Chapter 14: Closet Confessions

Emma decided she might as well make the best of this. She needed to keep her mind off of the fact that she was in a closet; she didn’t like enclosed spaces.
“How is the Council going?” she asked.
“So far so good. We’ve been accepted as a new pack more easily than I expected.”
“That’s good. What you’re doing is a good thing, Dex. Everyone needs a pack.”
“It’ll cut down on crime. We won’t have lone wolves wandering around looking for food or shelter. The rest of the packs won’t have to worry about them,” he said.
“It all makes sense. I wonder why no one has done it before,” she said.
As far back as she could remember there had been lone wolves and outcasts. Parents died or rejected their children. It was sad, but it happened. Until Dex created his pack, there had been no recourse for those in that situation.
They had to fend for themselves. No pack had ever trusted them enough to let them in. An orphan could marry into a pack, but there was always suspicion.
“I don’t know either. I’m about unity. We are stronger together,” he said.
Dex was a smart wolf and a compassionate one. He would stand his ground just like any Alpha, but if he could help someone he would. At least that’s how he’d been when Emma knew him years ago. She shifted her weight from foot to foot.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Just feeling a little claustrophobic,” she said. “I’ll be okay.”
“You don’t have to pretend with me, Emma.”
“I’m not. I’m okay,” she lied.
Taking comfort in Dex’s arms would solve her anxiety. It might also complicate an already complicated situation. She shouldn’t have snuck out. She shouldn’t be in a closet with Dex
“We could take cleaning supplies back to our cottage.”
She laughed. Or at least tried to. Dex was cajoling her out of her anxiety. She wanted it to work, but doubted it would. If she were just in a closet with Dex it would be one thing, but she’d snuck out, too. Regretting her impulsive decision, she searched for a way out.
“Could you go and distract anyone around?” she asked.
“I’d still have to explain why I was in the closet in the first place. I don’t want to bring any attention to you.”
“Thank you, Dex.”
Emma shifted from one foot to the other. Her heart began to race a little.
“Take deep breaths, Emma.” He reached out to her and took her hand in his. “I’m right here.”
His touch helped her. Her heart calmed a bit, but her anxiety didn’t allow her to revel in the feel of his skin on hers.
“You’re a strong capable wolf,” he said. “It’s a closet. Nothing else.”
She listened carefully to his words and the soothing cadence of his voice. She swallowed hard.
“You’re fierce, Emma. A Luna. No room is going to defeat you,” he said. “You could turn and scratch the doors and show this room who is boss.”
Emma let out a laugh. Dex had always been good about making her do that, even when she’d wanted to cry. Her heart was still racing. Her hands were sweaty and she was having a little trouble breathing. As much as things would have been worse if she’d been discovered and someone mentioned it to Lucien, she was still close to an anxiety attack. “Thank you, Dex.”
“My pleasure, Emma. I always liked putting a smile on your face.”
He’d been very good at it, too. Even when her parents had been pressuring her to marry Lucien, Dex had been there to cheer her up. Even as she was breaking his heart, Dex was still my cheerleader. How stupid had she been to let my parents pressure her? She could have been with Dex all this time and she wouldn’t be hiding in a closet right now.
They’d be in their bed, in their room, together and inseparable. Her breath hitched as that realization struck her. It didn’t help her anxiety at all.
Her phone dinged again. Kendra.
“We’re all going to bed. We missed you tonight.”
“Sorry I couldn’t make it,” Emma texted back.
“Don’t forget to introduce Leyton to your parents tomorrow.”
Yes, tomorrow Emma's parents would arrive. They’d invited themselves. She wouldn’t have asked them to be here, especially considering Dex’s presence at the Council. Not in any formal way, but she was currently in a closet with him.
“Your friends?” Dex asked.
“Yeah. They are done for the night.”
“I can’t believe there are still people here in the lobby,” Dex said. “If they’d just go away we could leave.”
Her heart sped up even more. “I don’t think I can stay here Dex.”
“It’s more dangerous for you to leave.” His arms went around her. “We’ll be fine.”
What a comfort his arms were. She could sink into them and feel safe. This was a sense of safety that Lucien didn’t offer her, that he refused to offer her.
“You remember that tree we used to picnic under? The one by the river?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“They might have to cut it down. It’s not in my pack’s area so I don’t have any say, but I keep feeling a little bit of our teen years are going to be lost.”
“That is sad.”
The tree had given them shade from the sun and shelter from the rain. Things happened and the world moved on.
“Are you still scared?”
“Yes.”
He dropped her hand then took her into his arms. He swayed and hummed a tune. He’d done that when she’d had a nightmare and snuck out of her house to see him. Dex had always been able to make things better for her. Why hadn’t she thought about that when she’d made her decision to go with Lucien?
She’d let herself be bullied and she couldn’t be that person anymore. She let Dex rock her as her heart rate slowed. Her palms were no longer sweaty. She was at peace. This is what her husband should be able to do, but he never would have tried.
Emma recognized the song that Dex hummed and it made her smile. They’d listened to that song a thousand times their last summer together. He brought his phone with them to that tree and they’d danced and sung to it, every day she could get away from her house.
At that moment, Emma understood that she had traded one prison for another when she went from her parents’ house to Lucien’s.
She blinked. She’d never thought of it that way before now. It took away her breath. She’d wanted the security that Dex couldn’t offer. Or at least hadn’t been able to offer at that point. His future wasn’t clear and Lucien’s had been.
What had she received for her security? A loveless marriage with an angry man. What a fool she’d been.
“Better?” Dex asked.
She blew out a breath. “Yes.”
She was better for his humming and better for the way her thoughts had won. Now she just had to