Page 19 of His Temporary Alpha Mate
Dalton
The following couple of months were a whirlwind of activity for the pack as we settled into the new normal for us after the beta sickness.
I’d hooked up with Larken a few times since that first night together. Sometimes it was just a rushed hand-job to get the edge off the tension we were both feeling. Others it was sneaky blow-jobs on our lunch breaks. We were both working so much that sometimes all we could manage was a kiss and a hug. The contact was important when so many other things were up in the air in the pack.
Larken had knotted me again, just once. We still hung out all the time, I just didn’t want to make too much of what we were doing while he was so emotionally fragile. Like I could say anything.
Since the attack on Elliotte, there had been several smaller kidnapping attempts and frequent incursions into our territory. Roan had largely been MIA with onlya handful of calls and a string of messages between him and Larken. I could feel the hurt Lark felt as if it was my own.
Not that my situation with Axel was any better. He was still ducking out of the office every chance he got. I don’t think he realized just how much stuff he was missing. I was covering for him far too much, I knew that, I just couldn’t help myself.
Okay, so maybe he wasn’t privy to the accounts of the factory the same way I was, thanks to my finance degree and accounting background. So he wasn’t able to see how the Northarbor aviary clan were targeting us. They had damaged stock, equipment, and vehicles. They were also forcing suppliers to hike their prices, or not work with us at all. Their meddling always caused delays in much-needed repairs. They had influenced some of our customers to ask for a cut in our prices, or they wouldn’t buy from us at all.
The situation was maddening. We had to waste time and money sourcing new people, machines, ingredients, for our cider, while also protecting each shipment that left our territory. All of it was eating into our profit margin. Troubling, since it wasn’t like the pack was rolling in money to begin with.
Blake was a great Alpha, yet he had only been at the helm for just over a year. He had pulled the pack out of dire financial straits. With his knowledge and mycreative accounting ability, we could get out of this easily, but there was a constant nagging voice which told me to not stray from my current path. I’d stopped anything remotely illegal after leaving my birth pack. I couldn’t go back to that. Now wasn’t the time to bend the rules. There had to be a way of fixing this without falling into old habits.
So I spent all my free time brainstorming ways to get the pack out of the financial shit storm that was quickly approaching us.
My first plan was to get the council to sanction the aviary, which I had done successfully. After all, they had before when we took in two bird shifters, one who had been wrongfully form locked, stuck in their shifted form, for the “crime” of mating outside of his species.
It was rather lucky our cider was popular with other supernaturals, as it gave credence to our plea for assistance. The aviary was damaging relations with not only shifter packs, but witches, ogres, vampires, all kinds of other beings in the area who loved our cider.
The council got the aviary to back off for a while, giving us all the time to think of new ways to fortify our supply chain. They also compensated us, giving a much-needed boost to our coffers.
With all that was going on, there wasn’t much time to think about the relationship forming between meand Larken. I just knew I needed him around, and was coming to rely on him as much as he seemed to rely on me. He would come to me for comfort. It warmed my heart to be there for him.
In the middle of the night a couple of weeks ago, Larken had sought me out. He tearfully explained Roan’s former bond and the changes Tate and Asher had gone through. We had clung to each other that night. Him in his grief, me in my secret jealousy. Why had Tate been given my dream? Why did he deserve it more than me?
A night of sweet touches soothed us both. It wasn’t about the sex we had then. It was about having someone to really be there for us. To know we could let out the bitter feelings, though I kept my envy to myself, letting Larken have his moment without him needing to support me, though I knew he would have put aside his hurt for me without question.
Really, it shouldn’t have been a surprise when only a couple of weeks after the massive confrontation where Asher had been dragged off to Abrocaelum, the land of the elves and fae, that there was more to come. I just should have realized how thoroughly the news would devastate me.
I was working in my office. Axel and the elf were off on one of their patrols. Chase was interviewing enforcers, checking them for their loyalty to the pack,when a ripple of shock ricocheted through the pack link.
One by one, the faint messages came through the mental link we all shared.
Asher’s back. Tate isn’t breathing properly!
Searching along the pack bonds, I found our Alpha near the clinic. I ran, along with what felt like half the pack, to join our Alpha and understand what was happening. Had there been an attack? Had the elves betrayed us?
Then, as I got close enough to hear with my heightened shifter hearing, I caught the words which would forever alter the path of our lives. All the pack would be changed.
“Yes, Alpha. My lion just wants to get Tate checked out. He’s pregnant.”
It felt like my heart stopped. My stomach fell somewhere to my knees. Everything was blurry, my vision obscured by tears.
Tate was pregnant! Why? Why was he the one to get this gift?
What had I done wrong to be punished like this? Why not me? The thought sent a lance of pain through my heart. I let my tears fall freely.
I crashed to my knees there in the grass, no one around me noticing as I crumbled, my tears soaking into the earth.
Deep inside, my alter stirred. He soothed me as best as he could, sending all the love he had for me down our bond. He understood how deeply this hurt me. This felt like something I might never recover from. With his strength bolstering me, I was able to regain my feet and drift closer to the innermost circle where we all surrounded our Alpha and the new omega, his alpha lion looking on the verge of madness.
“This is a miracle. The Luna has blessed us,” Blake said. Even from this distance, I could see how happy our Alpha was at this news. “Let’s get you to the clinic.” He speared a look at the assembled crowd, making most scurry away.
Not me, though. I couldn’t bring myself to move. My feet were rooted to the spot as I watched Asher take Tate into the clinic, Blake close behind them.
