The unbreakable bond

Chapter 7 - Goodbyes

Chapter 7 - Goodbyes

Conall - pov

It is Saturday and already three days since I last talked to her. I’ve been in front of her house every evening, but soon it won’t be enough for my wolf. He wants to feel her in his arms and having very explicit dreams about her does not help to keep him at bay. Luckily, I have enough work to keep my brain occupied… most of the time. I sigh as I go over the documents again.

Since the approval to start my own pack, I’ve been busy designing a packhouse, training facilities, hospital and so on with the architect. The architect is well-known among the werewolf community and provides me with a lot of tips to optimise every building. Since I am using personal money, I've already assigned contractual workers to start everything. This is my last check-up before the construction starts. It looks good and I smile. In about 6 months I’ll have my pack, my luna and we’ll live happily ever after. I let myself drift and daydream about it before I hear a knock on my door.

“Come in” I say annoyed. James peeks from behind the door.

“Alpha, your brother is here” he says cautiously. I open and narrow my eyes.

“Why?” I ask.

“He said it is about the contract”, he says. I groan in annoyance. Back at the royal meeting, he couldn’t go against our father and since all the other alphas just nodded their heads, he had no support in denying my pack. It was only a fair price to pay if he wanted to be king.

“Let him in” I say while straightening my tie. After 10 minutes, my brother arrives and barges into my office and I smirk. He seems annoyed and I like it.

“So this is where you have been hiding? In your mighty tower? Among humans?” he scowls, I know it bothers him that I own this company.

“For what do I own this pleasure, Kaleb? I say with a grin.

“I wanted to go over the contract for becoming Alpha of your own pack, there are some inconsistencies” he says with an ugly smile. Everybody always sees him as an innocent, friendly ruler, but I know his true colours. Once he’s king, he will make himself rich. Redirecting the money from several projects towards his own bank account. I’ve tried to warn our father multiple times, but it only made me seem jealous. I’ve given up since I won’t be suffering from the fraud. I won’t be held responsible and it won’t be my mess to clean. Not anymore, at least.

“And what would those be?” I say.

“To begin, on page 13 you mention that you will use your own money to fund your pack and thus not pay taxes to the kingdom. I think this would rather seem unfair to other wealthy packs” he states. I know he just wants me to pay, but I am well-prepared. Besides, the contract is already signed, there is nothing he can change anymore. The real reason for his visit is to show his position as the future king.

“Well, dear brother, the other wealthy packs are getting funds for several projects. As I won’t be asking for those, I don’t see the need to pay the contribution. Besides, all the other packs have loans they need to pay back. I am not planning to borrow money from the kingdom. Besides, I see my pack as a financially independent one. Any other inconsistencies?” I say with an attitude. Kaleb huffs. There is nothing he can do about it anyway, plus he knows I am prepared for any question he might throw my way. It would be smarter for him to leave and stop embarrassing himself.

“Fine, but you better keep your promise. I will never lend any money to the Wild Wolf Pack under any circumstances”. With that he turns around and leaves.

“Goodbye, brother. It was nice seeing you. Don’t forget to close the door on your way back”, I say with a grin. He slams the door close and I am alone with my thoughts again. My mate-infested thoughts.

Alena - pov

It’s Saturday and the last day to pack my luggage. Even though I had already started to sort everything out earlier in the week, but I still have a lot of work to do. So far, I was able to put almost all my clothes in 3 suitcases and limit my personal stuff to one box. Now I only need to assemble my school and study stuff, clean my room and load Chloe's car. Luckily, she has a big car and we previously agreed to limit our stuff, although I have a feeling that she’ll have more than agreed on.

Once I finish cleaning every corner of my room, I go downstairs to eat with my mom. Since it is my last evening with her, she cooked something special. The smell alone makes my mouth water. I am really going to miss this. We sit down at the table and are having a casual conversation.

“Are you nervous honey?” my mom asks.

“Kind of, I mean, Chloe and I have been friends for over 10 years now and I feel like she is my sister, but living together will be challenging” I admit sheepishly. My mom giggles.

“I meant if you were nervous about starting your new part-time job on Monday. I know that Chloe and you are going to be fine”, she smiles and her words make me feel reassured.

“I am nervous” I admit “but it is still 1 week before the academic year starts, so I will be able to get used to the job before I have to multitask”, I smile. My mom smiles as well but sighs.

“Just don’t overwork yourself, honey. If you need money, you just have to call me. No, just call me whenever. I will miss you so much” my mom says and I can spot a tear in the corner of her eye. My throat becomes dry and I have a sudden urge to cry as well.

“You know I will only be 3 hours away, so don’t hesitate to call me if there is something wrong. I can just call in sick or something, so promise me you will call me” I say and the last words are drowned out by a small sob. Now my mom starts to sob as well.

“You don’t have to worry about me, besides your aunt will be here to keep me company. Just focus on your education and graduate. Okay?” she says with an honest smile. I lost my appetite and started crying. I stood up and walked over to my mom's chair to give her a big hug. We stayed like this for several minutes, just crying and hugging each other.

_________________________________

It’s 8 am on a Sunday and I just want to get back to bed, but instead, I am waiting in the living room for Chloe. She is late, but I don’t mind. I enjoy every minute I have before I part with my mom. The atmosphere is a little tense because we both know that my departure is coming.

I hear my aunt in the kitchen. She arrived quite early this morning and is brewing some coffee. We are all making some small talk when the bell rings.

“I’ll open it” I say. I go to the front door and open it, only to see an enthusiastic but tired Chloe.

“Hey girl! Are you ready? Let’s load your stuff into the car” she says while stepping inside. She greets my mom and aunt and pours herself a cup of coffee. I swear I don’t know how people drink that.

“You can sit down, I will load my stuff in the car, it’s not that much” I say while taking 2 of my suitcases.

“Okay” I hear her answer cheerfully. It’s only been 1 sip of coffee and she sounds much more awake already. As I load my stuff into the car, I can see that my presumptions came true. Chloe has about 5 suitcases and 2 boxes of personal stuff. She is lucky that she has a big car. I shake my head while smiling. I’m glad I limited my stuff at least a little bit.

After 30 minutes of saying our goodbyes, fighting tears and hugging to the point of breaking bones, Chloe and I left my home. I am looking through the window. After riding 5 minutes in silence I hear Chloe sigh.

“We are NOT going to drive 3 hours in this mood!” she exclaims and starts playing the road trip playlist we had prepared. All the classics are blaring through the speakers and I immediately feel that my mood has been lifted.

After singing and jamming for 3 hours, we arrive at our apartment. We immediately started unloading the car. When we open the front door for the first time, I fall in love again. This apartment really is a dream. It is a little expensive, but if you split the costs and work part-time, it is affordable. I am just happy that we found it even though it was quite last-minute. But sometimes fate gives you a helping hand and you just have to accept it. Chloe and I unload our clothes and personal stuff first and meet each other in the kitchen. It is 3 pm already and our very empty stomachs make it clear that we skipped lunch. We decide to go to the small bakery on the corner.

“I can’t believe we are doing this. It is amazing! I have dreamt about this for so long!” she exclaims while walking. I laugh.

“Yes this is amazing and I am looking forward to our last year. Do you know if you want to do a PhD? I’ve been looking over some, but haven’t decided yet” I say.

“Girl, stop talking about anything related to studying. There is only one more week left and you have to work. Enjoy today to the fullest, because something tells me that you won’t be free a lot after today” she sighs dramatically and I laugh again.

Arriving at the bakery, I look over the suggestions and decide to buy a cheese sandwich. Chloe on the other hand is buying every sweet the bakery is selling. Someday that girl will get diabetes.

After our late lunch, we decide to walk around and do some grocery shopping for the week. Luckily there is always some store open. While I am pushing the shopping cart forward, I hear my friend talk enthusiastically about our lives here, but also about the internships.

“Take the strawberries” she says “I can’t believe that you really got us into Wild Wolf Labs” she sighs dreamily and I giggle.

“Me neither! No matter how much I think about it, it makes no sense. We have been mailing them non stop since the beginning of our studies to try and get an internship. I think all it took was to serve some cheap whiskey to the boss” I say and we both laugh.

“I swear, if it was me working overtime I don’t think I would have gotten the job offer. Are you sure it isn’t for your looks? I mean you just got an internship AND a job. He basically begged you to work for him” she says, still laughing.

“Oh, believe me, it is NOT for my looks. My future boss looks like a model straight from the magazines. Beautiful green eyes, a strong jaw, dark brown hair carefully styled, an expensive suit that hugs his muscles and so on. I bet he has 4 supermodels on each arm” I say laughing but I have a nagging feeling. The thought of it is making me moody. Chloe sighs dreamily again.

“Does he need another assistant, because I would not mind working overtime for a handsome man like him!” she exclaims. I laugh and shush her down a little.

“Only if you are willing to work 8 hours a day in the lab and who knows how many hours behind a desk. I just hope I’ll be able to combine everything” I tell her. Saying my concerns out loud for the first time. I do believe in myself and I am willing to work hard to get what I want, but my education is my priority and I don’t want to ruin this chance.

“Don’t worry girl, you will be fine! Besides, you have me as your best friend and I will help you with anything. Just buy me some food or drinks. I mean with a salary of 5000 dollars a month, you can easily afford it” she says motivatively. I really love this girl, she always knows what to say.

“5000 might be a lot, but I still don’t know how much I’ll need to work. I will probably have to work every weekend as well”. On that note, we head to the register and pay for the groceries. With 2 bags in each hand, we head back to our apartment. We decide to put some pizzas in the oven and watch Netflix. Around 10 pm I decide to prepare my outfit for tomorrow. I end up with a dark blue pencil skirt that comes a little above my knees, a white blouse and the same red heels I wore for my interview. Pleased with my outfit, I head to bed. I have an early and important day tomorrow.