When You Were My Mate (Demetra and Emris) novel Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Alpha Emris.

The moment we get back to the pack house, chaos dances!

My mother is wailing furiously somewhere in her suite. I saw her face and shit, it is swollen from the slaps Demetra delivered like a series of calculated blows. Regan is yelling at me in the hallway, accusing me of standing by and letting it happen. Elena is staring at me like I’ve grown a second head but can guess why.

Demetra. Demi.

She’s figuring it out.

Silver, on the other hand, is the only one who looks…normal. Actually, scratch that. He doesn’t just look normal; he’s been cackling non-stop since we walked through the door. Did he not see our mother get publicly humiliated? I had to escape to the private bar just to get a moment of silence, but my mother’s furious sobs are still echoing through the halls. According to her, I should have snapped Demetra’s neck on the spot.

But I let the slaps happen.

Silver finds me, still chuckling as he grabs a glass. He hasn’t gotten a hold of himself. He’s laughing right now.

“No, no, no.” he says, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye. “I don’t think I can believe it.” He leans against the bar beside me. “You knew already, didn’t you? That she was Demetra. You can’t lie to me.”

I glance over my shoulder to make sure Elena isn’t lurking before I speak. “Stop laughing. It’s not funny.”

We both hear mom’s wailing carry down from three floors up. Silver, who’d started to compose himself, bursts out laughing again.

“I’m going to check on Milo.” I decide to walk away.

“She hit Mom, and you just watched it happen.” Silver’s laughter fades into something more serious. “Is there something you’re not telling me, Emris? The way you danced with her… I’m not stupid. I’ve never even seen you dance with Elena like that, and she’s your Luna.”

I don’t answer. Instead, I drain the entire glass of liquor in one burning swallow.

“Emris, say something. I can only help you if I know what’s going on.” Silver lowers his voice, and his expression turns earnest. “When you maid left who I guess is Miss Pride, you fell apart. Even after Milo was born, there was something wrong with you. You were constantly asking Alpha Destin to find someone for you. Was she the one?”

I meet his eyes, and he reads the truth in my silence. His lips part slightly.

“You…your mate?”

Again, I don’t respond, but Silver is my Beta and my brother. My wolf is vulnerable around him. He’s a perceptive reader, and he was the one who helped me learn to control my wolf after the kidnapping. He knows me better than anyone.

“So she is,” he breathes, his eyes widening. “Moons…”

“Let’s talk later.” I say flatly, pushing past him.

My mother’s voice grows louder as I approach the main living area. I hear her arguing with Teddy.

“She hit me! She hit me, and she’s still breathing!”

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16:55 Sat, Apr 11 MO

Chapter 24

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“Yeah, because your son-the Alpha-told me to stand down!” Rgan snarls. He’s fuming because I ordered him not to touch Demetra when I saw him lunge.

“Mom, you pushed her first!” Teddy says. “She could have been seriously hurt if Emris hadn’t caught her!”

“Get out! Get out! Get out!” Mom shrieks.

Teddy storms out of the room and sees me standing there. Between her and me, she’s the only other one who knows Demetra is my mate. That’s the real reason I didn’t lift a finger. Istead of saying anything, she just shakes her head and walks away toward her room.

I can hear Regan’s voice from the living room. “I promise you, Mom, I’m going to claw that bitch. I’ll turn her from the diamond of the Fest into a fucking cautionary tale!”

I don’t check him. I just retreat to my bedroom. I yank the royal shirt off my body and toss it aside when a familiar scent hit me and it’s Elena’s.

She’s in my room. She’s been waiting. Which means she’s finally pieced it all together who “Demi” really is.

“Go to your room. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

With everything that’s happened tonight, I can’t stomach her questions. Maybe it started when Demetra chose me for the dance. Maybe it ended when she told me she’d filed for a hearing with the Council of Bonds to force our rejection. I just need to sleep it off.

“No,” Elena says from the shadows. “It’s not possible. Right?”

I ignore her, pulling off my pants until I’m standing in just my underwear. My body is tense and my mind is replaying the feel of Demetra in my arms as she fell.

“Emris.” Elena presses.

I don’t turn around. I already know what she’s going to ask. And for once, I have no arrogant retort ready.

“I said tomorrow.” I repeat.

She rises from the edge of my gothic bed and walks toward me.

“You know, I always thought there was something fishy about that maid… that charity case girl you used to have. She was too close to you. The way she looked at you… it was obvious she had feelings for you. But I thought, ‘Who wouldn’t have feelings for Emris?’ Then you sent her away. You threw her out of the pack yourself.”

“Hmm,” I grunt, a non-answer.

“Hmm’ is not an answer!” she shouts, stepping closer until her face is inches from mine. She slaps the light switch, and the room plunges into harsh brightness, making me wince. “You don’t even get hard for me! If I stood naked in front of you, nothing would happen. Yet you moan ‘Demi’ in your sleep. I wahed you, you know…sweating as you slept, your hips jerking, moving like you were inside her!”

I don’t want this conversation. Not tonight. I don’t want to lie to er, either, but this isn’t the time for the brutal truth.

“Tell me it was another Demi!” she demands.

I meet her gaze blankly. “It was another Demi.”

For a second, she just stares. Then her face crumples.

“Oh.”

16:55 Sat, Apr 11 MO

Chapter 24

“Yes, Elena. It was another. Can you go now? The answers you want, you’ll get it soon.”

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And she will. There’s no hiding it anymore. Once the Council of Bonds receives Demetra’s petition, the news will spread like wildfire. I’m not some low-ranking Alpha…I’m the Alpha of the Black Covenant Pack. The world will learn I’ve had a true mate all along. It will reach every corner of the earth, and everyone, including my own family, will finally know.

“The answers I want… I’ll get,” she murmurs, more to herself than to me. She’s still trying to process, still clinging to the lie I just handed her. Then she starts to laughing. She knows I’m trying to spare her, and it’s only making it worse.

I remember the doubts I had before marrying her. I told her about it but next thing I knew, she was getting me drunk, and we had sex. Milo was conceived. I felt the weight of responsibility and made her my Luna. It was a chain of duty, not desire.

“Whoever she is…” Elena hisses, “whoever comes to you in your damn dreams… I hope she knows I am your Luna. And I am not leaving you.”

With that final declaration, she turns and storms out of my room

Elena.

“I don’t want eggs!”

Milo crosses his arms, but I’m not even listening to his tantrum his useless morning. My mind is stuck on last night…on the conversation with Emris, on that look in his eyes when he dance with her. It’s playing on a loop behind my eyes like a sick, silent film.

“Mommy, you’re hurting me!”

I struggle to shove his foot into his shoe impatiently. I don’t even look at what I’m doing. All I can think about is today… the Luna’s Day after the spectacle of yesterday. Emris completely humiliated me. But it started with her. She chose him. She picked him out of that crowd of hungry Alphas, and it was intenonal. Can you imagine?

That bitch. That charity case for a pack of mutts. That used-up, Hollow-eyed whore they took in out of pity. She’s got a face like a slapped ass and a body built for back-alley business. She’s walking corpse they’re too cheap to bury. She’s a stain, a mistake, a ragged cunt they dress up and call one of their own.

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