Reclaiming Herself—Completed

Chapter Two

Patrick.

Papers upon papers were stacked, strewn, or scattered on his desk. He woke up groggy and massaged his forehead where he had evidently slumped onto his desk for the night. There was a crick in his neck that was already starting to ache, but he chose to ignore it and instead look back at the battle plans lying prominently in front of him. He wiped his eyes from lingering sleep and stood from his chair, stretching his legs. He was getting too old to sleep at his desk. He wasn’t 20 anymore, though it wasn’t like he was 80 either. He dreaded the speech from his beta about taking care of himself.

A soft knock at the door made him turn his attention. A small, omega wolf gently opened the door, carrying a tray.

“Alpha,” she murmured, unable to look him in the eyes. “Your breakfast.”

He gestured to the messy desk. “Place it anywhere.”

Carefully, she set the tray door and went to bow before him, but he shook his head, stopping her with a hand on her shoulder. The little omega flinched at his touch and immediately began apologizing, trying to bow again. He quickly removed his hand, cursing himself inwardly for making her flinch.

“Taylor, it’s okay. I’m not mad. I’m sorry. You just don’t need to bow to me. I’m not your master. You have no master anymore. You’re free.”

“I’m–I’m so sor–sorry,” she sputtered. “I ke–ep trying to remem–remember.”

He opened the door for her, keeping his distance as he watched her relax a little when he moved away.

“You don’t need to apologize. You are safe here. No one will harm you while you’re a member of my pack. You have my word. I serve you. Taylor, not the other way around,” he replied gently.

Taylor gave the briefest of smiles and whispered, “Thank you.”

He watched her walk away, wondering how he could make the lives of his pack members better. He meant every word he’d said to her.

“Patrick!” a man shouted.

He turned and found his grinning beta, Matthew, quickly making his way to him. He was lucky to have his beta, but he was also annoyed because he knew what was coming.

“I see you slept in your office again. Did you at least use the couch?” Matthew asked with a knowing look.

Patrick stared at him in a bored manner and made his way to his breakfast. Three eggs with a gooey middle, two pieces of bacon, and a buttered croissant. His favorite.

“You know,” Matthew continued. “You need to think about your health as much as you think about your upcoming battles. You may not have a luna yet, but she won’t want you ragged and worn down, you know.”

“Yes, yes. I know. You’ve said that before,” Patrick grumbled, shoving bites of food into his mouth.

He was ravenous today.

Matthew settled on the couch. “So comfy. So much better than that stupid, wooden desk of yours.”

“Yeah, yeah. Sure. Whatever you say.”

Matthew grew somber, knowing that it was useless to continue lecturing his alpha. He wanted happiness for his best friend, and he couldn’t think of anything happier than a mate. His own was perfect for him. She was caring, beautiful, vivacious, and attentive . He wanted that for Patrick. That man worked harder than any other alpha he’d known. He was tirelessly putting his pack first, his people first, which was rare for an alpha as strong and wealthy as Patrick was. His mission was to rid the werewolf world of those who would take advantage of others, and sadly, there were too many.

“You know,” Matthew started. “You could always take a chosen mate. This pack needs a luna, and–”

“Matt. Watch what you’re saying very closely,” Patrick growled.

The beta held his hands up in surrender. “I know how you feel, but dude, it’s been 13 years since you’ve been able to start looking for her. And, you know, you haven’t found her yet. A chosen mate may not be so bad. I’m sure if you ever found your mate, she’d understand, since it’s been so long. That’s all I’m saying.”

“We’ve talked about this. The answer is ‘no’. The answer will always be ‘no’. I watched what it did to my parents. I won’t explain to my mate for the rest of our lives why I couldn’t wait for her. My mother never truly felt like the luna. I can’t. I won’t do that to her.”

Matthew nodded. He knew that he’d need to walk on eggshells around his alpha when the ‘mate’ topic came up. It was one of the things he admired most about his alpha and best friend. Patrick stuck to his guns and never let anyone bully him into something he didn’t agree with. If he didn’t want a chosen mate, he’d never take one. Though, it wasn’t like the she-wolves didn’t try. Vanessa, the former beta’s daughter, was constantly hungering after the luna position. It didn’t matter how many times Patrick turned her down, she tried to entice him every chance she could. With every attempt, her plans were getting more out of control.

Matthew couldn’t really blame her in a way. Patrick was 31 years-old and in his prime. He was definitely a good looking man, with broad shoulders and tight muscles. His mother had taught him how to dress sharply, and his chiseled jawline had women swooning. Patrick had warm, chocolate brown eyes and his dark brown hair was already getting specks of grey in it. He was going to be an attractive silver fox, or rather, silver wolf. He kept his beard closely shaven and clean, along with his mustache. What woman wouldn’t want him?

“So, what time do we head out tonight?” Matthew asked, strategically changing the subject.

Patrick peered over his notes and said, “We’ll hit the pack at midnight. Based on the information from the scouts and the man inside, that’s when their security is the most lax. Hopefully, we’ll get in and out with minimal bloodshed. Just like the last two. Attack when the alpha isn’t paying attention, save the captured and enslaved, and get out before chaos unfolds.”

“Simple. To the point. No room for error. Just like you,” Matthew chuckled.

“Yeah. As usual though, I just hope I can get to them in time. It’s getting more difficult to cover my tracks, since my pack keeps growing without any real reason. Not to mention my harsh stance on creating laws that go against this type of behavior.”

“Let them talk. There has been no real evidence left behind that it’s you. Until they can prove it, we need to continue our line of attack. These alphas are getting out of line with the things they think they can get away with. It’s disgusting.”

Patrick sighed. “Doesn’t change the fact that it’s happening, sadly. I just cannot understand how they think it would be alright to conduct themselves in such a manner. I mean, I get that the world has gone to hell in a handbasket after that whole demon debacle, but we’ve been cleaning up after that mess for decades. The world has grown so much in how it thinks and behaves, so why are we going backwards? How can the New Council just sit back and do nothing as these packs get overrun and taken over?”

“They believe they have more pressing affairs. You heard them at the last Alpha Summit. They’d rather deal with politics with the other races than the growing black market right under their noses. Makes you wonder how many of them are getting paid under the table.”

Patrick frowned. “You know, you might be onto something there. Remind me to look into that after tonight.”

“Sure thing, boss.”

Gesturing to the door, Patrick dismissed his beta. He had too much on his mind to dally any longer, even though he wanted to. With his current workload, Patrick hadn’t had as much time for friends, and he knew his relationships were suffering because of it. He told himself to build in time with Matthew and a few other warrior friends after that night’s raid. He told himself that he could afford a day off. Besides, he needed to relax as well; otherwise, he’d be a useless alpha to his pack.

After many hours looking over plans, changing them, and then changing them back, he finalized the formats and instructed his lead warriors. They had all filed into his office, been briefed, and then sent to get their special forces ready. From the moment Patrick took over the pack from his father, he vowed to do things differently. Many packs were useless without their alphas in control because most alphas were power hungry and control freaks. Patrick didn’t want to be that. He wanted a self-sufficient pack that would seamlessly flow whether he was there or not.

Many years ago, he studied how two alphas had radicalized their packs. They had practically made their betas in charge and went gallivanting off to save the world or something. Patrick didn’t think he’d ever really leave his pack, since he wasn’t from a pure bloodline like Alpha Eleanor had been, but he respected how she set up her pack. If something were to happen to him without an heir in place, he wanted to ensure that his pack and his people would be safe, especially from rogues or power-hungry alphas.

Checking the clock on the wall, Patrick hurried from his office to his room to change.

Ready?

Fuckin’ born ready!

He mentally laughed at his wolf, Aero. He certainly was a character. He met his warriors in front of the cars, which were all ready, and hopped into the passenger’s seat of one of them.

“Let’s go kick some ass and save some people,” he mind-linked his group.

Without a moment's delay, they took off into the night.