Chapter 22: Happy Again

Dex wanted out of this meeting. This was the same conversation they’d had the last few days. The Council had ceased to be productive. It always ended the same way; Dex wanting peace and Lucien wanting war. That wolf currently ranted on the floor about tradition and honor in battle. Dex did his best not to roll his eyes.
He pulled out his phone. Where was Emma?
“What you up to?”
“I’m sitting on the beach, waiting for some friends.”
“Nice. I wish I was there,” he typed.
“So do I.”
He smiled at that. Brutus nudged him. “You paying attention?”
“I could recite this speech in my sleep. He’s made it every day,” Dex said.
Brutus grunted. “I like a fight as much as the next wolf, but really? There’s only honor in conflict?”
“I might step out of this meeting,” Dex said.
Sitting on the beach with Emma sounded so much better. He didn’t feel he was shirking any duties not listening to Lucien rage on once again. The Alphas were in the same spot they were two days ago. Nothing had changed. No one’s mind had been changed.
Some stood with Lucien. Some stood with Dex. The way Lucien seemed to keep up his energy, Dex wasn’t going to get to speak today. No use sitting here another day.
“It would be disrespectful for an Alpha to leave.”
“Even if I have to take a leak?” Dex asked.
“I know that’s not where you’re going.”
Dex held up his glass. “Been drinking a lot of water today.”
Brutus glared at him. “You’d leave me here?”
“Yes. Sometimes a Beta’s job sucks.”
Dex longed to be out in the sunshine. As long as Lucien insisted on holding court and no one kept him to his time limit, there was no point in Dex being here. The wolves had chosen their sides and there weren’t any Alphas who were undecided. The Council could end now and put them all out of their misery.
Dex rose. “I’m going.”
He left Brutus, who frowned at him. Sometimes it was good to be the Alpha. Dex rarely delegated, but today was one day he would. Lucien wasn’t going to give up the floor anyway.
The sun shone brightly in the sky and Dex turned his face towards it to take in the warmth. He pulled out his phone. “Can you follow the beach around and meet me by the jetty?”
“Aren’t you in a meeting?”
“Not anymore,” he texted.
“Give me a half-hour.”
“Climb over the jetty and down to the beach that’s there.”
“Okay.”
Dex set off in that direction. He’d found the beach one day when he’d wandered around the resort. The jetty was big enough that the average person wouldn’t climb it. But in wolf form, he’d had no problem. The rocks would provide them with privacy.
Dex had an idea on the way there and veered to the kitchen of the hotel. “Could I have a picnic basket?”
“Yes, sir. We have one we can pack quickly.”
Fifteen minutes later, Dex headed towards the rendezvous point. He was settled on the checkered blanket when Emma climbed over the rocks in wolf form. She was a beauty no matter what form she was in. She shifted back to human, a smile on her face. “Hi.”
“You said no sex, but you didn’t say anything about romance.”
“Oh, Dex.”
He patted the spot next to him. “Let’s eat. Your husband’s monologues make me hungry.”
She sat. “Is he still dominating the Council?”
“Yes and they are letting him, but I don’t want to talk about him.”
“What shall we talk about?” she asked.
“Is grape soda still your favorite?”
She giggled. “I haven’t had it in years, but I do still like it.”
He produced a can and opened it with a flourish. “Then you are overdue.”
She sipped and a smile appeared on her face. “Thanks for thinking of me.”
I put a hand on her cheek. “I’m always thinking of you Emma.”
A blush tinged her cheeks. He opened his own soda and leaned on one elbow. “There are sandwiches and cheese and crackers.”
“I just want to enjoy all of this for a moment.”
As much as he wanted to ask Emma about Lucien, he didn’t want that wolf invading their private moment. He’d bet that Lucien didn’t have a romantic bone in his body. Dex wouldn’t make love to Emma, but he would romance her. Remind her what she must have forgotten.
And he’d learned a few things in their time apart. He would show her. “You really haven’t had soda in that long?”
She waved a hand. “Long story.”
He got it. It involved Lucien and she didn’t want to talk about him either. “Tell me what I’ve missed, Emma.”
“What do you mean?”
“What have done as a Luna?”
“Not really much. I’m not allowed to be a true Luna thought I’ve started taking some of those powers.”
“Good for you.”
“Dex, let’s talk about you. I think your journey to Alpha is probably more interesting than mine to here,” she said.
He didn’t think so, but he ‘d share anyway. “When you left I wandered for a bit. I found out that no one wanted a lone wolf around. I wasn’t welcome anywhere.”
“You’re considered unpredictable. A threat to the fabric of society.”
He could guess who had said that to Emma. “Something like that. In my journeys, I met other lone wolves. All we wanted was a place to call our own. A pack only accepted a new member if they married into it and since I wasn’t going to do that I was all alone.”
“You had Brutus.”
“We didn’t always travel together,” Dex said.
Emma cocked her head. “Oh?”
“You know, Brutus. He was chasing tail. Until Leyton.”
“Another orphan?” she asked.
“Yes. Her parents had died when she was young. She’d been raised in a pack, but her relatives threw her out when she turned eighteen.”
“How awful. She doesn’t seem bitter about it.”
Dex shrugged. “She’s a good soul. She smooths out some of Brutus’ sharp edges.”
Dex couldn’t get over how peaceful it was to just sit here and talk to Emma. If he didn’t have a pack to run he would do that, but he had obligations. And that meant at some point he had to return to the meeting, even if he didn’t get a chance to speak today. His presence was necessary.
For the moment he put those things aside. He didn’t want to escape his responsibilities, but he did need to get the pack a Luna. If he had his way, she was sitting next to him on the blanket.
Emma dug into the picnic basket. “I’m sure you’re hungry.” She handed him a sandwich. “I know you need to get back.”
“I have a few minutes. Brutus can hold things together until I’m back. Besides, they are probably breaking for lunch.”
She unwrapped a sandwich for herself. “How did you end up in Wolf Woods?”
Dex took a bite of his sandwich thinking about his story. “I’d heard that it had been vacated by the last pack. They were a pack that was dying out and all of their members were going to live with their kids. It was about to be vacant. I approached the Alpha and he was happy to give me the land, houses, and all.”
“Nice.”
“That’s when I put the word out that I would take in orphans and strays.”
“You had a lot of takers?”
“I almost had to turn some away.”
“I hadn’t thought there were so many orphans,” Emma said.
“More than you think, since everyone likes to pretend they don’t exist.”
“Yes, I guess we do. My parents had always encouraged me to ignore panhandlers.”
“Well, no one needs to anymore as my pack will take them in. We’ve had a few marry into other packs which left some houses open.”
She looked at him with such warmth that he wanted to bottle it to take out whenever he was lonely.
“You’ve done a good thing, Dex.”
He smiled. “I just needed a home. And now I need a Luna.”
She looked down at the blanket. “You know it isn’t that simple.”
“I know, Emma. And I’ll wait as long as I have to.”