“Nope! I don’t want to know.” I throw my hands up. “I’m just here until he can figure out what to do with me. We both know that. I don’t know why your Goddess made us mates, but he clearly doesn’t want one, or more specifically doesn’t want me. I’m just going to keep focused on school and getting my business degree so I am ready when he’s done with me and kicks me out.” She looks horrified and like she wants to argue, but I’m on a roll now. “Speaking of school, is my laptop and phone ready? I know I have the computer here, but I like to move around so the laptop is better.” I haven’t even touched the computer. I refuse to sit at a desk that will never be mine. I will just maintain my guest status and be good with that. “I need to check in with Jeremiah. I haven’t talked to him in a weeks. The longest we’ve ever gone without speaking was two days and that was when he found Rayna. I could just use a friend right now.” I blink away more tears.
“What about Bennet or me? Could you talk to us? Can we help?”
“I don’t think so. You both have a job to do and it has been made very, very clear that I am distracting you both from more important things.” I rub my face. “Listen, you have to follow orders and your loyalty to your alpha is very important. I’m not going to get in the way of that or even ask you to choose between the two of us. If you could just get me a cell phone, even if it only has you, Bennet and Jeremiah as contacts I will be good and I promise that I will tell you if I need anything and I won’t go anywhere without asking. Being able to text will give us all more room to breathe. I’m going to go run on the treadmill for a bit then I will be back up here to work for the day. I’ll let someone know if I change plans.” I walk to the bathroom to change, cutting off the conversation. I just hope she’s gone when I come out.
Ryker
I cannot get Amy off of me. I was so distracted coming down the stairs, I wasn’t paying attention to who was around. She’s like a freaking octopus with tentacles everywhere. I have had to use an alpha command on her twice to keep her hands to herself, but she seems to just enjoy the power move and the pain she gets from disobeying. I shouldn’t have to command her at all and I don’t like using it on pack members, but I think I am going to have to make an exception now. She’s been getting bolder in her defiance of my instructions.
I immediately saw Kennedy’s face when we walked in. I know I’m a hypocrite when I told her to stay away from my guys. And now it seems whenever she sees me there is a woman hanging off of me or I’m yelling at her. Bennet is just as confused, but he’s blocked me for now and won’t let me explain. My mate has him whipped and that makes my wolf growl at the thought. Is she interested in him beyond friendship like Jeremiah’s beta? Can she change her attention since she doesn’t have a wolf to deal with? Another low grumble ripples through my chest. “Your wolf likes that doesn’t he?” Amy coos in my ear.
“What?!” I look at her and look down and she’s attempting to stroke me through my pants as I am walking, I swat her away. Finally breaking contact. “What are you doing? Keep your hands to yourself. And don’t pull that sh*t in front of my mate again.” I look around, but Kennedy is gone.
“You never minded before.” She whines and grabs my arm. I growl again, but she smiles wider. This b*tch is crazy, she thinks I’m playing with her.
“Amy, go home. I told you, if you can’t behave yourself, then you aren’t welcome in the packhouse.” I pull my arm out of her grasp once again trying to use the buffet table as a barrier.
She stands next to me and tries to touch me again. I grab her wrists to stop her. I don’t want her overly perfumed scent on me. It’s like glitter. It doesn’t ever really go away and it’s not pleasant. Kennedy mentioned being able to smell females on me last night. I shouldn’t care if she’s into Bennet and Jensen, but I do. And I really need to figure out how she can smell a female on me without a wolf. Human noses are inferior to ours. They don’t have the ability to identify people by scent.
“Excuse me, Alpha, you are needed.” I pull my gaze away from my random thoughts. “We have a busy day.” Oh, thank f*ck for Robin. But, I’m a little wary at the look she’s giving me. She’s pissed, and Robin never gets pissed. “Amy, you are excused, now.”
“Uh! But! Alpha, she can’t send me away.” Amy looks from Robin to me.
“Of course I can. Your alpha asked you to go home and not return if you cannot behave yourself. This is the second time in a month that you have put your hands on him without permission. You have no business touching the Alpha and he is too polite to say so. Go. Home.” Robin steps between Amy and I, hands on her hips, and is a better guard than my warriors at the moment. “If you can’t follow that simple instruction I will have the warriors toss you out and ban you from the packhouse, indefinitely. Am I clear?” She doesn’t wait for an answer, but looks at me. “Alpha, this way. Gamma Bennet?” She looks over to the other side of the room and Bennet pops up from his seat like he was shocked in the ass, “Your Luna is going down to the gym shortly, she wanted me to relay the message.” He nods, then she turns and walks away, leaving me to follow like I know what the hell is going on. She’s lucky I’m good at schooling my face and just going with what she’s doing. Why did she tell Bennet about Kennedy and not me?
We walk straight to my office and she closes the door like this is her space not mine. “Are you out of your mind?!” She hisses. “How dare you disrespect your mate like that? And with Amy of all she-wolves… in front of? everyone.” She rubs her temple with one hand,?”Now, hold on! What’s got you all worked up? Amy’s always sniffing around and you have never had a problem with her before.”
“You never had a mate before, Ryker! What the hell is wrong with you? That poor girl ate in the corner by herself this morning. And then left after watching you parade around your latest poor choice in s*xual partner to everyone in the breakfast room. She’s your Luna for Goddess’ sake, not some little power chaser. And you let Amy talk about her like that, loudly in front of everyone and hang all over you. You embarrassed her… and yourself for that matter.”
“What am I supposed to do? Kennedy hates me and she’s a weak human. There’s no benefit to having her as a Luna. She doesn’t want to be a Luna or part of a pack. I don’t know why the Goddess gave her to me, maybe as a punishment for something.” I start pacing the office floor.
“Trust me, after this morning she has every right to hate you. And you deserve the punishment.” She slammed the files she was carrying on my desk. “You need to fix this. You need her. We all need her. She asked me for her laptop and her phone… again…”
“No! There can be trackers in the apps she uses. We don’t know what she was doing in her last pack or what other humans she had contact with. We need discretion for a reason, you know that Robin. It’s just another weakness.” Robin keeps talking like I didn’t just tell her ‘no.’ “She wants to make sure she can finish her business degree so when you finally decide to reject her and cast her out like trash, she is capable of taking care of herself.” She glares daggers at me. “And don’t for a second think that I believe your bullsh*t about trackers. You don’t want her having any contact with any males out of jealousy. You hate the idea of her having any kind of life before you or without you.”
“She said that?” Why would she think I was going to cast her out? I may not want her as a mate, but no one deserves to be thrown out of a pack for that.”
“And…” She keeps talking over me, “she said she would like to have a phone even if it only has Jeremiah, Bennet and myself as contacts, so she can talk to a friend and let us know when she needs something so she isn’t a bother and we can focus on more important jobs.”
“Well, she’s not wrong. She’s a distraction for all of us. Bennet…”
“Is her Gamma!” She shouts and slams her fist down on the files. “If he isn’t protecting the Luna, what else is he supposed to be doing? I am your house manager. I am her assistant as much as yours. She is our job! She is important and you are making her feel worthless!”
“No! She is a weakness! She’s a human who can’t even protect herself when she’s attacked! She’s easy to capture, easy to torture, easy to use against us…”
“Stop. She did what she was supposed to do in an attack. Both times. She let the warriors assigned to her do their job, she stayed out of their way and even hid. From what I understand she did so well at following protocol and hiding, that Bennet had to call you to locate her. Sounds like she knows what she’s doing and didn’t get in the way or try to be something she isn’t. She wasn’t captured, because no one could find her. Therefore no torture, no using her as bait. She’s smart. Why can’t you see that?”
“Great, she’s got you too.” I rub my face.
“Stop being dramatic. She needs us as much as we need her. I understand what you’re afrai…”
“Enough. She’s powerless and a liability we can’t afford right now. She stays in the packhouse. It’s the only place she is safe. Are we clear?” I let my aura out just enough to let her know that I am serious.
“Fine…for now. But you need to do something about Amy. That tramp is awful to Kennedy and disrespectful to the staff. They have been instructed to ignore Amy, but even your subtle alpha command isn’t working and I don’t know why. Fix it! You also need to be nicer to Kennedy, especially in front of pack members. Otherwise we will have a whole other problem, no matter what you decide to do with her.”
I grunt, and my wolf is chiming in along with Robin. I don’t need this right now. “Have we found out any more about Claude’s movements?”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.