When We Were Mates (Demetra and Emris) novel Chapter 7

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7

Emris.

Black Covenant Pack.

“Daddy. Daddy. Daddy. Daddy.”

Milo’s voice echoes up the stairs long before I see him as he reminds everyone in the pack house that today is parent- teacher day at Magnus Kindergarten. I descend the steps just as Elena, my Luna is already crouched in front of him, adjusting his collar and taking pictures of his first day in this new grade.

She looks up as I descend. “Honey, you slept late last night.”

“It’s fine. I’ll keep my eyes open.”

Milo breaks free and charges straight at me. I drop to one knee and catch him easily, pulling him into a hug.

“Morning, Daddy.”

“How was your night?” I ruffle his hair and he flashes his teeth.

“I dreamed of an angel woman coming to our pack.”

Elena scoffs immediately. “Here we go again. Milo is always dreaming about something.”

“What did she look like?” I ask with interest due to the fact that I’ve been coming home late all week due to Alpha Fest

preparation and endless responsibilities. By the time I get back, Milo is usually asleep. If this is what he wants to talk about, then I’ll listen.

“She has long white hair, Daddy.”

“Hm.” I arch a brow slightly, encouraging him to continue.

“White hair? Oh please. What else? Did she have wings?”

Milo shakes his head no at his mom.

Before he can say more, Elena straightens. “We’re running late. We should go. I have work when we get back.”

“Daddy,” Milo says suddenly, tugging my sleeve, “aren’t you going to watch me play soccer?”

“I’m not sure, son. My schedule won’t bend today.”

When I say that, Regan…my brother walks in.

“No. No, no!” Milo starts a tantrum.

“No need to cry. Your uncle will be there to watch you play.”

Milo yanks his hand free from mine

“No. I want my daddy! I want my daddy.”

I exhale sharply. “Alright…enough.” I crouch slightly. “How about this? I’ll find the time to come, okay? No more tantrums. Come on…you’re already late for school and an Alpha’s heir is never late to his duties.

His eyes are glassy, but he nods, wiping his face with the back of his hand.

I lean closer to Regan but lower my voice. “You might have to show up on my behalf.”

Once Milo is buckled into the car, Elena turns to me.

“We need to talk. Do you have time today?”

“No.”

Her jaw tightens. “You’re never home. And when you are, you barely speak to me. What sort of couple doesn’t even sleep in the same room? I’m sick of the rumours spreading in the pack, Emris. They’re saying you don’t love me.”

“So? I made you Luna, and you’re worried about rumors?” My temper snaps before I can stop it. “Are you fucking-”

I bite my tongue hard. I’m running on two hours of sleep, juggling territory disputes and pack stability, and she’s choosing now to corner me with this.

“You know what,” I rub my face. “Forget it. All you care about is whether I fuck you or not.”

“Emris-”

“Don’t ruin my mood for my son today.” I get into the car. Whether she wants to or not, she enters into the passenger seat in silence.

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7

When we arrive at the school, teachers step forward to shake my hand as soon as I step out of the car. I expected that This isn’t just any parent–teacher meeting…it’s for heirs. Future Alphas. Future leaders.

Even at this age, we need to know how they’re doing because one day, they won’t just answer to teachers. They’ll answer to packs.

“Alpha Emris, please right here.” the principal directs us.

I check my watch. I have exactly forty minutes, not a second more, to waste before I leave.

We’re seated in the open garden, children placed neatly beside their parents for individual reviews. At my left, I note Alpha Nico of the Freedom Pack, and a few others. I don’t care to look longer; eye contact is an invitation for beggars to start pleading for scraps.

Everyone wants a piece of the richest pack in the state.

“Alright, everyone, thank you so much for coming to the parent–teacher conference. All the teachers of the kids are here, and can we give our kids a proud round of applause?” the principal says. We, the parents, start clapping.

“We know we are taking time from your busy schedules, but our kids are the futures of tomorrow-” The principal stops abruptly as someone whispers in her ear before scurrying away. I roll my eyes in irritation at the interruption.

“I am so sorry,” the principal apologizes quickly. “A new parent who is joining our school is a bit late. We are so sorry.”

I see some staff to the left bringing the parent in, but I don’t pay attention. Like I said, I don’t like looking at other pack leaders. Any contact means they would want to join and sit next to you. In this case, where I’m always the one at the front, I see the staff quickly bring a seat for this parent at the front, right where my family is known to own, basically.

I only look up because of the scent that wafts into my nostrils and my chest tightens at once.

Velvet vanilla wrapped in musk.

It’s not just a familiar scent. It’s a ghost. It’s the exact, haunting signature of my mate, Demetra…the woman who vanished from my life years ago!

I uncross my legs, and my eyes lock onto the source.

She’s being ushered to the empty seats directly in my line of sight which is a place that forces everyone, especially me, to

look at her.

She is wearing a white furry coat. A devastatingly tight white dress beneath it. Heels that gleam like ice. And the hair… long, cream white, flowing from the root of her scalp. Pale, milky skin that brings one person to mind.

No… Demetra?

She is wearing sunglasses over her face. Her nose is small, like Demetra’s own, and there is a little girl with white hair next to her who… looks, with an honesty and heartbeat in my chest, just like Demetra too.

I am on my feet at once! Because of how I rise, everyone looks at me but I am looking only at her.

I want to tear the sunglasses from her face. I need to see the eyes beneath. I need to know if she is my mate. The mate drove out, in a fit of pride and rage. The mate I went searching for like a madman right after, a stupid, desperate judgment I made then, thinking she would still be nearby because she had nowhere else to go. My wolf felt her part, and it has hated

me for it ever since.

I thought I would find her at a motel. A supermarket. Anywhere. But I searched the whole damned country and I did not find Demetra. So if she is the one standing there…. I can smell her. I know she is the one. She…

I take a step forward.

“Emris!”

Elena’s hand snakes around my wrist from where she sits. “What are you doing?”

“Oh, apologies, everyone,” the principal says. “This is Miss Pride, from the Lion Pride Pack, and her daughter.”

My eyes squint into slits of pure anger.

Pride Pack.

The words detonate in my skull. As in Alpha Ronin and his son, Slade.

I hate that pack with every bone in my body. Wait-

Slade doesn’t have a Luna. Ronin retired early. So Ronin had a daughter? So he has a granddaughter too?

The woman in dark sunglasses simply takes her seat and pulls the little girl closer to her side.

“Daddy. It’s the Angel.”

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“That’s enough, Milo!” Elena snaps.

“It’s the Angel. It’s the Angel!” He doesn’t stop.

I force myself to sit but even seated, I can’t stop looking at her.

She is utterly, maddeningly confident in the way she pays no attention to me. Or to anyone else in this garden of powerful wolves. And inside me, my wolf is tearing itself out of my soul. It is howling, clawing, panting. It is purring like a feral, starved thing that has finally, after long years of darkness, seen the other half of itself.

No matter how many times I try to force myself to listen, my focus shatters. I find myself staring at Miss Pride’s fingers as the principal speaks. They look… like Demetra’s hands. I am arrogant, I know the world in broad strokes of power but ! remember the way she used to rest her hand on my chest, the particular slope of her knuckles.

I’ve seen them so many times I know them. I know them.

The meeting ends in a. “…essential that your children have friendships with one another,” the principal concludes.

As everyone begins to stir and rise, I see Milo run off. He beelines straight for Miss Pride. Elena gets up at once to retrieve

him, but she’s too slow.

“You’re the angel I saw in my dream” Milo announces, planting himself in front of where she’s seated.

The little girl at her side puffs up. “My mommy is not an angel. She is my mommy. Go to your own mummy now!”

“My daddy is an Alpha!” Milo yells back. When the little girl follows his pointed finger, her eyes land on me. She flinches and hides behind her mother’s white coat.

“Milo, you’re being disrespectful. Stop talking to people you don’t know.” Elena grabs his arm, but he plants his feet.

The lady, Miss Pride, rises to her feet with a weary exhale.

“You wanna play with her, let him.” The words leave my mouth before I can stop them. I’m just too curious.

The woman in glasses goes perfectly still. Then, all of a sudden, her head turns my way. It’s the first direct acknowledgment. I rise from my own seat, ready to close the distance, to say… something.

Sho

1. st. “Respectfully, my daughter is not interested.”

emetra’s. That’s exactly what Demetra sounds like!

er daughter’s hand securely in hers. Without another glance, she walks away, melting into the shifting crowd of

ents.

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