Chapter 96

Chapter 96 Dimitri:

| had to fight back the anger that | felt at the fact that everything that | was doing seemed to bring back a past that | no longer wanted to admit.

The pain that | felt in my chest as she brought back the topic of me and Charlotte was not one that | liked, especially when |

knew that it was something that | wanted to close.

| took a deep breath, knowing that we were not going to get anywhere with such arguments when we couldn't find it in ourselves to even think of agreeing on ONE topic. And that was something that | knew was going to create a major problem that | did not want to handle.

“What am | going to do with you, Aurora?” | asked, my voice above a whisper as | got lost in my thoughts. The office door was knocked, breaking my train of thoughts, and | frowned as | caught Natalia’s scent. The last thing that | needed. was another argument, and knowing that her wedding was in a few days; | didn’t want to ruin that for her.

“Come in,” | called. She opened the door, and | watched as she walked inside before closing it. She didn’t say a word for a few seconds, but | waited, allowing her the time that she needed to calm herself down. “You can sit,”

“| choose not to,” she said, and | nodded. She crossed her arms over her chest and | shook my head in question, waiting for what she was going to say. “I wanted to apologize for interfering with something that | shouldn’t have. Though | do not like seeing the woman as broken as | do, it is painful to know that the one person that | am calling my friend is the one person that | cannot help; | know that it is wrong of me to get between man and wife, regardless of what the situation is.”

| got up from the chair, and walked toward her, not saying a word as | approached her before | nodded at her to sit on the couch that was on the right side of my off my office. She took a seat, and | sat beside her, keeping a safe distance as not to annoy her by being as close as | was before looking her in the eye.

“You know, it amazes me that neither one of you wants to think to listen to one word that | want to say. Yes, | do understand that |

have made my mistakes. concerning my relationship with her, but you both need to know that | did not aim nor did | intend to hurt her. If anything, | went to end things with Charlotte.” | said, and she frowned.

“You still haven’t?” She asked, and | shook my head.

“| did, but there was a minor issue that concerned her toward me.” | said, and Natalia shook her head in question, waiting for my explanation. “Charlotte was a consort in my home. She gave up her titles and everything that would have belonged to her to be with me. She wanted to prove to her father that she could do so instead of following what he wanted,”

“And he wanted what?” She asked, and | sighed.

“To arrange a marriage for her. It was one that she was against with everything. that she had and her father knew that very well.

The thing is, he didn’t seem to see that she was worth the thought of it. He didn’t believe that she would have the right to choose, and she believed otherwise. She didn’t want it.” | said, recalling the night that she entered my bed for the first time. She was scared that | would be resenting her, and though | called her, | have to admit, | didn’t intend to call her to come again. But when her father came to see her a few weeks later, | knew that | wasn’t going to be giving her to him. He would have hurt her, and if she was patient enough regardless of everything, then | figured that maybe she would be the one for me.

Little did | know that fate had its own plans for me.

“| gave her things, a lot of them. | know that she figured that | would have been willing to wrap things up between us.” | said, and Natalia frowned. “By wolf laws, her being with her father right now, reclaiming her rights while still getting the benefits that | gave her was not allowed. She knew that very, in terms of what we do, she would be considered a runaway. And that is not something that we allow, not at all, actually.”

“So, she framed this for Aurora to think that you were cheating on her?” Natalia. asked, and | nodded.

“Aurora and | didn’t have the best or easiest beginning. We didn’t love one. another, and we sure as hell did not get along. | did not want to be with her, but | knew that | didn’t have another choice.” | said, and Natalia frowned in confusion. | knew that no one knew of the reason why Aurora couldn't be her pack’s Alpha, but | also knew that it wasn’t something that | was going to voice out for anyone. “Their pack needed a strong Alpha, and a union, one which Aurora wouldn’t have been able to do on her own.

The two of us were arranged, and in turn, our packs would be merging into a stronger one. We would be allies, and our grounds would grow bigger.”

“But it isn’t something that you wanted,” Natalia said, and | shook my head.

“lam a Pakhan as well as an Alpha. To find myself in something like this when | wasn’t the one who chose this path was not something that | liked. | understand. that Aurora was thrown in this as well, but you as a Capo dei Capi’s daughter should know the reality of how things are in our world.” | said, and Natalia looked down at her lap.

“Why didn’t you at least tell her from the beginning?” She asked, shaking her head. “While | understand your point, you have to understand hers.”

“| never did intend for her to find out the way that she did. However, she saw the two of us on the mating night.” | said, and Natalia’s eyes widened in surprise. “Anyhow, what you make of this information, | will leave to you. But | want you to understand that yes, | will have my conflicts with Aurora for as long as she chooses to be stubborn about the way we both are together.”

“| just didn’t want things to be affecting our friendship.”

“You mean alliance.” She said, correcting me. “I know that you were worried about- me thinking of canceling the wedding.”

“The wedding is not going to be canceled, Dimitri. A lot of family members are coming and lvan is not to blame for this.” She said, getting up from the couch. “For as long as | do not end up finding out that he is a player as his Alpha is.”

“lam not playing...”

“lam no fool to not see that you still have a soft side for your consort.” She said, stopping me. “And if | can see it, imagine what the woman that shares your bed can see.”

| frowned and chewed the inside of my mouth as she opened the door. “I do hope that my apology has been accepted. As you may know, being my mate’s wife will mean that | will have you as my Alpha, and the last thing that | am going to need is to have conflict with you. Have a lovely evening, Alpha...”