18. Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Seventeen
Salizar
I could feel my feisty human’s anger and sadness as we drove back to Keen.
The tension between us was charged, but there simply wasn't anything I could do at the moment. Thankfully, we weren’t attacked as we left the hotel, likely because they thought I wouldn’t be able to leave in the middle of the day, or perhaps it was because they were licking their wounds from last time.
Chris sat in the backseat, a sort of unspoken decision between us that Benji shouldn’t be alone in the back.
He was a flight risk and neither of us wanted to lose track of him.
I could feel our alpha’s nerves about facing his pack now that he was mated.
I honestly felt sort of nervous as well.
Normally I didn’t care what people thought of me, especially not dogs, but these people were Chris’ pack, which sort of made them mine and Benji’s as well.
Would we even be welcomed there? Did we even want to?
I really should’ve asked Chris if he was happy as alpha or not before we got on the road.
Then again we were in our bonding stage and normally that phase would be spent in bed.
“What are you growling about?” Chris asked from behind me, a slight edge to his tone. He was obviously protective over his pack, but he had nothing to fear from me regarding them.
“I wondered if they would accept us or not,” I admitted, keeping it at that.
“They wouldn’t dare reject you,” he scoffed, but I could feel his insecurity about that statement.
“Yeah, I’m not keeping my hopes up on that front, after all, I’ve already been rejected by a werewolf once,” our sassy human snarked beside me.
“This is different,” Chris growled.
“Oh,” Benji asked innocently, “How so?”
“These werewolves aren’t going to mate with you,” Chris spoke through gritted teeth. I could tell he was angry at himself for rejecting Benji and he clearly didn’t enjoy being reminded of his shortcomings.
“Are you so sure about that?” our human countered, raising one brow in question as he stared our alpha down.
That statement had my attention as well. “Who?!” I demanded, growling low when I thought of someone other than us touching Benji.
Benji only smirked knowingly at us, that feisty little minx.
“I’m sorry! Okay?” Chris all but shouted from the backseat, startling me enough to make me swerve on the road.
Benji was having none of it, swinging his head around and yelling back, “And you think now is the right time to finally tell me that?!”
“When should I then?!” Chris snapped.
“When you woke up! Or better yet, you could’ve I don’t know, maybe not have told me I was your mate in the first place! I was blissfully unaware of the fact until you told me! Only to then tell me I wasn’t good enough for you!”
Damn, they had some messy history considering they’d only known each other for a couple of days.
Luckily for me, that meant Benji’s anger wasn’t aimed at me anymore, even if I felt bad for our alpha taking all that anger by himself.
Maybe it would’ve been best if we’d stayed at the hotel, making Benji moan with pleasure instead of this, but Chris’ pack was important to him so we needed to be there.
Chris and Benji hadn’t said anything else for about five minutes and the awkward silence was killing me as I parked in front of the police station.
Chris all but slammed the door, clearly angry now that it was clear Benji wasn’t about to just roll over and forgive him.
It wasn’t as easy reading Benji’s emotions as it was for me to figure out what our alpha felt.
Maybe it was because Benji was still actively fighting our bond, or because he was human.
No matter the reason, I did know he was beyond pissed as he slammed his door too.
Sighing, I left the car and followed both my men inside the station, feeling all eyes on us as we passed the policemen to Chris’ office.
I closed the door behind me, leaving us alone in Chris’ office for the time being. The whole room smelled wonderfully fresh, like a forest with the greenest pine trees. I inhaled deeply, feeling myself relax as I sat in one of the chairs in front of the desk, with Benji on the other one beside me.
“They won’t let us be for long,” Chris sighed. “I’ll call them all in for a meeting so I can introduce you both and then we’ll get a status update on what went down yesterday after we left.”
He’d barely finished speaking before a knock sounded. Chris sighed and called whoever it was inside. A man bowed his head in submission, but his eyes gleamed with curiosity as he took in Benji and me. “Alpha, is all well?” he asked, once again eying us.
“Yes, Panu, all is well. Call everyone in for a meeting in room 5. Anyone who’s yet to come in?” Chris asked.
Panu shook his head. “No, Alpha, all are in already and no one is patrolling yet.”
“Perfect. The meeting starts in two minutes then, get everyone.” Chris stood, dismissing Panu who all but ran out of the room.
Our alpha beckoned us to follow and we wordlessly did, all of us eager to get this over with.
The sooner the source was dealt with, the sooner we could enjoy our life as bonded, and I really looked forward to that part after all these centuries alone.
I’d had my fun, sure, but I hadn’t allowed myself to fall for anyone, until now.
It seemed I’d longed to take care of someone.
Now I had two wonderful men who desperately needed to be looked after and loved.
Even if they hadn’t known it themselves, I did.
The room was like any standard meeting room, very plain and boring, but it served its purpose, I guessed.
Chris sat on the end of the table, moving two chairs over so we could sit next to him.
I figured that was his way of showing our importance before he’d even introduced us properly, or maybe it was a way to keep us close.
No matter, I sat and grabbed his thigh to comfort him.
His nerves were affecting me, so we needed to calm down a bit before the rest of his station came in here.
These people were all pack, but thankfully not the whole pack.
These were just the first ones who’d learn about me and Benji.
The news would spread like wildfire in mere minutes after that.
Benji had ditched his pissed off expression and turned it into a cold mask of indifference.
He likely had many masks, some I’d yet to see.
I felt how nervous he was and it broke my heart that he feared another rejection.
Chris would be able to feel it too, but he had on his own mask.
It was the alpha one, where he glowered and looked so damn hot that a new fantasy came to mind unbidden of me fucking him on the table while his pack watched.
My alpha snapped his head in my direction, eyes wide. “What the fuck are you thinking about right now?!” His words were hissed with irritation, but I simply smirked. At least he wasn’t nervous anymore.
The first werewolves began to fill the room, all bowing their heads before they sat. I counted around twenty, with five standing against the far wall when we ran out of chairs.
Chris cleared his throat and then spoke in a calm and very authoritative voice. “I apologize for my disappearance yesterday, but I had some urgent matters to attend to.”
“Did anything happen?” a young woman asked, her eyes wide with worry.
Chris shook his head, “Nothing bad, I assure you. Well, other than the usual. I—” He held a brief pause, breathing in and out steadily. “I found and claimed my mate, and claimed another one as well.”
Their eyes widened comically and then almost as if they’d just noticed our presence at his sides, their gazes scanned us, assessing and taking in what this meant for them as a pack.
“A human and a vampire,” a man said, looking to be around fifty to sixty, but it was hard to determine with werewolves. He didn’t seem angered by us being his alpha’s mates, but perhaps he had enough self-preservation to hide his distaste for us. Only time would tell really.
“Yes,” Chris replied confidently. “I knew Benjamin Green was my fated from the first time I met him. I just had to figure out what that meant for us as a pack. I wouldn’t be able to create any heirs, and he’s human.
That doesn’t matter to me anymore, though, and neither does the fact that he was already blood bonded to Salizar.
” He gestured to me. “I have claimed them both as mine.”
There was silence for what felt like an eternity.
Then they all bowed their heads in submission, showing us we had their loyalty as alpha’s mates.
I nodded my head at them, trying to keep my cool even if I felt relieved beyond belief now that I knew we had been accepted by the strongest of the pack.
I could feel that Benji’s emotions were a big mess.
Although he felt relieved as well that there would be no drama from them.
One of the male wolves winked knowingly at Benji and I suppressed a growl at the sight. Chris didn’t suppress his and the werewolf froze before bowing his head again. I would need to keep an eye on that one.
Benji glared at Chris. “Don’t growl at Freddy! If it wasn’t for him, I likely wouldn’t be alive right now!”
Chris visibly flinched at his words. “I had that situation under control,” he gritted through clenched teeth.
Benji just scoffed. “Was that before or after I threw my bomb? Because the bomb could’ve been avoided if you’d been there.”
The werewolves looked both entertained and uncomfortable as they eyed Benji and Chris with worry.
This wasn’t good. We were supposed to look like we were all in love and happy.
Benji was letting his emotions take over and we didn’t need to make them doubt us.
I decided to salvage the situation, turning my attention to the pack.
“I apologize for our bickering, you see, normally we would be having some much-needed fun alone, strengthening our bond. Sadly, the situation we’re all in has come between our need for privacy and it has made us all more agitated because of it. ”
Benji’s eyes grew comically wide. Yes, I’d just told the entire room he was acting out because he was horny and needed to get fucked. He could only blame himself, though. Besides, he did need a good fucking, and soon.
I was saved from Benji’s fiery glare by one of the women. She cleared her throat and asked Chris nervously, “What are we supposed to do tonight, Alpha?”
“Tonight?” Chris frowned. “We do what we do every night, we protect the treasure.”
She nodded and bit her lip. “Um, Alpha… It’s the full moon tonight.”
A rush of fear and worry came from Chris and it seemed even Benji felt it, as he eyed our alpha warily. “The full moon,” Chris breathed. “How the fuck could I have forgotten!” He was angry at himself, that much was clear.
Benji looked utterly confused when he asked, “Why does it matter if it’s the full moon or not? Can’t you just fight in your wolf forms?”
All eyes turned to Benji with a mix of indignation and repulsion. My poor bonded had no idea he’d just insulted a room full of werewolves.
“Benji,” Chris began, his tone full of patience and love. “We are werewolves, not shifters.”
“Yes, I got that,” Benji replied slowly, looking to me for help, as if I could someone explain the whole thing.
Chris continued, still just as patient. “We don’t turn into wolves at the full moon.”
Our feisty human frowned adorably at the news, his nose all scrunched up. “But you’re werewolves?”
It seemed it was only our alpha who had the patience of a saint, because the winking man scoffed and finally told Benji the truth.
“We turn into werewolves, Benjamin. A half human, half wolf creature, driven completely by our instincts. We can’t control what we do under a full moon and that’s why we’re worried about tonight. ”
“Thank you, Freddy,” Benji whispered, then swallowed audibly. It was obvious he hadn't known, and to think he was mated to a werewolf and only now knew what that entailed. At least I’d known and was completely ready to help out tonight as needed, as was my coven.
“We have allies coming to our aid,” I informed them, ignoring Benji’s worry and fear for now. “I think if you’re all ready to defend the treasure before you shift, then perhaps your other form will stay and continue protecting what it knows your alpha wants.”
Chris nodded in agreement. “And the vampires will help if we can’t stay and protect the treasure, but let's try anyway.”
“What about the vampires? And me?” Benji asked, his emotions now showing another kind of fear.
“What do you mean?” I asked. “You’ll be with me and my coven, as will Chris, even under a full moon he’ll want to stay with his mates.”
“But won't they attack us? We aren’t werewolves,” Benji asked, briefly glancing at our packmates almost as if he feared insulting them again.
Chris looked at Benji like he was the stupidest creature on earth. “Why the fuck would we attack a packmate?”
Our human blinked. “Umm, because I look tasty and juicy?”
Freddy laughed outright, making others join in as well. Benji looked absolutely delicious as he blushed with embarrassment.