Chapter 19: Their Perfect Marriage

Emma’s heart raced. Her hand unclenched from Dex’s shirt one finger at a time. His lips on her felt as right as breathing. She shook herself. Would Lucien notice her swollen lips?
She’d wanted to explore what had happened between her and Dex, but Brutus wasn’t leaving until she entered the banquet hall. Darn.
“This isn’t done,” she said to Dex.
He didn’t move. Brutus stepped aside to let her in. “You should leave him alone. Especially with your Alpha so close at hand and looking for you.”
“Stay out of this Brutus.”
“I was there to pick up the pieces last time Emma.”
She studied him but had no response. She’d broken Dex’s heart and she had no right to expect a second chance, but darn it, she wanted one. When she entered the room, Lucien stood at the bar and a few couples surrounded him. What was he up to and why did it involve her?
She trudged over to where he stood. He looked up a rare smile on his face. “Here’s my bride.”
What? He held out his arm and motioned her over to him. Knowing she had an audience, she plastered a smile onto her face and stood beside him. “Yes?”
“This is Emma, if you haven’t me her. We are not mates. We are an arranged marriage.”
Emma knew all of this, but why was Lucien announcing it to the crowd.
“I’m a big believer in returning to the old ways.”
Wait. What?
“We are a successful couple who are not mates,” he said. “It can work and I think it can work well.”
Emma was speechless as the couples threw questions at them. What was going on? Here she was planning on leaving him and Lucien was holding them up as an example of marital bliss.
She wasn’t sure she could put together a coherent sentence so she let Lucien answer all the questions. Her brain spun in her head wondering how this conversation had gotten started. She hadn’t been outside long.
“Do you think love and the lure of fated mates get in the way of ruling a pack?”
“Emotions are messy. If you see this as a business arrangement you can more easily get what you need from it,” Lucien said.
He was right; he had always acted like the boss, and she was just his little employee.
“A business arrangement. But you don’t think fated mates have a stronger bond?”
Lucien shook his head. “There is no need for that bond. Pack business needs to be attended to. Battles are won by ferocity. If your mate is by your side in battle you are going to be thinking about them and not the pack. The pack should always come first.”
Emma thought you could have both. How had she known so little about Lucien after five years together? She’d had no idea that he was so old-fashioned. She’d known him to be cold and distant. She hadn’t understood that his view of pack life wasn’t as a family, but as people to be managed. The realization took away her breath.
She’d married a man who thought they were a business arrangement. Would any child she delivered have been another employee for him to boss around? Maybe fate had stepped in and made sure she didn’t get pregnant.
This conversation cemented her resolve. She wanted to be more than an arrangement to the person she was going to spend the rest of her life with. Even if Dex wasn’t going to take her back, she wanted out of the marriage.
Lucien wouldn’t let her go easily and she wouldn’t do it during the Council. As much as she disliked Lucien, she wasn’t going to embarrass him here. Not because he was a decent wolf, but because she was.
The questions kept coming. Some single people had drifted over to the group. Lucien puffed out his chest, clearly enjoying the attention. Wouldn’t he rather be recognized for his accomplishments as an Alpha than his marriage? A bewildered Emma stood beside the limelight that was being shone on Lucien.
She longed to get away and be with Dex again. They had so much to talk about. She wanted to share her plans with him. Instead, she was stuck perpetuating a lie to a group of eager wolves.
“How did you find someone to arrange the marriage?”
“Emma’s parents and mine had arranged it. This was long before we met.”
Emma’s mouth dropped open. She hadn’t known that part of the deal, that it had been arranged before she and Lucien even met. She hadn’t had a chance, did she? Would her parents have forced her into marrying Lucien?”
“Yours is an alliance? A political marriage?”
“Yes. Emma’s pack and mine will always stand together because of our relationship.”
Well, that’s not going to happen anymore. Emma refused to think about the political ramifications of their break up. She needed to do something for herself and not think about anyone else. Selfish, yes, but she had to be because no one else was looking out for her.
The fact that her parents not only wanted her to marry an Alpha but also wanted her to marry for an alliance stung her. She wasn’t chattel or something to be used as a bargaining tool, but that’s exactly what she’d been. She’d never seen it, never even suspected it.
And Lucien had been okay to be a party to it.
It was as if he’d been raised in the Dark Ages. Their lives were worth more than to be pawns in someone else’s game. At least she was beginning to see that she was worth more than that.
“Will you have children?”
“Of course,” Lucien answered.
Not with me, Emma thought. She was struggling to draw in a deep breath. The wolves seemed to be closing in on her and she needed to get out.
Her gaze scoured the room until she found Dex. He had his hands on his hips and he was scowling. At her. She needed to fix this. She couldn’t let Dex think she was actually staying with Lucien.
Dex turned away and left the hall, her heart going with him.
“Emma?” Lucien said.
The crowd had thinned and her husband stared down at her. “What?”
“You didn’t contribute much to that.”
“I didn’t know that we were a political marriage. What was I supposed to say?”
“You were supposed to echo what I said. You’re supposed to be my Luna.”
She stepped close to him so she could whisper through her clenched teeth. “Now you want me to be your Luna? Could you give me a schedule so I know when I’m supposed to step up?”
His eyes flashed red. “Are you being difficult?”
“You don’t even know, Lucien.”
She brushed past him, but he grabbed her arm. He pulled her closer to him, leaning his face to her ear. “You better think long and hard about who you spend your time with Emma. I might know more than you think.”
Her mouth fell open. Her heart hammered at the thought of him knowing about Dex. She closed her mouth and walked away, refusing to give him any satisfaction. She had to find Dex and explain.