Chapter 32: Little Warrior

Chapter 32

It's officially been a week since our wedding and five days since I've last spoken to Thane. After he told me to leave and go to his parents' house, I haven't seen him.

I told his mother that I never wanted to see him again and I stood by my word. Every morning he would sneak into the house and leave flowers for me. On the third day here, I woke up to puke my guts out and by the time I went back to bed, he came into the room.

He thought I was asleep but I was very much awake as he laid the flowers beside me, gave me a gentle kiss on the forehead and left.

That day was the worst.

The only day I puked was the day Thane killed Ian. But two days ago, it came back with a vengeance. The last two mornings were the worst as I constantly had to rush to the bathroom.

To make things worst, the dreams persisted. Every time I closed my eyes and slipped into sleep, it was always the same, Thane dies. The scenery would change or I would be rendered powerless in some other way, but it always remained the same, Jake would shoot Thane and I would watch him die.

Each day went by with Anne, Jane and even sometimes Teddy and Thomas keeping me company. Caroline and Bailey would pop by sometimes but since Bailey was pregnant she couldn't shift to get  here and Caroline was busy training. According to everyone, Thane increased their training more than he did when there were increased threats of rogue attacks.

I haven't left the house in the five days that I've been here but everyone assured me that the pack was alright and believed I was innocent in this whole mess. Maybe my character did persist and everyone knew who I really was, yet Thane couldn't even listen to me. But in good news Jane was alright, she hadn't left that day Ian came into the pack and she decided to stay here until everything blows over.

However, no matter who came by during the day to distract me, the nights were always the worst with the nightmares.

Every time I fell asleep I would be woken up in a scream by Anne. She looked as if my dreams and bad health were affecting her as well and I knew she was worried. She's been trying to nurse me back to health but I think the only medication I needed was a dose of Thane.

Though every night when I get up due to my recurring nightmare, I could hear a loud howling sound coming from beyond the forest in the backyard and I knew within me that it was Thane. I could feel his anxiousness through our mate bond but he never once came to check up on me which I felt bittersweet about since I needed him yet he still haven't apologized or reached out to me.

But I guess I still haven't told him the truth. Although, it wasn't like he was around to hear me out.

On that faithful fifth day however, the rain stopped falling and the sun was out but there weren't any flowers left for me. I was disappointed but I guess I had to get used to the disappointment when it came to Thane.

My sickness was also at its worst that day. I was currently cradling the toilet bowl as I spilled my guts out. I don't even know how I could be this sick when I haven't even been eating that much.

Anne was holding my hair back for me as I vomited for the second time that morning. She's really been taking care of me as if I was her own child.

When my stomach settled for a few minutes she said, "I'll be right back dear."

All I could do was nod my head as I wiped the sweat off my forehead.

Through the open bathroom door, I could hear little Thomas and Teddy  questioning their mom about my health.

"Is she going to be alright?" Teddy asked.

"Is she dying?" Thomas followed up.

I heard Anne laughed as she answered the boys, "Emery's just a bit sick right now, but she'll be better in no time."

"How do you know for sure mom?" Thomas queried with worry laced in his voice.

"Because I'm your mom, I just know things." She explained.

"But why is she sick mom?" Teddy innocently asked.

"Because she's just missing your brother." There may be some truth to that.

"Then why doesn't Thane make her get better?" Thomas sounded angry.

There was a moment of silence as Anne contemplated what he said.

"Thane's been a meanie to Emery and he haven't apologized to her yet, that's why he isn't here to make her feel better. But I'm sure he'll make her feel better soon."

Hopefully not because he'll just ruin my already sour mood.

"Did he also make her cry?" Teddy quietly asked.

"I'm afraid he did." Anne mumbled regretfully.

She must have heard me during the night because I tried to keep myself together whenever I was around someone.

"I'm going to kick his butt!" Thomas suddenly yelled as I heard him ran off.

"I'm kicking his butt first Thomy!" Teddy voice followed as I assume he ran behind his brother.

My protectors.

I heard Anne leave the room as well as I just sat on the bathroom floor, praying I don't puke again.

My prayers were thankfully answered as I sat there for a good ten minutes without wanting to hurl. Anne had brought me up some crackers to munch on while I waited but when I didn't get back sick, I told her I was okay alone since she said something about running errands.

I cleaned myself up and realized that I was running low on clothing. And by running low, I meant I only had a pair of sweatpants and one of Thane's shirt left.

After a bathe, I pulled on my clothing before going back to a secret treasure I found.

It was Thane's very old ipod. I found it on my second day here when I was exploring his room. His taste in music was particularly indie. But when I listened to his private music collection, I felt like I was close to him again. The Thane I love and miss. Just listening to his favorite tunes brought a sense of tranquility to me.

Pressing play and sticking earphones on, I went down to the laundry room so that I would have clean clothing.

To be frank, I didn't expect to be here this long.

I softly bobbed my head to a song while I offloaded my clothing into the machine before pouring some liquid detergent. I pressed start and turned towards the door but I dropped the wash basket in fright.

Thane was standing in the doorway with a solemn expression and his chocolate brown eyes were focused intently on me.

Looks like he finally decided to make an appearance.

He just stood there, with flowers in his hands while staring at me as I glanced back at him in bewilderment. He looked different now, the bags under his eyes were prominent and he appeared to have lost a few pounds which was probably exactly how I appeared and felt.

His feet shuffled towards me and I quickly picked up my basket and side stepped him and walked out of the the laundry room. I left the earphones on as I ignored his presence following me to his room.

"Emery?" He called for my attention but I was having none of it as I marched upstairs, "Can we talk?"

I rolled my eyes at that, now he wanted to talk. If he wanted salvation, he wasn't getting it from me anytime soon.

As soon as I spotted his room door, I made a dash for it and tried to close the door but he grabbed the edge of the door and pried it open with his hands.

I backed away as he slowly approached me.

"Just give me a chance...please?" He pleaded with me.

I gave him an incredulous look and removed the headphones, "Give you a chance? Like you gave me one?"

His eyes look tormented, "Please? I know I messed up but I...I-I can't live without you anymore."

I felt all his emotions consuming me and chipping away at my heart which was already fragile and glued together.

"Well you should have thought about that before you kicked me out of our home!" I exploded.

"I didn't mean-"

"Yes you did! You have been nothing but selfish in all of this! You didn't listen to me, you didn't consider what I wanted!" I shoved at his shoulders and he let me. "You broke my heart Thane and I don't think I can forgive you for that!"

He grabbed me wrist and held both my hands to his chest where I could feel his heart beating erratically, "I know I messed up okay!"

I pried my hands away from his grip and sat down on the bed as I looked out the large window at the sunny sky which I've missed almost as much as Thane.

Instead of addressing our dilemma, he looked at his ipod in my hands, "I see you found my old playlist."

"It was the only way I felt close to you..." I admitted.

"And you're wearing my clothes, I did notice I was missing a few t-shirts." I could tell he was trying to lighten up the mood but our unresolved issues still loomed over us.

"They're comfortable." I shrugged in indifference.

I heard him sigh as he switched tactics, "My mom said you're sick. She's been keeping me updated on your health but she said this morning you were exceptionally ill."

"So you're only here because your mom sent for you?" I scoffed. "We're married Thane, we aren't children anymore for you to depend on your mother."

"I know." He dejectedly muttered. "I was coming to make amends today anyways. It wasn't just because my mother said you were sick."

When I remained silent, he went on.

"She didn't exactly went into details on how you were sick but I suspect my mom knows more than she's leading on. How are you feeling sweetheart?"

"How am I feeling?" I repeated the question with distaste. "Let's see, my husband wouldn't listen to anything I have to say, he told me to leave our home, he's been sending me mixed signals with all these flowers and no words and he didn't speak to me for the last five days. So let's just say it hasn't exactly been my finest moment."

"You have the world's biggest asshole for a husband." He mumbled.

"He wasn't that bad up until he killed my friend." I dared to say.

Silence engulfed us as tension plagued the air.

"I shouldn't have done what I did..." I was a bit taken aback by his change of direction but I listened to him nonetheless, though I didn't dare look up at him, "and I know I messed up. Hell I fucked up majorly and I treated you like you weren't important to me. But you're the most important thing in my life Emery and I was afraid."

He dropped to his knees right before me and gently took my shaking hands into his own, "When I found out that a human came into the pack, I was scared because it was your ex boyfriend. Someone you had a connection with. I don't know how close you two were but jealousy tore at my heart. The thought of a war between our races didn't even scare as much as the though of losing you..." His voice broke before he continued, "I was afraid that they would take you away from me. But I did that on my own. I let you go when I should have held you closer. I was so angry at myself for letting a human slip through the cracks and find us. I just wanted someone else to blame because this is the first time a human ever got into our pack. So I blamed you instead of listening."

I tensed up at what he said but he rubbed his thumbs on the inside of my wrists, "I should have listened to you from the start and known that you weren't going to kill any wolves."

I scoffed, "So then why didn't you? You made everyone believe that I was the bad guy."

"It wasn't my intentions. I was just so angry. I didn't want to believe that what the human said was right. But as the Alpha I had to do what everyone expected of me. They all knew what happened and I couldn't just sit back and let him live after what he and his friend was planning."

"So it's going to be like that from now on? You're going to kill innocent people because of my wrong doings? I admit I should have told you before but you didn't exactly listen to me that day anyways. Are you just going to forget about what I have to say?" I asked in frustration.

"No!" He growled sharply. "I didn't mean to kill him in front of you. You have to believe me. I thought Beau and Lucas had already pulled you away from there. My wolf's anger consumed me to the point that I couldn't even think. My judgement was clouded and I should have kept him alive a little longer but the pack would have teared him apart had they known I left him alive."

"But that's exactly what you did! You tore his body to sheds right in front of my eyes," I spat out in rage. "I saw my friend's life drain from his eyes all because you couldn't control your anger."

"He wasn't your friend Emery! Couldn't you see that with the way he looking at all of us, as if he wanted to kill every last wolf that existed! He wanted to kill me, my family, everyone in this pack."

I yanked my hands away from him and stood up, "They're my family too! And don't you think I know that? I don't want anyone to die Thane, especially not our family. The family that's been taking care of me since you hate me so much that you threw me with them."

"I didn't tell you to leave because I hate you. You know that I don't hate you!" He growled lowly and I could feel the anger radiating off of him.

"And I wasn't going to sacrifice a wolf. You should have known that." I retorted as he raised to his full height.

He ignored what I said and whispered, "I told you to leave because you didn't want me anymore."

"If you actually believed that then why are you here?!" I asked.

"Because I love you!" He threw his hands up in frustration, "Don't you see how much I'm in love with you? We're married for fucks sake. But when you gave me your ring that night..." He clutched at his hair in frustration, "I thought that was it, that you didn't want me anymore. You said you couldn't do it anymore and I-I didn't know what to do. You broke my heart sweetheart and you have no idea how much it pains me to know that you resent me and that we haven't spoken in five days. I know I've hurt you and I haven't done a single thing to help but I thought you needed space away from me..." I could feel the agony that he felt but I couldn't give in so easily.

"I should've listened and I should've apologized sooner but most importantly I should've known you didn't do it. But what I should have done and what I did are the completely opposite things and I don't expect you to forgive me."

I couldn't take it anymore. I couldn't look at the completely broken expression on his face. I turned away from him and hoped that he walked away before I broke down.

"I'm sorry everything went wrong between us love." It was the first time he called me 'love' since that day with Ian and the word tugged at my heart, "I'm sorry about everything I did. But I'm begging you love, please forgive me...please, please."

I turned my gaze back to him to see him on his knees before me, head bowed and hands clasped as if he were praying while he chanted, "I'm sorry."

I remained silent for a moment as my heart broke to see his fragile state.

"Are you not going to talk to me again?" He hesitantly asked in a gentle voice as if he knew I was close to breaking.

And I did break.

My voice croaked as I spoke, "You can't just say you're sorry and expect everything to return to how it was."

I turned to rush into the bathroom but Thane grabbed my arms and pulled my back flush against his chest.

"I'm sorry Emery. I'm sorry with every fiber in my body and I don't want this to break us. I'm truly and deeply sorry and you have no idea how much I regret not believing you. Take as much time as you need but I will apologize to you every single day for the rest of my life because the only thing I seemed to be good at when I'm with you is messing up. But don't leave me love, please." He begged.

I turned around and he stood before me with glistening eyes.

It broke me to see him like this but he did the exact thing to me.

"I was only trying to protect the pack. I was trying to protect you." I stated.

He nodded, "I should have known. My little warrior."

I felt like crumbling but before I could fall apart before him, I stepped away and walked straight into the bathroom.

Behind the safety of the door, I broke down. I knew Thane could hear me but at least he couldn't see me.

I felt bile rising to my throat and quickly rushed and bent over the toilet. As soon as my stomach started to empty, I felt my hair being brushed back and a soothing hand rubbing my back.

When everything came out, I flushed the toilet and picked myself up off the ground and walked towards the sink but Thane continued to stand there watching me with an unreadable expression.

I rinsed my mouth and when I was finished, Thane blocked me from walking out the door.

"My mother didn't say that you've been vomiting. How long have you been throwing up for?" He asked with a startled expression.

I hesitated before I answered, "At first it was just the day you killed Ian but two days ago it came back."

"It's been five days since we..." He trailed off and it was if he was calculating something in his mind.

"Since we what?" I asked in confusion.

"We have to get to doctor Adler." Was his only words before he grabbed my hand and pulled me behind him, "Have you been eating properly?"

"If an apple a day keeps the doctor away, then yes, my appetite's been perfect." I rolled my eyes.

He spun around and gave me a horrified expression, "Why haven't you been eating?"

"Besides not being able to keep anything down...I- I've just not felt like eating." I stumbled over my words. "What about you? By the looks of it, you haven't been eating either." Even though we were at odds, I was worried about him.

He just shrugged. "I couldn't eat knowing that you were angry at me. That and I knew you weren't eating properly, so I couldn't either."

His words hit hard but if he'd just let me stay home, we would have at least been together.

"I'm not going anywhere with you." I simply switched topics.

"Either you comply or I'm going to carry you to Adler even if I have to walk there." His eyes were set on me in determination.

"Guess I'll just call Anne to make you leave." I was about to call her but Thane smirked at me.

"My mom's not home love."

Well...

"You can't force me to go."

"Watch me." He moved in to pick me up but I held my hands up.

"Wait, wait. I'm honestly fine. I don't need the doctor."

Thane of course ignored me as he bent down and put my shoes on my feet for me, "I can do it myself you know?" I tried to get my feet away from him but he kept his hand on my leg and if I pulled away I would have fallen.

"You look like you lost ten pounds Emery." He scolded before he grabbed my hand and tugged me out of the bedroom.

"Hey I'm not going anywhere with you." I stopped in my tracks, "Nothing's wrong with me, I've just been feeling nauseous from seeing a dead body."

"I'm don't think it's the dead body sweetheart." He said and that took me aback.

"Listen I appreciate you trying to make it up to me but I'm fine Thane." I insisted and he went to scoop me into his arms but I stepped away and shook my head before walking down the staircase. "I'm going to find your father and let him talk some sense into you."

"Good luck trying because he isn't home either." He said from behind me.

But before I could say another word, he gently but quickly picked me up bridal style and whisked me out the front door and into his mustang.

He drove his car here...seems like he was planning on me to forgive him and go back home.

He buckled me in and before I could protest, shut the door.

I tried the handle but it wouldn't budge. The child safety lock was on! This idiot!

Thane quickly slipped into the driver's seat, started the car and peeled away from the house.

"This is considered kidnapping." I growled at him.

Taking me by surprise, he gave me half hearted grin, "Wouldn't be the first time love. Plus the last time turned out great for the both us."

"Until you decided to take things into your own hands." I quietly mumbled and as the little smile fell from his face, I faced out the window.

After that he tried to engage me in conversation but I was having none of it.

Luckily we made it to the pack house in no time considering Thane was driving at a snail's pace. I missed the pack house dearly since I hadn't been there since the day of our wedding.

"Why are we going to see Adler? I'm not sick." I told Thane again as he ushered me to the infirmary.

"You're not sick." he confirmed.

"I know I'm not! And if I was, my super health would kick in." I rolled my eyes.

"Luna?" Adler asked in confusion as Thane and I stepped into the infirmary.

"Hey doc." I greeted him and thankfully he smiled back so I knew he wasn't one of the few that didn't trust me anymore.

"It is nice to see you back her Luna but may I ask why the unexpected visit?" He questioned as he looked at Thane.

"I think she's pregnant." Thane muttered and my heart nearly flew out of my chest from his words.

"I-I.. Wait, what? You think I'm pregnant? No way." I shook my head in denial, "No freaking way. It's only been like six days! That's way too early to be able to tell."

This can't possibly be true, all the vomiting was just because of my bad dreams, seeing a dead body and the stress.

Although there was a high chance that I may be pregnant because Thane and I were unprotected, the test wouldn't be able to accurately tell this early and the sickness wouldn't have shown up either.

Would it?

"Emery," Adler gave me a knowing glance, "for human's it usually takes two weeks for the fetus to be detected and for the pregnancy to officially begin."

"But?" I felt a 'but' coming.

"But for werewolves, the fetus usually develops in a few days to the point of pregnancy tests being able to detect it. The rate at which the baby grows in the womb is faster than that of a human, which is why a pregnancy only takes five months, so it's typical for the fetus to start developing from day five." Adler explained and I felt the anxiety coming on strong.

"Just breathe love, breathe." Thane held onto me and his touch alone soothed me.

I really missed this guy.

As I managed to control my breathing, Adler fetched a needle and a pregnancy test.

"I will take a blood test to be one hundred percent sure but you can use the test to find out faster." He said handing me the pink box before guiding me to sit down on one of the beds so that he could draw the blood from my arm.

While he ran the blood test, I walked back to the hall with the test in hand and Thane following me like a lost puppy.

When I walked into one of the half bathrooms on the first floor, Thane was going to follow me in, "You can't come in here." I scolded.

"Why not?" He asked in confusion.

"Just stay put." I rolled my eyes and closed the door with the lock as I took the test.

I placed the used test on the sink as I washed my hands and opened the door to let Thane in. I sat on the sink's counter top and anxiously waited for the fifteen minutes to go by.

"Do you want the baby?" Thane suddenly asked and pulled me out of my nervous shaking feet state.

"Do I what?" I asked in shock, "I'm angry with you Thane, not my child."

I suddenly felt over protective of the possible child within me.

"Our child," he corrected, "and you didn't answer the question."

"The pack needs another Alpha for the ritual." I shrugged.

"But do you want the baby...with me?" He hesitantly asked.

"Well if you treat our kid anything like you treated me the last few days then maybe he's better of without you." I bit out and regretted it as soon as the words came out.

Seeing his face fall, I quickly backtracked, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

"No, you're right. I treated you like you didn't matter or care about the pack and I deserved that."

"I'm not right Thane." I sighed, "You're an amazingly incredible guy but you royally messed up."

"Then tell me how to fix it." He begged and I looked up to see his guilt ridden face, "Please?"

"I don't know how you can..."

"Emery," He stepped closer to me and when I didn't recoil back, he came closer and stood between my knees, "we just got married. This can't destroy us baby, please. I swear to the Moon Goddess that I love you and I know you were trying to protect the pack but I need you to speak to me so we can overcome this."

"If you knew I was trying to protect the pack then why did you blame me?"

"Because as I said before, I needed someone else to blame instead of myself for not protecting the pack. As the Alpha, I'm suppose to protect everyone but I didn't. Our Luna was protecting us all along without us knowing."

"Well you can't just blame me for something you couldn't control. I'm your wife and Luna, you can't throw this kind of stuff in my face without listening to my side of thing." I growled out.

"I know that-"

I cut him off immediately, "Do you? If you knew that Thane then it wouldn't have taken you five days to come back to me!" I yelled at him.

Just as he was about say something, the timer on his watch beeped.

I gently pushed Thane back so I could hop off the counter and then gingerly picked up the pregnancy test.

There it was, two clearly defined red lines that stated I'm pregnant.

I slowly turned to Thane who looked at me expectantly and despite my anger towards him and our ongoing argument, I couldn't help the smile that grew on my face.

"I'm pregnant." I grinned. I blame the mood swings on the pregnancy to be honest.

Thane's face lit up in pure amazement and joy as he picked me up and gently twirled me around in the little bathroom.

He set me down and cupped my cheeks, "You're pregnant!" He looked down at my stomach and bent so his face was right at my stomach and his hands on my waist, "We're going to have a kid."

I nodded with a grin and suddenly felt a wave of emotions wash over me at Thane's reaction and the fact that we were really going to become parents.

Tears welled up in my eyes and I was embarrassed at my sudden change in emotions and wiped the drops away.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Thane asked in alarm as he cupped my cheeks in his hands.

I shook my head but gave no answer.

I saw him gulp as a sudden look of anguish fell on his face and I felt his anxiety, "Do...do you not want the baby?"

I looked at him in shock and found my voice as I gripped his arms, "What? No Thane. No, that's not it."

"Then what is it? Is it me? Should I give you a minute?"

I shook my head again and cupped his cheeks in my hand, "I don't want you to go anywhere Thane. I want this baby with you," he gave me a quizzical look as I paused, "but only if we get through this now. I don't want us fighting anymore."

"Emery..."

"We were both wrong in the situation and while I'm still a bit angry with you, I don't want to jump into this new chapter of our lives with so much space between us." I tried to make him understand.

"Then let me make it up to you." He said with hopeful eyes.

"First, let me start with the beginning."

"I would love that," he smiled, "but maybe we could get you something to eat then change locations and tell Adler the good news?"

I giggled as I realized we were still squished in the little bathroom and lead us both out.

After we told Adler the good news, we walked to the kitchen.

Thane quickly grabbed some lunch for the both of us. He insisted on feeding me and my appetite was slowly coming back. Then again, I was eating for two.

After I made sure Thane ate as well, we headed out to the backyard and I told Thane everything that had happened between Jake and I.

And he didn't look surprised by my revelations. Maybe because he really knew all along that I didn't mean any harm to the pack.

"Did he hurt you?" Was Thane's first question after I explained what happened.

"He bruised my arms from gripping me too tightly and the pink scar you saw on my palm was from where he cut me." I tried to calm him down as I could see him tense up in anger.

"I'm going to kill him for even touching you." He growled.

"I know that whatever I do wouldn't stop you from reconsidering that decision-"

"Do you want me to?" He suddenly asked.

I gave it a thought before I answered him truthfully, "You know I'm against violence of any sort and I still don't agree with what you did with Ian because he was manipulated by Jake... But that doesn't mean I don't agree with your decision with Jake. Being a werewolf, I understand that it is in your nature to kill and now that someone is threatening the packs' secret and everyone's safety, even our little baby pea here," I touched my stomach in protection, "I know that it's in our best interest for him to be silenced, forever. My morals are screaming at me but Jake will never stay quiet. I've known him all my life and since he could talk he wanted to hunt the beast."

"So you agree with me?" He asked confusedly.

"I can't let anyone get hurt Thane, especially you. I want him gone for our pack and our child's safety."

"I understand sweetheart, you don't need to explain it to me." He put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me into him and I happily reveled in his heat, enjoyed his comfort and took in his scent.

"I honestly didn't tell you before because Jake has girl who knows everything about us. If she knows that I can heal then maybe someone from the pack is spying for her. Or maybe it's a rogue?" I mused.

"Abigail." Thane uttered.

"She wouldn't do that would she?" I looked at Thane in horror.

He simply nodded, "Ohh she would. After I kicked her out, her perfect revenge would be telling the humans about us."

"But she's a werewolf too. She'll just be putting herself in danger."

"She could fake being a human and it's not like she's in the  pack anymore so she wouldn't be in immediate danger."

I thought it over, "I guess it would make sense because no one from the pack would sell us out. I guess Jake's hooking up with enemy and doesn't even realise it." I snorted.

"We don't know for sure it's her yet. But I'm sure it is. They're both our enemies now. We just have to get to them before they get to us....and once I get my hands on both of them..." Thane said angrily.

I placed a kiss on both of his hands before he wrapped me back in his grasps. "As long as you stay safe is all that matter."

He sighed contentedly before whispering, "It's felt like ages since I've held you. I'm sorry I didn't listen to you before."

"You believe me?"

"More than anything else. I'm coming to you first if anything else happens. It took me making a grave mistake to learn that, but I know now and I promise you that I will never not listen to you. I'll forever be sorry." He kissed my forehead.

"Thank you for at least listening now and I should have told you about him that day." I looked up at him.

"I understand why you did it-" I cut him off before he could continue.

"No, I didn't tell you and it still blew up in my face. So if this is going to work then we need complete open communication which means listening to each other no matter what and telling each other everything. And I'm sorry that I hadn't told you earlier."

"But you shouldn't be because you took initiative and didn't do any wrong."

"I should've told you when Jake came into the pack. I should have warned you about what he was planning and let you help make the decision instead of handling it on my own. I'm sorry I didn't tell you before and I'm sorry I endangered everyone else because of being secretive. But we're a partnership and we have to trust each other and help each other make decisions instead of dealing with it on our own." I justified.

Thane nodded his head and grinned, "Look at us resolving issues like a happily married couple."

"That's because we are." I kissed his cheek, "Forgive me?"

"Only if you forgive me first." He whispered.

"I'm still partially angry at you but consider it done." I smiled and felt a sudden liberation as the anger and resentment towards each other faded away.

A moment of silence passed between us before Thane muttered, "We haven't been this close since our wedding night."

"I know and I really missed you."

"I missed you too love. It was killing me not being next to you."

"Then why didn't you come back to me earlier?"

"Because I thought you were going to kill me after what I did to that human and I just wanted to give you some time."

"That's why you sent me away?"

"When my father came over and blew my ears off, I told him that I loved you so much it hurts," I gripped onto him tighter as he spoke, "but you gave me back your ring and I didn't know what to do. I was going to set everything straight that night but then you had that nightmare and I was angry at myself. He told me to give you some space so I asked him if you could stay at their house since it's the furthest from the pack house and the side of the forest that Jake will show up from. It was a way of both keeping you safe and giving you time."

"I waited for you to tell me that you love me that night. I waited the morning when I left to go to your parents' house for you to pull me out of the car and demand an explaination, but you didn't"

"And I should have. I love you Emery Blackwood and nothing can change that. Nothing." He kissed my forehead.

"I love you too Thane Blackwood." I hugged him tighter.

He slid something out of his pocket and took my left hand in his own. He slid my ring onto my finger and I felt as if a part of me was restored.

"I'm sorry I gave it back." I looked at him.

"Just promise me you wouldn't return it ever again. Always leave it there on your finger."

"I promise." I looked at the piece of jewelry and hugged it close to my chest.

We wrapped our arms back around each other as we basked in the peaceful silence.

"I was restless without you." He whispered.

My bottom lip trembled as I recall my sleepless nights without Thane, "My nightmares were pretty bad without you near me."

"I didn't get a wink of sleep either. I would shift and sit in the forest in the backyard of the my parents' house. I would hear you every night calling out to me and it physically pained me not to come to you but after assuming you were dreaming of the human's dead body and you kicked me out of our room that night, I didn't want to upset you. I made my mom wake you up every night. Had I known it was that bad I would have been there in a flash." He explained and I could hear the guilt in his voice.

I tighten my arms around him, "I heard you in the forest howling every night. Just promise me you would always come back to bed even if we fight."

"I promise, but tell me what the dream was about." He coerced me.

I could feel myself hurting and getting terrified of just the thought of the dream, "It was of you and Jake. I don't want to talk about it in details but it always ended with you dying in my arms and Jake being your killer."

"It's alright sweetheart." Thane brushed a few stray tears away from my cheeks, "He can never get to us, I promise. He will never hurt me, you or anyone else, not even our little pea." He smiled as he used my nickname for our baby.

"I know...but it just felt so real every time and I could never get to you in time to save you."

"Well I'm here sweetheart and your stuck with me." He teased but I just clung to him a little tighter because even though Jake couldn't get to him, he was still out there.

Just as I was about to say something, we heard an ear splitting howl of pain echo before us.

I felt Thane tense under me as I looked at him in panic, "What's happening?"

"Someone's been shot." Was his only words as he quickly got up with me. He pushed me towards the pack house as he looked towards the forest.

"Who is it?" I asked in fear.

He looked at me in despair, "Go back into the pack house and don't come outside until I come back. And don't under any circumstances, come after me."

He quickly turned away from me and ran a few meters away and shifted.

"Thane?" I called out as he speed into the forest.

'Listen to me this once Emery and go inside. NOW!'. He mind linked and I could feel the control of the Alpha's command battling me as I hesitantly walked back into the pack house where Dr. Adler quickly rushed passed me as he went behind Thane.

What the hell was happening?

A/N

Chapter Update: Saturday

Emery is pregnant! 😅 Yes you all basically figured it out before but to be fair when she threw up the first time it was because of seeing Ian's body and then now she's throwing up because of being pregnant.

Also Thane and Emery are back 💛 missed those two.

I tried hard to get the dynamic back without making Emery too hard on him or being submissive. So she stood her ground but she also loves him and he really apologized. I hope it met your expectations 🤗

Song: The Paper Kites - Only One

IG: @1fandombookgirl (I post little excerpts here on my story a few hours before publishing).

Okay I'm really lacking sleep after trying to fix this chapter for the third time 😆

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Read on wolfies, 🐺

-Shania. 🐾