When You Were My Mate (Demetra and Emris) novel Chapter 109

Chapter 109

Demetra Pride Covenant.

Contd

M

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I blink again, now completely embarrassed by what I boldly did. My face is burning. My cars are burning. Even my neck is burning. If someone lit a match near me, I’d probably go up in flames.

I absolutely do not look at Emris.

“It doesn’t matter what either of you have going on.”

“Derisha-”

“Isn’t two days from now going to be Pack-o-ween?” Silver says, simply walking into the living room and cutting off Emris from whatever he was about to say. I’m guessing it was something rude, because he called her by her name instead of “Mom.”

Lycan’s Eve.

“Yes, it is.” Emris says, eyes still on me like he’s waiting for an answer. Regarding what I drew of him.

“Oh wow, it’s gonna be lit. We can have a theme=”

I don’t wait to hear the rest of what Silver has to say.

I walk off quickly. Sabrina texted me to go out tonight and every single cell in my body said yes before I’d even finished reading the message.

I need one evening where nobody is looking at me like I’m either a Luna or a monster or both simultaneously.

Lycan’s Eve and bonding ceremonies and toy car investigations can all wait until another time.

Tonight, I am going out.

Alpha Emris.

“The end.” I close the book softly and look down at the little girl I’ve been reading to.

She’s fast asleep already, both small arms wrapped around a stuffed bear that she’s pressing against her cheek.

She’d refused the bedtime story at first. Sat with her arms crossed and her chin pointed at the ceiling but I sat at the edge of her bed and started reading anyway, and somewhere between the second and third page she’d stopped pretending not to listen.

Persistence. Apparently, it works on five-year-olds.

I stand carefully so the mattress doesn’t shift and tuck the book back into its slot on the bookshelf…right between The Little Wolf Who Found His Howl and Moon Princess when I hear the door open behind me,

It’s Demetra.

“She’s asleep.” I whisper, putting my fingers over my lips to shush her in case she was about to make noise. The room is dark except for the little nightlight shaped like a crescent moon as Amira’s chest rises and falls beneath the pink blanket.

“Good job. Came to kiss her goodnight.”

Chapter 109

Apr

She goes past me, and that’s when I realize she’s wearing a lot of perfume. Something floral and sweet and entirely too strong for someone who’s supposed to be going to bed tonight.

She kisses Amira’s forehead before rising.

“What about Milo?” She asks.

“Also asleep.”

She nods and walks back out into the hallway without another word, and I stand there for exactly two seconds before my eyes confirm what my nose already suspected.

I know I’m paranoid sometimes, but under her robe…that’s a mini glittery skirt, isn’t it?

I follow her out and shut the door to Amira’s room quietly. She’s not in the hallway anymore, so I make my way to the Alpha’s Grove, knowing I’ll just take a tour and make a pause at her part of the room.

That’s what I do.

And I come face to face with her when she’s coming out. In a red glittery skirt and a tube top like a girl sneaking out to a college frat party.

White tube top that is doing the absolute minimum in terms of structural responsibility.

It’s so thin that her nipples press right through so I can see them, and anyone else can too.

Her tits are sitting up high without a bra.

The cleavage is a dare.

And that skirt…if she tried to pick something up, the whole world would get a shot of her panties. The hem hits mid-thigh at best, and the glitter catches the light every time she moves. That gloss on her lips makes them look wet. Kissable.

Does she know that she is a fucking LUNA and is supposed to be wearing those ugly but expensive-looking gowns?

No wolf out there tonight is going to look at her and think bonded, mother of two, pack Luna. They’re going to think available and they’re going to make their move!

And out of all nights…on this NIGHT!?

Half my Gammas who were supposed to be on pack rotation have quietly evaporated into the city because they think I haven’t noticed.

I know it’s because the city is packed due to the front coming for Pack-o-ween. Every bar, every club, every street corner is going to be flooded with wolves at a fifty-mile radius looking for trouble. Looking for fun. Looking for someone exactly like

her.

So, I’m positive that fuck wolves are everywhere tonight. And they’ll draw to her like flies to honey.

“Mmmh, it’s almost 11pm.” I say, checking my watch in a sarcastic/way I know should get under her skin.

“I know. I can see the moon.”

Demetra answers, ready to walk past me. She steps to the left. I step to the left. She steps to the right. I step to the right.

“Do you mind?” Her eyes go sharp immediately. “Do you have something to say to me?”

“Hurry up and act like you want to pick something up off the floor.”

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Chapter 109

“What?”

“Your skirt. Demetra. Bend down and reach for something and every single person in that building is going to see your underwear. I’m giving you a practical demonstration of the problem.”

“Oh please. You are not my father, Emris.”

“No. I’m your husband. And if I called Ronin right now, I genuinely don’t think he’d be thrilled about this outfit either.”

“Husband.” She says the word back to me like it tastes strange. “I thought I made it clear that between us, this is a marriage of convenience. That’s the arrangement.”

“I never agreed to that.”

“I don’t care what you agreed to.” She folds her arms, and there’s a laugh underneath the words that isn’t amused. “You can run whatever you wanna run in your damn pack house, but you’re not gonna tell me what happens between us. Also, I’m taking Amira to my parents’ house during the weekend. We’ll come back the next week.”

Something cold moves through me.

“W-why?”

It comes out with a stutter I did not authorize, and I hate it immediately.

The truth is I’ve been thinking about this weekend. Somewhere underneath all the noise of the past few days…

When I saw Elena injured, I was aggravated that Milo had to see that. Everything was happening. Amira was there, seeing her mother being accused of wanting to kill someone. Those kinds of fucked-up memories stay in the heads of kids…I know, because I was once a trauma-fucked kid.

I didn’t mean to hold her wrist that hard. And damn, I tried to stop her from moving back over and over again….until she fell.

I wanted a picnic or something over the weekend. Something where I could get the kids to start playing again. Something where me and Demetra could-

I don’t even know where I would start. First, I would obviously apologize for leaving her high and dry on the table in my

room.

But now I have to wonder if that horniness I left her with is what she’s looking to go get finished tonight. That thought arrives fully formed and I do not enjoy a single part of it.

“Why,” she repeats.

And then she walks away.

I follow her, lethally.

I don’t think she realizes I’m going with her as she gets into her car. the red Range Rover with the heated seats and the custom plates that say LUNA 1. But I don’t need to rush to chase after her either, because there’s a tracker on her car.