When We Were Mates (Demetra and Emris) novel Chapter 46

Chapter 46

Emris.

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The last time Demetra and I met was bad, but at least it got us talking. Breaking down walls. Speaking about old wounds. I got to see her angry and then ease that anger as I kissed her. Today, she’s giving me the cold shoulder but that’s expected, especially now that Eden and Teddy know our bond is still active and we’ve been playing in it.

Teddy hasn’t let me have a single day since then without making jokes about bonds and how it’s always the mean ones who get dragged by them the most. No one else understands her, but the hair on my body knows exactly who she’s talking about.

Since I’m actually getting somewhere with Demetra, I came up with a whole plan. Amira’s father is six feet in the ground, which means there’s really no guy who has her attention. I’m not sure about the lover she claims to have–that could be a lie. If it were true, Eden should have just said “you’re cheating on so–and–so” when he caught us. But he didn’t. Which means that lover may not exist.

I could be wrong, but I’m never wrong. Still, I could be wrong. Anyway, for my plan to work, I must believe there’s no male in her life right now.

And that plan is to charm her.

Yeah, sounds small. Sounds like nothing. But as I’ve thought over the week about how we became mates, the bond brought desire between us but nothing else. I never took Demetra on dates. I never bought her flowers. I don’t even know if she likes chocolate. I don’t know what she hates. In the back of my head, the pack house had everything she could possibly want; she could get anything from there.

I didn’t see the need to wow her with anything because she was already in love with me. Therefore, I never charmed her. Never bought her a dress out of the blue. Never surprised her with earrings. Never found out what food she loved. I know… nothing about her.

As I thought about these things, I realized how much worse of a mate I was to her when she was mine.

Charm.

How does a man charm a woman? He appears in an outfit she’s never seen before. I put on work clothes as if I were leaving for a meeting at my company. Tailored pants. Crisp white shirt. I slicked my wild hair back. Licked my lips. Asked if she wanted anything like a serious CEO.

Is she looking at me?

I don’t know. I can’t tell. I’m trying to play it nonchalant.

Probably not, because I can hear her brush moving across the canvas. I lift my eyes and truly, she’s not even looking at me. I see her take a moment to stop, though I can’t picture what she’s drawing yet it’s still in that color–stamped phase. She holds her hand up, studying her work. I look at her hair, how it’s in lustrous curls and braided at the same time. She’s wearing a black silk skirt with a slit like the one in her office…seems she likes this kind of outfit. As my eyes travel up her legs, they land on her… well.

I look again. Her thighs are so evident in that skirt. And her ass is very un–Luna–like.

Why am I saying un–Luna–like? It’s not like she’s my Luna.

But something about her looking at that empty spot in the history room…the spot that didn’t have a Luna–is putting these thoughts in my head. What went through her mind when she saw there was no Luna statue? Does she know it’s empty because it’s a space kept only for a true mate?

“Oh my goodness!”

Demetra screams. I snap my head toward her. On her pale skin, her lips are shaking. She glares at me.

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15:54 Mon, May 11

Chapter 46

“A racoon!?”

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“What?” I shove the laptop off my thigh and stand. I look back at the couch and see a damn ugly raccoon. Through the slide doors that I opened and never closed, there’s a wild, big eye, shaggy raccoon staring back at us. It takes a step closer.

“Emris!” Demetra yells at me. Everything in her hands has fallen to the ground, smearing paint across her apron.

“Yes–yes.”

What does she want me to do?

“Get it!”

I look at Demetra with an exasperated laugh trying to escape my face. I was just telling myself I didn’t know anything about her. Come to find out she’s scared of raccoons. Demetra is scared of raccoons.

I never knew that. I’m filing that away when she crosses the room and grabs my giant muscle of an arm.

“Go! End it or something!”

I burst out laughing the moment I see the look on her face again Pure terror. Over a raccoon.

“You’re… you’re afraid of that?”

“Do something…”

“Oh my god, ah!” She screams as the thing comes closer to us. Whoever sent this raccoon; I owe them a couple of bucks, because now she’s hugging me without even realizing it. “Emris, take it out!” Both her hands are on my arm, hitting me and hugging me at the same time, demanding I do something.

I’m loving this. Until she sees the smirk on my face.

She punches my chest with a glare-

“Ow… ouch! Fine. Fine.”

She quickly goes behind me like I’m her hero. And the feeling of Demetra seeing me as the great Alpha that I am…I swear the ego fills my bones with thrills. I step closer to the animal. It stays in one place. Does it think it can scare me?

I crouch down and move slowly. The raccoon hisses at me and bares tiny teeth. Please. I’ve ended wolves with

my bare hands. This ball of fur and attitude is nothing. In one second, I scoop it up and warp around its middle like I’m holding a particularly angry football. It squirms, chattering protests, but I hold it up like a trophy, legs dangling.

I turn to face Demetra.

She puts her hand on her chest.

“Now take it… out.”

“You’re scared of this small, black–eyed freak?” I shake the raccoon slightly. It chatters angrily. “Milo plays with them ild-”

“You knew there were raccoons in your pack house and you opened the slide doors! Are you dumb!?” Demetra yells at me all of a sudden.

Just after I thought I was her hero. Right after my ego was soaring, it comes crashing back down.

“I never knew you were afraid of raccoons. I-”

“The only thing you ever knew about me was my name. Take that raccoon out.”

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15:54 Mon, May 11.

Chapter 46

You know what? For that mouth she has, I’m going to scare her.

“But it wants to be your friend.” I take a step toward her.

Demetra blinks. She doesn’t want to believe what I’m about to do. I take another step.

“Emris, let… let go of that raccoon. Leave it outside. Now.”

“Or what? I do a good deed for you and you insult this in

. Why shouldn’t I thro

this in your pretty face?” I grin.

“I swear. I swear. I swear….I will never speak to you again.”

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“What’s the difference? You’re not speaking to me now. Come, let me introduce you to the raccoon-

I step closer and she quickly runs around the couch, little feet pattering, little hands flailing.

“Emris! Emris!”

“No, no, no. The raccoon’s name is Bob. Say hi to Bob.” I chuckle, shaking the raccoon’s butt as I chase her. She squeals, running to the other side of the sitting area, grabbing a pillow and hurling it at me and my new friend Bob.

“Say sorry.”

“Why are you doing this-”

“Sorry is the magic word. Say sorry for insulting and calling me dumb.”

“It was a question. I didn’t say you were dumb.”

“Well, I still took offense.”

“L… sorry!” She yells it, desperate.

I lick my lips and stop following her. I smile, walking back to the slide doors to let the raccoon out. But before I get there, a bunch of squirrels and what looks like an entire raccoon kingdom swarm through the front door.

I drop the raccoon in shock.

Because I fucking hate squirrels.

Shit. Shit.

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