Page 41 of Accepted Bonds

His words and his gaze made tears well in my eyes.

“Aurora ...”Mateo’s voice made me turn to stare at him with my face still cupped in Levi’s hands.“You know ...when I first met you.I wasn’t jealous that Caden had sex with you.I was jealous that you met me first, but chose to be with Caden.Sometimes, I feel like you don’t like me, especially after everything I put you through and you’re just choosing to be with me because of my relationship with Caden and ...”

I pressed my forehead to Mateo’s, making sure that his gaze was fixed on mine as the tears welling in my eyes fell down my cheeks.“I swear to the Moon Goddess that I love you just as much as I love Caden.It’s not the same, anyway.Caden and I can lay together for half a day without the heat between us interfering, but you and I couldn’t last more than an hour because I’m more sensitive around you.And just staring into your eyes makes the temperature go up.The same goes for all of you.I don’t think any of you is replaceable.You’re ...all of you ...as important to me as the other person.I ...”

“I know that, but it hurts that you’ve been having doubts about us and having nightmares about it without even telling me.I tell you everything.I even told you about my insecurities about us last week, but you didn’t even share how you felt.Sometimes, I feel like you don’t trust me as much as I trust you.”I moved away from Mateo to stare into Aiden’s hurt-filled eyes.

I closed my eyes and kissed him.“I’m sorry.I’ll try to share how I feel with you next time.”

Before Aiden could deepen the kiss, Caden pushed his face away and covered my lips with his.And after that, I kissed Levi and then Mateo.

An enveloping silence settled between us all as we stared at each other in the dark interior of the car.Something comfortable, confident, and harmonious, full of tranquil understanding, also enveloped us and we all couldn’t help smiling as Mateo grabbed my hand and pressed it to his chest while I laid my head on Levi’s chest.

“So where are we going now?”Aiden asked, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel.

“Let’s go back to the hotel and get some sleep.We have a tough couple of days ahead of us now that Alpha Timothy has agreed to the Supernatural Council’s plan and the Alphas Congress continues tomorrow.”Caden said.

25

Aurora

Just like we’d expected, the discussion about protesting against the Pack Observer Law started the next day at the Alphas Forum.Many Alphas stood up to discuss their pack observer’s behaviors of misconduct to justify repealing the law while some kept talking about the original traditional pack system where Alphas had all the say over their packs, as well as how the Pack Observer Law was corroding werewolf tradition.

Throughout the day, I heard whispers of the Alphas Congress’s plans to appeal the abolition of the Pack Observer Law to the United Nations, Supernatural Council, and the Tyate Organization.

While the Supernatural Council proposed the Pack Observer Law to protect the rights of all members of every pack, it was actually enforced by three organizations: The United Nations, the Supernatural Council, and the Tyate Organization.

The United Nations was a human-managed organization responsible for promoting international peace and security, fostering cooperation between nations, addressing humanitarian crises, and advancing global development and human rights.It was an organization for humans similar to the Supernatural Council and the Tyate Organization was a mix of both, as they protected humans from supernaturals and protected supernaturals from humans when disputes arose between them.

Even if the Alphas Congress was reaching out to the three organizations about the repeal, I was unfazed because the Supernatural Council was also on the move.

Alpha Timothy had agreed to the Supernatural Council’s terms and had set up a meeting with the Alpha that vaguely suggested that he could help him subdue his pack observer.

We’d given Alpha Timothy a tiny transmission device and after considering our options, we had chosen to observe the meeting in the study in Caden’s hotel room, which was more of an apartment than a room.

An hour before the set time, I made my way up to Caden’s apartment, which wasn’t on the same floor as my room, and walked into Caden’s study where Caden, Victoria, Rebecca, and Levi had already settled down with headphones in their hands.

I sat in the empty seat beside Levi, picked up my headphones, and then we waited patiently for the conversation to start.

We had no video coverage because Alpha Juan of the Martinez pack had chosen his office for the meeting.We weren’t sure if he had any detectors, so we gave Alpha Timothy a pair of cufflinks customized to evade all detectors.The cufflinks allowed us to listen in on their conversation in real time.

After they’d exchanged greetings, Alpha Juan started speaking to Alpha Timothy in a tone dripping with sarcasm.“I heard about your pack observer’s recent antics.Is that why you reconsidered?I thought you were too virtuous to deal with him?”

“Probably.Besides, who said I was a virtuous Alpha?I just don’t like trouble.Unfortunately, I have no choice but to take action now.”Alpha Timothy’s voice was calm as he tapped the recording cufflinks twice to confirm that Alpha Juan was using a truth meter as we’d expected.

“With the recent rumors about the Alphas Congress working together to get rid of the Pack Observer Law, I would have expected someone as cautious as you to take a wait-and-see approach at this time.”Alpha Juan said.

“I would have if I didn’t know how hard the head of the Supernatural Council worked to put the Pack Observer Law in place.We both know he isn’t just going to sit back and watch that law get abolished.And the pack observer in my pack is getting more and more impetuous.It’s time I put him in his place.”

I had never met Alpha Timothy, but I had to admire his ability to frame lies under the truth.

Alpha Juan’s suspicions seemed to have been subdued by Alpha Timothy’s glib tongue and they moved on to the next part of the conversation—dealing with Alpha Timothy’s pack observer.

“Let me ask you an important question now.Are you willing to do anything, including something that could be illegal, to deal with your pack observer?”

The question was a test and from the corner of my eyes, I watched Levi sit straighter because we were all worried that this question would expose Alpha Timothy.

“Don’t be ridiculous.If I was willing to do something illegal, I would have just killed that bastard discretely a long time ago.I was unwilling to do it because I would most likely get caught by the Supernatural Council.However, I am more than willing to find a way to control that guy or just replace him.”

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