Where The Ice Gives Way (Charlotte and Blake) novel Chapter 212

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Where The Lee Gives Way

Chapter 212 Where She Wants to Be

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Emily goes deathly still beside me.

Her fingers rest against the old blue mug, but she is no longer really looking at it, Her eyes are fixed somewhere between her parents, and her breathin

grown shallow, making Yelen start pacing.

The bond pulls tight.

It is not one clean feeling. It is a mess of hurt, anger, grief, and something softer that hurts worse because it is still love. She loves them. After everyth

after all the years of believing they threw her away, a part of her still loves them.

That is what is tearing through her now.

Lizzie wipes beneath her eye with trembling fingers. Steven sits across from us with his hands curled into fists on the table. While Emily’s fingers only

tighten around the mug.

My hand is on her thigh beneath the table, and I feel the tremor that moves through her before anyone else sees it.

Yelen presses against me. It’s too much.

Every protective part of me wants to stand, pull her chair back, and carry her out of this house. She does not have to sit here and bleed quietly over roas

lamb. She does not have to make space for her parents’ pain while hers is still lying open between them.

I push my voice gently through the bond.

We can leave, Petal. Right now. You don’t have to sit through this if it’s too much.

Her lashes lower, and then her hand moves beneath the table and covers mine.

No, she links back, her voice is shaky in my mind. I think I need to do this. I need to be here.

When she looks up at her parents again, her eyes are wet, but her voice comes out clear and steady.

“I’m glad I know the truth,” she says quietly. “I think I needed it. I’m not going to punish you for it. I don’t want to do that. But I can’t pretend it doesn’t

hurt.”

Steven nods, as if he expected nothing else, and knows better than to ask for more; meanwhile, Lizzie holds her hands over her mouth to stop a sob from

escaping.

Steven lowers his head. “We’ll give you time,” he says, his voice rough. “As much as you need.”

Lizzie wipes her cheeks quickly, though more tears fall straight after. “We will be grateful for anything you are willing to give us, sweetheart, Anything

all.”

Emily’s south trembles at the word, and I feel it through the bond. The way it hurts her. The way she wants it too,

After a moment of silence, Lizzie drags in a breath and looks at the dishes as if remembering there is dinner in front of its

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Chapter 212 Where She Wants to Be

Eat before everything gets cold,” she says, voice watery.

I reach for the potatoes immediately. “I did promise I could help with dinner for twelve.”

Emily’s shoulder brushes mine on a tough, and Lizzie gives me a small, grateful smile and starts serving She piles food onto my plate, then onto En

then adds more to mine.

Steven passes me the gravy. “You have a big appetite?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good.”

I pour gravy over half my plate. “Also, if I leave any, Charlotte will somehow find out and lecture me about wasting food.”

Emily lets out a tiny breath of amusement.

“Charlotte is your Alpha’s mate?” Steven asks.

“My future Alpha’s mate,” I say. “And yes. She is also terrifying with leftovers.”

Emily looks down at her plate, smiling and nodding in agreement.

For a few minutes, dinner becomes dinner: strange, careful dinner, but dinner all the same. Lizzie asks about Wellington, and Emily tells her about the rehabilitation centre. She talks about her friend Sandy, the restored wolves, Dr Hale, and the work they are trying to do. Steven listens without interrup

his fork forgotten halfway to his mouth.

“You sound happy there,” he says.

Emily looks at me, and the bond warms impossibly.

“I am,” she says.

The simple answer fills me with pride.

Steven nods slowly. “Good. I’m glad.”

Lizzie reaches for her glass, then sets it down without drinking. “Now that Phomas is no longer in charge, and with everything Changing here…” She glanc at Steven, then back at Emily. “Would you ever want to bring your things back? Or stay here sometimes? We don’t mean tonight. We just wondered if you might want your room again. I mean, it’s always there, if you want it…”

My body goes cold in one breath. I hadn’t thought of that. Not once. This is her house. Her room is upstairs. Her mug is on the table. Her name is carved

above the bloody hook by the door. If she wants to come back here, what do I do?

I can’t leave Wellington. Blake is my future Alpha. I’ve been raised and trained to stand beside him. My place, my work, my future, my life, all of it is the

But Emily is my mate.

If she wants this house, this pack, these parents, I will find a way to split myself in half.

My grip must change, because Emily turns her hand beneath mine and squeezes.

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Chapter 212 Where She Wants to Be

Took at her, and she gives me the smallest smile, then turns back to her parents.

“My place is at Wellington now,” she says simply.

My heart stops trying to climb out of my throat.

Emily’s voice grows steadier. “That is where my mate is. That is where I want to be. But I’d like to visit, if that’s okay.”

Lizzie’s face crumples, though she nods quickly. “Of course. Of course it is.”

Then I watch as Steven swallows hard. “Always.” He chokes out.

I have to stare very seriously at my plate for a second because I am dangerously close to grinning like an idiot. Yelen is no help. He is practically rol

around inside me like she just handed him the moon.

She chose us, he says proudly.

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