Alpha Wyler
I didn't know what had happened but I knew I was pissed. My pack had rejected Lara and Krissy, and in the process had called me negligent. I wasn't careless or stupid- yet I felt it. Watching the last of Silvermoon exit out into the cold, I stood motionless on the stage with the patrol officers behind me. They waited for instruction and I waited for myself to get a goddamn grip.
I was Alpha. The pack wasn't supposed to question my judgement.
The doors swung open at the front of the hall and Johnathan stepped inside.
“She's fine. I took her home.” He approached me.
I sighed, glancing over my shoulder to the patrol. “You might as well all return to your posts.”
They filtered off the stage without a word and I waited for them all to leave before speaking about what just occurred to my Beta.
“That was fucked.”
Johnathan swallowed. “I think we got some ballots.”
“I don't think it matters.” I stepped off the stage. “How pissed is Olivia?”
My Beta stiffened. “She's upset but seems fine.”
I ran a hand through my hair. For the first time in many years, I didn't know what to say to the female in my life.
“Maybe you should tell her about the prisoner?”
My eyes went to Johnathan with a slowness. “I don't think so. It will scare her.”
“Caleb...” Johnathan did that nervous swallow again. “I don't mean this in any disrespect but, she is going to be afraid when we're attacked.”
“I'm going to send her away before that.” The idea popped into my head like it had been there the entire time.
“Then we can't protect her--”
My temper flared from every angle. “Well, she can't stay here, can she!”
Johnathan only nodded in agreement.
“Find a safe place to send her to.”
Again, he gave me a nod. “Anything else I can do, Caleb?”
“Make sure all the patrols are in the correct places. Round the clock border watch. No one comes in or out without permission.”
“I'll see to it.”
I looked up as cleaning staff came in to start putting away chairs and tables. We couldn't talk about anything further in their presence so we headed out of the hall. I found my coat by itself in the closet area and put it on.
“Your keys.” Johnathan handed them to me as we walked out into the biting cold. “Have a good evening.”
“Bye, John.” I unlocked the truck and got in, but something stopped me from going home. I had to take a moment to decide how to deal with Olivia. She would lash out and want to protect our pup, possibly from me as well. I couldn't hold that against her, her wolf wouldn't let her behave any other way. Sort of like I had lied to her and kept the information of the prisoner from her. my day wouldn't be getting any better.
I started the truck up and drove home. Still not coming to a conclusion on what to say to Olivia. When I stepped in the door, I heard someone in the kitchen and went to see if it was my mate. It was Lara though,washing some dishes and she shut the water off when I walked in.
“How did it go?” Her gentle eyes washed over me and I let out a breath that I'd clearly been holding since entering the house.
“Not great but it will be fine.” I put my truck keys down on the granite and leaned into the counter there after.
She gave me a weak smile and dried her hands, staying quiet as she started to put away the dishes. Olivia would have picked me apart by now but Lara accepted my answer with respect. I felt a tightness growing across my chest as I thought about telling my mate she would be leaving the pack house as soon as possible. Would she ever have the same amount of trust in me like Lara did?
“Do you know where Olivia is?”
Lara closed the cupboard quietly and turned around. “She's upstairs.”
“Thanks.” I walked out of the kitchen with a growing disturbance. Never in my adult life had I felt fear, but I cared for her so much. it had started to eat away at my ability to always be so mentally strong. I wasn't sure I liked it, but I accepted it.
I could hear her in our suite, shuffling about as I walked into the room. “Olivia?” I called, closing the door softly.
She appeared from our closet, giving me a hard stare. She had a towel wrapped around her and that was all. “What do you want?”
“Excuse me?” My tone of voice hitched as she walked to the bathroom. I followed and saw her grab the door but she thought better of it and left it open. She was making herself a bath.
“I really just want some privacy,” she said as I walked into the bathroom.
My shoes squeaked on the white tile while I shifted my stance and tried to think of how to deal with her. “I think we should talk.”
“I don't.” Olivia turned away and dropped her towel, getting into the bath.
The longer we stayed not speaking about the meeting and the threat of Jackson, the more it would eat me up. I was losing my edge and it was frustrating as hell.
“Olivia.” I approached the bath. “We need to talk.” The bubbles in the bath covered her, beside her growing stomach.
Her cheeks flushed and she spat out, “fine. Why did you bring me up there?”
“You're the Luna.”
“It's not like I have a say in anything, Caleb. You knew they weren't going to like Lara's story, so you used me to get sympathy.”
“I'm trying to deal with a lot right now, so when you leave a meeting like you did, it doesn’t exactly help show a united front.”
She smiled up at me and even a laugh left her lips. “What else are you trying to deal with?”
I silenced, with a growing need to pulverize something.
“Huh?” Her grumbling under her breath made me twitch with annoyance. “You're lying to me, I know you are.”
We stared at each other with a fire only our first fight had brought on and she snapped, standing to get out of the bath.
“I can't take this...” Her foot slipped along the tile as she got out of the bath. I watched with horror as she fell and landed on her side. I hadn't been quick enough to her but when I was in front of her, she moved into my arms for reassurance.
“Are you hurt?”
The moment was brief as she shoved me away from her, muttering a salty don't touch me. Her narrowed eyes were more than enough of an indication I was walking on thin ice with her.
“You have one last chance to tell me what's going on.” Her threat rang loud and clear as I tried to decipher what she meant totally.
“You were there. You know what went on.”
“This is why I can't trust you anymore!” She grabbed a towel and shoved past me.
I followed with a sigh. “You need to calm down. I'll get this under control.”
“Will you?” She glanced over her shoulder as she headed for the closet.
“Yes.” I had to check myself so I didn't get too wrapped up in her game. I heard her shuffling around in the closet but stayed halfway across the room, pulling out my phone to read a text from Johnathan saying he'd double checked patrol and things were fine. I cleared my throat, pocketing the phone. “Why do you think it's okay to speak to me like you are?”
She let out a laugh, poking her head out of the closet doorway. “Really, Caleb? You think I give a shit about being your little sub anymore?”
My chest rumbled with a shallow growl. “What do you mean?”
She threw a suitcase from the closet. “I'm leaving and Lara's coming with me, 'cause we don't feel safe with you.” She walked out in a loose fitted dress and no bra on. I watched her breasts beneath the fabric for a momentary distraction from our conversation. “I'm not staying here with our pup, to be raped and murdered or whatever else Jackson decides to do to me.”
I stared at her to see if she was serious. “Where are you going?”
She blinked at me, not anticipating my question and then started to stutter.
“I agree, you shouldn't be here but I'll pick out the best location for you all to go to.”
She smiled with defiance. “No, I don't think you understand--”
“I've already discussed it with John.”
“So you're admitting that here is not safe?”
“It's not.” I agreed.
“Well, fuck, Caleb!” She exploded. “I know about the prisoner, and I can't take your lying anymore--”
“Who told you about that?”
“Ah!” She pointed at me. “It doesn’t matter.”
“I think it does.” I grunted with annoyance and ran through possible snitches but all I could think of was my Beta – he wouldn't betray me though. I was sure of that.
She was a furry of anger and confusion. There was little direction to her plans – she wouldn't be getting far.
“I didn't tell you about the prisoner because I didn't want to scare you.”
“You scare me,” her rebuttal came with sass and a spit fire of emotion. I chose to ignore it.
“I will find somewhere safe for you and Lara.”
“I'm about this close to having this pup! I can't believe you did this to me....”
“I was confident this wouldn't be an issue.”
She laughed again at me. “How confident are you... now that Silvermoon thinks you're a train-wreck of an Alpha?”
That pissed me off more than anything and I flexed my palm to calm the new rage. “You will not leave here, Olivia, unless I allow it.”
Shoving her index finger into my flexed chest, she looked me dead straight in the eyes and told me, “No. I'll do whatever I want, Alpha.”