Chapter 40: My Only Love

Dex sat in his office as he often did to begin his mornings. He rarely stayed there for the duration of his day because pack business required him to be everywhere. He wouldn’t have it any other way.
A wolf stuck inside was a dangerous thing. He’d want to crawl out of his skin if he had to spend all of his time within four walls.
Today he had an important meeting with some of his intelligence scouts. He’d sent them out to other packs to gather information about Lucien. He doubted the Alpha would just give up Emma.
Not only wouldn’t he grant her an easy divorce, but Dex suspected that Lucien would fight to get her back. If Dex thought that Lucien loved Emma he could understand, but doing it for honor was something he could never grasp.
Protecting Emma was also protecting the pack.
A knock on his door startled him out of his reverie. Brutus stood in the doorway. “The scouts are here. Do you want me to sit in on the meeting?”
Dex rubbed his chin. Did he? He still wasn’t sure about trusting Brutus. He mulled it over and Brutus shifting from foot to foot made Dex realize that his hesitance was weighing on his Beta. Good. He would think twice about betraying him. “You can stay.”
Brutus let out a breath, then nodded. “I’ll get them.”
Three scout wolves gathered in front of Dex who motioned for everyone to sit. “Tell me what you have.”
The first wolf, a newcomer to the pack a year ago, spoke first. Dex saw a lot of potential in this one so he listened closely.
“It isn’t good news.”
This wolf wasn’t afraid to give him the truth. “Go ahead.”
“Lucien has been to every pack surrounding our territory. He’s gathering forces.”
“Did you talk to Alphas who are joining him?” Dex asked.
“Yes, but they weren’t forthcoming about the plan. I’m sure that they’ll report back to Lucien that you’ve been asking around.”
Dex waved his hand. “I don’t care. He’d be stupid to think I’m not going to mount a defense against him if he tries to attack us. What else?”
“I couldn’t get a firm number of packs he’s gathered.”
“I can figure out who is with him based on how they voted at the Council,” Dex said.
Lucien was going to do this. This wasn’t going to end well for him, but Lucien seemed to care more about honor. As much as Dex would like to eliminate the threat of Lucien himself, he wouldn’t give the Alpha that kind of closure. It would be honorable for Lucien to die by another Alpha’s hands. They wouldn’t be Dex’s, no matter how much he wanted to protect Emma. Unless he was forced into it.
Dex wasn’t about the honor. He was about love.
“How is he getting these packs to join him?” Dex asked.
“He’s telling them that you stole his Luna.”
Dex rubbed his eyes. None of these Alphas knew him well enough to realize that he wouldn’t have done that. Sadly, Dex couldn’t do anything about that right now. He motioned for the next scout to give his report. It was the same dire warnings about troop gatherings further away.
When the scouts were done, Dex dismissed them.
“War is inevitable,” he said to Brutus.
“Going to the Council with radical ideas of peace and getting along stirred a few egos.”
“Yeah. The timing with Emma couldn’t be worse, but there’s nothing that can be done.”
Brutus swallowed visibly. “Have you told Emma what I did?”
Since he wasn’t ready to give Brutus too much forgiveness, he said, “About your betrayal? No, but I will have to sometime.”
“Leyton isn’t going to be happy with me.”
“You should have thought about that before you did it.”
Dex rubbed a spot between his eyes. “I’m going home for the day.”
“Already?”
“Yes, already. I’m the Alpha and if I want to take a day off I will,” he said.
Brutus nodded. “What can I do?”
“You and Leyton can meet Emma and me in the clearing.”
“When?”
“In an hour.” Dex thought of something else. “Gather the pack there.”
“Okay.”
Brutus left to do Dex’s bidding.
Dex had an even better thought. He called Leyton.
“Alpha?” she answered.
“I need you to go to the clearing and decorate it. Make it as special as possible. Don’t spare any expense. Brutus is gathering the rest of the pack so use whoever you need to make it happen in an hour.”
“This is for Emma isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“You are the sweetest Alpha.”
Dex shifted his chair. Sweetest Alpha seemed like a little overboard. “I’m not doing this as her Alpha.”
“I get it. You’ll be happy with what I do.”
Dex drove home and found Emma was baking cookies. She puttered around the kitchen and he watched her from the doorway. “Who are the cookies for?”
“The book club I’m starting tonight.”
“Not tonight,” he said.
“Do we have something else on our calendar?”
He pushed off the wall he was leaning against. “Yes. Put on your best dress.”
“Ooh. Where are you taking me?”
“To the woods.”
He left her to pull out his best suit.
Emma appeared in the doorway, a puzzled look on her face. “A dress in the woods.” She came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. “We could just go as wolves. We haven’t done that for a while.”
“This is important, Emma. Don’t ask questions.”
She laughed. “Okay, Alpha. I’ll put on my best dress.”
She was in that green dress that she’d worn at the Council. His breathing had stopped when he’d seen her in it. If he could have postponed what he had planned he would have to take her out of that dress, but he’d have her tonight.
“Where are we going?”
“The clearing.”
She shook her head. “Okay.”
When Dex pulled into the clearing, the rest of the pack had gathered.
“So this isn’t a private event.”
Dex kissed her hand before climbing out of the truck. “Nope.”
He studied her as she took in the fairy lights that lit up the trees around the clearing. Her mouth was wide in a smile and he took that to me Leyton had done a good job. Dex was happy with it, too, but this had all been for Emma.
She clapped her hands together. “This is beautiful.”
He took her hand again and led her to the center of the groups. Everyone shifted so they had room. “I’m glad you were all able to come. I’m sorry for the short notice.”
A murmur went through the crowd. Dex ignored it. “We are most likely on the brink of war, but I wanted to start with something positive for us to remember.”
A few wolves nodded in agreement. “Today I pledge myself to Emma and I hope she does the same to me.”
He turned his gaze to her and she nodded a smile on her face. “I can’t marry you officially yet, but I want to make a commitment to you in front of the pack.”
“There’s one more thing,” Leyton said.
“What do you mean?” Dex asked.
“This is a celebration. Give me ten minutes.”
Dex looked at Emma. “Okay.”
Leyton handed out orders to two other women while Dex and Emma waited in the clearing. Everyone returned before the allotted time. Leyton had crafted a ring of wildflowers for Emma to wear.
“It’s perfect,” Emma said, hugging Leyton. “Thank you.”
Dex nodded his thanks to her. He turned to Emma taking both of her hands in his. “Even though I can’t marry you yet, this commitment I’m making today binds us together. I promise to cherish and love you Emma. For as long as I walk this earth. You will be my Luna and I will protect you and honor you.”
Emma’s eyes were misty and Dex kissed her hand.
“I, Emma, will honor, cherish, and serve you as Luna, Dex, for all the days I walk this earth. You will be my Alpha and my partner.”
A cheer went up in the crowd. “Kiss her.”
Dex obliged, but it wasn’t a passionate kiss; rather the kiss was sweet and full of promise. Someone turned on music and the crowd began to dance around them. Others put meat on to cook. All Dex could do was stare at Emma and imprint this moment on his brain.