60. Chapter Sixty
~Felix~
The walk from the guest quarters to the Alpha’s office usually took only minutes, but that day, it felt like we encountered half the pack on the way there. Everyone peered curiously at the diminutive woman at my side, their noses twitching as they picked up her unusual fairy scent as well as the scent of my claim on her, and their eyes lit up with delight as they offered their congratulations.
My pack really was the best.
Evalina smiled shyly as she tucked closer to my side, letting me guide her through the crowd of pack members asking her name and how we met.
“We’ll do a proper introduction soon,” I promised the curious onlookers. Maybe there had been some benefits to her invisibility since no one questioned me about her when they didn’t realize she was there. “Right now, the Alpha needs us.”
A path immediately cleared; no one would get in the way of the Alpha’s request.
At the end of the hall, Vaughan’s office door was closed so I sent him a quick message by mind-link. I’m outside. Are you decent?
Unfortunately, came his sarcastic reply. Come in.
The site that greeted me when I opened the door stopped me in my tracks for a moment. Calista was there, as I expected, standing at Vaughan’s side, but so were Leo, Darius, Matthias, and a few of the other men from the security team. Everyone’s faces were grim.
My body tensed, and my voice came out sharper than I intended. “What’s going on? Is it the fae again?”
“No, but I need to fill you in,” Vaughan stated, gesturing to a chair that had been left empty for me. “Have a seat.”
“I can wait somewhere else,” Evalina whispered, but I shook my head, pulling her along with me.
“You’re the Beta’s mate and that makes you part of the team. This is as good a time as any to jump in.”
“But there’s only one chair,” she tried to protest, as if that mattered. I took the empty chair and pulled her down onto my lap.
“You always have a chair when I’m around.” Her cheeks flushed a pretty shade of pink but she didn’t make any attempt to get back up. “Everyone, this is Evalina, my mate.”
Those who hadn’t met her yet all said hello and offered their congratulations. Calista looked between the men and Evalina in surprise. “You can all see her?”
“We found one solution to the invisibility problem but it’s not going to work for the other fairies,” I said, giving Evalina a wink that had her cheeks flushing even darker. “We’ll explain later. Fill me in on what’s happening here.”
“I got a call from Savannah,” Vaughan began. “Wolves are gathering outside their territory. It suggests a coordinated attack is coming, maybe as soon as today. It looks like news of the new Alpha has gotten out and their enemies are going to try to take advantage of it, hoping that Amanda and Sav aren’t strong enough in their positions yet to defend their land. They’re not asking for our help just yet, but we need to be ready if they do.”
“Fuck.” Everything he said made sense; a change of leadership or any sign of weakness in a pack often acted as an invitation for others to push the boundaries. One thing seemed off, though. “How do people even know about it?”
“That’s part of the problem: Sav thinks they must have a leak. No formal announcement has been made outside of the pack yet, so someone inside the pack must have passed the information on.”
“In which case, the attackers could have other inside information too,” Darius pointed out. “Locations of key targets, number of defenders, even security protocols for the Alpha. If we were in their shoes, I would assume they knew it all.”
In that case, I only saw one course of action. “When do we leave?”
“ We aren’t going anywhere,” Vaughan replied, gesturing between me and him. “Remember what we talked about last night? I want our senior leadership at home in case someone decides to try the same thing here. Leo and Darius are going to take a team up to support Sav and Amanda. Seventy-five warriors. They’re loading up right now. If it turns out they’re not needed, they can turn around and come back, but I’d rather get them on the way.”
Vaughan’s words from the night before repeated in my head, how he thought the way we found our mates signified some wider pattern that we didn’t understand yet. We needed to explore his theory, but the idea of sitting at home while others from the pack went to fight on behalf of our allies didn’t sit right with me.
“I could go and Leo could stay here,” I offered. Our Gamma, though strong and capable, had always been more of an administrator than a warrior. If we needed a detail-oriented investigation, he would be far more effective than me, and I had more combat experience than he did.
It made sense.
At least until Evalina turned her sweet face to peer up at me and I saw the worry in her eyes. How could I leave her after everything we just went through?
Vaughan seemed to read my mind. “You just found your mate. Your place is here.”
“No,” Evalina spoke up, her voice soft but steady as everyone turned their attention to her. “Please don’t change the way you would normally do things because of me.”
“I’m not,” Vaughan promised, his tone softening in a way that warmed my heart. In that one small act, my best friend made it clear that he would always protect my mate in the same way that Calista had my undying loyalty. Evalina was important to me so she was important to Vaughan too, even if they didn’t know each other very well yet. “I made the decision based on what’s best for the pack. Leo will go and Felix will stay. It’s all arranged.”
“We’re leaving now,” Leo agreed, and as soon as he got to his feet, the other men all followed. “We’ll keep you both updated.”
“I want hourly updates once you arrive, at a minimum,” Vaughan instructed. “We’ll prepare a secondary team to follow if you need more bodies, just say the word.”
“Yes, Alpha.”
The men all bowed their heads in a gesture of respect to Vaughan, and they gave me one more smile and nod of congratulations as they filed out of the office, leaving me and Evalina alone with Calista and Vaughan. With more seats available, Calista came around the desk to sink into one of the empty chairs, and Evalina started to stand up to do the same, but I quickly pulled her back down, wrapping my arms around her waist to keep her in place. She weighed next to nothing and I wanted her next to me.
Calista only smiled at my possessive gesture before returning to the subject of Evalina’s new visibility. “How are the others able to see you now?”
I loved that she asked Evalina rather than me and I let my mate answer. “We think it must be because of Felix’s mark, that it somehow ties me to this world. Does that make sense?”
Calista turned the theory over in her head before nodding slowly. “I think it does. And I see now why you think it won’t work for your mother.”
Vaughan snorted in agreement. “Any ideas what we can do for her, then?”
“And Jermyn,” Evalina reminded them. “I should go speak to him today and see how he is.”
The Alpha and Luna exchange worried glances that I knew meant trouble. “What is it?”
“Jermyn seems to have disappeared,” Calista admitted. “The food left for him yesterday went untouched and when I went to his room this morning, I couldn’t find him.”
Evalina let out a small gasp of dismay. “Do you think something happened to him?”
“I don’t see what could have happened,” Vaughan replied. “The guest quarters were being watched. If he left, I think it’s because he wanted to.”
“Is that possible?” I asked Evalina, and she reluctantly nodded.
“I don’t really know him all that well, and maybe he thought he would be happier on his own.”
“Being invisible has its challenges,” Calista pointed out, her tone thoughtful. “But it also has its opportunities. Maybe he went in search of them.”
“There’s not much we can do about it now,” Vaughan added. “He wasn’t a prisoner, so if he chose to leave, so be it.”
That left only Maudi to worry about then. “My father is with Evalina’s mother now but we need to find a way for her to communicate with people at a bare minimum until we find a more permanent solution.”
“I agree,” Calista said with a nod. “Although I haven’t found a way to make her visible yet, I did have an idea about communication.”
Evalina sat up a little straighter, her interest piqued, and her ass rubbed against my cock as she moved. My teeth dug into my lower lip to keep myself from groaning. Maybe keeping her in my lap wasn’t the best idea.
Oblivious to my reaction, Calista carried on. “You know how people from the fae realm can interact with items from our world, and we’ll see those items being manipulated? Like how you tracked Tarron with the paint, Felix? Well, I don’t see any reason why we couldn’t just give Maudi a pen and some paper and let her write messages. We should see them just fine.”
That time, I did groan, out of frustration. “So simple. How did I miss that?”
My Luna tried not to smile. “I think you’ve been a little distracted lately.”
“I’ll try it right away,” Evalina suggests, turning back to me for my agreement. “You have other work to do?”
“I do.” Piles of it, probably, especially with Leo going away.
“In that case, I’ll go and make myself useful with my mother and I’ll see you later, when you have time.”
“I’ll always have time for you.”
She gave me a quick peck on the lips, but when she moved to stand, I pulled her back down. My hand curled around the back of her neck and I kissed her properly, ignoring the other two people in the room. If I had to wait a few hours to see her again, I needed something to help tide me over.
With her cheeks flushed and her lips slightly swollen, Evalina said goodbye to Vaughan and Calista and headed out of the office.
“So, when’s the ceremony?” Vaughan deadpanned when the door clicked shut behind her.
“Let’s figure out what the hell is going on around here first,” I suggested. “And before we do anything else, Calista, could you get Evalina a phone? I can’t mind-link her and I need to be able to check in on her when we’re apart.”
“Of course.” She gave me a knowing smile before standing up and giving Vaughan a kiss of his own and heading through the adjoining door into her own office next door. “I’ll see you both later.”
Vaughan’s eyes lingered on her until the wall panel slid back into place and, almost in unison, we both let out long, happy sighs.
“We’re so whipped,” I laughed, and Vaughan’s chuckle was equal parts agreement and amusement.
“Best feeling ever.”
“You can say that again, Alpha.”