Colten looked between Tyler and Justin as they sat around the kitchen table. He'd just finished explaining everything to them, minus the Abigail situation because they really didn't need to be fed that information as well.
He got up and walked to the coffee pot, needing a caffeine dose.
“Peter's usually...”
Colten sighed, “Yeah, smarter? I know.” He listened to Alma upstairs as she got Ella ready for bed and felt his guilt building towards the child.
Abigail came to his mind as his cell phone rang.
He pulled it out and looked down to the flashing screen that had her name rolling across it for the third time since he'd gotten home. He glanced at the two men and then skipped the call, putting it back in his pocket.
Justin sighed, “So, we need to tighten the borders?”
“Until Wednesday.”
“Then what?” Justin asked, “You pull the whole pack and tell them what?”
“We'll figure it out, together.” Colten wasn't in the mood to discuss small details.
“But what if Mateo comes in?” Tyler stuffed, “What about everyone?”
“You don't know about Mia. That's what that is.” Colten told him.
“But we do and if Mateo if going to put our families at risk, that's unfair to us for Peter's sake.”
Colten looked between them and creased his brow.
“We're screwed if Mateo decides to invade.” Tyler shot.
Colten stood and put his hands on his hips, “What Mateo is doing is intimidation. I can play that game too. I'll call him in tonight.”
Tyler looked confused but that was normal for him, “You're going to play bullshit with him?”
Colten shrugged, “Why not?”
Justin leaned back in his chair, “Colten, I don't think that's a good idea.”
Colten lifted an eyebrow, “I'm not afraid of that twisted idiot. I'll call him in and tell him to back off.”
“Wait.” Tyler stopped him, “Are you for real?”
“Yeah.” Colten nodded. He knew he had to do something, Mateo was shaking things up on purpose to get his attention.
“They think we have Mia, well,” Colten shrugged, “They won't find her.”
Both the men stared at their alpha and smiled at him.
“This is why he's an alpha...” Justin pointed at Colten.
Colten grunted, “I'm just sick of his games. He thinks he's always been better than me.”
“But he's mated.” Tyler snapped.
Colten shrugged.
Justin paused a moment, “And you're not afraid of him?”
“You think Mateo is ready to fight right now? No. He's looking for his sister.” Colten snapped, “The messed up thing is, I know how he feels. However, Mia is part of Fornone now and we will protect her.”
Tyler snorted, “She's Oscuro.”
Colten looked to him, “Look, Tyler, you don't need to like it but he's your Beta. So, get used to it.”
“Do you want us to go with you tonight?” Justin asked.
“Yes, right now, I want you to go to each pack member and warn them. Tell all the males to watch their property lines and if Oscuro is seen, to do a warning cry.” Colten thought it all through as his cell phone rang in his pocket. He had to deal with his other issues now that Oscuro was getting taken care of.
He pulled his cell back out, “Go now and be back before dark.”
Tyler and Justin got up, saying their goodbyes to their Alpha and exiting the kitchen via the backdoor.
Colten listened to them shift and answered his phone before the call ended, “Hey.”
Abigail took in a sharp breath, “Colten.”
“Are you alright?” He asked, sitting down.
She whimpered and he wished he was with her. He put his hand to his forehead and rubbed.
“Abi, it's okay...”
“No, it's not. Daddy is freaking out.”
“Oh,” Colten breathed, “They're really upset?”
“Mama seems okay but Dad is just... he's still yelling. They want to send me to my Aunt and Uncle's in Arizona.”
“What! Why?” Colten almost yelled, “I haven't ever done anything to your father! There's no reason for any of this!” He exploded with emotion.
“I don't want to go, Colten, tell me what to do!” She begged him.
He swallowed, calming himself, “Alright, baby, just-”
“Did you mean it?” She cut him off.
“Mean what?” He breathed.
“When you told Daddy you loved me.”
He sighed, “Yes, of course.”
“I love you too, Colten.”
He groaned, “Are they really gonna send you away?”
“I don't know what Dad's going on about. He just keeps saying no. Over and over. I tried to talk to him but he won't listen. He says you're older and...”
He swallowed as she rambled in between her teeny sobs.
“I'm sorry for down at the creek, you were right and I was being so stupid.”
“Abi, you're not stupid. It's fine, we'll figure it out. Just don't let them send you away.” He took a breath and tried to think.
She let out a small whine, “I'm coming over.”
He tensed up, “Just stay there, don't make your parents more upset.”
“But-”
“No, Abi.” He didn't want her near the mess, he wanted her far, far away from Oscuro and the drama they were creating.
“I don't care, Colten. If they kick me out, whatever, I don't care!”
“Look, Abi, you can't just leave.” There were many things he wanted to do right and pissing off more people, including taking someone's daughter away, seemed cruel.
“Why!” She became frantic, “Colten, I can work at the Diner and I have some money, I can even get another job...”
“No.” He killed her idea.
“Colten!”
“We can't just shack up!” He snapped.
She fell silent in an instant, even her breathing had stopped.
He took a breath, “I'm sorry. I'm just under a lot of stress, at this very moment.”
“You're mad about the job, aren’t you?” She breathed.
He swallowed, he wasn't mad about the job. He could have cared less about work. The only thing he cared about was his pack and mate. Both of which, had to stay separate for at least the next twelve hours, till he figured it all out.
He went to speak but she cut him off.
“I'm sorry, Colten. I'm sorry about what happened.”
“No, Abi, don't say sorry.”
“I'll make it up to you. Just let me come over. I need to see you.”
“Abi, if you leave now, I doubt Charlie will like it very much. I don't want to deal with the fight right now.”
“Colten, you just said you loved me!”
“It's not as easy as that, Abigail! This isn't a movie. Hell, this is real life and we don't always get what we want!” He heard her choke on her tears and then he knew he'd let his stress and alpha lay it out all over his perfect little mate, “Baby-”
“No!” She shouted back, “I was obviously more than stupid. You're just too nice to say it, but you're not at the same time!”
“Abi, come on.”
“You can never make up your mind, Colten!”
“Abigail,” He ground his teeth, “I'm trying to think logically. Do you really-”
“Logic is for people who are never happy!”
His words failed him, about to slam his head to the near wall.
“Bye, Colten.” She hung up the phone and he stared across his kitchen, dropping his cell from his ear and flipping it closed.
Standing and walking across his kitchen to the sink, he looked over the brewing pot of coffee and stayed motionless in the moment.
“Colten.” Alma's voice called him.
He turned to her, sucking up his sulking, “How's Ella?”
“She's gone down fine. Is everything okay?”
He thought through what to say to her, “I lost my job, Oscuro is pushing our territory and my girlfriend, I'm pretty sure just broke up with me.”
Alma lifted an eyebrow, “Oh... oh, no.”
Colten smiled and leaned back into the counters, “It never ends, Alma.”
The older woman sighed, “Are you needing me tonight?”
He nodded, “Yeah, I do. I need to go run borders. Get Mateo off my back.”
Alma sat to the table, “You need to fix things with the girl.”
“She's safer staying mad at me for the next day.” He grunted, “I don't want her here, she'll distract me and Fornone comes first.”
“You don't think you can tell her?”
“I just can't take her away from her parents.” He breathed, “I mean, I want her but I need to go to them and I just want it all to calm down first. I can't deal with her and Oscuro.”
The woman smiled, “You always try to avoid so much heart-ache.”
“Doesn’t really feel like that.” He admitted.
“For other people.” Alma finished, “Is Abigail very upset?”
Colten groaned, “She did hang up on me, after she screamed at me.”
Alma smiled, “You know you'll take care of Oscuro. This shouldn't be bothering you.”
He sighed, “It's not Oscuro I'm worried about. It's Mateo. I don't want to say it aloud to the pack but I'm worried he's going to challenge me. I'm worried that if he doesn’t find Mia soon, he's going to come after Fornone. Not because we may or may not have her but because he likes a challenge and we're no longer equals.”
Alma sighed, “All the more reason to tell Abigail soon.”
He cringed, “And if I hurt her and her family in the process, I can't live with that.”
“Colten, can you live with giving up Fornone and your mate?”
He fell silent and then he really thought it all through. Alma stood then and busied herself, washing up the counters and taking care of random dirty dishes.
“I'll have Curtis come by.”
Alma looked to him and nodded, “I'm sure it'll all work out, Colten.”
He stood and shuffled around some magazines, “I'm going to go.” He couldn't wait till twilight, he wanted to look over his territory and the longer daylight was with him, the more Oscuro would keep at bay from being seen by humans.
He started to undo the buttons on his shirt, “Would you tell her, Alma?”
“Yes.” She answered him, not looking up from the soapy water.
“Why?” He breathed.
She finally turned to him, “Because I believe humans feel the bond. Maybe not as strong as us but she acts like she's been with you forever and that must countess to something.”
His heart ached from her words, “I'll see you in awhile.”
Alma nodded, “Good luck.”
He left the kitchen in his bare feet, “Luck.” He mumbled under his breath and jumped off the porch, falling into the frame of his big white wolf.