Chapter 19: Simon

Another week and another alpha meeting. I wasn’t mentally prepared to be berated for not having a mate. It was a constant subject with the other Alphas and their mates. As if me not having a mate made me any less of a leader. My pack was safe, fed, and happy. What more could they want?

I sat at my desk and looked over the papers in front of me. It was shipping papers for the different materials my pack shipped out to other construction companies. We had the best quality materials in all of America, and having the best quality brought a nice price tag. We had huge mines that were to the west of my pack lands.

The mines offered a way for the pack members to work and support their families. My father started the mines when his father stepped down from being alpha. My grandfather knew about the mines and had plans but with the wars between packs happening he had other problems to worry about. My father made it a point to end the wars and bring all the packs together to create peace and sustainability. After that our pack grew to well over five hundred members. The mines were successful and so was our pack.

In an effort to maintain the peace, every week the surrounding pack Alphas would get together and discuss topics that kept the peace. But, as of late, it seems the only thing they were interested in was discussing is my lack of a mate. Before, this was just a meeting that was held that I didn’t mind. But now it felt like pulling teeth. I dreaded going to these meetings and discussing yet another reason why my not having a mate was affecting my ability to lead my pack.

My thoughts stopped as a light knock came on my office door. “Come in!” I yelled as I continued to look at the papers in front of me and signed at the bottom.

A younger pack member came in. He was tall and had a short crew cut. I have seen him around, but for the life of me I couldn’t think of his name. With so many pack members it was hard to keep everyone straight. Another thing that Jared said I needed to get better at. Knowing the pack.

He walked to my desk; he didn’t look at my face. “Alpha.” He said shyly.

“Yes, what is it?” I said as I put the signed papers in the out pile on my desk.

“Erm,” he said, he grabbed his arm with the other.

“Did you need something?”

“Um, I just thought I should tell you.” He paused and barely lifted his eyes up to look at me and then shot back down. “Um…I work at the motel in the town and something interesting happened.”

At that moment Jared walked in with another pile of papers that I was no doubt going to need to go through and sign. The young wolf paused and looked at Jared.

“Oh sorry, am I interrupting?” Jared said as he continued into the office and set the papers down on my desk and sat down on the sofa.

“Um…no.”

“This---wolf---here was just telling me something interesting happened at the motel in town.”

“Eric,” the shy wolf said.

“Yeah.”

“Well, what is it?”

“Erh, well the other night I was working my shift, and someone came in.”

“You’re wanting to tell me about a patron of the motel.” I said and gave a laugh. “This should be interesting.”

Jared just chuckled on the couch but continued to listen.

“I guess you could say that,” he said as he shifted his eyes from me to Jared.

“Go on with it, Eric. I do have other meetings today and I can’t just sit around here waiting for you to tell me about one of the guests at your motel.”

“Um, right.” He said and took a deep breath. “This girl came in the other night and she’s no ordinary girl.” He lifted his gaze and looked me in the eyes and then to Jared behind him. “She’s a witch.”

I looked at Eric for a moment then at Jared. Jared looked at Eric then at me and shrugged his shoulders.

“Eric, you came into my office to tell me about a witch?” I said and leaned back into my chair.

“Um---yeah. But she’s no ordinary witch.” He leaned forward and whispered to me. “She’s powerful. Probably the most powerful being I’ve seen and that’s including you, Alpha.”

“So, what you’re saying is that a witch checked into your motel and she’s more powerful than me?”

Eric nodded. “She walked into the lobby and her power washed over me. I—I was terrified.”

“Has she done anything out of the ordinary? Tried to hurt you or anyone else?”

Eric shook his head. “The only thing I have seen was she went shopping at Target.”

I couldn’t contain myself; I busted out laughing and Jared joined. It was a solid minute before I could speak. “You felt it was important to tell me a witch is staying at your motel and that she did the unspeakable act of shopping at Target.”

Eric deflated. “Erm, I just thought.” He hesitated. “I just thought you would want to know that there was a super powerful witch in your lands.”

Jared stood and walked toward Eric. “He’s right, Alpha. It is better to know about these things early and keep an eye on it before it becomes an issue.”

“All right all right.” I rubbed my forehead. “Eric, you keep an eye on her. If she does anything out of the ordinary. And NOT shopping, let me or Jared know. Now out of the ordinary is if she summons a demon or lures small children to her room to eat…got it?”

Eric nodded. “Yes, Alpha.”

“Good, you’re excused.”

Eric turned and walked out the door.

“Interesting start to the day,” Jared said. “These papers need to be reviewed and signed by the end of the week. That’s the big order for the east coast and we need to make sure that all the numbers are accurate.”

“Isn’t that why we have the accounting department?”

“They come up with the numbers, it’s your job to go over them to ensure accuracy.”

“An Alpha’s job is never done.”

“It is not.” Jared said as he sat down in the leather armchair that sat across from me. “Are you ready for the alpha meeting today?”

“To be honest, no. It seems that every Alpha meeting is another way to make it a point to remind me that I’m unmated. It’s getting a little old. And with the Yule ball coming up, I feel like this is going to be the ongoing subject of these next couple months.”

“Look on the bright side, you could be mated at any moment. Eventually these conversations will end. And your Nana already predicted your mate on the horizon.”

“Shut up, Jared. This is a huge issue and I’m trying to be real with you.”

“To be honest, I wasn’t joking. Can I tell you something?”

“Of course.”

“The same day that I met Greta, your grandmother came to me and told me I would be meeting my mate that day.” He paused for effect. “She told me that and I just shrugged it off. I have a lot of respect for your grandmother but that was a little far out for me.”

“You’re saying that Nana came to you and said that you would be meeting your mate, that same day?” I said and tapped my desk on the last two words.

Jared nodded. “The next time I saw your Nana she just nodded at me in a knowing manner. It really freaked me out. But she was right.” He leaned forward in his chair. “And maybe she’s right about you. Maybe your mate is really around the corner, on the horizon or whatever other metaphor you would like.”

I shook my head at him. “I don’t know, Jared. That just seems a little farfetched. Unless my grandmother became a clairvoyant, this is highly unlikely.”

“All I am saying is have a little faith. It could be possible.”

I rolled my eyes at him. “If this happens, I will honor Nana as a clairvoyant and wear my mate’s underwear on my head at the next Alpha meeting.”

“Do you want to make a bet?” Jared extended his hand across the desk. “I will hold you to it.”

I grabbed his hand and shook. “If I find my mate, I will gladly wear her underwear on my head.”

Jared laughed. “Now that is done, let’s go to that meeting.”