When We Were Mates (Demetra and Emris) novel Chapter 100

Chapter 100

Alpha Emris.

What I just did to her. I regret.

So I find myself walking to her luna chambers to apologize.

I could read it easily that Demetra was giving me intimacy so I would go easy on her father. But I did not have to punish her like that. I guess I didn’t think the reaction on her face would split me open like that and make me hate myself. The way her eyes watered. The way her breath caught. The way she looked at me like I was a stranger wearing the face of the wolf she used to love.

As I get to the Luna chamber, my hand is raised, ready to knock on the door when I get a beep on my phone from Silver.

Ronin is here.

I pause with my knuckles hover an inch from the wood.

For a second, all I can think is that I want her nowhere near the conversation that’s about to happen. If she’s crying in there, or angry, or trying to hold herself together after what I just did, then I’ll apologize later. Right now, I don’t have the time to waste. Ronin is in my house, and I need him in the weapons room now.

With a low breath and regret clawing up my throat, I step back and leave the area entirely.

The moment I get downstairs, the Zetas and Deltas on the ground stand at ease. Rows of them line the hall. I can see Silver’s back from here…he’s talking to someone and Regan, just getting back home from wherever with his jacket still dusted with morning frost.

When Silver senses I’m here, he steps aside.

And I’m able to see Alpha Ronin.

Surprisingly, he’s here with only a woman by his side. Where are the witnesses.

I look at the man again.

Now, for all the reasons I hate this bastard, he’s going to give me a reason to slap him early. I watch how confident he looks. He has always looked like that like the world bends to him instead of the other way around. Ronin got eyes like silver and must have been a bomb in his younger years by the way I can still see his handsomeness even at his older

Too bad Slade didn’t get any of that DNA.

“Ronin.” I say his name.

“Emris.” He says mine too.

“Where are the witnesses?”

“Just fucking kill him.” Regan growls from beside me with his claws already threatening to extend.

“Calm down, brother.” Silver puts a hand on Regan’s chest.

age.

“NO, I won’t.” Regan shoves the hand off. “The next trash that comes out this old man’s mouth will be stuffed in his chest by my CLAWS. Where are the witnesses!?”

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Chapter 100

Alpha Romin looks at the woman at his side. His sister.

I’ve heard a bit about her. Allison. I heard she takes care of the pack like a Luna would after Ronin’s wife died. So basically. she is the Luna. And I stare at her, expecting something but I only get emotionless eyes like there’s nothing the infamous Trybrid Alpha can say or do to her.

Wow. She could possibly be the true power house of the pack. It makes sense why he would bring her here.

“She is my only witness.” Ronin gestures to Allison with an open palm. “No gammas of mine knows exactly what happened that day. I was told you will be bringing in Neutral Intelligence. That’s fine. Allison and I will answer your questions because your father died in front of us. Right at our pack gate.”

My finger pricks as I hear that. The memory rises like bile. The blood…the screaming that day when he was brought to us.

“If your words are not true, I will kill you.”

“You will kill me while married to my daughter?” Ronin’s eyebrow lifts.

My mother scoffs at his statement from somewhere behind me. I hear her heels click against the marble as she steps forward.

“Do

you think you can live with yourself after?”

“I’m gonna sleep so goooood.” I say it with a tilt.

“Well, halt on that.” Ronin’s smile doesn’t reach his eyes. “Where is the investigation happening? Let’s get this done.”

He walks with that fucking pride just like the name of his pack as Silver moves ahead to lead the way.

Before I follow them, I turn to face the Zetas who are going to be

posted at the door.

“I don’t want the Luna anywhere near here. Got it? If she gets in, I’ll reduce all of you to ground dust.”

As we file into the dimly lit room, I see Allison roll her eyes at the investigative unit, like the entire setup is beneath her and everybody in it. That kind of look says she thinks all of this is overkill, that we’re wasting our time on theater instead of truth. I don’t care what she thinks. I care whether she answers honestly when the wire bites back.

Shadows pool in the corners and the only light comes from the cold blue glow of the machines…along with a single overhead fixture that hangs above the chairs where Ronin and Allison will sit.

The people from the Neutral Territories begin fixing the equipment. Silver restraint ropes are wrapped around each of their wrist for pulse points, and heartbeat line. Each band is linked to a thin black reader mounted to the machine beside the table. The system tracks rhythm, body heat, micro–shifts in tension, and stress spikes in the pulse. If someone lies, the machine reacts.

Not gently, either.

The problem–or rather, the beauty is that there’s going to be a sizzle if a statement is false. An unmistakable sting that crawls up the skin like fire ants.

I insisted on that version of equipment

because the only answer I want here is nothing but the truth.

Behind them, two more specialists from the Neutral territories stand ready with pens and jotters. Their job is to characterize every emotion they see. Every twitch. Every blink. Every micro–expression that the machines might miss. Between the silver and their eyes, there is nowhere to hide.

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Zetas at opposing sides of the room as well. They’re holding something far more sinister than weapons.

Can Lask that you let out your Zetas? Allison speaks for the first time. “What brother is going to say is not something you want the whode of your pack to know. But if you don’t agree, then they’ll hear secrets you’d probably have to kill them to

“And get us some water. We are your equals.”

“Get this BITCH a glass of water so she can shut up!” Mom seethes.

“You a pot calling the kettle black?”

“You damn-

“This is not a cat fight.” I say.

“Tell that to the cat.” Allison spits fire again.

I stare once at the Deltas. Someone leaves a bottle of water before they file out of the investigative unit.

I see where Demetra has been learning it now. The sharp tongue. The unwillingness to back down…it’s all from her wonderful aunt.

Ronin smiles proudly at his sister’s performance. Then I see him look at my mother like he’s been waiting for this moment for years.

“What I’m about to tell you,” Ronin says, “your mother is the first person who needs to hear because she’ll know it’s true.”

My shoulders tighten.

“You have an uncle you don’t know about. And his name was Jacob.”

We all look at mom and we see the freeze in her eyes. The way her breath stops. The way her fingers curl into fists at her sides.

I don’t stop Ronin to confirm whether that’s true. I know my own mother. I know every expression she gives. And right now, she looks like a woman who has just seen a ghost.

“What?” Regan asks.

Ronin rests his bound wrists on the table between us.

“The Alpha seat for the Black Covenant Pack was between your father, Kael, and your uncle, Jacob. Your father banned everyone, including your brothers, from speaking about him, so it makes sense you never heard the Jacob.”

He pauses, not because he’s uncertain, but because he’s measuring the room.

“Before you boys were born, the elders couldn’t decide which of them should become Alpha. So they chose the old way. A fight.”

He looks directly at me now.

“Kael and Jacob were given three months to train. Then there was supposed to be a closed trial, a private contest where only the elders would be present. That was the plan. Your father was my best friend, so we trained together for days and nights because Jacob… was a Lycan. Days and nights we trained. Because you see, Jacob…”

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“Jacob was a Lycan

“RONIN-

“Let him speak. Mom OR you’ll be the next one out of HERE!”

My mother’s mouth snaps shut. Her eyes are wet. Her hands are shaking

And I realize, in this moment, that I have never seen my mother look afraid before.

Not once in my entire life until now. What is she so afraid of?