Where The Ice Gives Way (Charlotte and Blake) novel Chapter 193

Where The lee Gives Way

Chapter 193 Future Beta Female

Emily

I spend most of the drive looking at my boots. The black leather catches the light every time we pass beneath another gap in the trees, and the heels rest

against the floor mat like they were made for this exact morning. Fuck you boots. Theo’s words make me smile. As the truck rolls toward Munroe’s gates,

none of that fear from yesterday reaches me. It is still somewhere inside me, but today it does not control me. I glance down at the boots again. Powerful.

That’s how these boots back me feel. That’s how Theo has helped make me feel.

His hand rests on the seat beside mine, palm open, and I slide my fingers into his without looking away from the gates. He closes around me gently, and I

bite my lip to stop the giddy smirk from spreading too far.

The black bars part as we approach, and the patrol wolves stationed on either side straighten. One of them looks through the windshield, then does a

double–take when his eyes land on me. I remember his face from the training fields. I also remember he was never kind to me. Theo leans closer, voice low.

“That one looks like he swallowed a pinecone.”

A laugh threatens to escape me, but I keep my face still.

“You’re terrible,” I whisper, but he only smiles, full and wide.

We drive through Munroe and all their perfect houses toward the estate. Alpha Thomas is already waiting at the base of the steps with Beta Louis beside

him and two guards behind them. Blake parks behind Gareth’s vehicle, and then Theo turns to look at me. “You good, petal?”

I look at our joined hands, then through the windshield at Alpha Thomas.

“Let’s do this,” I whisper.

He squeezes my hand before he jumps out and rounds to my door and holds out his hand. My boots hit the gravel with a soft crunch, and Alpha Thomas starts toward us, his face arranged into something polite and hollow. His eyes brighten when they land on me, but there is nothing warm in them, only

greed.

“Ah, Emily,” he says. “I’m so glad you could join us today.”

I look Alpha Thomas directly in the eye, remembering everything I went through. Everything that he should have protected me from.

“You’ll address me by my title, thank you, Alpha Thomas.”

His polished smile thins. “Your title?”

Theo steps beside me, his shoulder brushing mine, proud and steady and just sharp enough around the edges. “Future Beta Female of Wellington Pack.*

I lift my chin as the drive goes silent and Alpha Thomas’s eyes narrow on Theo.

Alpha Thomas’s eyes narrow on Theo. “A second chance, mate,” he says slowly, his gaze dropping to our joined hands, then back to my face. “Have you

bonded yet?”

The old, submissive, lowly wolf I was once wants to answer. She wants to lower her eyes and her voice and submit, but this new Emily doesn’t bow to assholes. Sasha growls, and I lift my chin further.

“Our bond is none of your business.”

12:31 pm PTNM

Chapter 193 Foture Beta Female

is my business when it concerns my son.” His nostrils flare, which is the only sign that he’s trying hard not to spit in my face. Theo steps forward half an inch, but I squeeze his hand before he can speak. “Your son and I have no connection.” I say. “He made sure of that. So no, my bonding status has nothing

to do with you.”

The words hit the gravel between us and sit there. His polished smile is gone now, leaving only the angry man underneath. Thomas draws in one slow

breath through his nose, then turns his attention to Charlotte. “You must be eager to start with the rogues.”

“Actually, I will be giving my pack a tour of the lands.” I cut back in.

Thomas looks back at me. “That is unnecessary.”

“It is not a request.”

Thomas opens his mouth again, but Charlotte steps to my other side. She loops her arm through mine and smiles at me like we are about to wander through

a market instead of the pack that left me to die. “That sounds wonderful, Em,” she says. “Please. Lead the way.” Blake comes up behind her, eyes on Thomas

as if daring him to argue, and Gareth starts towards us with his warmest smile. “Lead on, Future Beta Female.”

My heart trips, and Theo’s thumb brushes across my knuckles. Then I turn away from Alpha Thomas and start walking with my pack around me. The sound

of boots on gravel follows me down the drive and down the main street. I’m hyper–aware of the curtains shifting and doors opening a little. People stop

beside fences and shopfronts, pretending they are not staring, and I couldn’t care less. Each strike of my boots against the sidewalk only makes me bolder.

Every step brings back a different memory, and every step then leaves it behind me. The leans close. “Still good?” I look at the houses ahead, their perfect

roofs dusted with snow.

“Still good.”

Charlotte’s arm squeezes mine as we walk past two older women standing outside the bakery. One lifts a hand to her mouth when she recognises me. The

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