive Gemma away, do you? I’m headed to Alaska and Gem’s the closest thing to a daughter you’ll have in the pack lands. Don’t end up like Carmen’s mom, begging other people for scraps of information,” Ashley warned. Carmen nodded along. It seemed like this was something they’d discussed between each other before, but not something they’d ever said to anyone else, because the Gamma, his mate, and his parents all looked appalled. I stepped forward and got the attention of the room. “The warlock will not come to the office without advanced notice. He will only speak with Carmen and me while he’s there. He keeps up his end of the bargain or I tell the leadership of the pack where to find something much scarier than he is. That was our deal. I can defend the girls if I need to and I have several men who work for me that I can pull for guard duty if I need to. The warlock can’t fight trolls or dark elves.” “You know a lot about him. Is he a friend of yours?” Gemma’s uncle asked. “I didn’t even know what a warlock was until today. I’d never met him and I would have been entirely happy never meeting him, but he is interested in my relationship with Carmen and I have to deal with that.” I shrugged.I never interested a warlock before I had a werewolf mate. No one had ever attacked my office before I had a werewolf mate. My life had been boring and formulaic before I had a werewolf mate. I smiled to myself. She certainly added drama to it, though I didn’t blame her for that. She couldn’t control the interests of warlocks. Carmen patted Gemma’s foot and then turned back to me. When she was close enough, I put my hand on her shoulder to stop her movement. Carmen guided herself up my arm, wrapping herself around it as she turned to face the room. “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell my mother I was here, even if it was briefly. Don’t tell her where Rock’s office is. I will call the police on her for trespassing if she comes there. I need time away from my family if I’m going to forgive them for what they did and what they tried to do. I’m happy Ash and Roald found each other because of my parents, but I would have preferred if they’d met at the national mate gathering instead,” Carmen told them.“We won’t tell your mother you were here. Someone else will, though. You should go before that happens. I know people who disagree with Alpha Trent’s decree that your parents leave you alone. I don’t want you to have to deal with that,” Gemma’s aunt let us know. “Thank you,” Carmen said as we left the room. I guided Carmen through the maze of hallways and back out to the waiting and admission area we’d been in before. I completely forgot about her mother and the risk of that sobbing beast coming after us. We managed to get out to the parking lot and to my truck before the warning shriek of the incoming mother-in-law sounded. Carmen sighed. I put my hand over hers and gave it a squeeze. “Hold on to me, little wolf. I won’t let her take you away. We’ll go home as soon as we can.” “I linked the Alpha. I’m not playing this game. I want to go home and cuddle with you,” Carmen replied. I liked that idea. Cuddling with Carmen often led to сumming in Carmen while she begged for more. There was no better way to spend a Monday evening.  We turned to where her mother was coming from. Like every time I saw her, she was sobbing. I rolled my eyes. “Baby! What happened? I heard you were at the hospital. What did he do to you? Do you need me to get the Alpha to stop him from taking you away from your home again? Come home with me,” she said, approaching us with her arms wide open. “Mama’s here to make it better.” “Mother, the Alpha said you need to leave me alone for a month. That means you stay away from me during anything that brings me to the pack lands, including hospital visits. My mate would never hurt me. I was here for Gemma. Leave, now,” Carmen ordered. Her mother shook her head as if she could fight the truth with her denial. She kept coming closer. I pulled Carmen behind me and put myself directly in her path before growling. It was as if she was seeing me for the first time. Her eyes widened and her lips quivered before she growled at me. I knew, in the wild, that it was a bad idea to keep a pup or cub from its mother, but this wasn’t the wild. We stood there, growling at each other. I let my glamour slip and towered over the woman, moistening my tusks with my tongue. My friends and I found that it unnerved a lot of different creatures when we did that. It reminded them that it wasn’t so long ago that we considered them food. “Give me my daughter and I won’t hurt you,” she snarled. “I won’t give you my mate and you can’t hurt me. If the effort it took for your daughter to break my skin so she could mark me is any indication, I’ll have you on the ground before you manage to make an indent,” I warned. “Corrine! Stand down!” A man shouted. There was no way I was going to look away from the threat to my mate to see who it was, but it sounded like the Gamma. I bared my teeth at the posturing woman. Natural wolves may not know the difference between a smile and baring teeth, but werewolves knew the difference. My threat was very real. “Mom, back down! Your Gamma ordered it! You have no place to try to take me from my mate! I don’t want you! I don’t need you and, right now, I don’t like you!” Carmen shouted.