---

A Storybook Ending for Local Couple.

After travesty tore them apart, Robert Travitz and Emilie Williams are reunited in front of the Malone police station on Tuesday October 16. Travitz was the prime suspect in Williams disappearance last week. The police going as far as saying murder, when Williams emerged from the shadows Tuesday afternoon. Mystery still surrounds the case and questions remain but Travitz and Williams may get their happily ever after yet.

Carter had read the article three times but now he was fixated on the picture. Bobby had his arm around her waist and she looked happy in his arms. There was a smile on her face, but not just that, it was in her eyes. She was happy to be there with him. Bobby hadn't lost the wonderment he must have felt at finding out she was alive. It was all over his face. That and love.

He tossed the paper in the trash, right along with his heart.

Hell, he knew this might happen. She promised him she'd be back but that picture told a different story. Even that morning she had text him. Told him she was headed back into the station for another statement. Apparently the one detective was giving her a hard time. Everything had been ok until he read the paper.

On the table his phone buzzed with a text. He had barely gotten to it when it started to ring.

Emilie.

Probably had seen the paper.

"Hello?"

"Carter it's not what it looks like."

Those were horrible first words. Nothing ever good came from those words.

"Then what is it? Because it looks like you might be getting your 'happily ever after'," he quoted from the article.

Emilie sighed and then curse. "Hopefully one day, just not with him. Look, I was playing up my injured leg and Bobby offered to help me down the steps then this photographer came out of nowhere and snapped a picture."

Carter wanted to brush it off like it was nothing, like she seemed to be doing but that smile she had on in the picture stuck with him. "It's fine, Em."

"No it’s not. I can tell you’re angry."

He wasn't angry. He was heartbroken. There was a difference. "That's not it."

"Then what is it?" she asked with a nervous edge to her words. He imagined her cradling the phone in her hand and chewing on her lip. He closed his eyes and willed the image of her away.

Carter sat at his table. Emotional exhaustion settled heavily on his shoulders. "I don't know. I just hate feeling like this."

"Like what?"

"Anxious."

She was quiet for a minute. "I'm coming back, Carter," she said softly.

"Mmmm hmmm," he hummed.

"It sounds like there is more," she sighed. "I can't put you at ease about this if you don't tell me all of it."

He rubbed a hand down his scalp. His foot hadn't stopped bouncing since he sat down. There was more, she was right about that. But it was something he wasn't sure about yet. Something that could backfire very easily.

"I can't watch you be with another man, even if it's all an act, I can't do it. That picture gutted me this morning."

"I'm sorry," she said, her voice small.

"Baby, you shouldn't be sorry. This is my problem. You are just doing what you have to do, what I want you to be doing. I just can't handle my shit."

Hesitantly she asked, "What did you want to do then?"

Carter flattened his lips, trying to keep the words in but failing. "I think it might be best if we took a break while you arein Malone." Fuck him. He hated himself right now.

"Oh," she said sounding disappointed but not surprised at all. "Ok, I see."

He felt the need to explain to both her and himself. "It will be better this way. Now you don't have to worry about me. Just get your shit done and then come back. When you get into town, call or text me and then I'll be there. But I can't do this while you are up there with your fiancé."

"Ex," she said absentmindedly.

"Does he know that?"

She sighed. "No, not yet."

"My point exactly."

"So we are taking a break?" she asked with a controlled voice. A few of her barriers had gone up. Hell, he didn't blame her, he was doing a dick move right now. But in order for him to protect himself, he needed this.

"I guess I’ll see you when I get back then."

"Yeah," he sighed. "Good luck, Emilie."

"Bye Carter."

He packed a bag, grabbed a tent, a sleeping bag and some necessities then took off. The sun had barely cleared the mountains when he left town.

It was a spur of the moment decision he made in the early hours of the morning after sleep eluded him. He had thought that by taking a step back from the relationship he would be protecting his heart and would ease the amount of anxiety he felt. It didn't. It made it worse. Carter spent the night second guessing his decision.

It was his wolf who had pushed for the run. The beast wanted out and Carter wanted a break. Seemed like a perfect solution. So he packed, and he left. He ignore the part of him that accused himself of running.

Carter drove over to Tyson's house, he had the best access for where he was headed. They wouldn't mind if his truck sat in their driveway for a day or two. Then maybe on the way home, he could catch Tyson and talk to him about the enforcer position. He had been the last decent one and no one knew better than him what it would mean for Carter to accept Owen's offer.

After parking, Carter turned off his phone and put it in the glove box. He didn't want the temptation along with him. Not that he'd get service deep within the mountains but it was best to not have it at all. Mostly he was going to let his fur down and be an animal. His wolf hadn't had a good run in a long time.

As he grabbed his bags from the truck bed, the front door opened. Tyson stepped out onto the porch with a yawn and a mug of coffee. It was barely seven am.  

"I didn't wake you, did I?" Carter asked as he slung a bag over his shoulder.

"Nope. I was making coffee when I heard you pull up. Heading out there?" Tyson asked, nodding towards the forest.

"Need to get a way for a bit. It ok if I leave my truck here?"

Tyson sipped his coffee and nodded. "Sure, you in a rush or got a minute?"

He closed the tailgate and walked around to the front of the truck. "No rush. What do you need?"

Tyson had been the best damn enforcer the pack had ever had. He was fair and just and believed in the job. He didn't make many friends with it but that was just Tyson. The job led him to a hard choice, one he didn't have to make but because he believed so much in his job, he made them and he made them alone. Damn near turned him feral. His mate brought him back. They weren't mated then but she tamed his wolf. Tyson was different now. He stayed out of pack business as much as the alpha's best friend could but he was friendlier and more open to the rest of them, even though he wasn't one of them anymore.

"I heard you were considering becoming the enforcer."

"Owen works fast," he said, coming up to the porch and dropping his gear.

Tyson smiled. He knew all too well the sneak their alpha could be when he wanted to. "Come inside and let's talk a bit about it. I don't want to persuade you one way or another but just give you the straight facts of it all. You can think on it while you’re out ignoring life for a while."

Well, it wasn't like Carter had a schedule to keep. He followed Tyson inside and was outfitted with a cup of coffee and a fresh cinnamon roll, compliments of his mate, Sadie.

"So I hear you are seeing a bear," Tyson said with a grin. He may not be an enforcer anymore but he still had an ear to the ground. "That's good. The job isn't easy and it's best when you have some support when you come home. It gets heavy, you know that better than most being a cop and all, but this is just more weight you'll have to carry around. The pack isn't going to be a retreat from your life anymore. It's not going to be a safe place."

Carter's gut rolled. The last thing he wanted was to think about Emilie right now. But Tyson wasn't done and he wasn't about to interrupt him. Seemed like he had been practicing what he wanted to say to him and just needed to get it all out. Anyone who knew Tyson, knew he didn't like to talk about his days as an enforcer.

"You need someone to relax with, to unwind and let your guard down around. The gut reaction is to do it alone, to hide the dirty parts but that's wrong. I did that for years. Owen had my back but he was it. I never let go of that energy that builds up. You will learn things about the pack you wish you never knew and can't unlearn."

So far, nothing surprised him. He dealt with these same things on a different scale with his job now. But Tyson was right. The pack was the one place he didn't have to be Police Sergeant Bennett. That would all change.

"You need to have someone to share the bad parts with. Someone to keep you grounded."

And Tyson assumed that person was Emilie. Yesterday, he might have considered it. She is a great listener after all. But today was a brand new miserable day.

"Turns out the bear isn't as single as I originally thought. We are on hold until further notice." When Tyson frowned, questions forming on his lips, Carter shook his head. "Long story. Don't want to talk about it."

"Shit man, I'm sorry. That doesn't change anything, though. It doesn't have to be the bear but you'll need someone. Owen, definitely. He's in this with you. You've got me and Miles, he's an enforcer too. He'll be doing your training, use him even after he goes home. You've got Chuck, that man has seen it all."

Carter nodded. Tyson had given him some stuff to chew on. "Thank you."

"No problem. Let me know what you decide then. No harm in saying no, either. Owen can be pushy at times but he will respect whatever decision you come to."