Chapter 100 Marcus and Emma
EMMA'S POV
I sat alone in the guest quarters after Adrian left and my mind would not stop replaying everything he said. My phone buzzed on the table and Marcus Krane's name lit up the screen again. I had been ignoring him for two weeks straight but Adrian's words kept echoing in my head. Give him a chance. Let him prove he is more than his worst choices.
I picked up the phone and typed before I could change my mind. "Okay. We can talk. Tomorrow. Coffee shop on neutral ground."
His response came through immediately like he had been waiting by his phone. "Thank you. I will be there. Whatever you need and however this goes, thank you for giving me a chance."
The next day I arrived early at the coffee shop in human territory where there were no pack politics or power plays. Just two people meeting to talk. I ordered my coffee and sat by the window watching people pass by and wondering if I was making a huge mistake.
Marcus arrived exactly on time and looked nervous in a way I had never seen him before. He was dressed casually in jeans and a simple shirt with no Alpha posturing or intimidation tactics. Just a man trying to make things right.
"Thank you for meeting me," he started and sat down across from me carefully like I might run at any moment.
I nodded and sipped my coffee. Waited for him to continue.
"I have been an ass. To you and to Lisa and to everyone involved in that marriage contract mess." He ran his hand through his hair and the gesture was so human it surprised me. "I let my ambition override my humanity. I am sorry for that. Truly sorry."
He slid papers across the table and I stared at them without touching anything yet. "What are these?"
"Legal documents. I am renouncing any claim to Lisa through the marriage contract. Officially and publicly so there can be no question." He paused and met my eyes. "I am also stepping down from the Continental Alpha Coalition which is the group that pressured me to pursue her in the first place. I sent my resignation this morning."
I picked up the documents with shaking hands and read through them carefully. Every word was exactly what he said. No loopholes or tricks or hidden clauses. Just a complete and total withdrawal from Lisa's life.
"You are giving up political alliances for what exactly?" I asked and my voice came out harder than I meant it to.
"For a chance to prove I am better than my worst decisions. For a chance to be the father our child deserves." His voice softened and something vulnerable crossed his face. "And Emma, for a chance to get to know the woman who saw past my Alpha bullshit to the man underneath. That night during rescue planning you talked to me like I was a person and not a position. I have not been able to stop thinking about you since."
My defenses cracked slightly and I felt tears burning behind my eyes. "I am human. You are an Alpha. Your pack will never accept me as anything more than a mistake you made."
"My pack will accept whoever I choose. And I choose you if you will have me." He pulled out something else from his jacket pocket. A small velvet box that made my heart race. He opened it to reveal a simple silver pendant with a small stone in the center.
"This was my grandmother's. She was a human woman who married into the pack and faced discrimination her whole life but stood firm anyway. She was the strongest person I ever knew. I would be honored if you wore it. Not as a claim or a trap. As a symbol that I see you and I value you and I want to build something real with you."
I took the pendant with shaking hands and the metal was warm from being in his pocket. "This is crazy. We barely know each other and you are talking about building something real."
"Then let us change that. Coffee dates and dinners and walks and conversations." He smiled hopefully and the expression transformed his whole face. "Normal courtship. No pressure and no expectations. Just two people getting to know each other before our baby arrives in a few months."
I looked at this man sitting across from me. Alpha Marcus Krane who tried to trap my best friend in a political marriage and who was now sitting here vulnerable and genuine. The contradiction made my head spin.
"One coffee date at a time," I said slowly and watched his face carefully. "If you screw this up or try to manipulate me or hurt Lisa again, I disappear and you never see me or the baby again. That is the deal."
"Deal." His relief was visible in every line of his body. "I will not screw this up. I promise you that."
We sat in comfortable silence for a moment and I sipped my coffee while he watched me like I might vanish if he looked away. The coffee shop was warm and smelled like cinnamon and for the first time in weeks I felt something close to peace.
I reached across the table and put my hand over his without thinking.
"Tell me something true about yourself," I said quietly. "Something you have never told anyone else."
Marcus looked at me for a long moment and his thumb traced circles on my palm. "I am terrified of failing you the way I failed Lisa. Of becoming the villain in our story too."
We sat there holding hands across the coffee shop table and I allowed myself to consider the possibility. Maybe I could be happy with him. Maybe he could be the man I needed. Maybe our baby could grow up in a home full of love instead of regret.