A Kiss For Your Freedom
Chapter 27

- I can treat you to a restaurant, I said, putting my arm around his waist.

- I don't doubt it for a second, but it's not because my apartment is disproportionately large that I can't settle for much simpler things. I eat here every lunchtime and when you have spent a little more time at my place, you will understand that the rare times I go into the kitchen are when Dorian pushes me there. I almost have the address of all the delivery people around my home.

- We're going to have to seriously take care of feeding you properly.

- Well that will probably wait until tomorrow and if you want to know everything, Dorian may be an outstanding cook, but we rarely manage to eat hot food. So what do you choose?

- I follow you.

- In this case, burgers. I need calories, she said, smiling.

She is more relaxed, I think seeing me with Dorian reassures her. Makes him understand, I am ready to accept them both. We sit at a small table before starting to eat, the day is hot and it's nice to spend a little time with her this way.

- What's life like in a pack, she asks.

- It's very different from what you know. It's a bit like a big family where everyone is dependent on the other. The hierarchy is important to us and it is they who are at the top of the pyramid who must manage everything, provide protection but also make the pack prosper, making it more powerful.

-So a lot of people depend on you, right?

- That's it.

-Your absence does not pose a problem?

- I'm on a mission to make the pack prosper. Your project can bring us a lot, financial ease which will allow us to gain power.

- So when we finish the project you will leave, right?

- No, I will replace a solution, I won't go back far from you love, I promise you.

- Okay, she said, trying to hide the slight confusion that was growing inside her.

- So tell me, what does Dorian do for a living?

"He's a cabinetmaker," she replies, smiling. You'll see, he's really very talented. He has remarkable talent.

- I have the impression that he has a lot of hidden talents, I said, responding to his smile.

- It's true. Is it likely to cause you problems having marked it too? I mean I don't really know how it works in your world, maybe it's frowned upon to mark a Wolf of the same s*x.

- Let's say that it's especially counterproductive but it happens. Marking one's half serves mainly to ensure the descent of the pack, to enlarge it, but at times,

- Yeah, I feel like I understand very well what you're talking about, but you didn't answer my question. Are you likely to have problems?

- Let's say that the real problem doesn't really come from the fact that he is a man. His pack, or at least his old pack, has been in conflict with mine for decades, maybe even longer.

- For what?

- The truth? I'm not sure I know. This all happened long before I was born. If I listen to our stories, they wanted to expand and began to covet our lands, if I listen to them, ours were jealous of their forces and wanted to exterminate them. Whatever the real reasons, there have been too many deaths for both our camps to forget. I thought things could work out after my Alpha ascended the throne and especially after he found his Luna. Because none of us would have imagined that his companion could be the daughter of our enemy. But now and then, life plays funny tricks on us, which didn't please his father at all. It only increased his animosity towards us. If we know that I marked Dorian, he risks stepping up to the plate. Aside from his daughter, which he couldn't refuse to my Alpha, each of these Wolves must ask permission to mark a Wolf from another pack.

-It's a completely stupid rule.

- I know. He is very focused on the purity of his pack and carefully selects those who enter it. I might as well tell you that I'm not the best choice.

- So the three of us are together but you might leave at any moment and no one should know about you and Dorian.

-Actually, you should be right, but I wouldn't leave and I'm not ashamed of having been marked by Dorian. I can't imagine how much he suffered. He deserves this second chance and I understand why he turned to you to get it.

- He talked to me about it but I didn't want to go into details, every time he brings up the subject, I feel like my heart is being pierced. Did you know his wife?

- I could tell you no, but I'm not sure. I participated in battles with my people. I can tell you that I'm sure I didn't kill him because I've never killed women, but I may have already encountered him.

- So you've already killed people?

- Yes, I said, sighing. A part of me is much more animal than human and I can't fight it.

- I know. It's just that I don't see you as a bloodthirsty killer.

- If someone attacked one of you two, you can believe me, you would see how bloodthirsty I can be.

She smiles a little more while taking a sip of her soda,

- You raise him to the same rank as me, she said, planting her gaze on mine.

I then realize that she is right, that in the sentence I just said, he had the same place as her.

- When I tell you that he seems to have a lot of hidden talent, I said smiling.

- We should go back. I suppose you have to answer to your Alpha and I would like not to finish too late.

-Why a tattoo of this size?

- To try to erase an even greater love, she replies, getting up.

I understand that she is talking about me and almost regret having asked the question.

- Don't worry, if I hadn't done it, I would still be stuck in a life that is killing me little by little, imprisoned in a relationship that has never given me anything other than a false one feeling of stability. I did it because I needed to and I don't regret it, on the contrary, it was he who allowed me to meet Dorian and see you again. The pain is very relative you know and from time to time, it is almost like therapy.

- I should have spared you that Emma.

- Stop. I don't want to think about it again, all that matters is that now I have you two.

She ends the conversation, I know it. I follow her back to her box and once again, her sister is there. Emma walks by without stopping, but I catch her looking at us and I don't like how I feel at that moment. We lock ourselves in her office for a few more hours until she lets out a cry of victory while stretching.

- Finished, she said, stretching like a cat would. You can take this to your Alpha treasure and I'll go to my next tattoo session.

- I'll tell him, we'll see each other later in this bar, right?

- Stop panicking, of course we'll see you again later. Do what you have to do and as soon as I'm done I'll join you. Mélissa will probably be with me since her boyfriend is the bartender and I already know that I will be her last customer of the day.

- OK, I said, getting up to join her, we'll see each other tonight love.

She gets up in turn and lets me kiss her before leaving her. She did a great job and I know he will be happy to see it, but even if it's only for a few hours, I dread leaving her.

As I leave his company, my cell phone vibrates. Seeing Dorian's name appear, I can't help but smile stupidly.

"You're distracting me. Stop panicking, you'll see her again tonight. >>

"I know, but suddenly I feel really, really alone. >>

"You will feel less alone in a few hours.">>

"I have one more thing to do and then I'm available. >>

"I'm finishing up and I can be free in an hour.">>

"I'm coming to pick you up, I might as well go back with just one vehicle. >>

"I'll send you the address. >>

It's just an excuse, I know, I just want to be with him for a short while. I call Steeven my Alpha to let him know the progress of the project,

- That's good, you're moving quickly, he said. I take it that you can work together.

- We're doing more than that, I marked it.

- Better and better. When are you planning to bring her back to the pack?

- She's not ready. She's human, she's just discovered what I am and even then, not quite.

- I couldn't give you time forever, you know that. I need you here, the pack needs you.

- I know I know.

- Do what you have to do but don't take too long. Young people are asking for you, we miss your presence.

- I'll call you back quickly, I said, hanging up before he said anything.

I have no idea what's going to happen but I know that Emma has no place in my house, nor does Dorian. I'm going to have to make a choice but my heart starts beating harder, as if he had already chosen. Emma's POV

I took a taxi and it's already been a good hour since Mélissa got to work and the device is emitting this evil sound which repeats itself tirelessly.

- You seem to be doing really well at the moment, it's nice to see, I could almost forget the fact that you betrayed me to get a tattoo elsewhere.

- I can guarantee you that it's not entirely a betrayal, but yes, I'm really good.

- I assume Dorian is no stranger to all this.

--Indeed, but not only.

My cell phone rings and she stops as I pick up.

- Hello treasure.

-We just arrived at the bar with Dorian amour. We are waiting for you.

- Another good hour and I'm yours, I said, smiling. See you later.

I hang up and catch Mélissa's look at me,

- Did you just say you?

- I just told you.

- I'm hallucinating. You better tell me everything.

And I spend the next hour talking to him about Dorian but also about Jason, explaining to him how it's stronger than me and that at the same time, it makes me feel so good that nothing else it matters.