Where The Ice Gives Way (Charlotte and Blake) novel Chapter 209

Chapter 209 What a Woman Teaches a Man
Theo
Emily stares down into her coffee as she contemplates Blake’s words.
I watch the tension case from her shoulders, slow enough that I might have missed it if I had not spent so much time learning every
small thing she does. Her grip loosens around the cup. Her jaw unclenches. She draws in one deep breath and lets it out.
Blake’s promise is so much different to mine.
I would tear Marcus apart before I let him touch her again, but Blake is the future Alpha of Wellington. When he says she will be
protected, he speaks for the pack. Marcus will never get close enough for me to keep that other promise.
Emily nods once. “Okay.”
One quiet word, but I feel it through the bond.
She believes him.
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Charlotte sets the pizza box aside and reaches for Emily’s hand. “You don’t have to hear anything else about him either. We can keep you
updated on the tribunal if you want, but you can also decide you’re done.”
“I’m done,” Emily says.
Her answer comes quickly this time.
She lifts her eyes, and there is no uncertainty in them. “I don’t want updates. I don’t want to know how he is, what he says, or whether
he gets better. I hope he does, because nobody should live the way he was living, but I don’t want to be part of it.”
“Then you won’t be,” Charlotte says.
Emily nods again and takes a bite of pizza.
That is it.
No dramatic goodbye. No speech for Marcus to hold onto. She puts him down like something she has carried far enough, then reaches for
another slice.
Pride swells through me so fast I nearly choke on my food.
Blake catches my expression from across the table. His mouth twitches, and I point my pizza at him in warning.
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Chapter 209 What a Woman Teaches a Man
He looks away before I have to kick him again.
Charlotte continues picking pineapple from her slice, dropping every piece into the corner of the box with growing offence.
“You know you could have chosen a different slice,” Blake tells her.
“I shouldn’t have to. Seriously, who puts pineapple on a pizza?”
“Pineapple belongs on a pizza,” Emily counters.
I laugh as I watch the girls argue over whether fruit belongs on pizza. If I’m being honest, it doesn’t, but if Emily says it does, then it
does.
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I move onto the edge of the bed to be closer to her. She leans into me without looking, her shoulder pressing against my arm as she eats.
She does not stop to think about whether she is allowed to touch me. That in itself is the biggest win for me today. My mate wants to be
close to me.
I finish my slice and reach for another, but Charlotte’s hand lands over the box.
“That one is mine.”
“There are six slices.”
“That one has the best cheese distribution.”
I look at Blake. “Take your mate home.”
“I’ve been trying.”
“I’m sitting right here,” Charlotte says.
Blake rises and takes the coffee from her hand before she can drink any more. She makes a noise of protest and reaches for it, but he
holds it above his head. “Sorry, pretty girl, but you’re cut off for the night.”
Charlotte turns to Emily. “Do you see how he treats me?”
Emily nods solemnly. “Terribly.”
“Thank you.”
Blake rolls his eyes, but there is a smile pulling at his mouth. He lowers his hand and offers Charlotte the cup again. She reaches for it, and he catches her wrist instead, tugging her gently from the bed.
Come on. You need sleep.”
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Chapter 209 What a Woman Teaches a Man
“I need to finish my pizza.”
“Technically, it’s our pizza,” I interject, but throw my hands up when Charlotte growls at me.
“And my coffee.”
“I’ll carry all of that.”
“And me.”
Blake’s eyebrows rise.
Charlotte stares back at him, completely serious.
He hands me the pizza box, bends, and lifts her into his arms. Charlotte gives a pleased little hum and wraps both arms around his neck
like this was always the obvious solution.
Her head drops onto his shoulder before he even reaches the door.
Blake looks down at her, and the teasing leaves his face. He shifts her higher against his chest and glances back at us.
“We’ll come by before you leave for dinner tomorrow.”
Emily’s hand tightens slightly against my leg, and I squeeze it before I go to help Blake.
I follow him to the door and hand him the pizza box, coffee tray, and Charlotte’s abandoned shoes. He has her in one arm, everything else
balanced against his chest.
“Need help?” I ask.
“Nah.”
Charlotte lifts her head. “He’s an Alpha. They don’t ask for directions or accept help.”
Blake looks down at her, trying to be serious but only appearing unbelievably soft. “Go to sleep.”
Her eyes close again, and I shut the door behind them and slide the lock into place.
The cabin goes quiet, then only the sound of Mate Island continues playing on the television.
I turn around to my own mate, still sitting in bed with her knees beneath the blanket and her coffee held between both hands. My shirt hangs loose around her shoulders. Her damp hair has begun drying in soft waves, and her lips are still a little swollen from the ute.
Emily catches me staring and lifts one eyebrow. “What?”
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Chapter 209 What a Woman Teaches a Man
“Nothing.”
*Theo.”
((
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I cross the room and take the mug from her hands, setting it on the bedside table before it can go cold in her lap. “I was just thinking.”
“That sounds dangerous.”
“It usually is.”
She smiles, and I pull the blankets back before climbing in beside her. I don’t need to ask where I belong anymore. Emily gravitates
toward me as naturally as breathing, tucking herself against my side and resting her head beneath my chin. My arm closes around her
waist, and her fingers find mine beneath the blanket.
I always thought strength was loud. I thought it was standing your ground in a fight and taking a hit without falling. Gareth and Dad
taught me how to fight like a Beta for our pack, and Yelen taught me how to protect what belongs to us.
Emily is teaching me something different.
What I’m learning now is that a man does not become weaker when he softens for the woman he loves. He learns when to lower his voice.
When to open his hands rather than close his fists. When to sit still and let her decide how close she wants to be.
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He can tear the world apart for her and still brush the hair from her face without waking her. He can be ready to kill one moment and
hold her hand the next.
That is what Blake looks like when he holds Charlotte. That is what Gareth becomes when Mara touches his arm.
And now, with Emily curled against me and her fingers loosely wrapped around mine, I understand it.
The world can have every hard part of me.
She gets the rest.
Comments
Sherry Fulayter
how sweet…
7 days ago
✩ 7

63
4/4
14:32 Mon, Jul 20