Wanted by the Alpha King's Son

Chapter 9.

Emma's POV.

We arrive at Joseph's mansion a little after seven o' clock.

My mother is extremely unhappy about the fact that I'm wearing the red dress that I chose and not the black one that Joseph picked out for me.

"I think you look great Em." My dad says before getting out of the car and he winks at me.

I smile back at him, grateful for another supporter.

The same Butler opens the door for us and leads us to the dining room.

Joseph is waiting there for us, so is Shaun.

My hear skips a beat at the sight of him and I have to catch my breath.

I smile at him and he smiles back at me.

Joseph grabs my attention by taking my hand and kissing it.

He looks aggitated.

"What happened to the black dress I picked out for you my love?"

I look him straight in the eye when I answer. I don't know what it is, maybe having my dad here or maybe it's because of Shaun's pressence, but I feel braver tonight.

"I liked this one better."

I can see Shaun grinning at me in the backround, but that same dangerous expression flashes across Joseph's face. I can tell that he is trying very hard to hide it, so he turns to my parents instead.

I feel really good about myself and without even thinking about it, I wink at Shaun. He looks surprised. I'm not really sure why I did it and now I feel stupid and awkward.

Before I look away from him, I see him wink back at me.

My stomach does a little backflip again.

After my parents and Joseph have exchanged pleasantries, we are all invited to take our seats.

I am seated in between Joseph, who is at the head of the table and Shaun. My father is seated next to Joseph on the other side and my mother next to him.

Shaun's smell is intoxicating. I can feel my heart rate start to rise, a hot flush envelopes my entire body. The heat radiating from him draws me in, like a moth to a flame.

A thought strikes me.

Why can't I smell Joseph in this way? Why can't I feel his heat like this? That's weird, right?

I'm drawn back to the conversation by the mention of my name. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Shaun glancing over at me.

My mother is telling some embarrasing story about me from when I was little.

I have to stop myself from rolling my eyes.

Joseph loves the story, but I think he enjoys my embarrasment more.

I think that Shaun can tell how uncomfortable I am, because he saves me by telling and even more embarrasing story about himself.

My parents laugh out loud at the end of his story and I smile at him, gratefully.

For some reason, I can tell that Joseph is annoyed by this. Shaun doesn't seem to be paying much attention to his father.

I didn't notice it before, but now I can practically feel the tension between them.

I wonder what it's all about.

Does it have something to do with the wedding? Probably.

The rest of the dinner conversation revolves around Joseph telling stories about himself and cracking rather corny jokes.

My mother is hanging onto every word coming out of his mouth and laughs a little too loudly at his jokes. I can tell that my father is not as impressed by my future husband. He watches Joseph with sceptasism.

This makes me feel even more doubtful about marrying him.

After dinner, we're all invited into the lounge for drinks.

When Shaun excuses himself to go and prepare the drinks, I seize my oppertunity and offer to help him.

I can feel Joseph staring at me as I follow Shaun out of the room.

I know that I should probably stay behind and keep my fiance company, but right now, my desire to clear the air with Shaun is much greater than my desire to keep Joseph happy.

Besides, I'm still pretty pissed at him for doing what he did today. As soon as the oppertunity presents itself, I will be having a talk with him about that.

I follow Shaun over to the liquor cabinent where he begins to pour everyone a drink.

He looks over at me and smiles.

"You look really great Em."

I blush a little and smile back at him.

Joseph never even complimented my look tonight.

"You know, I think I can manage these drinks by myself Em."

He's smirking at me and he looks absolutely irrisistable.

I mentally shake my head at myself. What the hell is going on with me? I am getting married to his father for pete's sake.

I try to compose myself by taking a deep breath.

"I know. I actually want to talk to you. I want to clear the air between us."

Shaun raises an eyebrow at me as he continues with the drinks.

He says nothing so I carry on speaking.

"Look Shaun, I know that this must be super weird for you. Your dad marrying a girl younger than you. I just really hope that we can all get along. I don't ever want you to feel like I'm trying to replace your mother."

Shaun puts the glass he's holding in his hand down on the cabinet and he turns to face me. He gives a scornful, little laugh.

"You think that's what this is all about Em? You think that's why I'm so upset?"

He takes a step closer to me. He is standing so close that I can almost hear his heartbeat.

"Oh Em, you really have no idea."

Shaun stares into my eyes and then he looks down at my mouth, he takes another step towards me. I can almost feel the anticipation in the air between us. My heart is beating in my ears and my breathing is shallow, so is his. It feels like we're the only two people alive in this moment.

Untill...

"Emma? Here you are."

Joseph enters the room and I instinctively take a step back from Shaun, Shaun however, stays exactly where he is.

Joseph does not look happy at all. He is shooting daggers at Shaun, but Shaun doesn't seem to be affected at all.

I instantly feel guilty. What the hell am I doing?

When Joseph speaks, his tone is ice cold.

"You were taking so long, I thought I might see what's keeping you. Hope I wasn't interupting."

I look down at the floor, I can feel my face burning with shame.

Shaun says absolutely nothing and just leaves the room. He doesn't even look at Joseph.

Joseph walks up to me. He looks furious.

"What the f**k was that Emma? Have you forgotten that you're engaged to me and not to my son."

My blood starts to boil, not so much out of anger, but out of embarrasment. Joseph was right. What was I doing with his son when I should be with him?

My voice is barely a whisper when I speak.

"I'm sorry Joseph. I was just trying to clear the air with him."

"About what?!" Joseph barks at me and I take another step back. He was really angry.

"Shaun is my friend. I didn't want him to feel weird about us getting married."

"Shaun will get over it! You need not concern yourself with him. You are mine! Concern yourself with me, little wolf!"

Now my blood is boiling with rage.

Who the f**k does he think he is.

I take a step towards him and this time my voice is clear as a whistle.

"I do NOT belong to anybody Joseph and my name is Emma."

I can tell that Joseph was not expecting my outburst at all. He takes a step back and immediately changes his expression. I think he knows that he went too far this time.

'You are right Emma. I am sorry. Please forgive me for the way that I have acted. You don't deserve it."

I start to calm down a little as well. I did not come here to fight with him.

"We are all going to be sharing a house soon Joseph. Don't you think it will be better if we can all at least get along?"

Joseph smiles at me and strokes my cheek with the back of his hand.

"You are right, again. Emma."

He emphasizes my name at the end and I can't help but smile at him.

I still want to talk to him about his behaviour over the last few days, but I don't feel like fighting with him and we have guests waiting.

Perhaps it would be better to leave the matter alone for now.

Joseph leans in, close to me and kisses my cheek. He stops close to my ear and whispers in it.

"Emma, next time you will wear the dress that I set out for you. Understand?"

His tone is ice cold again. The smile vanishes from my face.

Who is this man?

Without saying a word he turns and walks to the door. Before walking out, he turns to me again.

"Be a doll and bring the drinks, will you Emma?"

He walks away and I stand there feeling numb.