Chapter 27: Thrown Out

The girls' night in had been the best time Emma had had in a long while. She’d gone to bed tired and feeling supported. She woke with a renewed sense of what she needed to do.
She might stay one more day in Julie’s house, then she had to go onto her next stop. Emma had never been on her own before; she hadn’t had a job since marrying Lucien and didn’t know what her skills were. If she could find a cheap place to live while I awaiting a meeting with the elders she could probably support herself.
The smell of coffee led her out of bed and to the kitchen of Julie’s two-bedroom cottage. The place was cozy and Emma could see herself renting a place like this until she was on her feet. Or free from Lucien so she could go to Dex.
“Sleep well?” Julie asked pouring her coffee.
“Yes. Better than I have in years. Thank you for taking me in.”
Julie waved a hand. “I’ve always been a little bit independent. I know I’m supposed to do what the pack Alpha wants, but I couldn’t turn you away.”
Emma was concerned and that’s why she didn’t want to overstay her welcome. Eventually, she would have to leave the pack. Julie was her only friend here so she wouldn’t miss anyone. The upshot of Lucien not letting her be a Luna is that she hadn’t felt as if this pack was her family.
She felt sad about that. Then again, having no connections beyond Julie made it easier for Emma to leave.
“What are you doing with your day?” Emma asked.
Julie was self-employed as a freelance writer. She’d been published in a few werewolf magazines. “I have some articles to write, but I can hold off if you need company.”
“I don’t want to keep you from your work. I need to pick a place to live in Fang City and find a job.”
“You think that Lucien will leave you alone?”
“I don’t know.”
She’d confessed to Julie the last night about Dex. She listened without prejudice.
“What about Dex? Alphas get what they want.”
She knew that. Julie wasn’t telling Emma anything she didn’t know. “I can’t go directly to Dex. I have to know that I can stand on my own two feet.”
“You might find it hard to get a job.”
She doubted Lucien had told anyone about her leaving him. His ego was still reeling from that hit. “I’m going to apply to some online anyway.”
“Good luck.”
Julie left Emma in her kitchen with an old laptop of hers and the WiFi password. Her job search was interrupted by a pounding on the front door an hour later. She’d applied to a few jobs, but none of them appealed to her.
“Where is she?” Lucien shouted.
“I didn’t invite you in,” Julie said.
Pounding footsteps shook the house. Lucien appeared in the doorway to the kitchen.
“I’m sorry, Emma. He forced his way in.”
“It’s fine.” She stood because she wasn’t having this conversation sitting down. “What do you want Lucien?”
“I was in the diner this morning, since my Luna wasn’t there to make me breakfast and it seems someone saw you drive up here with Julie.”
“So. The pack is going to find out eventually.”
Lucien’s eyes went red, but Emma wasn’t backing down. She’d had a taste of freedom and it was delicious.
“You embarrassed me.”
Emma was getting tired of this argument. “The pack is going to find out I’ve left you eventually.”
“You need to leave.”
“I’m not going anywhere until I have a way to support myself,” Emma said.
“You have two choices.”
“Are you giving me an ultimatum?”
“Yes. You can either come with me now and forget this nonsense or you leave Fang City.”
“Are you going to change?”
He rose to his full height. “Change?”
“Yes. Let me be a Luna?”
She knew the answer and even if she didn’t, she wasn’t going to back to Lucien. She’d felt love and now she wanted it. Dex would treat her like a real Luna.
“No. Nothing is going to change,” he said.
At least he wasn't lying to her. “I’m not coming home with you.”
“Then you need to leave Fang City.”
“I’ll leave tomorrow.”
“No, Emma. I’m the Alpha here and what I say goes. Now pack up and get out.”
“I have some things at the house I want.”
“Leave now or I will have you forcibly removed.”
She stepped into his personal space, knowing she was stepping close to the fire. “You’d do that? Your ego is so fragile that you would bully me?”
He didn’t answer that. “What’s your answer?”
“I’m not coming back with you. Ever.”
“Then you need to pack your things and you’ll be escorted to the boundary of Fang City. You are never to return. You are not welcome here.”
He spun on his heel and left Emma in the kitchen. When she looked down the hallway, Lucien had gone out the front door, but he left two of his guard standing there.
Julie entered the kitchen. “He’s serious.”
Emma shrugged. “It is what it is.”
She wasn’t going to be forced back to Lucien’s house. Not by anyone. “I’ll get out of here.”
Julie frowned. “I’m sorry, Emma.”
I hugged her. “None of this is your fault. Lucien is the Alpha and he can exile me. I knew it was a possibility. Now I’m truly free of him. The divorce papers are merely a formality. He kicked me out of the pack and that is grounds for ending the marriage.”
“Where will you go?”
“I have a few options.”
Emma wasn’t sure what options she could use right now. She could go to Dex’s pack since she was now an outcast.
“Let me know where you get settled.”
Emma realized she might have to go to Dex. It pained her to lay this on him, but he was her mate and mates helped each other. “I will Julie. Thanks again for last night.”
Emma sent a text to Dex.
“Lucien kicked me out of Fang City. I’ll let you know where I settle.”
Emma packed her bags and presented herself to the guards at the door. “I’m ready to go.”
Neither of them made eye contact with her. They knew this was wrong and that they had to follow Lucien’s orders. They led her to a truck and put her in between them with her suitcases in the backseat.
No one spoke and that was okay. Emma had expected an answer from Dex, but he was probably busy with pack stuff. She’d hear from him later. Right now she could have used a friendly voice in her ear.
At the edge of Fang City, on its border with the lands owned by the Lake Pack, the guards let her out. They drove away as she stood there with her suitcases. She looked down at them and wondered how long it would be before the pack was alerted to her presence. She decided that maybe going straight to the Alpha and asking for safe passage through his lands would be her best option.
She picked up her suitcases and headed away from Fang City, her home for the last five years. It held no place in her heart.
She took two steps and someone appeared out of the woods. She dropped her suitcases and ran to him.
“Dex.”