Chapter 3
(Em’s POV)
He was everything I could ever have hoped for in a mate. Strong, powerful, intelligent and beyond all that he had shown me a level of affection I hadn’t experienced for many years. To watch him walk away broke my heart yet I had not been left empty-handed. A friendship was far more than I had hoped for and I was pleased with his agreement to such. If it must remain a secret for him to be comfortable then so be it, it would be the most precious one I would every carry within me.
It awakened a newfound sense of hop, that perhaps there was a way for both of us to be appeased. Clearly his family meant a lot to him and that was an admirable trait. If he was happy with the life he had created then I certainly wasn’t going to be the one to interfere. Knowing he was content and alright was enough to ease my own mind. Neither of us could afford to be so selfish as to break up our families solely for our own happiness.
It dawned on me while lost in those thoughts just how much older he was than I. He had to be in his mid forties to fifties and I still had a good number of years in my twenties. Truth be told that fact in itself was enough to make me wonder if it ever would have worked anyway. I had difficulty relating to my husband who was only seven years my senior, never mind a much larger gap. The what-ifs had to be put to rest, nothing was to come of them anyway.
Walking back toward my parents house I allowed my mind to relish in the day’s events. I felt my desire to push on slowly creeping back. Relief, that was the only thing I was feeling. Ready to take on the world again, one day at a time. For now I just wanted to get home and have a nice, quiet, uneventful evening.
The night was coming on fast and by the time I reached the house my eyes felt heavy. My parents sat on the back porch whispering quietly to each other. It never ceased to amaze me how after all these years they were still as much in love with each other as I can ever remember them being. Nearing them they scrambled away from each other like a couple of caught teenagers. Right then my father stood up and approached me uncertainly.
“Emily, what happened during the meeting? Why did you leave so abruptly?” Anger surged inside me, as if he really hadn’t a clue.
“You know damn well why I left!” I seethed in his face, every inch of me wanting him to understand just how grave a mistake he had made. “Did you not see the way he looked at me? Did you not hear him growl the moment Pierce put his arm around me?! If you try to tell me you have no idea what happened in there then you are a bigger fool than I originally thought!” My mother quickly put herself between us, forcing my father to move away from me. One thing she always knew was when to push me and when to back off. My father, being the Alpha, could never manage to back down without her interference regardless of the fact that I was his child.
“So its true then, Alpha Smith is your mate…” He stared at me, as perplexed by the situation as I was. My mother simply looked saddened by the words we’d spoken.
“Yes, he is, but you’ve no need to worry, he’s already got a family and will not leave them on my behalf. We’ve just spoken and agreed we can never be together.” The tears began anew and I made no attempt to stop them. My mother tried to embrace me but I shrugged her off. “Don’t worry, your precious Pierce is still stuck with me. And you’d be wise not to mention any of this to anyone in either pack.”
Without waiting for a response I made my way around the side of the house and across the street to my own. Wiping my eyes before entering I prepped for the third degree my spouse would surely unleash on me. As far as he was to know what he witnessed was a figment of his imagination. The last thing I needed was for him to find out the truth. I had no idea how he’d react and I didn’t really want to risk finding out.
