The Royal Beta

Ch. 17 - Dante

Oh my gosh, can you believe it? We passed the magical 777 (I just really love how that looks). Thank you all so much for reading. Here's yet another chapter for you lovely folks.

Chapter 17 – Dante

Just after Roman had left, another knock sounded through the room and Dante groaned. Couldn't they be left alone for two seconds? He wanted Emmaline to get some rest, she deserved it after such a hectic night. Plus, he loved the feeling of having her snuggled up to him.

Against his will Dante muttered a 'come in', hoping the person on the other side of the door wouldn't hear. But of course he'd have no such luck. The door opened to reveal that 'Darrell' person Dante had seen when he'd gone to fetch Fiona, the pack doctor, because queen Aryana had fainted. He wasn't pleased that 'Darrell' just came into Emmaline's room like this. He'd been afraid there was something going on between these two – whether it was friendship or something else he couldn't pinpoint – because of the words he had used when he notified Fiona of Emma's return the other day.

"I'm sorry, I didn't expect her to..." Darrell trailed off, most likely realising his mistake.

"Didn't expect her to have her mate over?" Dante snapped at him. The boy seemed shell-shocked at the mention that Dante was Emma's mate. 'Darrell' turned pale, Dante noticed. He smirked, it wasn't nice of him to do so, but he simply could not help it. He felt satisfied to get this reaction out of the boy. He felt protective of Emma and just slightly threatened, but pleased now that he knew he intimidated the boy.

"She never mentioned a 'mate' being found." It wasn't hard for Dante to detect the doubt and bitterness in Darrell's voice and it didn't sit well with him at all. It was like he didn't believe Dante was Emma's true mate. So to prove a point, Dante – unwillingly – adjusted the position he and Emma were laying in so both their marks were on full display for the boy to see. No words were needed after that. The boy seemed to have proof enough as he dashed out of the bedroom, through the anteroom and then into the hallway. To make a point, Darrell slammed the door behind him.

Cursing silently, Dante kept stroking through Emma's hair in hopes of keeping her from waking up. Unfortunately, Darrell had slammed the door so hard, it was impossible for Emma not to wake from the noise it was causing. Especially since the door that led from the anteroom to her bedroom was left open.

Emma rolled over and stretched, drawing Dante's eyes to her stomach where her T-shirt was riding up and revealed a bit of bare skin. He felt his canines extend as a few inappropriate thoughts roamed through his head. "Don't get any ideas pretty boy, I don't want to provoke my father more." She crushed his dream. But Dante knew it was only a matter of time before he could do what he wanted with her.

"You remember your brother stopping by?" Dante asked her as he didn't know if she was actually awake enough to process everything that had been said.

"Vaguely. He was talking on my father's behalf, right?"

"Kind of. Just explaining your father's reasoning." Emmaline absentmindedly nodded her head. "And he said that you guys thought you wouldn't have a mate. Can I ask why?"

"Rumours, basically. Me being the royal guardian and all. It was said that because I need to focus on protecting Aryana, the moon goddess would not give me a mate because he'd only distract me."

"I'm happy the rumours turned out to be false."

"Me, too. I wouldn't want to miss out on you."

"Can we use now to get to know each other a bit more?" Dante asked then as he recalled something alpha Samuel and luna Erica had told him. Something about Emmaline spending nine months a year over at Woodland. He wanted to know what that was about, had she not learned by now how to control her wolf? Was the animal inside of her still dangerous and fighting Emma's authority over it?

"Sure. What do you want to know?"

"What's the deal with you being over at Woodland most of the year?" He decided to just ask it bluntly. A clear question because he wanted a clear answer. It was simple. Or so Dante thought. Emmaline obviously thought otherwise as she started squirming and eventually sat up, facing Dante properly.

"What brought this on?" Emma asked, trying to evade the question.

"Just something your parents mentioned. I'm curious."

"Oh. Well, it's nothing important, really." She said vaguely. "What did they tell you?"

"You tell me." Dante said. "What could they have told me?" Okay, he had to admit he was being a bit of an ass right now. But he just wanted to hear it from her. And he was curious why she was so uncomfortable answering this question.

"Just that they send me there when I just shifted because I was unable to control the beast inside." She smiled a sad smile, Dante noticed. "I nearly killed my mother once, have they told you that?" Dante shook his head, no one had spoken a word about that. Emmaline sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Well, it was a few weeks after my first shift. They were telling my brother and I they were forfeiting their search of Aryana. We both knew why they had decided to give up on our sister. Have my parents told you about the body my brother found just before that?"

"Yes. A young girl. You were the one who told them it wasn't Aryana." Emmaline nodded her approval.

"Despite my brother and I understanding where they came from, we weren't agreeing with them. We didn't just get mad that day, we got furious. Ready-to-kill-angry. Roman was seventeen and he was fully able to control the need to shift and attack something – or someone. I wasn't." Emma averted her gaze, away from his eyes that were regarding her carefully.

"My mother tried to calm me down. She didn't do anything wrong. Just held me in her arms and kissed my forehead. It only riled me up more. I wanted her to kiss my sister goodnight. I wanted my sister to be there. So I shifted. In the arms of my mother." Tears were flowing down her face and Dante leaned over to take her into his arms. But right before he could reach her, Emma shot off the bed. Hugging herself as she stared at the ground.

"My claws ripped through her chest. She almost bled to death. Luckily my father was quick to interfere and he had called Fiona's mother to come as soon as I shifted. They were able to stop the bleeding just in time."

They were silent after that. Not for long, just a few minutes in which they were pulled back into their own thoughts. Dante could relate to Emma's story, he hadn't shifted right in the arms of his mother, but he had lost control of his wolf a lot, too, when he had just shifted.

"The worst part was that my parents weren't even mad at me. As a ten year old, I definitely understood what I had almost done." Emmaline laughed a dry, humourless laugh. "However, I did not understand why I was not punished. First I lost our queen, then I shifted early, and then I almost killed my mom. Yet they never yelled at me, or anything."

"Because it was out of your hands. What could you have possibly done?" Dante countered and got up off the bed and walked over to where Emmaline was stood. He didn't reach out to her, afraid she would reject him again. "It wasn't your fault, Emma. I already told you this. Things happen..."

"They didn't just happened to anyone, Dante, they happened to me." Dante sighed, she was hard on herself.

"That they happened to you is only because of who you are in this world. It would have happened to anyone who was put in your place." Emma didn't answer, but she rubbed her arms, an indication that she was in fact listening. So Dante continued, "how can you expect a six year old to protect her sister from a group of grown men? Or a ten year old to be fully capable of controlling a wolf?"

This time Emma laughed more sincerely. "Yeah, that does sound a bit crazy." Dante laughed, too. Not because of what he had said, but because he saw a bit of Emma's self-loathing vanishing.

"You're going to let me hold you now?" Emmaline looked up at him and then walked right into his awaiting arms.

"Can I confess something?" Dante whispered. He took Emmaline's soft squeeze around his waist as a 'yes'. "I was only ten when I first shifted, too. I was terrified. My mom was amazing, she had the patience of a saint."

"She sounds nice."

"She is. Hopefully you'll meet her someday soon."

"Dante?"

"Yes?"

"You're seriously not going to tell me Darrell came by?"