Theodore nodded. “Well, Emma, do you have any questions for me at the moment?”
Emma looked down towards her lap. She hadn’t realized she’d fidgeted with her fingers for the past few minutes.
However, Albondiel had observed her discomfort and just as she was about to respond he said, “Um, Theodore, would you mind giving Emma and me a moment, in private?”
“No, of course not.” He replied as he stood up and walked towards the office door. As he did, Albondiel came around his desk and followed close behind him.
“It’ll just be a few minutes.” Albondiel said. “Make yourself comfortable. There’s fresh coffee in the pot if you change your mind.”
“Thank you, Albondiel.”
As the two of them chatted behind her, Emma sat and looked out the large windows which framed the backdrop of her uncle’s office. It was another beautiful day in Troubled Fork. Yet in spite the warmth of the sun’s rays upon her cheek, she couldn’t help but feel a chill within her body. The truth was that she was nervous to do what it was they asked of her and she was far from convinced she would be able to pull it off.
Just then, she heard the door close behind her.
“Emma?” Albondiel said from across the room. “Is everything alright?”
She heard his footsteps come up from behind and in the next second, his hands were upon her shoulders.
Emma shrugged. “Yes, I guess so.”
Albondiel walked around in front of her and helped her to stand. “I promise you have nothing to be concerned about here.” he said. “This will all be over soon and you’ll be back in Troubled Fork and seeing Devon again before you even realize it.”
Shit.
Devon.
The last day had been such a blur; she’d forgotten about him. Even worse, she had no idea what she would say when they did talk. She couldn’t tell him the real reason she had to go to Silver Gulch. Even so, she had to tell him something but, what that was, she didn’t yet know.
“Uncle…” she said as she stood to face him. “I need to go. Is it alright if I leave?”
“Yes.” he replied. “That’s fine. But remember you leave tomorrow morning for Silver Gulch.”
“Right. What time again?”
“I seem to recall Theodore saying he wanted to be on the road not later than nine or so. In any case, I’ll give him your cell phone number. I’m sure he’ll be in touch later with the details.”
Albondiel placed his hands on Emma’s shoulders again and said, “Remember, all you have to do is what Theodore requires of you. Everything will be fine.”
Emma smiled and said, “I know.”
***
Emma grew up as a big girl in a pack full of lean shifter females. That had not been an easy thing to do.
The competition for mates was fierce and being chunkier than the rest of the girls around town didn’t make things any simpler. While she may not have been the thinnest chick in the Fork, Emma was pretty.
There was no question about that.
Yet, Emma always seemed to either pick the wrong type of guy or the guys who picked her are the kind better off ignored.
In essence, her dating history was a hot mess.
But not long ago, she’d met Devon Dalton and hoped her luck might change. The peculiar thing is that Emma wasn’t crazy about Devon right away. Even more strange was she didn’t understand why. This was the polar opposite of the way Emma behaved most of the time in a relationship. At a young age, she had already perfected her technique.
Step one. Meet hot, bad boy with a predictable tragic flaw.
Step two. Go crazy for said bad boy and shift into a doormat instead of a wolf.
Step three. Get dumped and try to heal emotional wounds with calories.
Step four. Repeat.
And that had been Emma’s pattern for as long as she cared to remember. But Devon had been such a good guy, she figured a trial period would at least be worth a shot.
It wasn’t that he wasn’t good looking enough, he was.
It wasn’t that he wasn’t nice enough to her, he was.
Hell, it wasn’t even that the sex wasn’t any good, it was.
Emma just wasn’t gaga.
But, she didn’t want to give up on the whole thing so she promised herself she’d stay patient with things as they unfolded. Emma imagined that perhaps she had become more mature and ready for an adult relationship. And, anything had to be better than what she’d been through so far. Since zero of her relationships had ever worked before, Emma knew her emotional walls had to be up. And try as she might, she couldn’t seem to let the barricades down for anyone.
Maybe Devon could be the one Emma would trust but she wasn’t in a rush to find out. Yet more and more, he’d sent up relationship smoke signals. When they first started to date, Devon called Emma once or twice a week. Now, that had climbed up to four, five and sometimes more. Or rather than phone ahead, he would drop by unannounced which she… hated.
Stuff like that.
Things had shifted around in the relationship and she wasn’t certain that was alright.
Not yet, anyway.
In any case, that was all about to change whether she liked it or not. Emma had arranged to meet up with Devon over dinner. She told him she needed to be up early for an out-of-town business trip and they had to meet prior to that. The time had come to cut things off for a while, no way around it.
Emma sat in the bar of the Angry Otter as he arrived.
“Hey babe, how are you?” Devon said as walked up to her.
Emma hated the word ‘babe’ but somehow when he said the word it seemed genuine, as if he meant it, so she let the term slide when Devon used it.
“I’m good.” Emma said as she smiled.
Devon was a big, thick man with caramel colored hair and chocolate brown eyes. He was handsome and rugged. There was nothing to complain about when it came to his looks, that much was certain.
Devon leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. “Whatcha drinkin’?”
“Oh, um, a glass of Merlot.” Emma replied as her finger caressed the stem of the glass.
“Any good?”
She passed the glass over to him. He swirled it for a moment and took a sip.
“Mm, not bad.”
Devon handed the glass back to Emma and nodded towards the bartender.
“Another Merlot when you get a second.” Devon said.
“No problem.” The bartender replied. He picked up a glass and the wine bottle and walked over to them. “Any interest in menus or are you not eating?”
Emma felt starved but she didn’t want to drag this out any longer than required.
“Just the wine, thanks.” She replied.
Devon nodded and said, “Yeah, wine’s fine for me as well.”
“Okay. If you change your mind, give me a shout.” The bartender said.
“Thanks.” Emma replied.
Devon scooted his stool up the bar.
“So, where are you headed for the trip?”
“Oh… Um, Silver Gulch.”
“Oh yeah? That’s pretty country out that way. What’s going on up there?”
Emma shrugged. “Oh nothing, just some family business.”
“Ah.” He said. “Thrilling.”
Unease washed over Emma. There was no time to waste. She had to get the conversation over with and move on past the small talk.
“Devon, I need to talk about something.” She blurted out.
He seemed surprised by the urgent tone. He took a sip of wine and said, “Well I have something to talk to you about as well. Now is as good a time as any, I suppose.”
“You do?” Emma asked.
“Yeah. Do you mind if I go first?”
“No, that’s fine. What is it?” Emma said as she turned her body towards his.
“I’m not sure how to say this to you.”
Oh boy, Emma had heard those words before in her life. They meant one thing most of the time,
a breakup. Under ordinary circumstances, that would have been, well, awful. But in light of the current situation Emma felt fortunate. At least she’d avoid the dirty work. She braced herself for the bad news and prepared to ‘keep it together’.
Emma reached her hand out and placed it on top of his. “Whatever you have to say, you can tell me. It’s okay.”
Devon took another swig of wine and set the glass down on the bar. Infused with a fresh dose of liquid courage he said, “Alright, well, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and the thing is…”
Emma placed both of her hands on top of his and looked into his eyes.
“Devon. It’s alright.”
He nodded and exhaled. “Okay, here goes… Emma, I want you to move in with me.”
Huh?
“Wait. What?” she said. “Devon, what are you talking about? Move in together? We haven't been dating all that long. What happened to ‘taking things slow’ and ‘keeping things causal’?”
“Well, I know what we talked about. It’s that, well, we’ve been getting along and things have been going so great that I figured what the hell? Right?”
Jeez.
The only way this could have been any worse is if he’d proposed on the spot. In a fog, Emma turned away from him, propped her elbows up on the bar and cradled her head in her hands.
“Emma?” Devon said.
She didn’t move.
“Well, that’s not the response I imagined.” he said.
Emma exhaled and lifted her head upwards. “I know. I’m sorry.”
“I don’t understand. I thought that you would be happy or something, but not this.”
“Ugh.” Emma said. “I’m sorry.”
“Did I say or do something to make you feel this way?” Devon asked.
“No. I mean kind of… oh hell, I don’t know right now.” Emma placed her head back in her hands and rubbed her eyes with bottoms of her palms.
“Well okay, so you don’t want to move in with me. Alright, so no big deal. Forget I even brought it up at all.”
Emma sighed. “I’m afraid forgetting is not that easy Devon.”
“What do you mean?”
She shook her head, unable look him in the eye. Emma stared straight ahead and came right out with what she’d come to say after all.
“Devon, we should take a break.”
He laughed for several seconds.
When she didn’t acknowledge his amusement he said, “Oh, okay. I get it. You’re teaching me a lesson for moving too quickly. Message received, zero distortion. I hear you Emma, loud and clear.”
Emma waited several seconds and replied, “No, I don’t think you do.”
“What? Well, what do you mean by a break? Like a break, break? As in stop seeing each other?”
“Yes. That is what I mean.”
“What? Why? Because of what I said?”
“No. It’s hard to explain. I may be getting too close, too soon.”
“I don’t understand, Emma.” Devon said. “Why is that a bad thing? Isn't that what being in a relationship is all about?”
“It’s not good or bad. It’s not something I’m not ready for now.”
“Wow.” he replied.
Emma winced. “Are you upset?”
“Upset? No, I guess I’m surprised.” He said. “I didn’t see anything like this coming. That much is obvious! Hell, I just asked you to move in with me and you want to take a break. I’d say I misread that situation.”
Emma felt horrible that she had to lie to Devon.
“Well, I mean, I guess if this is what you want.” he said.
“It is.” she said. “I am very sorry.”
“Um, okay Emma.” He replied. “Don’t worry about it.”
She turned toward him. Devon’s strength surprised her. Emma wasn’t sure how he might react but she hadn’t imagined this. Tears pooled in her eyes as she looked up at him.
Devon smiled as he stood up from his stool. He tossed twenty dollars on the bar and said, “Hey, come on now. Don’t do that.”
Emma got up out of her chair and wrapped her arms around him.
“I’m sorry, Devon.” she whispered. “I’m so sorry.”
He hugged Emma close for a moment and then separated himself from her. He reached down and wrapped his hands around her upper arms.
“Look Emma, I crossed the line tonight.” He said. “I realize that I have been crossing it for a while now. I am aware of that. It’s just that, well, I can’t help it. I didn’t mean to scare you away.”
Through tear filled eyes she looked at him and nodded. This had turned out to be far worse than she pictured. God, he was so good to her and this was so wrong.
“Look, if I am out of line, please tell me but would you mind if I contact you?” he said. “Like with text messages, e-mail and stuff?”
Emma shook her head. A lump the size of baseball stuck in her throat. Devon wiped a stray tear from her cheek when at last she spoke.
“No, that’s fine.” She said. “It’s not like the situation is permanent or something. It’s just for now.”
“I understand. I’m gonna hold you to that.” He said. “I’m going to head out. Care to walk with me?”
Emma agreed and got up to follow him out. As might be imagined, it was a long, awkward walk from the restaurant to the parking lot.
Devon escorted Emma to her car. Once they reached it, he leaned in and kissed her. He was an excellent kisser and Emma enjoyed doing it with him. For several moments, she lingered there, content to let him pull away when the time was right.
After a few more seconds, they separated.
“Well, I guess I’ll see you around, right?”
Emma nodded. “Yeah.”
As Devon walked away, he turned back to Emma, smiled and said, “Keep that phone handy.”
“I will.”
She stood by her car and watched him until he drove out of the parking lot.
Once gone from view, she got into her vehicle. Emma sat there for a few minutes, thought about what had happened and how much it sucked.
But, after a few minutes, she remembered that she had to be on the road first thing in the morning. And though the hands on the clock compelled her to act, she had no desire to do anything.
Not a single thing that is, except cry.
***
Emma and Theodore departed for Silver Gulch about half past nine the next morning. The drive and conversation were pleasant enough. It wasn’t a long journey from Troubled Fork to Silver Gulch - about four hours or so.
Almost before she’d realized, the vehicle turned down the street to Theodore’s home and straight up the long drive which lead to it. The house was an impressive place for certain.
“The home is lovely.” Emma said as the vehicle came to a stop.
“Why thank you, my dear.” Theodore said. “I have been most fortunate in life.”
But, Emma knew that wasn’t all together true.
A freak set of circumstances had resulted in the death of his mate years earlier. She’d died during childbirth due to an undiagnosed genetic condition. Emma didn’t have all the details but she remembered when Albondiel traveled to Silver Gulch for the burial services. Theodore had never taken another mate since that time. Instead he’d focused on the family business and the all important role of pack leader.
As she walked up the driveway to the home, Emma began to appreciate more and more the importance of all of this to Theodore. This was about all he had left in the world.
It seemed like a lonely life to Emma. And a sad one, too.
When he reached the front door, Theodore turned back and said, “Emma, my nephew will be here very soon. I need to warn you about something.”
“Warn me?” She said as her stomach dropped. “What do you mean?”
Theodore cleared his throat. “Alex is very… direct. What I mean to say is he isn’t thrilled with what I am proposing between the two of you.”
“The marriag
e, you mean?”
“Yes.”
“Oh.” Emma said. “But, I thought you said…”
“Yes.” Theodore interrupted. “He’ll do as he’s told. That won’t be an issue but in the beginning, it could be a bit rough. Alex has to believe that in time he will come to accept what’s happening. That includes the wedding between the two of you.”
Emma nodded. “Okay.”
Theodore opened the door, turned back towards her and said, “We’ll talk about this in my office. Please, after you.”
Emma walked through the front door. “See the second door down the hall on the right?” he said. “Go in there and have a seat and I’ll be right in to join you.”
“Okay.” she replied.
Emma’s shoes squeaked on the immaculate wood floor as she headed down the corridor and into the room. The first thing she noticed was that, unlike Albondiel’s office, there were no pictures of family or close friends on the walls or the desk. For that matter, there weren’t photos of anything. Theodore used the room for business purposes and nothing else. As Emma made her way inside, Theodore came in and closed the door.
“Have a seat wherever you like, Emma.”
The office was spacious. In addition to the armchairs in front of the desk, there was also a black leather sofa, a coffee table and two black leather chairs on the far side of the room.
“May I sit on the couch?” Emma asked.
“Of course.” Theodore said as he gestured towards them. “As I said, anywhere you please.”
“Thank you.” She replied.
As she took a seat on the sofa, he sat across from her in one of the chairs. Emma had never seen a male wolf sit like Theodore. He crossed his legs at the knee, like a woman might.
“Emma, Alex will be joining us soon.” He said. “I know this situation is difficult for anyone, let alone a beautiful young woman like you. If you need anything at all, don’t hesitate to contact me - day or night - the entire time you are here.”
“Thank you, Theodore. That’s very reassuring.” She said.
As she spoke, he stood up once more. It was strange. Theodore seemed to be on edge. She assumed Alexander’s imminent arrival was the reason for his disquiet. He paced around the room for several seconds without a word until at last, he leaned against his desk.
“For what it’s worth, I’ve instructed Alex that there be no physical contact between the two of you until the wedding night.” He said. “Although the night will never come to pass, I wanted to put your mind at ease. I would never expect you to do something against your will. I wanted to make certain we were clear about what’s expected.”
Alpha's Arrangement (Troubled Fork Shifters (Book 2)) Page 2