Taking Power With The Alpha's Daughter

Chapter 8: Mate, Moi Cheri

***JEAN-MARIE POV***

    Once we got halfway through Arkansas on the chase, I turned around.  I linked Claude-Dean and reminded him of my meeting with Michael and the rest of the Crescent Woods crew, and I had no clue how Kristy’s interrogation was going with Monica.

    I needed a break.

    I trotted back to a rendezvous point I made with Claude-Dean, who was waiting for me with a change of clothes.  I had to be sharp.  

    But the mind of my wolf, Cliff, was elsewhere.

    He felt agitated, almost like he was searching for something or someone.  It left me feeling more driven to get home faster, and for the life of both of us, I couldn’t figure out why.

    Cliff, you’re giving me one hell of a headache, I complained.  What in the world is going through your mind?

    Jean...I just don’t know.  All I know is that I have this urge, this...feeling...that we need to protect someone.  I have no clue who, what, or where.  I have no explanation behind it, but I’m having a hard time fighting this feeling.  He accentuated the conversation with an abrupt growl and snarl that left me reeling.  I thought about it for a second and then realized just how long and how far the dude had just run.  We crossed state lines in wolf form.  That chase was hundreds of miles long.

    Cliff, is it possible you’re just still affected by the attacks and all the chaos of the last few weeks with Catamount’s continued assaults on our pack? I asked him.  I couldn’t blame him if he was having a problem with that.  I noticed that I had been looking out the window for any guerilla cougars from Catamount, bracing myself for an attack behind every branch of every tree we drove past.  I knew that the moment that the coast was completely clear, I was getting hammered on wolf-strength wine.

    Cliff gave one last whimper in the back of my head as he considered my thought process when he came to an uneasy conclusion.  Jean, you could be right, he finally said.  I felt him take a step back and chill for the time being, but I could tell that this conversation was far from over.  That feeling weighed on my mind the whole way back home.

    It was like I couldn’t get there fast enough, even though I knew that Claude-Dean was doing the best job he could to get me back in time.  This was the weirdest feeling I ever had.  I was antsy the whole way.  Claude-Dean gave me several side glances along the way home, trying to figure out what was going on with me.  I put a block up in my mindlink to prevent him from asking me about it, and eventually, he shook his head, and we rode home in silence.

    In what seemed like half a day, but in reality, it took less than an hour and a half, and we were back on Everfur territory.  I dashed up to the floor of the packhouse to splash some cold water on my face in a vain attempt to get myself to focus.  When I looked up, I was pushed to the back of my mind, with my eyes now yellow.  Cliff was forcing his way forward.  Again.

    Cliff, I yelled at him, now even more frustrated at him than I was in the car.  What is your issue now?  

    She’s here.

    That’s all he said, still lingering in the front part of my mind.  I was a little lost on what in the world he could have meant by that until I reached the conclusion I’m sure he wanted me to figure out.

    Our mate was here.

    At age 20, we hadn’t been waiting terribly long for our mate to show up.  At my prêter serment and pack-run, I knew that when I became Alpha that my mate was either underage or not a pack member.  I encountered every single she-wolf under my protection as Alpha and had found no one, so meeting the Evenfur Shadows Luna was something I knew would take some time.  I just didn’t think she’d show up out of nowhere in my backyard.

    What I couldn’t figure out was who in the world would be on ES property.  I didn’t think that my mate ACTUALLY was Monica O’Neill.  That would have been a disaster, and I would have had a hell of a lot of explaining to do with Michael.  It was then that I got an urgent mindlink from Bonnie to come to her lab at the plant.  She had been giving some of the CW personnel tours and logistical reviews of what was left, and as far as I knew, a plan wasn’t completed yet.  However, I knew that I could be wrong in that assumption.

    What’s up, Bonnie? I asked.  Is something going on with the Crescent Woods personnel?  Do they need me to sign off on something?

    Actually, no, Bonnie replied.  Do you know that chemist position that I posted right before Catamount decided to attack?

    Yeah, what about it?  I asked.

    I found the candidate I want to hire, Bonnie said excitedly.  Come meet her!

    Just then, Michael’s face popped up on my screen.  He looked distracted.

    “Everything okay?” I asked.

    “Yeah,” Michael replied.  “This is just going to be a quick courtesy heads-up to see if we can push our chat back for a couple of days.  I think I told you yesterday that Mira and I are finding out what we’re having today.  Our appointment just got moved up.  Is that okay?”

    “Bonnie just asked me to come down to her lab,” I replied.  “That’s more than okay.”

    “Perfect,” Michael replied and logged off.  I chuckled to myself.  He must have been really nervous, and I couldn’t blame him at all.

    I’ll be right there, B, I replied and headed downstairs.

    As I walked to the meeting with this expert chemist that Bonnie wanted me to meet, Cliff was restless, stalking around in my head, snarling for my attention. I mindlinked him and asked, Dude, could you give me a break? I want to go into this meeting clearheaded. It’s vitally important to Bonnie and maybe the future of the factory. 

    With a deep low growl, he responded with, and IF you would get your head on straight and breathe, I wouldn’t have to sulk or give you a headache. Then, with another growl, he bellowed, Breathe! I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and smelled the most delicious Caramel Apple Tart I have ever smelt. My eyes whipped open, and I saw the most beautiful creature with wavy auburn hair, standing with her back toward me in Bonnie’s office window. 

    I walked inside and toward Bonnie, and this beautiful creature, who has now turned toward the window and facing out, still with her back, turned towards me. Bonnie smiled as she saw me coming, but that smile turned to a quizzical look. I imagined that it was aimed at me, wondering what was up as I walked up briskly, took deep breaths, and I hoped not to shake from the intense feelings I was having…when I heard in my head, and then said out loud, “MATE, MOI CHERI.”

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***UNKNOWN POV***

    From a safe distance away, I watched the wolf as he was trotting at his own pace away from the chase his pack just set out on.  I watched as he shifted into his human form and peered around to search for something or someone around him but not finding anything.  I watched and wondered what was going through his mind as I watched him talk to himself but not out loud; at least, not from where I could hear.  I wondered if he was conversing with his wolf. Yes, I knew who and what that man was, The Alpha of Everfur Shadows, a strong Alpha wolf, who also happened to own and run the production factory I wanted to work for, to have the opportunity to work with Boniface. 

    I felt pulled to this part of Louisiana in many ways and for many reasons. First, there was the job and the opportunity.  The need to observe and see what happened with Catamount Burrows was crucial as well...But there is something else pulling at my heart and my vixen, something substantial, something...permanent.  I could only think of the mate bond the whole time, but she’s not sure if this is it. 

    Saige, I whispered to my vixen, my fox.  Saige, what is that pull, what is that feeling I feel when I look at this Wolf, This Alpha? 

    The sweet voice I have come to rely on in many ways responds, Mi Cheri, I’m not sure, Vixy, but it pulls me also, and I want to know why just as much as you.

    I took the time to watch the man as he was picked up by his Beta, and he changed into a business suit; it seemed like I was following after him. However, this was not my intention. My natural caution as a vixen has forced me to be on guard and observant at all times.  I wanted to run away, scared by the pull I felt towards Alpha Allard.  I journeyed back to the area surrounding Everfur Shadows’ Packlands, to the hunting cabin I rented out and had been staying in while awaiting a response to my request for a meeting with Boniface and Alpha Allard about my chosen place of employment.  One thought that came to my mind was to call my Papa. I felt the need to speak to him and maybe ask about this pull I was feeling.

    On the third ring, Papa picked up the phone and answered in the usual cheer he showered me with.

    “Bonjour!” Papa shouted into the phone in French.  “Bonjour ma fille chérie, what can I do for you right now?  Did you get the job with Everfur?”  Papa studied French in college; it served him well during his time as the president of a multinational chemical production company.  He always called me “his darling daughter” whenever I’d call him.

    “I haven’t made it to their land yet,” I told him.  “I am feeling something like a…”

    “Pull?!” Papa yelled into the phone, excited for this development.

    “Yes!” I replied, relieved that he knew what I was talking about.  “I feel like the south end of a magnet getting drawn to her opposite pole.  If this is a mate bond, how will I know?”

    “Easy, their eyes will turn an aquamarine blue,” Papa replied.  “Our kind comes from the Middle East; Iraq and Iran, specifically.  Blue symbolizes protection, and green symbolizes fertility and prestige.  As one of the last pure-blood vixens, your mate’s eyes will turn a vibrant aquamarine color when you find them.”

    I nodded, thinking to myself.  I was worried that if I was Alpha Allard’s mate, he’d reject me because I wasn’t a wolf, but I needed to find out first.

    “Vixy, you okay?” Papa asked, right as my email chimed, and I ecstatically typed my response back to Boniface.

    “Yes, I got the interview,” I replied.  “I gotta go!  Je t'aime papa!”

    I changed clothes and dashed to Everfur Shadows land in less than 30 minutes.  When Boniface came to get me from the pack border, we exchanged pleasantries. We immediately began diving into the project that someone with the last name of Bartholomew was working on in California.  The way that she mentioned Mr. Bartholomew’s name made it seem like he was a really big deal in the wolf community.

    Boniface and I talked about the basics of the factory as we walked to meet with Alpha Allard. Bonnie looked past me and smiled, so I assumed that he was approaching. 

    “Good afternoon, Alpha,” she called out.  As these words surrounded me, I reached my hand out and touched her arm.  The scent of something was overwhelming me.  I almost collapsed.

    “Excuse me, but where is that amazing smell coming from? I smell the perfect combination of coconut and lemons, like my favorite Louisiana Crunch Cake,” I asked as I leaned on Boniface.  I heard Saige whisper in my head, NO Cheri, that’s not a cake you smell, turn around Vixy. I turned around and saw Alpha Allard standing behind me, drawing in a deep breath. When they opened, his eyes were a brilliant aquamarine.

    OH, Mi Cheri, I believe that is our mate! Saige nearly purrs in my head.

    We found him.  I was, indeed, a Luna.