Chapter 29

Liam

Maverick and Callum glare at me from across the waiting room, making me painfully aware, that I am no longer welcome here, but I don’t care. I’m not here for them. I don’t even know if she will be willing to see me, but I know that I must try. I have to make her understand, to see, that it wasn’t all a lie.

My father is angry, but I am used to that. I have been dealing with his antics my entire life. A shudder makes it’s way down my spine, reminding me that I still fear him despite myself. Anger rears its head as I clench the arm rests between my fingers. His selfishness has likely cost me the woman of my dreams, and I can’t help but to resent him even more for that.

My mother sits beside me and gently lays her hand on my leg, seeing the storm raging from within. “Liam, you did what was right. That’s all that matters. If she loves you she will forgive you.”

I nod my head at her, “And if she doesn’t?”

“Then we will figure this out like a family,” she states with determination. “And you will find love.”

But I already had. I loved Emersyn, despite myself. That wasn’t a lie, it was the cold hard truth. I came into this expecting to play my part, but instead I found myself to quite literally fall in love with the strong willed, fiercely independent, and free spirited wolf. She was everything that I wanted to be, yet never had the courage to become. She made me better, stronger, and I didn’t want to imagine a life that she was not a part of.

But I had failed her. I had made her a promise to never hurt her, and I hadn’t kept that promise. She was angry and hurt, and she had every right to be. But I had never believed in love until her, and as I sit in the waiting room, knowing that I have broken her heart, I feel it. The undeniable pang of regret.

She is right. I chose to listen to my father and now it was going to cost me.

The door creaks open and we all stand, waiting for any news. Her mother’s eyes fall upon me as she says with a warning tone, “She would like to see you.”

I hesitate for a moment, not certain she is speaking to me. “She does?”

“Yes,” she states as she nervously tucks a hair behind her ear, something Emersyn must have picked up from her long ago.

I look to my mother for reassurance. She smiles at me before whispering, “Tell her how you feel, son. That is all you can do.”

I nod my head walking towards the door slowly, worry weighing heavily on my shoulders. When I open the door I see her blue eyes flutter open, determination on her face. I smile at her, before I sit down on the chair bedside the bed, sighing.

She hesitates for a moment before speaking, “They said you wouldn’t leave until you talked to me. I am listening.”

I lean forward, attempting to grasp her hand, but she pulls it away. I deserved that, I think to myself. “Emersyn, I know that I didn’t tell you the whole truth, but I never lied to you about how I was feeling. I meant every word I said. I didn’t just fall in love with you, I chose to take every step along the way. I chose to open my eyes and realize that there was a beautiful creature before me, that deserved to be loved like no other. I never thought I believed in fated mates, until you. You opened my eyes to a world that I didn’t even know I wanted. You made me believe in more, and even if you choose to break my heart today, I will always be thankful for what you have given me.”

Emersyn’s eyes well with tears as she turns away from me, hurt marring her features as she whispers, “I love him, Liam.”

My heart shatters as I shake my head, “I understand.”

I start to stand fighting the urge to allow the dam of emotions that I am feeling free. “I understand.”

“Wait,” she whispers as her hand grasps mine. “I’m not finished.”

“I love him, and I think I always will, but you gave me something I didn’t know existed. You showed me a world that I didn’t realize existed either. You made me realize that though we are wolves, we are human too. We all make mistakes, but in the end it comes down to who shows up again and again. It comes to down to who stays, even when its hard. Who tells the truth, knowing that it will hurt. Liam, I do love him, but I am in love with you. Because despite everything, you showed me what it means to be loved.”

“I don’t want to break your heart,” she whispers. “I want you to mend mine.”

My eyes fall upon hers, as I allow her words to sink in. “You are choosing me?”

“No, I am choosing me. I am choosing to be loved for every moment of every day without reason, but I do have a condition.”

“Anything,” I state without hesitation.

“I won’t marry you now,” she says weighing my response before she continues, “I’m not ready to leave my family just yet, and I need to close some doors that are still open.”

I smile at her, understanding what she needs to do, “You take as long as you need.”

“What about the dowry?” she asks with her eyes cast downwards.

I gently cup her chin in my hand as I whisper, “It was never about the money for me. I’ll figure it out, but I have already decided to refuse it.”

“But your pack?” She asks with a worried frown upon her face.

“Our pack,” I correct her smiling. “Our pack will survive because they will have me fighting for them the whole way. My father will step down, and when you are ready we will ascend, but only then.”

She smiles at me as she tilts her head into my hand, “Are you certain?”

I had never been more sure of anything in my life. “Yes,” I say as I lean down bridging the gap between us as I linger above her lips. “I want to kiss you, but I don’t want to hurt you.”

She smiles as she uses her uninjured arm and pulls me close, “Kiss me, dammit.”

And this time, I do. Without reservations, or concern, that I am hurting the very woman that I love, because in this moment I realize that despite the obstacles life has thrown at me, I am not alone. And neither is she. We may not be perfection, but we are as close to it as I ever want to be, and this is a wonderful beginning of a beautiful relationship.

I hesitate to ask, but push myself to do the uncomfortable. “And Callum?”

Dread dances in the depths of her eyes as she answers, “Can you tell him that I need to talk to him?”

“I can do that,” I say as I allow my lips to grace hers once more before turning to leave. “Hey Emersyn?”

“Yeah?” she asks.

“I love you, too.”

She smiles as she leans her head back against the pillow, and I know beyond any doubt that I will spend the rest of my life proving that to her.