Emma POV
Everyone was rushing around trying to get the dining room ready. Emma and Patricia already had most of the food done, they just needed a few ingredients to finish the rest. Patricia was pulling out the last two pies out of the oven and sitting them on the counter to cool while Emma was putting the icebox pie in the refrigerator to cool. They looked around the kitchen at their handiwork. Food was piled everywhere, not a single open space remained on the counters, island, or table.
As they finished cooking, Vicki would put the food on serving trays and put the pots and pans in the dishwasher. Emma went out to the dining room to check on the progress, she was amazed at how quickly everything was coming together in such a short time. Every one of the staff was more than happy to lend a helping hand.
She walked out of the dining room to see Logan coming in the front door carrying bags of the groceries that she had sent him out for. She was worried about him. She could feel his stress and anxiousness through their mate bond. Hell, even if she couldn't feel it, she could see it all over his face. Something was going on but he wouldn't talk to her about it, which upset her. She felt as if he was shutting her out.
That feeling went away as soon as Logan looked at her. All the worry and stress that she felt through their mate bond and that was on his face was instantly replaced with excitement and just pure love, and this big goofy smile he always had when he looked at her. He could fake the look on his face, but he couldn't fake the feelings she felt from him through their mate bond. He loved her, whole heartedly, and she loved him too. Her heart was beating so fast and she felt like she had butterflies in her stomach. She loved the way he smelled to her, the smell of strawberries and vanilla.
She still was worried about him though, something was going on, she wasn't sure what. She had a feeling it was something to do with the attack on Morgan. She didn't have time to worry about that now though, she still had a dinner to finish. His parents and sisters would be here in a few hours. She wanted everything to be perfect, but more than that she just wanted everyone to have fun.
She walked up to Logan and they walked in the kitchen together. Logan sat the bags down on the floor because there wasn't anywhere to put them on the counters.
"I got everything you that was on the list. Can I help with anything else?" Logan asked.
"If you want, you could help Vicki set the dining room table. After that is set, we can start carrying food in and put it on the table. Karen already has the centerpieces made and on the table. Everything is just about ready." Emma told him proudly.
"Now that we have the rest of the ingredients I needed, we can get the last two dishes made and then we will be done." Patricia said and then looked at Emma. "I can finish these last two if you want to go ahead and go start getting ready."
"No, that's ok. I want to finish helping and I will still have plenty of time to get ready." Emma told her.
"Ok then." Patricia said, smiling. She had really enjoyed having Emma in the kitchen with her. She was such a sweet and gentle person and her heart broke for her having been locked away her whole life. A girl like Emma should have been proudly shown off to the world. Well, at least she will be now, Patricia thought to herself.
Logan had walked out of the kitchen to go find Vicki and Patricia was getting things out of the bags. Emma was getting the rest of the ingredients out of the pantry when all of a sudden, she started to feel dizzy. She dropped the food she had in her hands and grabbed the door frame to keep herself from falling down. Patricia came running and grabbed her and helped her to a chair.
"Miss Emma, you should go rest before dinner. You have been pushing yourself too hard already today." Patricia scolded her.
"I am fine Patricia, really." Emma replied.
"No, you aren't. Don't make me call Alpha Logan in and have him carry you." Patricia said.
"Really, I think I just need to eat something." Emma said, realizing that she hasn't eaten anything since this morning.
"Fine. I will make you something to eat, and if you are still not better, I will call Alpha Logan."
Emma just nodded her head. Patricia got her a glass of tea and sat it down on the table in front of her. She picked up the glass and noticed how shaky her hand was, so she put both hands on the glass to be steadier. She sipped the tea slowly. It didn't take long for Patricia to throw some food together for her. Emma ate quickly, wanting to get back to work. Feeling better, she stood up to put her plate and glass in the sink, relieved that she wasn't dizzy or shaky anymore.
Emma looked at Patricia, "See, all I needed was to eat something. I'm perfectly fine now."
"Well, ok. But I am keeping my eye on you." Patricia told her.
They went back to work finishing the last two dishes. An hour later, Emma pulled the last dish out of the oven and sat it on top of the stove. She took off the oven mitts and hung them back up on the wall.
"Emma, you have done so well, I am so proud of you." Patricia said and wrapped her up in a hug.
Emma was glowing. It was a wonderful feeling having someone be proud of her.
"Ok, so I will finish getting everything cleaned up. You go start getting ready." Patricia told her.
Emma looked down at her hands and was fidgeting with the bow on her apron.
Patricia walked over to her and lifted her chin. "Emma, sweetie, what's wrong." she asked.
"Well," Emma started, having trouble saying the words that she wanted to say.
"What is it?" Patricia pushed.
Emma sighed. "I just feel awful."
"About what?" Patricia asked.
Emma looked around the kitchen at everything her and Patricia had spent all day working on.
"I just feel bad that you spent all day working on this dinner, and..." Emma trailed off, not wanting to finish her sentence.
"You feel bad that I worked hard and won't get to enjoy it?" Patricia asked, finishing Emma's sentence for her.
Emma didn't say anything, she just nodded her head. Patricia cupped Emma's face with her hands.
"Did Alpha Logan not tell you?" Patricia asked.
Emma shook her head.
"He invited the whole staff to eat dinner as well." Patricia told her.
Emma's mouth dropped. "He did?" she asked.
"He did. Alpha Logan is a wonderful man. He wouldn't let his staff work this hard and not be able to enjoy it too. He just isn't like that."
"Why didn't he tell me?" Emma asked.
"That would be something you would have to ask him." Patricia gave her another hug and then pushed her towards the door.
"Now go. Go get ready." Patricia told her.
Emma smiled at her and walked towards the door. Once she got to the door she stopped and turned around and looked at Patricia with an embarrassed look on her face.
"Um, Patricia?" she said.
"Yes?"
"I've never been to a party, much less a dinner, so I really don't know what to wear." Emma said, tripping over her words. She didn't know why it had embarrassed her, but it did.
Patricia smiled at her softly. "It's ok, don't worry. Go take a shower and I will send Vicki up to help you."
"Thank you." Emma told her and then left the kitchen.
Emma was standing at the foot of her and Logan's bed with a towel wrapped around her, Vicki standing beside her. They were looking at the clothes that Vicki had picked out and laid on the bed. Emma couldn't decide which of the outfits to wear. Vicki had told her that any one of them would be perfect for the dinner, but Emma just wasn't so sure. She liked the outfits, but none of them just seemed right.
"I don't know Vicki. I just can't decide. None of them really speak to me." Emma said.
"Speak to you?" Vicki said laughing.
"Don't laugh." Emma said frowning. "I don't know how else to explain it."
"Ok, let me look in the closet again and see if I can find something else." Vicki told her.
Emma followed Vicki into the closet and they began going through her clothes.
"No. No. No. No. No." Emma said as Vicki pulled one after the other off the closet rod. She was getting frustrated. Nothing in her closet was good enough.
As Vicki kept pushing clothes away, she found a garment bag hanging in the back.
"What's this?" Vicki asked as she took it off the closet rod.
"I don't know, it's not mine." Emma said.
"It's on your side." Vicki told her as she unzipped the bag. She snapped her head back towards Emma, grinning from ear to ear.
"Come on." Vicki told her. She zipped the bag back up and grabbed Emma's arm and pulled her back into the bedroom. She sat the bag down on top of the other clothes that were laying on the bed and unzipped the bag all the way. She pulled the top of the bag away and Emma's hands went to her face and her mouth dropped.
"Oh my." Emma said as she looked inside the bag. Inside was the most beautiful dress she had ever seen, and it was perfect. She picked up the dress and Vicki helped her put it on. Once she had the dress on, Vicki zipped it up in the back.
The dress was an ice blue at the top that almost matched her eyes then flowed into a beautiful deep purple, that almost looked like the night sky at twilight, at the bottom of the dress. It had a sheer ice blue tulle fabric that matched the top of the dress and went from the waist down and at the bottom it had sparkles that covered the deep purple which made it look like stars over the night sky. It had thin straps that went over her shoulders and then crossed in the back. The neckline was a V shape that cut just low enough to barely show her cleavage. It was tight at the waist, but not too tight, and then flared out just a little bit and flowed down to just below her knees.
Emma walked over to the mirror, she couldn't believe the reflection that looked back at her. She had never been self-conscious about her looks, but she never imagined that she could look this pretty in something.
"Wow." Vicki said staring at Emma.
"Where did this come from?" Emma asked.
Vicki shook her head. "I don't know."
At that moment, Logan walked in the door. Emma watched him through the mirror and for a moment, she thought she caught a look of anger on his face. She turned around and faced him.
"Is everything ok?" she asked.
"Yes." he said crisply.
Emma turned to Vicki, "Thank you for your help, Vicki."
"You're welcome." Vicki said and then left the room.
Emma turned back to Logan. "Ok, what's wrong?" she asked him.
"Nothing." he said and walked past her into the closet. She followed him.
"Something is wrong. Why won't you talk to me?" she asked.
"There is nothing wrong." he told her. He was acting so cold. She could feel anger coming through their mate bond.
"Is it the dress?" she asked.
"No." he replied.
Tears started welling up in her eyes. He had never acted so cold towards her, and him acting that way now was confusing the hell out of her. She turned and walked out of the closet, not wanting to let him see her cry. She tried reaching the zipper to unzip the dress and take it off. She was no longer in the mood to go to dinner. Unfortunately for her, she couldn't reach the zipper. She walked back in the closet to find Logan changing his clothes.
"Can you please unzip the dress?" she asked quietly.
"Why?" Logan asked.
"So I can take it off and change." she told him.
"Why?" he asked again.
"Because I want to change!" she yelled at him.
Logan raised his eyebrows at her in surprise that she yelled at him. Hell, she surprised herself by yelling but the way he was acting towards her was frustrating.
"Fine, if you won't unzip it, then I will go get someone that will." she told him and turned and walked out of the closet.
"Just wear the damn dress." She heard Logan say but she ignored him. She picked up her phone and walked out of the room. She dialed Vicki's number and hit send.
"Hello?" Vicki said through the speaker.
"Can you come unzip this dress for me please?" Emma asked, her voice cracking.
"Is everything ok?" Vicki asked.
"Yes, I just want to wear something else. This dress is just a little too formal for tonight." she told her.
"Ok, I will be there in just a second." Vicki said.
"Thank you." Emma said and hung up the phone.
She was waiting outside of the bedroom when the door swung open.
"What are you doing?" he asked her.
"Waiting." she replied as coldly as he had been acting towards her.
"For what?" he asked.
"To get this dress unzipped. I told you if you wouldn't unzip it then I would get someone else to." she replied and turned her back towards him.
"I told you to wear the damn dress." he replied angrily.
"And I told you that I wanted to change. I don't want to wear it." she said.
"Just wear the dress, Emma." he said, not as angrily.
Emma just ignored him. She didn't understand why he was acting this way towards her, but if he wanted to be an asshole, she would be too.
"Emma, please just wear the dress..." he pleaded with her. "You look beautiful in it."
"Just leave me alone." she said, trying not to let her voice waiver.
"Fine." he said.
Emma felt his hand on her back as he unzipped the dress and walked back in their bedroom. Emma turned on the screen of her phone and sent Vicki a message and told her never mind and that Logan unzipped the dress for her. She stood there for a few minutes trying to pull herself together. When she finally felt she was collected enough to face Logan, she walked back into their bedroom. He was already dressed.
"Emma, I'm-" he began but Emma cut him off.
"Please, just leave me alone right now." she said and walked past him and into the closet, shutting the door behind her. She felt the guilt coming from Logan through their mate bond, but in that moment, she didn't care. He had no right acting that way towards her. She had done nothing wrong. Had she? Emma asked herself.
She pulled the dress off and left it on the floor. She heard a knock on the closet door.
"Emma, I am going downstairs. Please, just wear the dress." she heard Logan say through the door. When she didn't answer she heard him sigh and heard his footsteps walking away from the door. She cracked the door open and listened for the click of the bedroom door shutting. She picked up the dress and walked back into the bedroom and put it back on the hanger and gently placed it in the garment bag.
She walked back into the closet and hung it back up in the back and pushed her clothes back in front of it to where she couldn't see it. She stood there for a minute and then moved the clothes back towards the front and grabbed the garment bag and put it on Logan's side of the closet, in the back, and pushed his clothes in front of it to where it couldn't be seen.
She walked back into the bedroom and without thinking about which one to wear, she picked up one of the outfits that Vicki had brought out from the closet. It was a simple outfit, just a pair of jeans and a light green sleeveless blouse. She picked up the other outfits and hung them back up in the closet and grabbed a pair of shoes.
She sat on the bed and put on her shoes. Emma gripped the edges of the bed and let herself lose control. As she sat there sobbing, she felt more guilt coming from Logan. Her phone rang and she picked it up to see Logan's name on the screen. She hit the reject button and when she did, he called again. She hit the reject button and then turned her phone to vibrate. He called again but this time she just let it ring. She was glad that they couldn't mind link each other yet.
Afraid that he would come back up, she sent him a message and told him that she would be down shortly that she needed to finish getting ready. She threw the phone on the bed. Pull yourself together, she told herself. She stood up and walked over to the vanity that Logan had gotten her. She plugged up the curling iron and while it heated up, she put just a little bit of makeup on, then she curled the ends of her hair.
Looking in the mirror, she could see that her eyes were still puffy from crying. She went to the bathroom and dabbed some cold water under her eyes and then went back to fix her makeup. Once she was satisfied that nobody would be able to tell she had been crying, she stood up and walked towards the bedroom door. She remembered she left her phone on the bed and went back for it.
There was a message from Logan letting her know his parents and sisters were five minutes away. She texted him back to let him know she is almost ready and would be down soon. She straightened her back and her shoulders. Now wasn't the time to be in a bad mood. She put her hand on the doorknob and started to twist. She stopped. She couldn't make herself open the door and go downstairs. As much as she wanted to meet his parents and his sisters, she didn't want to face Logan.
Moon Goddess, please give me courage and strength, she prayed. She twisted the doorknob and opened the door. She took a deep breath and walked out of the bedroom. She got to the bottom of the stairs and started to walk out the front door to wait with Logan. Emma's feet seemed to have a mind of their own as she turned towards the kitchen instead of the front door. She made her way through the empty kitchen and walked through the back door.