Nothing could have been more agonizing than the days leading up to the pack's meeting. Tension was in the air, as though words weren't spoken, as though words weren't said. The pack's eyes seemed to weigh a thousand pounds as we walked through town, every time Asher and I walked through town, the weight of the pack felt like walking with a thousand pounds on my chest. I couldn't stand the feeling of the outsider, the threat; to everything they held dear.The worst part wasn't the whispers or the glares. That knowledge was I was able to make Asher leave his family to stay with me, stay with her - his pack. I knew what that meant. If the Alpha wanted to, he could cast Asher out, he could take everything away that made Asher Asher. I didn't want it to be my fault, but I did love him and I couldn't dodge what was going on between us.
The pack's meeting was approaching, and I was a knot in my stomach. We drove into a secluded clearing out in the woods, and the pack was waiting for us. The air felt cool, the moon's own light stretching shadows forever across the floor of the forest. I could scent pine and damp earth and something darker, and more dangerous.In the clearing, hand in hand, we stood at the edge and I could feel Asher's pulse accelerating beneath my fingers. His jaw was tight with determination and he looked down at me. "I'm right here, Emilia. Don't worry."I wanted to believe him. My heart pounded too fast and my chest was too tight, I wanted to feel safe in his arms. "I'm scared, Asher."His thumb made a line up after my cheek as his fingers brushed my hair back gently. "You don't have to be. You're not letting anyone take you away from me." His words were fierce, raw. A man who had nothing but love and loyalty to give-and nothing to lose-was that man's promise.I stared up at him and the world around us dissolved. The souls entwined had just been him and me. I inhaled deep and nodded. "I trust you."
We stepped into the middle and it was only quiet. Our eyes met with their eyes, shining faintly in the moonlight, their eyes predatory and calculating. The Alpha-that would be Luca, a wild giant of raw power-stood at the very center. Golden eyes and cold, his sight was pinned on us, the eyes of a predator.He had a growl as deep as a wolf's in his voice, and said, 'So you're human.' When he turned my gaze toward me, scrutinising every inch of my being as if he could see through me. "I've heard a lot about you."I steadied my breath trying to stand tall. "I'm Emilia."The corners of his mouth twitching with contempt, his lips curled into a sneer. "I am Luca. The leader of this pack." His voice boomed out through the clearing, a reminder of all the power he possessed.Asher stretched forward, posture and tense body notwithstanding. "I don't want any trouble, Luca." "We're just living our lives."His eyes glimmered colder, more dangerous. "You're a Blackwood, Asher. Humans can't mate with blackwoods. "There's no way you can go making a mockery of everything we've built." He sounded angry, angry enough in fact that I could smell his anger rolling off of him as a wave crashing against rocks.My cheek wedged in the bed, I felt Asher's hand clutch mine but I wasn't about to give up. Luca's words wouldn't get to me.But I said, "We love each other." My voice was steady, but fierce. "That's all that matters."There were no sounds in the clearing for a long while. Thunder in my chest, I could hear the beating of my own heart. Luca's eyes narrowed so that the light focused like a blade.He said with menace: 'We'll see about that.'
Then we left the clearing, he put the weight of his words on my shoulders, and they pressed down, they were killing me. They had erupted into whispers too, the rest of the pack, but I couldn't pay attention to that. I thought only of Asher, the fire in his eyes.Finally, I found the courage to speak and we were heading back to the cabin. "What does this mean, Asher? What happens now?" The gravity of the situation felt small against my voice.I could feel the tremor in his grip but Asher's hand around mine was warm. He didn't say a word for a long, long time, maybe considering his options, but he looked at me and there was nothing lax in his eyes at all. "I'll protect you, Emilia. I am not going to let anybody get in the way of us."I worked hard to swallow past the lump in my throat. "They... but they can tear us apart."His kiss against my lips was gentle but firm, a promise we could not cross. "The Future's ours, Emilia.
Avgolemono soup You and me."I knew in that moment that he said it with every fiber of his being. No one else for him but me, no one else for me but him.
The pack called us over the next day for a final meeting. Here it felt like the last breath before a storm. Asher's presence was my grounding and I followed close to him, the tension in the air was suffocating. His heartbeat matched mine and we waited for the Alpha's decision.Luca's eyes swept over us, until I thought he might speak. Rather than, he let the silence hang, heavy and thick. Finally, he spoke. You've chosen a path of destruction: Asher. She chose you over your pack. Now it's your turn to deal with it."I felt like my heart had dropped into my body, up my spine.Luca said, "You're banished." His voice final. "Now you are no longer a part of this pack." You're an outcast."
My world tilted on its axis. I knew there were eyes on us, but the pack was silent. The weight of the judgment, the weight of the anger, the weight of the betrayal. Asher stood tall with defiance on his chin. "I'll stand by Emilia. She's my future whether whatever happens."His words were a thrill through me, a spurt of love so great that it was close to knocking the breath out of me. This was the man I learned to fall for. This was the man who would choose me over the world whenever the world tried to tear us apart.
But later, when we left the meeting, the world felt heavier. I could feel the loss ... his pack, his family. He wasn't just losing, he was losing for us. We were all alone, vulnerable now. When he looked at me, when his hand took mine again the world wasn't as dark as before.His voice was low this time, low and soothing and Asher said, "We'll make it work." "We're gonna live our own life babe, you and me."I believed him. We had each other, regardless of how hard it got; as long as we had each other, we could face anything.That night, as we laid in each other's arms, and the firelight dims and flickers softly in the corner, I knew I'd found my home, not in a place but in him.