Page 18 of His Rejected Alpha Mate
“Kota!” Kade admonished. “You don’t have to do that, we’ve told you!” He unfolded himself from his mate’s arms to give me a tight hug. He ran an assessing eye over me. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing,” I waved him off, and he retook his seat, Blake wrapping an arm around him in a move that would have looked possessive if his expression didn’t look so sweet and loving.
I took a seat in the armchair opposite Roan, giving him a smile in greeting. “What’s new, Mr. Councilman?” I asked, hoping to direct the conversation away from me. Kade narrowed his eyes in a way that suggested it hadn’t worked, but Roan gave me an out when Kade didn’t answer my question.
“Big news here! They’ve just taken me off gate duty.” He paused dramatically, making Kade and Chase laugh. Axel groaned. “I’m now the Alpha Mate’s guard and the councilman’s personal assistant!”
“Seriously?” I looked around the room at its occupants. Everyone seemed on board with that plan. The more I thought of it, the better an idea it was. Roan had experience, and Kade would need someone to protect him if he needed to leave the compound for any reason for council duties or even just to meet friends.
In fact, while they were still weeding out the traitors and sympathizers Rincoln had riled up, it was probably wise for Kade to have a guard on the pack lands. Kaine had betrayed his pack. He’d been on guard duty and allowed in Kade’s house, giving the man the opportunity to steal Kade away from his mate and deliver him to his father.
Then there would be the pushback on having better representation on the council. The shifter world was abuzz with the news and while it was largely a positive reaction since the betas and omegas outnumbered the alphas, there was a small fraction that dissented to the change. How they reacted could change the shifter world for decades to come.
“That sounds like a good idea. You’ve no idea how much Kade needs done for him, though.” I couldn’t help but tease. “Did he tell you he’d managed to sweet talk the warehouse assistants into loading his van for him?”
Kade shot me a glare. “Hey, my peeps love me. They did it as an act of love, not because I asked.”
The others laughed, and I shared a smile with my… best friend. I needed to stop thinking of him as the son I wasn’t allowed to have. Kade was going to be so mad when he found out about this. Every day that I went without telling him felt like a betrayal. I went back and forth over telling him about it. All I seemed to do was keep secrets.
“How are my peeps? Shelby?” It didn’t escape my notice that he didn’t ask about Isaac. Guess it was time to confess.
“I’m not sure.”
“What do you mean?” Blake asked.
“They let me go.”
“Let go? Why?” Kade demanded, sitting upright, looking ready to fight on my behalf. Blake rested a calming hand on his shoulder.
“Look, it’s fine, it’s just they didn’t like all the time I took off.”
He stood looking upset and furious. “So it’s my fault! I’m going to go explain. You shouldn’t be punished for helping me, Kota!”
I stood and went to him, placing my hands on his shoulders and looking him directly in the eyes. “I’m fine with it. It wasn’t just that, I swear.” I pulled him close, and he sobbed into my t-shirt.
Blake and I exchanged a look. Something had Kade awfully worked up over this. Blake gently extricated Kade from my arms and settled him into his lap, his wolf soothing Kade’s. Their bond was easy to see and the mood in the room eased.
“There were a couple of complaints about me and my behavior. Those and the time off.” I shrugged. It truly didn’t bother me. I wasn’t that attached to the job. If anything, it was the circumstances that frustrated me the most.
“Complaints?” Kade asked, his head popping up from where it had been resting on Blake’s shoulder to meet my eyes.
Time to confess. “Isaac has been making complaints to management on behalf of the staff.” I needed to rip the bandaid off. He needed to know who his friend truly was. “Most of them were from you, actually.”
Kade surged into a sitting position. “What?”
“Kade, it doesn’t matter. It’s done.” I tried to reason with him.
“I’m not having it. So, maybe I said stuff to Isaac before I knew you better, but nothing was official and there wasn’t really anything to it. Just vibes. You were never inappropriate with me.”
“I know. I promise. Really, it’s fine. He just wanted my job. Well, joke’s on him since now he has it. It’s not half as good as he thinks it is. He’s also alienated half of the staff, but that’s not my problem. Or yours.”
“Where’s my phone?” Kade stood and patted his pockets. Roan handed him the device with a grin.
“What’re you doing?” I asked warily.
Even without the speaker being on, we heard it ring, and I heard Isaac’s warm voice answer. “Hey, Kade, how’s it going? Bored with pack land yet? We still have to get lunch.”
“How dare you!” Kade was vibrating with rage and Blake, wisely, kept out of harm’s way and let his mate pace.
