Chapter Twelve
Caleb
Jay pushes every wrong button. I’m not myself when I’m around her. I pride myself on my ability to keep calm and not let things get to me, but I have no such decorum around her. It was the lack of remorse on her face that did me in. She doesn’t care.
I haven’t seen her in a few days. It’s the longest I’ve gone without seeing her since I discovered she was my mate.
My wolf is restless, howling at all hours and keeping me up at night.
But after our last encounter, I needed distance.
Any responsibilities relating to her I’ve reassigned to my guys for now. I’ve warned them that she bites.
For the last few days, I’ve buried myself in work, but the exhaustion isn’t helping my productivity.
It’s also quite the task for an almost-alpha.
I have to jump through hoops to accomplish anything because most tasks require my mother’s authorization.
Unhelpfully, she’s been holed up in her room since my decision to take a chosen mate.
I’m asleep in my father’s office when the sound of the door slamming against the wall jolts me awake.
“There you are. I’ve been calling for you for the past ten minutes,” Tyler alerts.
“Huh? What?” I lift my head, disoriented.
Paper stuck to my cheek falls onto the large, oak desk. Crap. I fell asleep working again.
“Dude, were you sleeping?” Tyler asks with a grin evident in his voice.
My lips smack together, and I rub my eyes. “No,” I say, yawning.
“Surrre you were,” he says sarcastically. “Well, wake up. The council’s here.” Shit.
Frantic, I spring from my chair and frantically sift through and stack random things. Not awake yet, I gather a stapler, a binder for inventory and other random crap in my arms.
Tyler watches me scurry around the office, stuffing things into drawers, scratching his head. “What’re you doing?”
I pause. What am I doing?
“I don’t know.”
Everything in my arms as I clutch the tresses of my tousled hair as if to hold my scattered mind together.
I figured we’d heard from them sooner or later, but I didn’t expect them to drop by unannounced. I’m unprepared and can’t think clearly. “I need coffee.”
I catch a glimpse of something red and look down to see I’m also without pants.
Tyler retrieves my trousers that were hanging on the back of the sofa and chucks them at me. With one hand, I snatch them from the air and put them on.
He crosses his arms across his chest. “What’re they doing here anyway?”
I throw on the blazer strewn over my chair and loop a tie around my neck.
“If I had to guess, they’re probably looking to discuss my request to choose my mate,” I say to Tyler, communicating with him through the mirror, while I navigate my tie like my father taught me as a boy.
Over, under . . . There. I make the final adjustments to my tie and then smooth it down my chest.
I chime in before he can say anything. “I don’t want to get into this with you.” Not again.
Tyler has very strong feelings about chosen mates, morally and spiritually. He believes it goes against our Goddess to choose someone and hates that you could be taking someone from another who was meant to have them.
Not finding his mate in the Hunt this past year really did a number on him.
It gave him a new perspective. He’s different from the douchebag I remember.
He can’t stand the idea of someone else marking the person meant for him.
He’d wait forever for his love, so the idea that they wouldn’t is devastating.
“If that’s what you want,” he sighs, reserving his judgment the best he can. “Who do you have in mind?”
I thought I’d have more time to think about my options. I run through the potential within the pack as it’d be better to choose someone who is already familiar with our ways. “They need to be well-liked, respectable. Bonus points if they have powers.”
Tyler taps his chin. “Who’s that she-wolf with the supernatural green thumb . . . Her name is . . . Oh, what was it?”
“Amaya.”
Recognizing her name, he snaps his fingers. “Yes, that’s the one!” He tilts his head to the same side of the shoulder he shrugs and considers, “She’d be good. Her family belongs to generations of successful farmers. It’d pair well with my hunting abilities.”
“Yeah, that’s true.”
“Hmm . . . The only problem is her hygiene is not the best.”
I wish that were the only problem, but there’s a simple fix to that. The real issue is that I’m not attracted to her. Not that she’s not beautiful, but because I’ve already seen Jay. But the mate bond will take care of that.
“So, where are we meeting with them?”
***
The conference room is great but plain, with white walls, walnut frames and matching hardwood floors. A large, empty brick fireplace sits on the far wall, behind the long and far too corporate rectangular table.
But it’s not the décor that has me dreary.
Gathered around the table are two members of the council. I don’t know exactly how many members there are and up until recently, I have never bothered to learn their names before now.
Ezra is a younger male wolf, appearing to be in his mid- to late-thirties, but his line goes back generations predating any history book.
His mother was a shapeshifter while his father had the power of invisibility.
He and his twin, Alexa, were born at the same time by C-section.
It’s an anomaly that puzzled not only the doctors, but even the Moon Goddess.
With their DNA completely split, they carry both parents’ powers, making them the only family able to keep a power alive if one twin dies.
What I don’t see here are any members of the crown.
More specifically, I was hoping to see Alaina.
If I were to tell anyone about what’s happening, it’d be her.
She might be the only one who would try to understand and care enough to be sensitive to my situation.
Whereas the council doesn’t care about anything if it doesn’t benefit them.
Which is also the reason I’m surprised they’d bother to make the trip here.
Their corrupt nature is a plague on this realm.
I have a better chance at negotiating terms with Alaina’s presence and more importantly, her support. More than anybody, she’d understand my predicament.
If she shows, my wolf says.
Right, there’s that. I couldn’t blame her if she didn’t. I wasn’t there for her when she needed me most.
Ezra and Alexa stand to greet us. We shake hands before Tyler and I take a seat across from them.
“Where’s Luna Kathy?”
My mother has missed so many social invitations, meetings and leadership engagements that I’ve become a master at making up reasons for her absence.
I make up some excuse that would appease them—a fake business deal that would benefit them—and they somewhat buy it.
Although I think their belief is driven by wishful thinking.
Technically, imperial law says I’m not allowed to lead yet, but I’ve been doing it for months. But the work-arounds make things ten times more tedious. And I’ll keep doing it if it means protecting my family’s legacy.
“Will the queen be joining us?” I ask.
“No. Why?” Ezra asks, folding his hands in his lap.
His lips form a hard line.
Yikes. This guy is defensive. Best to be professional, delicate and pretend I don’t know why he’s ready to challenge me.
“This is an important matter. I figured they’d want to be here is all,” I explain calmly.
“Do you have a problem with the way the council conducts business, Mr. Waller?” Alexa asks.
“I don’t understand what would possibly give you that impression, sir.” I pretend I’m uncomfortable with his outburst and have no idea where it’s coming from.
“I hear things . . . Whispers about the fall of the council,” Ezra slithers his head back and forth like a snake and wiggles his fingers like he’s telling a ghost story with theatrical commitment. “Yeah . . . yeah. You think I didn’t know, did you?”
The look in his eyes is wild, and his movements are obscure. Something is off about him, like he hasn’t slept in days, and it’s starting to catch up with him. Something I’m sure Tyler, and I will laugh at him for later . . . or now if we’re not careful.
Tyler’s hand subtly covers his mouth, and I know he’s hiding his emerging grin. For now, I’m able to keep a straight face, but if he looks at me, it’s all over. I’ll bust out laughing.
“Don’t,” I warn him in the mindlink.
“Sir, I assure you, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I was only asking if the queen would be joining us.”
Just then, the door creaks as it swings open, and in comes a blonde-haired cocky son of a bitch.
Sam stands to the side, allowing his mate, Taya, to enter first. Then he smacks her ass as she passes him, biting his lip.
With razor sharp hearing, he responds, “The queen is busy running two kingdoms.” Sam grins.
“Gentleman . . .” He nods as he regards the council before he looks at my beta and me and says, “Mutts.”
“Fuck my life,” Tyler mutters. He slumps in his chair, probably wishing he could disappear.
The chair squeaks against the floorboards as he pulls it out for Taya, the queen’s royal beta. Despite his chivalrous act, I’ve heard he’s anything but a gentleman—or at least he wasn’t before he met Taya.
Taya belonged to this pack prior to meeting Sam, so I’m familiar with her. With Alaina’s best friend in attendance, maybe there’s still some hope.
“Sorry we’re late. We were . . .” Sam’s gaze flits to Taya, who blushes. He chuckles softly, with a half-smile, then focuses his eyes back on his audience. “Tied up.”
Ezra’s brows furrow as he narrows his eyes, seemingly unhappy with the crown’s arrival. “I wasn’t aware you would be joining us.”
The air is thick with tension. I stim by rubbing my thumb, middle and pointer fingers together on the large table. Tyler shifts uncomfortably in his seat.