(Caspien)
“And they want to meet now because?” My Beta, Griffin, was pacing my office.
“Because they want to pretend that they have any control, that they make the rules,” Holden, my Gamma, said.
I sighed. We were after a meeting with Black Stone for months.
They weren’t part of our pack or territory but closely bordered it. I wouldn’t say we were allies, but we, well, I tried to keep the peace as much as possible.
We’ve been trying to arrange a meeting with Alpha Jasper for months regarding their slipping patrols on our borders. Rogues have been infiltrating the city, and most of this city was human. It was something that didn’t affect Black Stone but could seriously cause problems for me and the humans that lived here.
Most of our pack lived in a building in town that to everyone else seemed like apartments, but our territory expanded through most of the city and to some of the forest beyond, where the original packhouse was, and some members still lived. My parents acted as a proxy. It was just recently that most of the pack moved to the city, and I wanted to make sure that no matter where my pack members chose to live, they would have full resources and protection.
Black Stone did things differently. They were recently established or re-established. Alpha Jackson took over from the previous Hendrick and ended his long line in a challenge. Even though the pack was old, the leadership was new, and it led to a lot of unpredictability.
We accepted it because it was law. The challenge was witnessed and fought fairly. Crescent Moon was already in hot water with them when my dad offered any of their pack members asylum within our pack when he was Alpha.
Many of Black Stone's members took him up on that, leaving when Alpha Jasper took over, leaving him with not many more members than he came with. He never forgot it and thought we somehow cheated him from a pack. Even after I took over as Alpha, he has been a pain in my a.ss ever since.
“He’s an Alpha, I get that there are politics to this, but he can’t let a rogue problem persist just because he’s a bit butt hurt about past events.” Holden shook his head. “We have to go. I know it's not ideal, but we’ve been waiting for this meeting.”
“I know.” I wouldn’t put it off out of spite, either, but it did leave a bad taste in my mouth. I didn’t like not having control over the situation; it was something that I rarely felt.
“We have to go now,” Holden continued gently, looking towards Griffen, who snapped his head up.
“Now?” Griffen repeated.
Griffen found his mate, Nora, a year ago, and she was pregnant with their first pup. Griffen had been anxious since he found out and didn’t like being away from her, even during our meetings that were usually held in my office above their apartment.
“Yes.” Holden turned back to me.
“Where do they want to meet?” I asked.
“Their pack,” Holden said.
“No f.ucking way,” Griffen cut in.
“I agree,” I said, “That's not happening. We’re meeting on neutral grounds as always.” I scrubbed my face with my hands; this was the last thing I wanted to deal with.
“Make the call,” I nodded to Holden. “Where we met last time, no other options.”
I hoped that would work. I hated playing politics. My pack's safety came first, but I wasn’t going to cater to him.
“Increase border controls until we get back,” I commanded Griffen. Griffen was in charge of pack security, but with his mind elsewhere recently on his pregnant mate, Holden helped fill in the gaps recently.
“Done. There won’t be any rogues that slip through.” He turned to make a few calls.
“They said no.” Holden came back frowning.
I opened my phone and dialed Alpha Jasper immediately.
"Alpha Jasper speaking." He answered on the first ring.
“I know you’re new to being an Alpha since you don’t come from a long line of Alpha blood as I do. So let me inform you how this works. You are a small pack, barely a pack, really. However, you are still in charge of your borders and have to be respectful of those packs around you.”
“Alpha-”
“I’m not finished.” My voice turned to ice; it left no room for question. “Your incompetence isn’t my problem, but it has become mine because your warriors are sloppy. Let me rephrase that; you are sloppy. Another little tip for you: everything in the pack falls on you. I don’t care what your excuses are, and I can tell you’re begging to let me know them all, but if one part of your pack is failing, you are failing. We aren’t allies, so we will meet on neutral grounds. My Gamma laid out where, and it was a place you chose last time. Your pack is at risk; skip this aggressive b.ullshit. We all know who will win if it came down to it.”
The line was blank.
“You may speak,” I commanded.
“Alpha Caspien,” he chided.
“Alpha Dracos.” I corrected, “I’m royalty. You call me by my last name. Common Alphas are addressed by their first, Alpha Jasper,” I hoped he could hear the smile in my voice.
“We will meet you on neutral grounds,” he responded after a moment. “But I’ll tell you where.”
I laughed. It was cold and dark and devoid of emotion. “Whatever makes you feel in control. You have an hour to send the location. I have other things to attend to.”
Dread settled in, and it didn’t make sense; it was a feeling I was unfamiliar with. Atlas started to pace around in my mind as I nodded to Griffen, dismissing him to say his goodbyes. Then I realized it was almost lunchtime, and we hadn’t seen Willa today. I checked my watch, I wouldn’t have time to make it there and back, and I had too much to do here.
I debated texting her. I could find her number on her file even if she didn’t give it to me personally. But would she even want to hear from me? She made it clear she wasn’t ready, and if I sounded too eager or desperate or come across like a stalker, would that scare her away?
I almost laughed. I had never once been worried about sounding desperate before. H.ell, I don’t think I ever was desperate. I was more eager to see Willa for ten minutes a day than I had ever been to u.ndress a woman.
“What?” Holden leaned back against the wall, studying me.
“What?”
“You look far away, in dreamland or something.”
“I was just-” I shrugged.
“Thinking of your mate?” He gave me his signature half smile that showed his one dimple running his hands through his shaggy, dirty blonde hair.
“I mean, yes,” I replied honestly, “I don’t want to disappear on her.”
“Text her.” Holden shrugged.
“She never gave me her number.”
“Ouch.” Griffen walked back in. “Then don’t.”
My eyes shot to his dark gray ones; they looked almost black even when his wolf wasn’t pushing forward. “Why not?” I asked.
“If she didn’t give you her number, then she wouldn’t want you to text her.” He shrugged. “Plus, it would be creepy.”
“But she's his mate,” Holden countered, “What would you do if that was Nora?”
“That was different.” Griffen shook his head. “Caspien’s doesn’t want a mate, apparently.”
“She has a name,” I growled, shocked by my own response.
“Willa, sorry. Willa isn’t ready for a mate,” he corrected.
“Did you ever figure out what happened?” Holden looked at me.
“No.” I shook my head, thinking. “It doesn’t add up. Willa hasn’t even mentioned him, she told me she was her second chance, but we haven’t dug into our histories.”
“Better to keep it that way,” Holden commented.
“You’re going to be singing a different song when you find your mate.” Griffen leaned next to Holden.
They looked so different. With Holden’s shaggy blonde hair and brown eyes, he was taller and lankier than Griffen but still held a lot of muscle.
Griffen was bulkier, and with his black hair and dark gray eyes, he was a stark contrast to the beach boy leaning next to him. He was the no-nonsense one. It wasn’t until he found Nora that he seemed to settle into himself and let himself loosen up, if only a bit.
Their outer appearances definitely imitated their personalities; they were almost opposites.
I’ve known them both my entire life, most of it at least. Holden was the son of my dad’s Gamma, so we were raised together since birth.
My dad's Beta didn’t have any kids, and Griffen was the son of one of our head warriors. He was always around and became my closest friend. We three fell into a friendship that turned more like a brotherhood.
I felt that, no, I knew, that since Griffen didn’t have Beta blood, he felt like he had to prove himself as second in the pack. He had worked harder than anyone did in this entire pack, and even though no one said anything about it, not to my face at least, I got the sense that he never felt fully comfortable in the role. Even though he accepted it and was far more suited to it than any Beta I had known, he still didn't feel as if he was qualified.
My council advised me at first to take someone else or make Holden my Beta and choose another Gamma, but I wouldn’t budge. My parents advised me to go with my gut, that blood wasn't the only thing that qualified or defined you. I chose Griffen not just because he was my best friend, a brother. It was because he was the best choice, and the pack eventually saw that.
Holden was meant to be a Gamma, he never wanted the responsibilities of being a Beta, and he wasn’t raised for it.
We had a few challenges starting out, but we got into a rhythm quickly. We worked well together, and we helped balance each other. No matter that people thought I ran this place like a d.amn dictator, and sometimes I did, I took their advice into consideration.
“So you think I should just leave for a few days without telling her?” I asked both of them.
They both shrugged.
“You know her better than we do. Do you think it would be worse to leave without saying anything or to admit to her that you have access to her number on the rental application because you own her building?” Griffin raised a dark eyebrow.
F.uck, he was right.
She didn’t know that I was looking for her, that I had her flagged in all of the company's systems, and many others. She didn’t know who I was, or she never alluded to it, and I doubt it was something that she would have kept to herself. She seemed to always speak or mind, or at least. I hoped she did with me.
“Okay, I’ll leave it then; I just want it to be noted that I don’t feel good about it.”
“Noted, sir.” Holden mock-saluted me.
“She will come around, man,” Griffin assured me.
Easy for him to say. He met his mate at an allied pack event he attended on my behalf. He mated and marked her that same night.
Thinking of having Willa under me, letting me touch her, claim her, and show her just how incredible she was, sent an involuntary shiver down my spine that surprised me.
“Come on.” Holden groaned, pushing off the wall and looking at his phone. “We have a new meeting place, and it's even further away.”
I sighed. My pack and the humans in this city were more important than some wannabe Alpha’s quest for dominance. I tried to remember that.