Chapter 45: Divorce

“Their directive was clear, Dex,” Emma said the next day. “I have to go there without anyone.”
She didn’t like it, but she would do whatever it took to get free.
Dex paced in their kitchen. “I don’t like it.”
“If we want a future together we’ll abide by their rules.”
Dex frowned, taking her into his arms. “You’re right and I appreciate you being so brave for us.”
“I can’t imagine this will take long.”
“I hope not. I’ll be waiting at the border of Fang City territory.”
Emma put a hand on his face. “It’s almost over. This is the last step.”
“I know, but I’d assumed I could be there with you.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“Come back to me.”
“In a heartbeat, Dex.”
He drove Emma as far as he could. She walked the rest of the way, shifting only once to cover some ground. Lucien wasn’t in the hall when Emma arrived, but the Elders were waiting. Their seats were higher than where she stood, but she refused to be intimidated.
This was her first time back in Fang City since Lucien had kidnapped her. She couldn’t stand still. Her palms were sweaty and there was a knot in her stomach.
Finally, Lucien arrived. Someone banged a gavel. “The proceedings will begin. We’re here to look into dissolving the marriage between Lucien and Emma. You were married five years?”
“Yes,” Emma said.
Lucien had been glowering at her the whole time. She thought he was making it easy for the Elders to make a decision; she couldn’t stay with someone who hated her.
“Five years,” Lucien echoed.
He stood to her right, but she refused to look at him. There was no point. This would be over soon and she’d never have to see him again. She wasn’t going to do anything to encourage him or think he had a chance with her.
“Under what grounds do you want to dissolve the marriage?”
“I don’t, Elder,” Lucien said. “I’m here under protest.”
Emma cleared her throat. “Lucien was a cruel and cold husband. He eventually threw me out of the pack and I think that is enough grounds for the dissolution of his union.”
The Elders exchanged a look. “Is this true, Lucien?”
“She’d made her decision to leave me. There was no reason for her to stay in the pack.”
“But you want her back?”
“Yes. She’s my wife. She should be by my side. The wolf she’s taken up with might be her mate, but I believe that mates shouldn’t be together.”
Confidence flooded Emma. Lucien wasn’t making a good case for her to stay. She stood straighter and spoke firmly. “Dex is my mate and I want to be with him. I’m a better wolf with him than I was with Lucien.”
“Lucien, can you make any argument for Emma to stay with you?”
“She’s my wife.”
“Are you going to change your ways? Are you going to treat her differently?”
Lucien looked at the Elders as if they suddenly become gargoyles instead of wolves. “No. Our marriage was a business arrangement.”
“Our parents promised us to each other when we were small,” Emma added.
She didn’t know how the Elders felt about an arranged marriage. This could backfire on her, but she wasn’t going to lie or embellish. The truth was going to set her free.
“You had no say in the matter?”
Emma swallowed hard. “I had a say, but I was young and I was easily influenced by my parents. If I were faced with the same decision now, I’d make a different one. I don’t want to be someone’s obligation.” She cleared her throat. “He also kidnapped me from my new pack.”
The Elders nodded their faces filled with consternation. “Let us speak for a few minutes.”
They put their heads together and Emma counted the seconds. She was almost free.
“I’ll never let you go, Emma,” Lucien said quietly.
“You might have no choice.”
“I’m still the Alpha of this pack.”
“But I’m not part of this pack,” she said.
He’d thrown her out and he couldn’t deny that. He hadn’t denied that fact.
The Elders turned back to them. With a bang of a gavel, Emma was no longer married to Lucien. She wanted to jump for joy. Lucien turned to her with red eyes. “This isn’t over.”
As far as Emma was concerned it was and how she could breathe. A weight had been lifted off of her shoulders.
He stormed out of the room. Emme looked up at the Elders who had watched Lucien’s display. “It might be prudent for you to get out of this territory as soon as possible. Leave ang City.”
Emma nodded and left them in the hall. Lucien wasn't around when she stepped out of the building, but she’d bet he was lurking. Her options were to get a ride to the border or shift and get there herself. She opted to shift. It was her last act of defiance against Lucien.
No one stopped her as she raced through the woods surrounding Fang City. When she reached the road she shifted back to human. Dex’s truck was parked just on the line between the two territories. He climbed out of the truck, an expectant look on his face.
“It’s done,” Emma said, jumping into his arms.
He spun her around his face in her neck, a happy growl in his throat. “Done.”
“No more Lucien,” she said, though she was convinced he might try something more.
A growl startled them out of their reunion. At the edge of Fang City, a wolf sat on his haunches. Lucien.
“Let’s go,” Dex said.
She climbed into the truck and Dex followed a minute later. “What did you say to him?”
“I told him that we could end this right now. Peacefully or not.”
“Don't fight him.”
“I’m filled with love and have my Luna by my side. I can’t lose,” Dex said.
“Still. No need to incite him.”
Dex shrugged while he turned the truck around. “When I defeat him for good, we won’t be looking over our shoulders for him ever again.”