Chapter 48: He Can't Be With Her

Chapter forty-eight: He Can't Be With Her

Elizabeth

I had just put a bath of Joseph's favorite cookies into the oven. We were coming up to our thirty-five wedding anniversary and just thinking about him still gave me butterflies. He was the man of my dreams.

When my father had told me years back that I was to enter into an arranged marriage, I hadn't even batted an eyelash. I knew what it meant to be an Alpha's daughter, there were certain duties that I had to fulfill. Of course, I wanted the experience of having a fated mate but I knew from the very beginning even if I found my fated mate, my father would not allow it. A union had to bring benefits and anything less than an Alpha, brought no benefits.

Lucky for me, Joseph turned out to be my one and only. Everything worked out how it was supposed to be for us. Had Joseph been an ordinary wolf, would I have still married him? The answer is no, I knew my role as the daughter of an Alpha and I was born to be a Luna. It was a harsh truth that I lived with. Our duties far surpassed any notions of love we had. Love could be found anywhere but power couldn't, it was a saying that I had taught as a little girl and a saying l carried with me.

"My darling." Joseph's voice carried into the kitchen.

"I am here." I responded and a smile was already creeping onto my face. It is a natural reaction when it comes to him.

A few seconds later, Joseph walked in with a bouquet of flowers in his hand. He always did little gestures like this whenever he was feeling like it. Some days, it would be flowers, others it would be a current snack I had been craving or something else if he really went out. It may be clothing or shoes. He really understands my language of love so well.

"This is for you." He placed a gentle kiss on my cheek and handed me the red roses.

"Thank you, sweetheart." I placed a chaste kiss on his cheek as well.

"I met with Helen today, Joseph. She is such a lovely girl, we picked well and I am sure that Bernard is going to be happy with her." I said.

"I am sure she is a wonderful girl." He replied but there was something in his voice that didn't sound convincing.

I turned away from him and moved the sink where I sprayed my flowers. I reached under the sink to pull out one of the vases I kept under it. I filled it with water and got to work on my flowers.

"How was your day, sweetheart?" I asked with my back turned on him.

"It was good, I went to the hospital to see Bernard. He was awake when I visited him." I felt my heart squeezed at the mention of my baby boy. I hated to see him the way he was. Bernard is always a strong child, when he would get hurt on the playground, he would get up and wipe away the blood, still continuing playing as though nothing had happened.

"How is he? I went to visit him yesterday but Jana told me that he had been asleep after his last visitor."

"He is fine now and ready to leave the hospital." I smiled.

"That sounds like my son. He was never one to stay still for long. He will be out of there soon enough and he and Helen can then start the wedding preparation." Joseph was silent for a while. I looked over my shoulder at him and saw him with his face on. He often made that face when he was about to tell me something that I knew I wasn't going to like.

"What is it, Joseph?" I felt this sinking feeling hit my stomach as all sorts of scenarios played out in my mind.

"I think it is best if you sit down for this, my darling." I whirled around on my heels to face him. I set down my trimming scissors and crossed my arms over my chest.

"I am fine where I am standing, you just need to tell me what you wanted to say." He went silent again for a moment as he thought his words carefully.

After almost thirty-five years of togetherness, Joseph and I had learned each other right down to the core. He knew how to maneuver around my volatile moods and I knew how to get what I wanted out of him with a few sweet words and touches. He let out a low breath and then began to speak.

"Bernard doesn't want to marry Helen." A loud silence came over the kitchen after his words. I stared at my mate like he had suddenly grown two heads. I blinked once, thinking maybe I hadn't heard him clearly the first time.

"What?"

"Bernard doesn't want to marry Helen again." He stated just like he hadn't said something that could have altered our lives completely.

I was quiet for a moment, his words sank into my brain as I tried my best to process them properly but they just sounded illogical and my brain couldn't accept them. There is no way Bernard had just suddenly woken up and decided to throw away everything we had worked so hard to build. I let out a sound that was a mixture between a chuckle and a scoff. I decided that this was just some kind of horrible mix-up and none of this was my current reality. There is no way that my logical and practical thinking son could make such a decision.

"Okay." I muttered and he looked shocked.

"Did you hear what I just said, my darling? Bernard has refused to marry Helen." I repeated.

"Yes, I heard you. It is just cold feet, he is worried about saying goodbye to his old bachelor lifestyle. He will come to his senses soon enough." He stood up from his seat as he approached me warily like he was worried that I was about to blow at any given moment.

"He had found his mate, Elizabeth." The world stood still, I couldn't breathe at that moment.

"It is Helen, right?" I asked but I knew it wasn't her. I already knew what he was going to say. It is her, the little wench that had bewitched my son.

"No, it is the rogue girl they brought in a few weeks ago, Elizabeth." He replied.

"Her name is Elena." He added and I suddenly felt nauseous. There is no way that what I am hearing is true. That little rogue girl had somehow weaseled her way into our lives and caused destruction.

"He can't be with her, Joseph." I blurted out and he scrunched his nose in disdain.

"And why not? They are fated, Elizabeth. It would go against every natural instinct within him if he was not with her. Would you really want your son to go through the grappling effect of rejection?" I scoffed.

"You know there are ways around that, Joseph. I know ways in which he can cheat fate." My mate looked at me like I had gone mad.

"Are you hearing yourself right now, Elizabeth? I am telling you that our son has found his one true reason for happiness and you are saying that he should discard her and deal with the crippling effects of rejection?" He asked.

"Yes, we had already committed to Ronald, think of the humiliation Helen would face if Bernard rejected her." I said.

"She would be sad but she will move on. Rejection is like having your heart physically broken because you are going against fate. Do you really want to inflict pain on your son? Surely you aren't that heartless, my darling."

"Of course, I don't want to hurt Bernard but we must remember what this union could bring. Have you forgotten that we were also a strategic union, Joseph?" My mate narrowed his eyes at me as the tension between us started bubbling.

"And we also happen to be a fated mate, Elizabeth. There was no one else for me but you, just as there was no one else for you but me. Do you mean to tell me that if I were not an Alpha, you would have rejected me?" I already knew my answer but I couldn't say it out loud because it would only hurt him. Hurting Joseph was the last thing I ever wanted to do.

I was silent for a long time, his eyes grew wide. He knew my answer too, not wanting to have to deal with the aftermath of his epiphany, I excused myself. I had a very pressing matter that demanded my attention.

"Excuse me." I scurried out of the kitchen and headed for the front door. I didn't stop until I was at my son's front door.

"Helen?" I called out once I stepped into the foyer.

"I am here." Her voice was coming from the kitchen.

I walked into the kitchen, she was sitting by the counter typing with her phone and when she was in my face, her smile dropped and she was out of her seat in an instant.

"We need to move ahead with the plan. Things have escalated and we are running out of time." I said to her.

"Tell me what I need to do." Her face was serious and her body language showed someone that is ready to fight.

This is the reason why I picked her, she is a fighter and most importantly she reminded me so much of myself. This is what my son needed by his side, not some rogue girl that washed up onto our borders one autumn night.

It is time to remove Elena totally from the equation.