Where The Ice Gives Way (Charlotte and Blake) novel Chapter 202

Chapter 202 Sweetheart

Emily

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The crowd watches Alpha Thomas; some stare at me, but most stare at Thomas because that is what they have always done. They look

where he tells them to look and think what he tells them to think. His hand remains wrapped around my throat, and Marcus remains

pressed against my side. And somehow this man is still standing here talking about ‘structure‘.

“Munroe Pack has always been built upon order,” Thomas continues. “Upon hierarchy, and understanding one’s place within the whole.

Without those things, we become weak and divided. We become no better than rogues.”

My stomach twists. If he could hear himself. If any of them could hear what they’re nodding along to.

“Today,” he says, lifting his voice slightly, “that order will be restored.”

I feel Marcus straighten beside me, and his fingers tighten against my coat, while hope flickers across his face. Actual hope. As if this is

going well.

“This misunderstanding ends here. My son will claim his rightful mate, and Munroe Pack will move forward stronger than before.”

The crowd murmurs, and I close my eyes briefly. Rightful mate. The words scrape against me as Marcus leans closer.

“See?” he whispers. “It’s going to be okay.”

The sound that escapes me is half laugh, half disbelief, and dies at the lack of air I can pull in. How can he possibly think that? How can

he look at everything that has happened and still convince himself that everything is going to be okay?

“Alpha Thomas.” A voice cuts through the silence, and my eyes snap open. Mum. She stands near the front with tears running down her

face, one hand gripping Dad’s arm so tightly her knuckles have gone white. Thomas sounds irritated by the interruption, and his hand

tightening on my neck only confirms it.

“What?”

“Please,” she says, shaking with desperation as she looks up at me. “Please let us speak to her.”

My chest drops because I know where this is going. She had said the same thing to Alpha Thomas the day I was rejected and exiled. She’s

going to ask me to do it. To accept it. To keep the peace. To stop fighting. They chose the pack before. Why would today be any different?

“And why would I do that?” Thomas spits.

“Because she’s our daughter,” Mum says, lowering her voice. “Please. We can convince her to cooperate.”

The words hit me harder than Thomas’s claws, and I watch as Dad takes a step forward beside her. “Please, Alpha.” He says, lowering his

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Chapter 202 Sweetheart

head in submission.

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The square is silent, and all I can hear is my heart thundering in my ears. That is, until Theo’s voice brushes through my mind. Trust

them, petal.

The relief of hearing him again hits so hard my knees weaken. I don’t trust them. I can’t… But I do trust Theo. So I lift one shaking hand

out to Mum, though she doesn’t move, and Thomas’s hand doesn’t release me. For a long moment, I stand there, hand outstretched to my

Mum while Marcus breathes heavily against my neck. Eventually, Thomas sighs. “Fine.” The word leaves him reluctantly. “Talk to her. I

want her compliant.” Then the pressure around my throat eases, and the moment his claws leave my skin, Dad moves towards me.

He steps between us so quickly that Marcus actually has to stop himself from falling over. The movement is so unexpected that I simply

stare. My entire life has been built around getting out of Marcus’s way. Now my father is standing directly in his. “Come here,

sweetheart.”

The words hit somewhere deep and broken inside me. I cannot remember the last time he called me that. His hand settles on my shoulder

and guides me down from the fountain. The second my boots touch the ground, Marcus loses it. Whatever fragile control he has been

holding onto shatters. “No.” The word rips out of him. “No. Bring her back.”

“Marcus.” Thomas turns to him, but Marcus isn’t listening anymore. His eyes flash yellow as Desmond pushes through, and his fingers

begin to shake. “Bring her back!”

The crowd begins to shift uneasily, and people back away as whispers spread through the square. Marcus takes another step forward, his

eyes never leaving mine, but Dad only pulls me further behind him.

“Emily,” Marcus growls, making my skin crawl.

“Marcus,” Thomas snaps, and in a blur, I catch sight of Marcus shifting, lunging for my father. I grip Dad’s jacket, cowering behind him,

waiting for the blow when a dark blur explodes across the square. One second, Marcus is charging toward us. The next, a massive dark

brown wolf slams into him hard enough to send both of them rolling across the stone. The impact cracks through the square, and gasps

erupt around us as Marcus roars, but the brown wolf roars louder.

They crash through a wooden bench, splintering it apart as people scramble backwards. Thomas spins toward the fight. “Marcus!” He says, sounding frightened now, for his son. The crowd breaks apart around the fighting wolves. Children are pulled back, and guards begin

moving, and then another voice cuts through the chaos.

“ALPHA THOMAS SIMMONS.” The sound rolls across the square like thunder, and everything slows as Thomas turns. Alpha Gareth walks

forward through the opening that has formed between the wolves. His expression is calm, almost bored. Which somehow makes him more

terrifying.

“You have abused your authority,” Gareth says.

Thomas’s face darkens.

“You have unlawfully imprisoned rogues under your care and allowed their conditions to deteriorate beyond reason.”

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Chapter 202 Sweetheart

The murmuring in the crowd starts immediately.

“You have endangered your people.”

More whispers. More uneasy looks.

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