When You Were My Mate (Demetra and Emris) novel Chapter 67

Chapter 67

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Demetra.

I catch myself smiling at the photo booth strip, running my finger over the edges like it might disappear if I look too hard. I didn’t even notice Emris slipping it into my purse. Probably when he handed me a sleepy Amira… face pressed into his neck, drooling a little on his collar. Milo was passed out on his other sile, head bobbing against his chest.

Both kids were completely knocked out after Jurassic world and he was walking them to the car like he’d done it a thousand times.

I stayed back a few steps just to watch. It was something about seeing him like that…not as the Alpha, not as the man who wrecked me, just as a dad carrying sleeping kids. It made my chest do something weird. Like he was auditioning for a role I didn’t even know I was casting.

Sometimes my brain runs laps around itself and makes me wonder. If I had just told him I was pregnant back then as everything was going sideways…. would it have changed anything Would he have paused long enough to think twice? Could my words have cut through whatever rage was clouding his head that morning?

No. No, I’m not doing this. If he hadn’t kicked me out, I never would’ve found my father. Never would’ve known what it felt like to be wanted by someone who actually looked at me like I mattered. I would’ve stayed that girl with the ghost self- esteem…the one who made herself invisible in hallways, who only existed when no one else was in the room. And yeah, the way Emris threw me out broke me. I’m not gonna pretend it didn’t.

But I can’t lie and say it wasn’t the best worst thing that ever happened to me.

Growing up, I thought I was an orphan. A charity case the pack kept around out of pity. Then suddenly I had a father. A brother. A whole family that looked at me like I’d always belonged. It shifted something in my bones and made me realize I wasn’t born to be background noise in someone else’s story.

So can I really stay mad at him forever?

I shook

my head at myself. These thoughts only come creeping in because I know his divorce is happening. He’s about to be free. And somehow my brain keeps trying to plug me into that equation like I didn’t make a vow for the sake of Amira that I would never, ever let myself get tangled up in that family again.

But that little voice. The one I keep trying to drown out keeps pointing at how Emris is with Amira.

Emris let Elena slide on so much garbage over the years, but the second she tried to get my daughter kicked out of school? The second she spread rumors to ruin a five-year-old’s reputation before she’s even old enough to understand what a rumor is?

He tore his whole marriage apart,

For a little girl who doesn’t even know he’s her father.

And that dumb, stupid voice I know belongs to my wolf keeps wispering: you made vows, but look at her. Look at how Amira looks at him. You’d be depriving her of a father, You’d be lepriving him of a daughter,

“Mama.”

I shove the photo into my vanity so fast my hand knocks over apstick. Amira’s standing in the doorway rubbing her eyes and twisting around her little legs. I swear, that child has a sixth sense for when I’m thinking about something I shouldn’t be.

“You’re supposed to be in bed. Asleep,”

She giggles, completely unbothered by my authority,

“To your room. Now.”

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Chapter 67

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She stomps her foot. Folds her arms and looks at me like I’m the one being unreasonable. If it wasn’t the weekend. tomorrow, I’d be stricter. But it is, so..

“Fine. Go lay in my bed.”

“Yay!” She’s off like a rocket, tiny legs pumping as she runs there and struggles to climb onto my mattress like it’s Mount Everest. “Mommy, come! Mommy come!”

I get up and follow, pulling the covers back and tucking her in before sliding in beside her. We end up facing each other and her little hand pats my cheek like I’m the one who needs comfor

“Mommy. Do you like Emris?”

I blink.

“I-I-” Stuttering. To a five-year-old.

“Why would you ask me that?”

She stares at me like she’s done something wrong so I change the tenor of my voice.

“I don’t hate him.” That’s what comes out even when that’s not what she asked.

She yawns big. “Since he’s my daddy… why is he not here? With Milo?”

“Because he “I almost say married but he’s not anymore.

“Because me and him are not married.”

“Ok, so…”

“Amira.” I pull her against my chest. “It’s not talking time, okay? Please go to sleep.”

She yawns again but snuggles in. I pat her back slow, steady, feeling her breathing even out until her little body go limp against mine.

Next morning, I’m on the phone with someone from the Council of Bonds. Trying to figure out what’s taking so long with my submission.

Normally, they investigate both parties…especially the person reusing the rejection. They check that the bond is real, all that…but it’s been weeks of radio silence.

Granted, I know why though. Most packs are scared of the Black Covenant Pack. So the second they saw Emris Covenant’s name attached to my case, they probably stopped everything. Like, oh wait…this is Alpha Emris’s true mate!?

Yeah, we’re not touching that with a ten-foot pole.

And the fact that I’m his true mate is even more scary because people believe he doesn’t have one. They’re probably sitting in their office right now, staring al my file

sweating, asking each other if they really want to be the ones to tell Emris Covenant that he even has a true mate…to start with.

“Yes, am I speaking to-”

“Miss Demetra Pride. Yes, you’re speaking with Henry from the Council of Bonds. I’m the director assigned to your request.”

“Yes, I called to ask about the

prob

“Right. We were handling your case with extra care. The information you provided about being Alpha Emris Covenant’s true mate….that’s not

Cually just about to reach out to you.” There’s a pause, like he’s choosing his words carefully. “We’ve been…

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Chapter 67

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something we take lightly. He hasn’t had a mate for years, at least as far as anyone knew. And with him being married, we didn’t want to overstep. The last thing we need is a pack like the Black Covenant coming down on us for interfering in a bond we didn’t fully verify.”

I almost snort. My guess was exactly right. They were scared that what I was saying wasn’t true. Scared of getting on the Black Covenant Pack’s bad side. Scared of paperwork ending upon Emris’s desk with their names attached to it.

“But,” Henry continues, “you’re Alpha Ronin’s daughter. Your pack has standing and with the recent news of Alpha Emris’s divorce, well… that changes things. We can facilitate the process now.”

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