When You Were My Mate (Demetra and Emris) novel Chapter 6

18 48 Fri, Apr 3 TO.

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Demetra.

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His sister. Aunt Rachel who visited us in Paris so often when Amira was a baby smiles widely. I see my uncles, my cousins—

And then Tiffany, Aunt Allison’s daughter breaks from the crowd to swallow me.

“Oh my goodness, Demetra!”

Tiff. I hug her fiercely and my voice is muffled against her shoulder.

When we pull apart, Slade is there. He wraps me in a bear hug. We stare at each other for a long moment.

“Craig. Timothy.” I call out my cousins’ names as I recognize them, hugging them before pulling the rest of the girls into quick embraces too. Eventually, we all move inside.

“I’m planning the biggest party you’ve ever seen—”

“A party?” I say to Tiff. She’s the one who flew to Paris and basically moved in during those hazy, difficult postpartum months.

*I feel like I’ve been through so many gallery openings and world events back in Paris that a party is just…

“Don’t even say you’re overwhelmed.” She links her arm with mine and steering me toward the pack house. “You are the Alpha’s daughter, and the entire pack has been dying to formally meet you. This is your fate. Now, come see your room—”

She opens a set of double doors and I actually stop breathing for a second.

It’s gorgeous. And insane. It looks like Barbie’s dream house decided to have a love child with a m sized bed on a raised platform with large pillars. A gorgeous rooftop balcony. Everything is marble.. closet has its own large, spiral staircase. It’s less of a closet and more of a boutique.

A queen-

oset the

“Slade went crazy with your room.” Tiffany says, watching my face as my mouth hangs open.

“Why does the closet look like a luxury boutique!?”

“Maybe because Slade got a boutique consultant to figure that out,” she says with a smirk.

“He did what?!” I gasp. This is the point where I stop admiring and need to go interrogate whatever is happening in my brother’s mind. As I whirl around to head back out, I nearly collide with Aunt Scotty.

“There you are, darling!” She pulls me into a hug, then holds my face at arm’s length. “You look so beautiful. Truly radiam

Thank you. Auntie

“My friend has a son,” she continues. “He’s the Alpha of the Nightfall Pack, and he’s very single. And by how beautiful you are, I’m sure he wouldn’t care one bit that you have a kid already

I exhale and gently extract my face from her hand.

“I don’t come back to West Virginia to date-

“That is not possible! You are the Alpha’s daughter, and there are many single Alphas who would he thrilled-

“I won’t date someone who sees my daughter as a liability. If I rry one day, it will be to someone who loves my daughter with all their heart, Aunt. That’s non-negotiable. Anyway, can walk about this later? I’m looking for Slade.”

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18:48 Fri, Apr 3 TO.

Chapter 6

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“Demetra…” she sighs, but I squeeze her hand, blow a kiss into the air, and move quickly before she can launch into a full presentation on the pros and cons of marriage.

Ever since my last heartbreak, I haven’t even opened my heart enough to imagine another man in that space. And honestly, that might be how it stays.

I finally find Slade in his office, finishing a phone call. He sees me lingering in the doorway and his stern expression softens into a smile. He says a quick goodbye and hangs up.

“Hey, sis.”

“I just escaped Scotty.” I announce, collapsing into the chair opposite his desk. “She’s talking about setting me up on dates and I haven’t even unpacked my luggage’s frist.”

He chuckles. “She’s been talking about it. She’s got a long line for the both of us.”

I squint, then realize. “True. You don’t have a Luna yet.”

“I don’t need a Luna.” Slade says.

“Says no one… ever,” I counter with a soft chuckle.

“I’ll get a Luna when you get married.”

“I am not getting married, Slade.”

“And that,” he says lightly, “makes it clear what we both want.”

The joke hangs between us and we chuckle. He comes around the desk and pulls me into another hug. He rests his head on top of mine, and for a moment, we just stand there in the quiet of his office.

“How’s being an Alpha going?” I murmur into his chest.

His sigh is deep. “Hard. Without Dad. Hard, knowing the final decisions are mine to make. The weight of it… it’s different when you’re actually holding it.”

I pull back to look up at him. “I’m sorry he left. He left because he wasn’t sure I would find the will to move on. It’s my fault

“Don’t even,” Slade says quietly. “Dad wasn’t there for you during the years you needed him most, so he definitely wanted to be there for you and Amira this time. I’m just glad you’re both back now. We can do this together.”

I smile.

“So, what’s the recent gist?”

“Um…” Slade hesitates for a moment. “It’s the Black Covenant Pk. They’re trying to take over a territory that belongs to us

My brows lift. “What?”

“We’re separated by water, but there’s land before the shorelinehat’s ours. They’re fighting for it. Their Alpha is claiming it belongs to them and he’s gone as far as calling the Council again us.”

I narrow my eyes. The Council of Wolves is an organization made up of representatives from different packs, meant to judge disputes like this fairly. Supposedly.

“If it’s ours, then it’s ours.” I say, carefully avoiding my mate’s name. “He has no right”

“That’s the kind of person he is,” Slade replies darkly. “In the last live years, his pack has grown more vile. Greedy. They take

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