Outback Love

Trust The Process

Luke wiped a tear from his cheek as he sat at Blanes spot at the new conference table he had just purchased. He ran his hand over the smooth wood and admired the beautiful grain. Blane sure had an eye for luxury items.

Blanes father rushed in the door talking on his mobile phone. Not a hair out of place, the man always looked impeccable.

“Alpha James.” Luke lowered his eyes showing his respect. “I appreciate your help with this matter.

James nodded his head as he looked around.

“New table?” He asked.

“Yes Sir, Blane brought before the trip.” Luke replied as tears fell freely down his cheeks.

“Go to the Mens room and clean yourself up. Goddess knows you look like a 15 year old girl going through her first break up.” James responded with what sounded like a hint of disgust.

Luke nodded and stood up, walking out the conference door.

James sat at the head of the table, admiring the table. His Son had some taste alright. He had an eye for beautiful things.

“Sir, the shareholders are arriving.” Luke’s Personal Assistant declared walking into the room.

James raised his hand to acknowledge he had heard. The men and women began to file into the room silently.

Moments later Luke returned.

“I wont keep you.” James began. “We are here to inform you of the deaths of my son Blane and Arthur McAllister. The two of them, along with our pilot, ran into weather occurrences in Australia and the plane has crashed in the outback.”

“Wait, Arthur was on the trip?” One of them asked.

“Arthur was at the plane when Blane and I arrived and was quite insistent he attend the business trip. He had threatened to withdraw support if Blane didn’t allow it.” Luke filled in the gaps. “I will take over the day to day running of the business and Mr Wright has agreed to step back into his role as CEO until we can find someone to fill Blanes shoes. Myself and some of Blanes closest friends will be flying out to Australia tomorrow to assist in the recovery efforts and repatriate the bodies for burial. You will all be notified when the details are available for the funerals.”

“Rest assured; we are still on track to close these deals. None of you will lose a cent.” James smiled.

The shareholders all nodded.

“If there is nothing else, we have a lot of work to do. We will be in touch by the end of the week with any information regarding the contracts. This has really only put us 2 days behind.” Luke concluded. “We appreciate your time.”

The shareholders filed out of the conference room without a word.  They were confident that this was still a worthwhile deal for them.

Luke sighed and looked at James. “Time to go tell the pack.” He muttered.

The pack had been alerted to the meeting they must all attend. The town hall was packed when Luke and James arrived. They walked straight to the stage and faced the crowd.

“I am saddened to stand before you tonight with the news that we have lost your Alpha.” James began. “His flight to Australia met poor weather and all 3 onboard were lost.”

The crowd began to cry out, as many sobbed.

“Luke here will run the pack in the interim while we decide what we will do next. However, he will be taking some of the warriors to retrieve the bodies tomorrow and I will lead the pack in his absence.”

The wolves were silent, choosing to save their questions for Beta Luke. James Wright scared most of them.

“Let me just be clear, at least for now, this news does not leave our pack lands. Anyone caught discussing it with any others will be dealt with swiftly. We don’t need other Alphas trying to challenge for the pack.”

“We will be notifying those accompanying me in the next hour. Stay at home and close to your phones. If you are notified, pack quick and light. We leave in the morning.”

The pack all bowed their heads as Alpha James and Beta Luke filed past them and out of the door. They walked the short distance to the packhouse and straight into Blanes office to work out who would accompany Luke.

A knock on the door startled them momentarily. They looked up to see Emily standing in the doorway, her eyes red and swollen.

“I would like to accompany you to Australia.” She mumbled.

Luke looked at James and shrugged. 

“It’s ok with me.” He spoke to James instead of addressing Emily.

“Emily, this is not a holiday. Leave it to the men.” James replied without looking up.

Emily looked like she had been slapped.

“No Father, it I not a holiday. It is retrieving my brothers body. I wish to be present for it.” Emily replied angrily.

“Do as you wish.” James waved her away, still looking over the list in front of him.

Luke looked up and smiled. Emily did not realise it yet but Luke knew, they were mates. He would love nothing better than to accompany her to Australia or this. They would mourn their loss together.

“I’ll go pack.” She said excusing herself.

Once James had finished finalising the list, Luke began to notify those who would accompany him. They had told the families of the other 2 victims that they would take care of all the arrangements. A commercial flight had already been specially booked so the bodies could be returned.

“I will leave for home now. I trust you can take care of everything from here?” James said as he walked out. It wasn’t a question.

“Of course sir.” Luke responded.

“Take care of my daughter.” James said as he walked away.

When Luke had finished notifying those who would be accompanying him he switched off the light and closed the door to the office. It would be his office for the foreseeable future, but he knew in his heart it would always be Blanes.

As he walked towards his room, he heard sobbing. He had continued to live in the pack house, even after he had discovered Emily was his mate. Blane had trusted him to do the right thing. Emily would soon know too, as her birthday approached.

He knocked on her door. “It’s Luke.” He said quietly, opening the door. He knew James and Emily rarely saw eye to eye and that Emily would likely not invite her father in.

“Oh Luke.” She cried running towards him. She had changed into her pyjamas and they didn’t leave much to the imagination. Luke wrapped her up in a giant hug and held on to her.

“Luke, will you stay with me tonight?” She asked as she clung to him.

“Em, what would Blane think?” Luke whispered.

“Luke, I turn 19 very soon and I’m quite sure I am going to find out we are mates. I’m sure you know already.” Emily began.

Luke didn’t respond.

“I’m just asking you to comfort me Luke. I need you.” She whispered.

“Let me grab a quick shower ok, and I’ll come back. Go hop into bed.” Luke replied.

Emily nodded as she untangled herself from Luke’s body. She turned as he walked out and pulled the comforter back, getting into bed.

Luke turned out the lights as he left her bedroom and returned to his. He quickly made his way into the shower trying to wash the day away. It had been tough, from the moment they were notified the plane had gone down, to being there while James notified the family and not being able to hold Emily as she fell to the ground sobbing.

He pulled on a pair of grey sweats and walked back into Emily’s room. The lamp was on beside her bed, and she was staring at a photo of the two of them with Blane. Luke sat on the side of the bed quietly.

“I remember that day like it was yesterday.” Luke murmured, tears welling up in his eyes.

“I don’t know what to do without him.” Emily sobbed. 

Luke stared at the photo, remembering the day it was taken. They had gone hiking together. Blane had known Luke and Emily were mates by this point, he had seen it in the change in Luke’s demeanour once he had realised. He wanted them to have the freedom to explore their relationship without the prying eyes of his parents and the pack. He had turned a blind eye to their playful banter and accidental touches. Actually, no he hadn’t, he had enjoyed seeing them so free.

Luke tried to choke back a sob, but it just made things worse. He gave up trying to be strong and he just sobbed. Emily turned over in alarm and clung to him. He enveloped her in his arms and they lay there, crying and sobbing together.

Luke stirred, his head thumping. Emily’s hair was in his face, and he gently brushed it away. She was clinging so tightly to him he didn’t want to move. Who was he kidding, he didn’t want to move anyway.

Through the window he could see that the sun was about to break through the dark night. He needed to return to his room before someone saw him but he didn’t want Emily to wake up alone.

“Em?” He whispered in her ear.

“Mmmm.” She replied into his chest.

“I need to go before someone sees me.” He whispered.

“Thankyou for being here.” Emily murmured, moving her face up to his neck.

“Thankyou for being here for me. I was supposed to be comforting you.” Luke smiled.

“I thought we were comforting each other.” Emily replied.

Luke kissed the top of Emily’s head before moving out of the bed.

“Don’t sleep to long, we need to leave early for the airport.” Luke said as he went to stand.

Emily suddenly grabbed his arm and pulled him back. They were face to face, staring into each other’s eyes.

“Em.” Luke began.

Emily leant forward and kissed him, wrapping her arms around his neck to pull him closer.

Luke couldn’t help it, he pulled her closer kissing her back.

“Em, stop. You have to trust the process.” He whispered, pulling himself away. He stood looking at her. She was so beautiful and so perfect. Not at all like the air heads she hung around with, she was strong and confident and so smart and beautiful. She took his breath away.

He kissed the tips of his fingers and blew the kiss to her. She smiled. She couldn’t wait for her birthday!