Chapter 7
He could tell his mate was excited the moment they opened their eyes.
Today, the last of the visitors would arrive, including the white wolf.
He'd never met her, and he couldn't deny that he was curious about what she might be like.
Cally was close to her and thought the world of her.
It was clear that the white wolf cared about his mate, too, where she wouldn't have made all these plans for the perfect wedding.
Carlos had heard that Ariel said she was just a person.
It was hard to believe that she wouldn't realize how important she was to the paranormal world.
There were stories that said she was readily accessible to anyone, and he found that hard to believe.
He'd heard a story about her taking a call that was the wrong number and giving them advice.
It was said that the person had called back later and thanked her for saving their life.
That was her foresight at work. This was said to be a large part of the gifts that she had.
They each prepared for their day and then ate breakfast together.
The field teams were catching up, so they were taking off a week starting today.
It had never been his intention for them to work full-time with the field teams. That was just what they had fallen into because the need had been so strong.
They'd hired sufficient teams now that they were starting to catch up quickly.
While he hadn't planned it, all the field personnel were strong, capable guys, and there had been no more attacks.
The office had been attacked twice, but the extra guards had repelled the attackers and taken some prisoners.
Carlos could not deny that it made him wonder if there was somewhere else that they were using people who were more successful than those in his office.
He thought about asking Tyne, but he didn't want to anger him.
Maybe it was just helping, since he wasn't calling him all the time and giving him bad news.
He knew the security guy had plenty of work and probably not enough help anytime that he started a new business.
If he really wanted to talk to him about what was going on, the time would be later today because he and his mate would be here.
It was amazing how many white wolves had gathered here, and he had worked on his own security, trying to ensure none of them would be hurt or abducted.
There were a few surprises that anyone coming in unauthorized would receive, and he almost hoped that someone would just so he could see how these things would work.
It surprised him that he was looking forward to the wedding and not just because he knew it would make his mate happy.
After giving it some thought, he had decided it would make him happy, too.
A week of no problems, and the guests were arriving. Rumors had run through the pack, and many suspected who some of their guests were. When Ariel arrived, his people dropped to their knees.
“Get up! I’m just a regular wolf,” she said.
His people were confused. “Aren't you Ariel, the white wolf?”
“I am, but I'm just like you.”
His people started laughing. That a white wolf could say she was just like them. That was funny.
“I am like you because I have a family that I love, friends I care about, and things that I worry about.”
He could see that that made sense to people, and he knew that it made sense to him.
All the major things that a person worried about, she shared.
That still didn't make her a regular folk, because she was still the white wolf and had powers others didn't have. Even in a family of superior and gifted people, she was at the top. They stood up because she had told them to, but their faces still held awe. Carlos suspected that they liked her even better because she tried to be normal. They had suspected she would be like a queen, with nothing to say to any of them. That wasn’t the case because she had tried to communicate with them and to tell them how normal she was.
It was obvious that she really saw herself that way.
Cally was overjoyed at the guests who were arriving.
This was no surprise since this was her family and the people that she was close to.
One problem was that the wedding was planned at the last minute, and some people, including Cally’s mother, could not attend.
She had called to say she would be there next month for a visit and that she was sorry she would miss the wedding.
There was nothing that he could do to change that, even though he wished that he could.
At least most people had sent messages saying they would be there, even if it was after the wedding.
Cally seemed to have taken it well and said that a family this large was hard to get together for any event.
There had been no attempt on Bea yet, and he suspected the guy was trying to decide who would be the best white wolf for him.
That just showed that Hector was selfish and only cared about what he wanted.
Cally had warned all her cousins, and they were all on the lookout for anything unusual.
Several of them had brought guards, and they had told him that they would be guarding everyone.
Maybe that wasn't the best decision, because dividing their attention might mean no one was monitored as needed.
Tomorrow was the big day, and he found he was excited about it even if he wasn't as excited as his mate was.
“Carlos, this is Ariel, Blake, and their team.”
“Pleased to meet you.”
He'd heard that Ariel changed assistance often, and he was sure that Cally didn't know everyone on this team.
That was alright because they had a day, and he would probably meet each one of them at some point.
Ariel had contacted him and told him she wanted to discuss some things that might not be in the pack alphas' newsletter.
It was lunchtime, so they would meet in his meeting room to discuss these things.
Her team would be present, and a few of his people would be present as well.
Cally seemed pleased that he wanted to know what was going on and how he could help.
He wasn't sure why she was surprised that was the case.
Cally led the way to the meeting room, where they all took seats. “Lunch will be coming.” She'd no sooner said that than there was a knock at the door and lunch was brought in for everyone.
Once, they had been placed on platters, with several sandwich choices and two soups.
Drinks were also set up on the table, with a bucket of sodas and two pitchers of tea: one sweet and one unsweet.
Everyone seemed hungry, since the sandwiches disappeared in a few minutes, and the drinks weren't far behind.
Just moments later, there was another knock, and someone brought in cupcakes, cookies, and two medium-sized cakes, one set on each side of the table.
He was pleased with the job that his cousin had done, especially since they rarely had this kind of company.
“First, I hope to talk about the problems that you have been having while you were setting up your business,” Ariel mentioned.
He was happy to have someone interested in what had happened, and he quickly explained everything that had happened since the first event. He also explained the conclusions they had drawn and that they weren't sure that was what was going on.
“Your conclusions are correct, and these are the same people who have been bothering Tyne’s other businesses. They are racists, and we need to deal with them. Unfortunately, I doubt that we will be dealing with them entirely, but we can slow them down.” Ariel explained.
“Do you believe they are spread out in other locations, and that is why we cannot deal with all of them? Or is it because they are so well-financed and are finding personnel easily?”
Ariel smiled. “It is both of those reasons that I fear that we will have to take them on one step at a time. Since we are here, this is the place to begin, since there will be a bit of a war. You've said they've not been active for a week or more, so we need to find out where they are hiding.”
There was a loud noise, and a young, pretty girl appeared. His mate jumped up and ran to her, giving her a hug. That made him conclude that this was Harry the witch.
His mate dragged her over to him. “This is Harry. Harry, this is my mate, Carlos.” Cally said.
Harry winked at him. “Not bad, girlfriend.” She elbowed his mate.
“Not bad at all.” Cally offered.
“What's going on here?”
“I summoned you because we need to find someone or several someones,” Ariel explained.
The talk continued, and he felt better knowing that someone was trying to help.
The problem is currently contained, but he knew it could quickly become overwhelming.
They hadn't been attacking his other teams, but he had a bad feeling that they would eventually get enough people to start doing so.
If they did, some of them would quit, and then they would face the same problem of being unable to keep up as before.
He glanced at the other side of his mate and saw Harry there eating an unbelievable amount of food.
At least there wouldn't be any leftovers.
The feeling he had when he looked at her was that she was nice and that she would only take out bad guys.
Since he had a feeling they would have her come visit, he hoped his feeling was right.