Chapter 17 - ReadyNot
Brent's POV:
We would be leaving later today and neither myself nor my mate, could be more thrilled. Yesterday was full of quiet, restful moments after far too much excitement happened the day before. We talked about the "incident" and I answered every question Alyssa had. She was mostly concerned about what the repercussions would be for myself and our pack due to my decision to "beat him to a pulp" as she had put it. She was going to make an amazing Luna. Already worrying about a pack she had never even laid eyes on. Anderson had come by and laid out exactly what he had done to cover up most of the situation. The most important part is that Ryan had manipulated the cameras to change the time frame I had been there and the cover up story is that there had been a miscommunication. We simply stated that we thought we had the green light to interrogate, which also explains why Anderson was there. The repercussions were that I had to delay our leave time by a few hours to properly begin the investigation with a pack witness from Wolf Moon in the room before we left. I was frustrated by this as I was ready to be home with my mate, but given the circumstances, it wasn't that bad of a trade-off.
"Tenley honey, please stay out of the bags, mommy is trying to make sure we don't leave anything behind and you would sure be sad if your stuff got left, wouldn't you?" My mate sweetly spoke to Tenley. I absolutely adored watching her be a mother. Watching her with our pup only fueled more of a desire to see her in action as Luna. She was a natural.
I walked over to the pair and lifted Tenley up into my arms and wrapped Alyssa in the other, "you two and all this packing. I've already told you both that you have plenty of new things at your new home," I laughed and gave them both a squeeze.
"Daddy B, you're squishing me!" Tenley broke out into a fit of giggles as I placed her back on the floor.
"Well, Mr. Alpha, if you would tell us what that entails maybe I would not feel the need to pack so much!" She said, popping me with the shirt in her hand, "besides this is barely anything. I didn't have them grab all that much from my house."
"Old house," I quickly corrected her. I did my best to not be controlling, but wolves are very protective and extremely territorial, especially after marking and mating. It's a primal need to protect and keep what is yours.
"Yes, my old, gross, nasty, stinky house," she taunted, coming over to wrap her arms around me. She looked up at me with so much mischief in her eyes that I couldn't help but smirk at her. Completely calming my wolf and me in seconds. Damn, I loved this woman. I bent down to kiss her as she rose up on her tiptoes to meet me. The kiss didn't last long as it was suddenly broken up by an "eeeewwww" from the previously mentioned pup.We both looked in her direction and laughed as her little hands covered her eyes.
"Okay silly girl, Nana is on her way to get you so that you have time to nap before we leave later and mommy can keep getting these things organized, okay?" My mate said.
"Yay, Nana! and she is going to stay, right momma?" She put a strong emphasis on the is.
Smiling, my mate answered, "yes ma'am, Nana and Papa are both coming to stay at the new pack."
And as if she had heard us speaking about her, Alyssa's mom knocked on the door right at that moment, "Nana!" The four year old shrieked.
"Ready to go back to my house for some lunch and a nap?" She asked as she picked Tenley up.
"Good luck with that, she's quite rambunctious today," I jokingly warned as I helped to gather the few things she was going to take with her.
Alyssa turned toward her mother, "Don't forget 4:30 pm sharp, okay?" It was becoming increasingly clear that my mate had a lot of trust issues that manifested as a need for control. It pained me and often enraged me at what she'd been through, but I knew with time she would get exponentially better. Once she realized and fully understood how much she was respected, loved, and cherished by not only myself but our pack, I knew she would have an easier time adjusting. Never again would she have to deal with a life of disrespect and pain, not on my watch.
The older woman and pup walked out of the room soon after and I checked the time and realized I needed to leave in about an hour for the first "official" interrogation. I reminded Alyssa I would be leaving somewhat soon and she got very quiet.
"What's wrong, my love?" I asked, coming up behind her and placing my hands on her shoulders. I couldn't help but notice how my hands covered the entirety of them, once again reminding me how small she was compared to me, well, compared to anyone really. My protective nature (once again) went into overdrive at the thought of her not being able to protect herself due to her stature .
"I don't want to upset you, but I have a request," she meekly responded.
"You're not going to upset me. I promise. Ask me." And I meant it. I was extremely aware I had messed up, but to be honest I was not expecting something so sinister to come out of her mouth when I made that promise. I was mentally prepared this time.
"Sure, that's what you said last time," she gave me a cheeky grin.
I huffed out a sigh, "I know, but I truly mean it. Please just ask me."
She sat down on the edge of the hospital bed and took a deep breath, "I want to see Dalton before we leave. I have -"
Okay, I was not expecting that, "absolutely not," I cut her off. No way in hell was my mate going to be in the presence of her abuser.
"But please if you'd just listen.." She pleaded with me.
"I said no!" I raised my voice slightly, "you are not to see him and that is final!"
She narrowed her gaze at me, "oh good, so now you're going to yell at me to get me to shut up just like he did...great."
"ENOUGH! I am not like that piece of shit, I love you!" I yelled, trying to get my point across that this was not anything other than me trying to protect her! However, I immediately regretted it as her eyes filled with tears and she walked to the bathroom and slammed the door, locking it behind her.
Shit. I was going to have to get better at this mate thing. I just wanted to protect her, couldn't she see that ?
'Maybe it's because she's stronger than you give her credit for and doesn't need protecting from this,' m y wolf chided.
'No one asked you...' I huffed back.
'You underestimate her and you know it. Besides, she's not the damsel you think she is. Moon Goddess has given us a very strong mate,' he interjected, paying no mind to the insult I had just given.
I couldn't really harp on what he was insinuating because I needed to make this right with my mate. I would dig into the meaning of his statement later. The way he worded it let me know there was plenty more to be said, but for now, I shrugged it off and walked toward the bathroom door.
I stopped in front of the door, hesitating but finally got the courage to knock. The humor of a 6' 5" Alpha being afraid to knock on the door of a 5' 2" Luna was not lost on me. Maybe I had underestimated her. Finally deciding to knock I got a, "go away," in response. I deserved it though.
I sighed, "Alyssa, please open this door. I want to talk to you," I begged.
She scoffed, "don't you mean to yell at me some more?" Her tone dripped with sarcasm. Not going to lie, I enjoyed this feistier side of my mate. I hated to see her shrink away into the clutches of people pleasing so this was oddly a breath of fresh air.
"No, I want to talk. There will be no yelling. Now open this door or I'm taking it off the hinges." I was getting impatient, but there was no seriousness to my threat.
"You wouldn't dare," she shot back.
My forehead landed with a thud on the door and I took a deep breath, "no, of course, I wouldn't do that, but I do have to leave in about half an hour and I would really like to settle this before then. Please come out..."
After a few moments, she finally spoke, "I'll think about it." And there it was again, the feistiness, and I couldn't help but smile to myself.
Letting out a breath and dropping my shoulders in defeat I simply said, "okay my love. Take your time."
I busied myself with getting dressed, hating every minute of the fact I was going to be in a suit, complete with a tie, for the next few hours. Wolf interrogations were anything but civilized, but a rule was in place that we had to dress as if it were. So stupid I thought as I began to get frustrated with the tie, but when my mate finally emerged from the bathroom, the tie was completely forgotten. She was beautiful anyway, but she knocked me over with her hair perfectly curled, and makeup done very lightly which only accentuated her natural beauty. I absolutely adored that she didn't cake that stuff on. She was wearing a pink, tight dress, I think I'd heard my Beta's mate refer to these as "body-con" style dresses at some point. Regardless of whatever it was called, it hugged her body in all the right ways. She was small, but she was fit. Her ass was perfectly rounded, her hips deliciously curvy, and her arms perfectly defined. I had completely forgotten that a conversation needed to be had until she cleared her throat to get my attention.
"Are you going to keep eye fucking me, or do you plan to tell me what you needed to say. Don't you have to leave soon?" She cooly responded. My dick twitched at her powerful tone. I was becoming turned on not by her looks alone, but her assertiveness was damn near tantric. Damn. I really had underestimated her .
I slowly walked toward her, attempting to show her I truly had calmed down. I took her hands in my own, not having to look down quite as far as usual with the addition of the wedged heels she was now wearing, damn I was having a hard time focusing.
"Alyssa, I am so sorry for the way I handled things earlier. I was already so protective over you, and now that we have marked and mated I am having a difficult time reminding myself that you can handle, and have been handling, extremely difficult situations long before I showed up. You may accompany me to the cells, but for twenty minutes tops. That time frame will shorten if he begins to upset you in any way. This is an investigation of someone that has hurt you many times over, and I cannot, and will not promise you that I can remain calm if you become upset. Is this something we can compromise on?" I looked her in the eyes, pleading with her to agree to this compromise. I didn't want to break any more promises to her and I hoped that by explaining and being completely honest it would help her understand my earlier outburst.
"Yes, I can agree to that," she responded and the breath I was holding pushed its way out of my chest.
I kissed her on the forehead, "thank you for understanding, my love."
"You're welcome, and thank you for apologizing for being a dick head," she giggled and I couldn't help but laugh. She definitely had a mouth on her, but she had proven that she was able to read a room and saved her worst phrases for the confines of private conversation.
"Hey now, is that any way to speak to your Alpha?" I daringly joked as I pulled her body flush with mine and wrapped my arms tightly around her .
"Hmmm, maybe not, but is that any way to tie a tie, Mr. Alpha?" I growled in appreciation. I loved when she referred to me that way. Something about the way it rolled off her tongue in such a playful way melted me every time. I watched as her hands made quick work of tying it much better than I had done.
"There," she said, sliding the knot just a bit too high, slightly choking me, which I quickly realized was on purpose as she fell into a fit of laughter. I just smiled and shook my head at her as I took a finger and put just a little more distance between my throat and the knot of the tie.
Before she could pull away I took my chance at revenge. I pulled her as close as I could, my hands finding their way to cup her ass, causing her to gasp and I quickly slipped my tongue between her lips. Her body melted into mine in response. All of the previous tension was long forgotten. She grabbed at my hair, loosening the low bun I had it in. I hadn't cut it since being here, but my Luna loved it, so it was going to stay. The kiss was over quickly when Anderson knocked loudly on the door.
"Hello! Stop the canoodling, I can smell y'all clear into the hallway. We have to leave, Alpha! I'd like to get home to my own mate in the next century, please! We were supposed to head to the cells 5 minutes ago!" He dramatically exclaimed.
I pulled away from my mate and opened the door, "stop being so fucking dramatic, dude."
"Oh please. If you had been away from Luna as much as I have been away from Jess you'd be a basket case too. Besides if it weren't for your little outburst we would be heading home shortly and not hours from now!" His response was filled with contention.
"Fair enough," I said as I placed my hair back in a bun .
"Are you ready to go?" I asked, looking in my mate’s direction.
She swiped a quick layer of gloss on her lips and turned toward me, "ready or not, let's go," she said as she took my hand and off we went.
Ready or not…