Chapter 2: It's Been Awhile

Emma assumed that she'd been seeing things. Upset from seeing Lucien with a young woman, Emma didn't trust her eyes. It really was Dex.

"Dex?" she called out.

He walked with a group of wolves then stopped when she called his name. He said something to his posse and they walked on. Dex approached her cautiously, looking her over head to toe.

"It is you," she said.

"Emma."

He looked at her as if she were the only woman in the alley. He had that way about him. She'd forgotten that. "Hi."

His gaze didn't rest on her. Instead, it jumped around. Her heart hurt to see him. She didn't know what to say to him and they'd been lovers and best friends in the past.

"Hey." He shuffled his feet. "How are you?"

That was a loaded question, but where she was now was not Dex's fault. "Uh, okay."

"You don't sound so sure, Emma."

She wasn't sure. Well, she was sure that her life was crap, but that wasn't Dex's concern. She smiled up at him. "It's good to see you."

"Good to see you, too."

"What's going on with you?" she asked.

She wanted to know everything since she hadn't been there, been a part of his life.

Dex rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, I'm part of a newly-formed pack. We're a few orphans who have gotten together."

"Really? I hadn't heard."

Then again, she wasn't up to date on what was going on in her own pack so she didn't have access to information about other packs. She and Lucien's marriage had been strategic. After her parents had convinced her shew as better off without Dex, she had entered a marriage without love. She disagreed, but her parents didn't want to hear about it. As far as they were concerned, Lucien was the Alpha and she should be with an Alpha.

"We live in the woods inside the local forest."

"Nice."

She longed to run in the woods.

"Uh, I'm the Alpha of the pack."

Emma shouldn't be surprised. She'd had faith that no matter what Dex decided, he would accomplish it. "You were elected?"

He laughed. "I took it because I'm the Alpha."

She laughed along with him. People traipsed around them in the alley. Emma wondered briefly if Lucien would come back this way. She probably shouldn't be seen with Dex, but she shrugged it off. It was a chance meeting. They'd done nothing wrong.

He looked good. Tall, lean, muscled. His dark hair curled at his collar She remembered running her fingers through that hair. "I get it."

"We're fighting a little for legitimacy, but we'll get it."

A voice behind Emma startled her. "Are you coming back?"

It was someone from her book club. "I'll be in in a minute."

***

Dex couldn't believe that he was seeing Emma. Tonight. The night he'd taken over the pack. They'd been arguing about who would be in charge and he'd stepped in. He'd known what had to be done. It was his pack now. They wanted him to find a mate, but he'd put them off for a little bit.

Now, he had to introduce himself to all of the Alphas in the pack surrounding his territory, Wolf Woods. This was why he was in Fang City.

Maybe because he was on a high, Emma looked great. She would always be the most beautiful woman in the world to him, though she did look a bit tired.

"I don't want to keep you," he said, even if he did.

He might never see Emma again, so this time was precious. He hoped Lucien was treating her well, but then again, he'd heard about Lucien's wandering eye. It broke his heart. She should be his. Having his children.

"Any cubs?" he asked.

Her smile slipped a little. "No. Not yet."

"I'm sure it'll happen."

"Sure. Tell me what else you've been up to."

He could stay with her and talk to he all night. She'd always been interested in what he wanted to talk about. Right now, he wanted to hold her. Shake her. Ask her why she'd obeyed her parents, but he didn't. That was done.

"The pack is it. It took me a while to find them. I wandered after you left. I took odd jobs in different places, but I ended up back in the area."

"It's your home."

You're my home. "Yes, it is. I love the weather here."

Great. Now they were talking about the weather. He wanted to touch her. See if her skin was still as soft. Why had he let her go?

He remembered. She hadn't given him any choice. She'd disappeared on him. Her leaving had torn him up for months. Then he went on the road, but he hadn't known what he was looking for. He never found it of course.

He'd come back with his tail between his legs, but he'd fallen in with a group of orphans. No, he was their Alpha. Their leader and he felt as if it had been his birthright.

If only the woman in front of him had believed in him enough to share that journey with him.

"Tell me what you've been up to," Dex asked.

Her mouth moved, but no sound came out. "You know the usual. Pack stuff."

She wasn't specific and her gaze darted around. As if she didn't want to answer or he wouldn't like the answers.

"Pack stuff."

He knew what that meant, but he doubted that was what she was doing. Lucien had a reputation and it wasn't a good one. What had her parents made her do? He hoped it was her parents' choice and not her own.HeI had always wished that Emma could have stood up to her parents more. They were only interested in power and money, things that had never been important to their daughter.

"Well, I guess I better let you get back to your friends," she said.

But heI wanted to talk to her all night. Even if it was just about the weather. "I'm the Alpha. They won't question me."

A sardonic laugh erupted from her. "True."

She knew. She was married to an Alpha, but his behavior would never reflect badly on his mate.

"Maybe you want to get back to your friends," I said.

Neither of them moved. They just stared at each other. Dex drank in the sight of her, his wolf calling to come out. He should have claimed her, but maybe part of him believed her parents. Not anymore. He could take care of her, but that was Emma's decision. He wouldn't rock her boat that way.

"Sure. Maybe," she said.

She didn't sound so sure. She didn't move away either. A rippled went through the crowd. He noticed a change in the energy in those walking down the alley. Another Alpha was nearby. Dex wasn't afraid. He'd talked to the Alphas within a one-hundred-mile radius. Dex was no threat. In fact, he called for unity as wolves were being encroached on by other beings in some areas.

Emma's gasped, but she didn't move.

"Are you hitting on my Luna?"