A Mate Without A Mark

2. A Plan In Motion

Cindy

"Cindy, what are you doing here at this hour?" Alpha Colt stayed in his seat while he stared me down with those steel grey eyes of his.

The cool air in the meeting room made it almost impossible for me to sweat. The air conditioner was pumped up to a chilling degree. Makes sense since werewolves tended to get a little hot. I stood up and dusted myself off as if I wasn’t just caught intruding on a private conversation.

Before I could say anything, Beta William, the man who caught me snooping, firmly held me by the shoulders. "So sorry about this lady and gentlemen." He pulled me to the door. "I’ll walk her out. Please continue where you left off.”

"Sorry, Alpha. My bad," I muttered with a frown. There was no way I would see Larry now.

"Wait!" Alpha Colt jumped out of his chair and stomped across the room until he was right in front of me. William released my shoulders, allowing the Alpha to place his own hands there. "Chairman Roger Bryce, this is who I choose!"

He positioned me so that I was on full display for the four people on his laptop. I'd never seen them before.

While three of them displayed their faces, there was one that didn’t have their camera on. I could only guess who was behind the blank avatar.

A man with salt and pepper hair was the only one who seemed to acknowledge my presence. "And who is she? She doesn't seem like a werewolf." He said.

I recognized him. I've seen him on pack ground before.

"She's one of my assistants. No. Currently my only assistant other than my beta."

What was he talking about?

"She also handles the communication aspect of our pack members as well." Colt patted my head. "We would be lost without her. She's smart, capable, and most importantly of all, she's human. I believe you and I both know what that means, Chairman Roger Bryce."

The man who was called Chairman Bryce took in my appearance with judgmental eyes.

I stayed as still as a rock with no clue as to what Alpha Colt's plan was. But if that faceless profile belonged to someone from the Highland pack, then they were the one responsible for what happened to Larry. Due to that alone, I was willing to play along.

My lips formed the fakest smile I could muster. "Alpha Colt is only being nice. Pleasure to meet you, Chairman Bryce."

He nodded with a kind expression. "The pleasure is all mine, Miss Cindy. Are you sure about this Alpha Colt?"

"Positive. She will be perfect for what we have in mind."

"I guess that's it then," Chairman Bryce said. "But she needs to leave by tomorrow. I'll have Alpha Reiss prepare for her arrival. Goodnight, Colt, Cindy."

After the call ended, I looked at my Alpha with confusion. “Leave to go where?”

________

"He's sending you to the Highland pack?!" Mom explained.

I shrugged, trying to avoid looking her in the eye. "Yes, something about creating a peace treaty to stop the constant fighting. I'm supposed to go as some sort of ambassador-"

"A hostage, you mean." Mom rolled her eyes and paced from one side of the room to the other, her work pumps making little clicks as she did so. "I can't believe he would do this to my daughter. What is wrong with him?!"

I shrugged, fidgeting with my fingers. "Alpha had a reason. That must count for something, right?"

"What if they hurt me, or keep me locked up in some dungeon?" My hands covered my head. No way, there was no way I could survive there! That pack was ancient, as old as the pyramids in Egypt. Which meant that they thought other werewolves from younger packs were below them. And that humans had no place in the supernatural world.

To them, we were worth only a little more than store-bought meat.

"They won't and they can't." Alpha Colt led me to the couch. I sat down. He dragged a chair closer, occupying it. I avoided eye-contact, but I did recognize the tone of his voice. It was the same tone he used when trying to reassure a new shifter that they had nothing to fear before their first shift. "You're human, Cindy. It's illegal to harm a human or keep them as slaves. If someone harmed you under his roof, their leader would run the risk of having the pack taken away from him and the one responsible would be punished. At the very least, they would face twenty years in prison."

"And at most?" I finally looked at him to see him smiling.

"They would be sentenced to death."

Mom sat on the edge of the bed as if the full weight of the world had crashed on her shoulders. "What about school? Your friends? Glen?"

Glen's name made me freeze. All morning I'd done my best to not think about the beta’s son’s sweet face. I bit my lip. We were just friends, we would never be more.

I smiled, more for Mom's sake than mine. "Don't worry, OK? Besides, I won't be gone forever."

And I meant what I said.

The car has arrived. Claudia hugged me like her life depended on it. "Can we come visit you while you're there?"

I shook my head, inhaling as much of her scent as I could. "Not for a while. But soon, Claudia. Soon."

After we separated, I hugged my parents one at a time.

"Be careful, my eldest daughter," Dad muttered. "Don't do anything stupid. Make good decisions, and stay away from their Alpha."

I pulled back and wiped a tear from underneath my father's eye. "I'm smarter than that."

The bodyguard Chairman Bryce sent to escort me placed the last of my luggage into the trunk. With one last look at them, I smiled and entered the backseat. Instead of getting in the driver’s seat, the man stepped away.

He placed a phone to his ear. "Yes, Sir?"

"Is everything going as it should, Benjamin?"

"Without incident, Sir. Don't worry, I would never let anything disrupt your plan."

"Good." Chairman Roger Bryce added some milk to his coffee. "Keep a close eye on them. I think it goes without saying that no one should know you haven't left."

"Can do, Sir."

Roger Bryce smiled. He took a sip from his drink. "Very well."

After hanging up the phone, the Chairman got up from his seat with his cup in hand and stood in front of a large glass wall. Below, tiny cars sped up and down the city streets. Roger Bryce liked having his office being so high up. It made him feel powerful. And soon, he wouldn't need this office to accomplish that feeling.

For too long, werewolves have lived like men.

He drank more of his coffee. Under his rule, there would be no sentences for acting in a way that was only natural. So what if some humans got hurt and killed? Shifters get hurt every day so why should humans get special treatment as if they're above the laws of nature?

Once he gains control of the two most influential packs in the region, things will return back to the way they used to be. And if he can’t, he’ll destroy them.