When You Were My Mate (Demetra and Emris) novel Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Demetra.

“The Lion Pride pack is weak compared to us.”

Every word Emris speaks makes my wolf flinch inside my chest. watch his lips, the arrogant curve of his mouth as he talks.

“Actually… no other pack is worthy enough to be the mate of my sister, but especially not yours.” He leans forward slightly, his gaze sweeps over us like we’re nothing. “You think you’re capable of bringing fire? All of you combined couldn’t bring a spark to my pack. But you already knew that.”

Arrogant. Handsome, even now, in that beautiful costume. I want to tear that pride out of him, but Slade beats me to it.

“Your ego has made you forget that my father was the one who found you after you were kidnapped as a little boy. Why didn’t your glorious pack find you? It took the Lion Pride to take over the tracking, to bring you back home. Talk about biting the hand that saved you.”

I see Emris’s eyes flash. I also look at Slade, surprised. I didn’t know that. I knew Emris was taken when he was young…I’d felt him shudder in his sleep when I was still attached to him. I’ve seen him wake up drenched in sweat from the nightmares. I’d held him, whispered that he was safe when the ghosts of that dungeon chased him into the waking world. That’s why seeing those barghests and the whistles in Slade’s storage made my blood run cold.

No one would believe it that the mighty hybrid Alpha is still haunted by the sound of a whistle and the bark of a hunting dog.

“Yeah, let that sink in.” Slade continues, watching the shock settle across Emris’s face. “It was my dad who gave your father the correct lead after two years of frantic searching. If not for him, think about it…you wouldn’t even exist, and your dear mother here would only be able to see you in her dreams.”

The table falls silent.

“Slade.” my dad says quietly.

“He started it, Dad. Him and his fucking ego.”

“Don’t worry…” Regan slurs from beside Emris with a nasty smirk on his face. “Your son has a tough mouth. We’ll correct it.”

I look at him, then quickly away. Out of Emris and his brothers, Regan has always made my skin crawl. Then, he was jealous of Emris, and the rumors about him then was he got numerous housekeepers pregnant and forced them to abort their pups. I’ve never doubted the rumours.

“You think your pack is on the same level as us?” Emris redirects the conversation with cold focus.

“Look at our territory. We do business with other packs because our agricultural output is unlike anything you’ve seen. We have the best hospitals, the best systems. We’re rich. But of course, you already knew this.”

“I’m not talking about wealth.” Emris counters Slade. “I’m talking about strength. I broke into your pack and stood at your front door. So easily. Did you all forget to buy a security system?

His mother smiles beside him with a complicit look.

“Let’s come to a decision,” my dad interjects the argument. “I agree with my daughter about Teddy and Eden.”

Derisha scoffs and rolls her eyes. “Eden and my daughter? It will never happen!”

“Mom-“Teddy starts.

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16:52 Sat, Apr 11 MOD

Chapter 21

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“No.” Emris cuts her off. “How about this? The last day of the Alpha Fest, you and I fight, Slade. If you beat me, I’ll consider that your pack is strong enough for my sister. If I beat you, your ousin will reject her. A bet?”

“We’re not going to bet about the bond of two people-“I begin but Slade speaks over me.

“Bet.”

I turn to him. “Slade?”

He meets my eyes. “It’s a bet. He can’t beat me.”

Regan starts chuckling hysterically beside Emris, like the whole thing is completed already. But Emris doesn’t know what Slade has planned.

“And maybe when my brother beats the shit out of Slade and get him out of the way,” Regan looks at me. “I’ll be able to move closer to your sister. I heard she’s single. Maybe the two of us could… go out sometime?”

“Watch it, you stupid young man.” dad says, and the growl in his voice makes Regan reconstruct the smile on his face.

“Listen to my dad, there’s a reason packs call him the great hunter.” I chuckle, feeling very proud of how I have family to back me.

Regan scowls.

Elena scoffs. She’s been strangely quiet while the men were talking, but somehow, she always gets irritated when I’m part of the conversation.

“Why would you even ask her out, Regan? You know she has a child, right? Milo’s age. There’s probably a reason she doesn’t have a husband. I guess whoever impregnated her didn’t feel the need to marry her, even after she gave him a pup.” Elena smiles, and I feel my composure start to crack.

Not because of what she said about me…I’m used to that. But because she’s dragging my child into her petty little game.

I turn my head slowly toward her. “I know you’re not talking about me. You’re the Luna of the Black Covenant Pack, but you could be replaced any time, you know that, right?” I cross my legs, letting my voice drop. “Are you his Goddess gifted mate?”

The glassware on the table shudders slightly as I hold her stare trough her mask. I hear Tiffany chuckle beside me, and from the way Emris is looking at me now, I know I need to step away.

I stand up and the silk of my dress whispers as I turn from the table. I don’t look back as I walk across the grand ballroom, but I can feel eyes on me. Alphas, Betas, curious stares following my every move. If I had ever imagined a time when powerful men would look at me this way, I would’ve been wrong The attention feels heavy, suffocating. And somewhere at the end of tonight, I’ll have to remove this mask and let them all see me.

As soon as I reach the bathroom, I pull off my mask and stare in the mirror, taking a deep, steadying breath. Before I can exhale, the door bangs open. I quickly put the mask back on back…my hands move fast.

It’s Elena. She steps inside into the marble floor. She tilts her head,

I am not afraid of her, I never have been, not even when I was the pack’s charity case. Why would that change now?

“Did you follow me in here?” I ask, securing the mask in place.

“What did you say to me!?” Her voice is unstable so now I know that’s really her insecurity. Not being Emris mate. Seems her and Emris don’t have a good marriage after all. If they did, she wouldn’t have chased me in here.

“I think you know exactly what I said.” I turn back to the mirrorurn on the tap, and wash my hands slowly. “You are not his mate, which means you can be replaced in a blink. And just like hat, you won’t have a husband either.”

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16:52 Sat, Apr 11 M

Chapter 21

Elena scoffs and steps closer. “And what gives you the right to talk about bond?”

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