Chapter 33: Running Away

Dex pulled his truck into the parking lot of what looked like a motel out of a horror movie. “Why are we stopping here?”
“Because we can’t make it to the territory today. I’m done driving.”
“I can drive.”
“No. You need some rest, Emma.” He opened the door. “Stay here. I’ll get us a room.”
She stayed put but locked the doors. She didn’t know what would come at her in the twilight.
The motel room was on the back of the building. Dex parked in front of it. The room smelled of mold. Emma wrinkled her nose, but she knew they had to keep a low profile.
“I’m sorry it isn’t better, Emma.”
She hugged him after he brought in their suitcases. “It’s okay. I get it. We’re on the run.”
As long as she was with Dex, she could do this.
“I’ll go get some food.”
“Just order in.”
“I only have cash,” he said.
She nodded. “Okay. I’m going to take a shower.”
He left and she entered the bathroom. The towels were the smallest she’d ever seen. She slid into pajamas when she finished, feeling much better. Her stomach rumbled. She jumped when she heard yelling. She glanced out the window to see two people in a fistfight in the parking lot. Her heart raced.
They were hard at it when Dex pulled into the lot. Emma hoped he wasn’t going to be a hero, but of course, he stepped in to break it up. The two people went their separate ways. Dex brought bags of food into the room. Emma hugged him. “Are you okay?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“They were fighting.”
He put a hand on her cheek. “I’m an Alpha even if I’m not with my pack, Emma.”
She nodded. “What did you bring me?”
“Burgers.”
“Always a good choice,” Emma said.
He leaned down and kissed her. “We’re going to be okay.”
“I know, Dex. I’m with you.”
He smiled. “Let’s eat before it gets cold.”
Dex lay on the bed a little later, after Emma had cleaned up. She looked at him and hoped he wouldn’t regret the decision to leave the pack, even if it was temporary.
“I made a call to an Elder from Lucien’s pack. He didn’t call me back yet. We have to plead our case.”
He motioned for her to sit next to him on the bed. She snuggled up against him and could hear his heart beating. It was in perfect time with hers. She wished the world would just go away for a few weeks. “Will they listen?”
“It all hinges on the fact that Lucien threw you out. And the fact that he kidnapped you.”
“Won’t it be my word against his?”
“We have to try Emma.”
Dex was right. He shifted so he was on top of her. “Trust me?”
“Of course I trust you,” she said.
Dex was her mate. Her life, no matter what it would look like in the future, belonged with Dex.
“We’re going to go through your pack’s territory,” he said.
“I can ask for help.”
“Do you think they’ll give it to you?”
“Lucien kidnapped me. I can’t imagine they would take his side,” she said.
“That’s a problem for another day. Right now it’s just the two of us and this bed. Nothing else exists.”
He kissed her and she responded wanting him more than she had even the first day she’d been at his house. Their house.
“I love you, Emma.”
“I love you, too, Dex.”
They spent the next hour showing each other just how much.
When they reached the line of Emma’s old pack’s territory, Dex pulled over. His gaze went to her. “What do you want to do? We can pass on through and we’ll only be a blip on their radar.”
She didn’t know what reaction her parents would have, but she had to try. They were her family, her parents. They must love her. “I’d like to try. If they help us, then we’ll be safe for a time. They can act as a liaison for us.”
“Okay.”
“You don’t sound convinced.”
“You know them better than I do, but they basically sold you to Lucien. No money exchanged hand, but they benefited from the bargain with Lucien’s parents.”
Emma could hear the bitterness in his voice. She hadn’t heard him speak like this. She put a hand on his arm. “Don’t be angry, Dex. It’s over now. We’re together now.”
He let out a noisy breath. “Yeah. Sorry. You’re right. It’s in the past.” He took her face in his hands. “Do you want me to go with you?”
Emma debated the merits of that. “Why not drop me off and stay close but hidden.”
“You’re scared?”
“A little nervous.”
He kissed the tip of her nose. “I won’t be far away.”
Dex drove Emma to her parents’ house. It was set back from the road with a long driveway. This wasn’t the house that Emma had grown up in. They’d upgraded after she married. Maybe money had exchanged hands after her marriage.
She shoved away the thought. If it did, it didn’t matter now.
“I’ll be out on the road. One whistle and I’ll be here,” Dex said as she climbed out of the truck.
She nodded. Her heartbeat rapidly and she put a hand on her chest to slow it down. These were her parents and she was desperate. Wouldn’t they take her in?
She knocked on the front door. She heard her mother yell to her father. “I’ll get it.”
Emma had decided who she wanted to see first. Her father would be the calmer of the two. Too bad her mother opened the door and grimaced. “You have a lot of nerve showing up here.”
“Mom, come on.”
“No, Emma, Lucien’s been calling us and I told him that you better not show up here.”
Emma stood on the porch, not willing to force herself into the house. She wouldn’t degrade herself that way. She wouldn’t beg. “You haven’t heard my side of the story.”
“You left your husband and took up with another Alpha. Do I have that right?” Barbara said.
“Not exactly. Lucien threw me out.”
“He told us you'd say that.”
“I’m telling you the truth, Mom. Lucien threw me out of the pack. I have ground for divorce.”
Her mother put her hand on her heart. If she’d had pearls, Emma suspected she would have clutched them. “Divorce? No one in our family gets a divorce.”
This was going nowhere. “Mom, he was a bad husband. I don’t love him.”
“That doesn’t matter. You were matched and you married. You honor those vows.”
“He kidnapped me and held me against my will.”
“Lucien is heartbroken. He wants you back.”
“He is only embarrassed. He doesn’t love me.”
Her father appeared in the doorway. “Listen to your mother. You need to go back to Lucien and beg forgiveness.”
That was not going to happen. She sighed. Her parents weren’t going to be any help. That meant she and Dex were on their own. “I guess I can’t count on you to keep my visit a secret.”
“No. We’ll be on the phone with Lucien as soon as we close the door.”
Her father pulled out his phone. “I’m calling him right now.”
Emma’s heart sped up at the thought of going back to Lucien. Her breath caught in her throat. Dex pulled up the driveway. He must have sensed her panic.
“That Dex was bad news from the start,” Barbara said.
Emma could hear her mother’s voice echoing as she climbed into Dex’s truck. He clasped her hand then drove away. “It’s okay.”
“They’re going to tell Lucien that we were here,” Emma said.
“It’ll be fine. We can get to the unclaimed territory in a few hours. We’ll be fine there. We can pick up camping equipment and no one will bother us.”
She wasn’t so sure it would go that smoothly. If Lucien was willing to lie to her parents then he was willing to do just about anything to save face. What a mess. “I’m sorry, Dex.”
“You have nothing to be sorry about.” She sniffed. Dex pulled over and tugged her into his arms. “It’ll be okay. I promise, Emma.”
She wasn’t so sure, but she trusted Dex with her life. He would make sure things were okay.