When We Were Mates (Demetra and Emris) novel Chapter 3

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Demetra.

A moment later, he’s driving us smoothly away from the pack house, and I melt into the leather chair.

“Where?”

“Huh?”

Emris hisses. “Where are you going? Don’t piss me off, Demetra.”

“The, um… to the store.”

“What could you possibly want from the store that you cannot get at the pack house!?”

“Some hygiene products.” I squeakily lie. “And a new bra.”

When we get to the shopping mall, his phone rings. Thank god, a distraction. He throws a black credit card at me without even looking, and I take it. I only accept because refusing would be a whole thing and I need him to be distracted.

I go straight to the pharmacy section. My hands are literally shaking as I grab the test. I pay with my own cash and buy two, just to be sure. I also snag a random, overpriced bra I don’t need as my decoy.

I lock myself in a bathroom stall and after ten minutes, my eyes instantly water when both tests show the result. Two pink lines. Two. I stare at myself in the mirror over the sink, looking again and again and again, as if my reflection will have a different answer.

I’m pregnant.

I’m pregnant with Emris’s child.

I wipe the tears away, only for more to fall. It’s positive. Both tests are undeniably, life-falteringly positive. I stumble out of the stall and mumble an apology to the annoyed women waiting in line.

I rush to the counter to pay for the bra, hastily wiping my cheeks and glancing out the mall to see if Emris is still in the car. My hands are shaking so badly I fumble the card, dropping it twice. As I turn from the counter, I bump hard into an older man and it sends my shopping bag and Emris’s black credit card to the floor.

“I’m so sorry!” I get to my knees to gather my things.

The man bends down too and picks up the card. “Here you go—”

“Thanks. I am so sorry, sir!” I repeat until he doesn’t let go. I look up and see him staring at me with an expression of shock, so intense that the card in his hand actually trembles.

“Sir…?” I try to pull it back.

“What is your name?” he asks. “You look familiar. What pack are you from?”

“Sir, please. I’m in a hurry.” I finally manage to tug the card from his fingers but the encounter is far from over.

“Alpha?”

I look up to see a guy who must be a million inches tall, built like a valley, standing behind the older man. Did he just call him… Alpha?

The older man ignores his guard or is it his Beta to continue staring at me.

“You have white hair. You….you have white hair.”

Why’s he looking at me like he’s seen a ghost. Yes, I have white hair and so? My mind is reeling from the pregnancy tests, and now this? Will Emris accept the pregnancy? Will Emris be happy when I tell him? Will Luna Derisha kill me when she finds out I’ve been sleeping with her son? The future heir of the pack.

The Beta speaks. “Alpha, you don’t think she is—”

“Please, have my business card.” The older man presses an embossed card into my hand but I don’t take it.

“Sir, I don’t understand what you are saying or doing—”

“I am searching for my daughter. She has white hair, just like…”

“I am not your daughter!”

A father is the last thing I have or need on this earth.

“Dad?” Another young man, handsome and well-dressed, walks up, addressing the older man. The moment his eyes land on me, his jaw goes slack.

“I saw him slip you his card. What’s your price, Demetra? Huh? Was my bed not enough of a platform for you to audition for your next role? Are you planning to be Slade’s new step-mom or Slade’s little whore? After acting so damn pure with me, refusing the things I try to give you… you come here to meet with Slade? To become his whore, just like you are to me?”

Emris’ words don’t just hurt. They dissolve me. The heat behind my eyes instantly melts into tears that stream down my face.

“W-whore? You are the only person I have ever been with!”

“Then what do you call a person who is available for me to use morning and night? A convenience. You clean up my messes and warm my bed. I didn’t call you anything you haven’t proven yourself to be. Now, take whatever pathetic offer that old man gave you and get the hell out of my life forever.”

Emris turns to leave but I run after him, furious tears blinding me as I throw my arms around his back like an idiot.

“How can you call me that!?” I weep on his shirt.

Emris pries my hands off with cold strength. “I saw it with my own eyes. I saw the interaction—”

“I tried so hard! I refused your gifts, your money… I did everything I could so you would never, ever look at me that way! But at the end of the day, this is what you think of me? You have no heart, Emris. You are dark. You are…” I gasp for air as the insult dies on my tongue.

“I am Alpha! My father is dead and I will be Alpha soon. If you’re still in my territory when I formalize my title, I will personally escort you down the Walk of Judgment. I’ll make sure the entire pack knows exactly what you are.”

The Walk of Judgment is a nightmare. A walk of shame where the pack forces you out while throwing filth at you, sometimes tearing the clothes from your back. It’s the ultimate disgrace before being cast out to become a rogue.

And he just threatened me with it.

I force Emris to face me again. “It’s me, Demetra! Why are you acting this way? It was a misunderstanding! I didn’t know that was Slade! I didn’t know who they were!”

“And he gave you a card. You might be naive enough to believe that was a coincidence, but I’m not, Demetra. So much for loyalty. How long has this been going on? How long have you been spreading your legs for Slade? Or is the old man getting a turn, too?”

Emris insults are too much so I slap him! His head snaps to the side. Once I do that, there is only the sound of his breathing. His chest begins to rise, and rise, and rise so I move away.

“We’re done.” Emris storms out. I watch through the glassed door as he speaks to the mall owner before getting into his car and speeding away, leaving me in the wreckage.

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