Chapter 23 When He Gets Jealous
Calhoun's POV
"I am so sorry that I couldn't make it to the wedding,"
"Not to worry, I already received your message."
"Well, I must say you've always had a good eye for women. Natalie is breathtakingly beautiful and extremely kind. The Greyhound pack is lucky to have her as a Luna," Landon looks in Natalie's direction across the table, with a smile spreading across his face.
"Thank you, Alpha Landon," Natalie beams at him before forking some beef into her mouth.
It's evening and we're having dinner with Alpha Landon and his family from the Yellowstone pack. He's a long-time friend of mine, ahead of me with sixteen years. He has a wife and a son who's in his twenties.
"Tell me how you met Calhoun," his wife, Lucy urges Natalie.
"I was taken off from the accounting department to be his acting PA because the one he had called in sick. Also, I helped with the renovation of the fifth pack house because I have a diploma in Interior design," Natalie has her cheeks red like a tomato freshly plucked out from the garden.
"I fell first and he," Natalie puts her hand on top of mine, "fell harder," she concludes and gives me a smile that doesn't even reach her eyes.
On a normal day, I would have kissed her hand but today I don't. Because everything I felt for this woman has been eclipsed by my feelings for her daughter, without even my permit.
"Oh, that's so sweet," Lucy gushes, holding her hands to her chest.
"Where is your daughter, Natalie? I believe she's here?" Landon asks her.
"Yes, she's here," Natalie reluctantly removes her hand from mine before lowering her head to her plate.
"Why didn't she join us for dinner?" Landon doesn't look like he'll let this drop.
"She's not feeling too well, so she's having some rest," Natalie gives him the forced smile this time as she stabs her fork on her steak.
"I see. We don't even know what she looks like, how old is she again?" Alpha Landon presses on.
"She's twenty-one," this time Natalie doesn't even look at him. She seems unhappy to be talking about her daughter.
"What a coincidence, she's the same age as our son, Ivan," Lucy's eyes brighten.
And the boy clears his throat and puts his spoon down before looking at me.
"I heard she won the pack run, Alpha Calhoun," Ivan seems a little too bold and masculine for his age. Not to speak of his looks. I hope he never gets the chance to see Kristen.
That's me being super jealous right now, after taking a look at my friend's son and assuming he's the type of guy my mate will find handsome.
"Yes, she did," my delayed response came out at last. Because I took too long to reply, everyone raised their heads to look at me. "Well, I've never heard about a female winning a pack run before. There must be something special about her." Ivan raises his shoulder and purses his lips.
This doesn't settle well with me, having my friend's son talking about my mate just makes me uncomfortable.
Raising my glass to my lips, I hold his gaze, hoping he doesn't speak about her anymore because he has no right to.
"It's saddening she's sick, I would like to meet with her before leaving. Heard she's a beauty" Ivan adds.
And everyone is startled.
Because I just slammed my empty glass on the table with a loud thud, that it cracks.
"What's wrong, Calhoun?" Natalie inquires, examining my hold on the glass cup.
"Nothing," I let go and it drops in halves.
"Oh my god, that's just weird," Natalie mutters and quickly calls the attention of a servant to come clean it up, so a new one can be placed in front of me.
Bruce has a look on his face which gives out that he can read me.
"Kristen, what are you doing here?" Natalie's confused voice snaps my head at the stairs, there I see my mate holding onto the staircase.
I thought she wasn't coming? Ever since Natalie barged into us during our argument, Kristen has kept out of my way. When she first saw Natalie, she was frightened to the bone. But then Natalie innocently asked if I was making a complaint to her daughter, about the way she treated me yesterday. Kristen hurriedly agreed to that, but I didn't even utter a word because I wasn't afraid of Natalie finding out about the two of us anymore. I just left Kristen's room.
"I was bored," Kristen finally replies to her mom and starts descending the stairs.
"Oh, honey, you ought to have as much rest as possible,"
"That's Kristen?" Lucy inquires.
"Yes,"
"Oh, you two don't look alike."
"We get that a lot,"
"But she's a different kind of beautiful from you,"
I clench my jaw when Ivan adjusts his chair and rises to his feet. He did this because Kristen is nearing our table.
"Hi, everyone," Kristen smiles as if nothing happened yesterday. Or maybe she's trying to be normal around Alpha Landon and his family.
They exchange pleasantries and welcome her to join us.
Ivan, the little piece of shit, holds her soft, small hand and kisses it. He cannot even hide his attraction for her.
Worse, she sits beside him, smiles, and holds a conversation with him as if today isn't the first time of them meeting, like they've known each other for a long time.
Wait a minute, is this how she acts around boys who she finds attractive? I can't help but ponder over this. Nor can I pay attention to my wife in front of me, because I've come to the conclusion that I don't want her anymore. I indeed love her, but I cannot be with her.
Kristen laughs at something Ivan tells her and it triggers my jealousy.
What exactly did he say? What's so funny? Does she even find him interesting enough to laugh this much?
She was gloomy today because of what happened last night, but now Alpha Landon's son is here and she's showing him a side I never knew she had.
Taking my hands off the table, I put them on top of my thighs, balling them into tight hard fists.