When We Were Mates (Demetra and Emris) novel Chapter 13

Demetra.

Sweat coats my skin and it’s sticking to my face and neck.

Amira is frowning at me. The nanny stands by the door with a concerned look on her face for me. Moons, did I cry out his name in real life? I quickly wipe the dampness from my cheeks!

“Mommy? Who is Emris?”

Amira asks and I swallow.

My throat painfully dry. “Who… who said that?”

“You.” She points a tiny finger at me. “You kept saying it.”

Shame washes over me. The nanny’s gaze suddenly looks at a spot on the wall. She heard.

“Ma’am, It’s already 9 a.m. You’re late to take her to school.”

“Oh, shoot.” I throw the sheets back but I’m still trying to find my breath. “I’ll get ready at once. Amira, go get dressed.”

“You’re gonna make me late for my new school!” She stomps her foot for emphasis before the nanny guides her out of the

room.

Once, I am alone, I sink my head into my hands, fingers threading through the mess of my hair. What is wrong with me? What the hell is wrong with me?

The bond. It’s the damn, wretched mate bond. His proximity, seeing him again, has electrified it. It’s seeping into my dreams, my subconscious. He has to reject me.

And if I don’t break it, it will destroy me. It will unravel the life I’ve built, the identity I’ve carved out as Demetra Pride. It will pull me back into his orbit that have already escaped.

Emris.

Black Covenant Pack.

“Emris?”

I stir.

“Em…ris?”

My eyes snap open. Only one person in this wretched world ever called me that, curling the two syllables like a private prayer. Five years. Five years, and that voice still lives under my skin. I slam my wolf’s vision and use it to scan the dark

room.

There she is.

My mate. The one I discarded.

“Demetra?” My voice is husk with disbelief rattling everything inside me.

I’ve been haunted by her memory since I saw her last, so how is she here, in the flesh? She steps from the dark into the dim lunar glow of my balcony. Moonlight frames her, a cheap halo for a stolen goddess. Her obscenely soft hair is a white spilling past her waist. She’s wearing a nightdress that’s a mere sigh of fabric, ending high on her thighs. My body tenses to go to her, but she hushes me, a finger to her own lips.

She doesn’t want me to come. Doesn’t want me to speak.

“Your wife will hear.” Her whisper is a velvet.

My gaze jerks to the armchair and I see Elena there. Asleep. What the hell? She knows not to stay in my bedroom. We haven’t shared a room as Alpha and Luna so the absurdity of it stalls my thoughts for a second.

And in that second, Demetra begins to undress.

One slender strap is pushed from her shoulder. Then the other. The silken thing slides down her body like water until it pools at her feet. I feast. I feast on the sight of her, a vision I’ve kept locked in a secret place in my heart. I told myself it was better I never found her, that she deserved more than a power–hungry Alpha. But I knew the truth…no woman has ever come close. I chose power. I did my duty. And I’ve been starving ever since.

Her breasts are fuller than I remember, rounder, shining in the moonlight as if those pink nipples have been brushed with oil. My mouth waters to have my mouth on her. My gaze drops to the base of her small belly.

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She doesn’t come to me. She turns and walks back toward the balcony, into the wind that claws at the night. The sight of her new, delicious wide hips or is it the freckles on her ass that jiggles gently with each step.

It dries my throat to dust.

She glances over her shoulder and it’s a silent command.

I obey.

I never wear clothes to bed so I’m only in underwear. My shadow engulfs her. Is she real? I need proof. My hand finds the small of her back. Her skin is fever–warm. I fist her hair; it’s the same silk.

My hand goes to her hips and feels the massive difference from years ago. She is fuller, more womanly. The same with her behind. Hunger takes over. I squeeze her from behind, reach around to cup her breasts, and groan into her ear. I need her mouth now. I spin her to face me and crush my lips to hers, ruthless.

I tremble. I actually tremble at the taste of her. I’m running mad, desperate to touch every part of her, but I only have two hands. I haul her against me, wanting to feel every hug, every kiss, every laugh we ever shared, all at once.

“Take me, Emris.” she whispers into my ear as I kiss the nape of her neck. “Please, take me like you used to, before your wife wakes up.”

She turns, sweeping her hair over one shoulder, offering me everything. My body goes still. Over the railing of the balcony, she arches her back perfectly. I shove my underwear down.

She is so… doll–like in this submission. My hand comes down on her the way I remember, and Demetra looks back at me through a fan of long lashes the moment I enter her. It’s so sweet, so scorching, so homecoming that I grunt, pouring every bit of my energy into her as my eyes squeezes shut-

And snap open to the bright, disgusting morning light!

Elena is standing over me, looking down with an agitated face. When I look at my own chest, I see sweat but that’s not the worst part, under the sheets, my length is towering like a damn mountain. I pull a pillow over myself as Elena just stares, shocked, unable to form the question she wants to ask.

“What do you want!?” I growl.

“I–Who is Demi?” she asks instead, and I squint.

“What?”

“You said ‘Demi.’ You grunted that name twice.”

“What the hell are you doing in my room?” I deflect, and she straightens her posture.

“Milo won’t come with me to take him to school. He keeps screaming for daddy, so I came to ask if you’re not too busy to

do it.”

“I’ll be out soon.” I heave a deep breath, trying to cool off, but I’m left deeply dissatisfied. I lost myself in a dream of Demetra one that wasn’t even real and it was so good I woke myself up from the ecstasy. What is my damn wolf doing to me? Not that I’m not impressed, but he could’ve at least let me finish.

Elena is still staring.

“I said I’ll be out soon.” I repeat. She rolls her eyes and finally leaves. I toss the pillow aside and cover my face with my hands in frustration. After five years apart, my wolf can’t handle seeing what he lost because of my ambition especially now that we’ve seen her face and confirmed it. The mate bond is still in place so of course..

I get up and stand under the shower for a full thirty minutes. That’s how long it takes for my girth to relax under the bracing cold water. I couldn’t use hot water…it would only remind me of her. Once I’m ready and head downstairs, I find Milo’s grandmother…my mom, the former Luna Derisha trying to calm him as he cries.

“I’m late. I’m late. I’m late.”

“Let’s go.” I say but he just keeps throwing a tantrum, turning away so I can’t look at him.

“The boy is almost an hour late for school.” Mom says and then I remember I wanted to ask her if Alpha Ronin had a daughter. She would completely lose her mind if she found out that daughter was Demetra. For as long as I can remember, she never stopped talking about how she hated Demetra’s mother for being a whore or something.

“What are you looking at? Your son says he doesn’t even want to go to school anymore. You’re ruining his attendance.”

I roll my eyes. “He’s a kid. What bloody attendance is he worried about? Besides, I need to talk to you later, Mom.”

“I wanted to sit with Amira today!” Milo yells. I squint. Amira–Demetra’s daughter?

“Milo, who is Amira?” Mom asks.

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“My new friend. She says her granddad and uncle are Alphas. I wanted to show her that my daddy is an Alpha, tool

Mom looks back at me as I take his school bag from the couch.

“Come on.”

Outside, I buckle him into his seat. My mind is racing, and I’m trying hard not to give in to Milo’s tantrum right now. When we reach the school, another car is parked in front of the drop–off area.

What the hell is this! I raise my fist, about to honk the hell out of them in my frustration until I see Demetra step out of the G

-wagon.

“It’s the angel! It’s Amira’s mommy!” Milo shouts. I tear off my seatbelt as fast as I can. The moment I see Demetra walk around to get her child out from the back seat, I jump out too to do the same for Milo so she’ll see me. From the passenger side, I know we will both catch each other’s scent instantly.

And that’s exactly what happens! The look she gives me is pure shock, as if she went through the same thing I did this morning.

“Mommy, put me down!” her child reminds her.

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