The Alpha boss and the PA

The path

David POV

Friday. Thank the Goddess it was Friday. It had been an exhausting week. Trying to ignore somebody who's mere existence assaulted all of your senses wasn't as easy as I had imagined. Not to mention the fact that I couldn't actually fully ignore her, since we had to work together. I tried to keep the time I spend with her as short as possible, but there was barely any point to it. She worked in the room next to mine. I could smell her through the door. The whole building seemed to be infused with her scent. I couldn't escape it. I was also painfully aware of every sound she made. If she left her office I wondered where she was going. And my wolf made things so much worse. I had to endure a constant stream of comments from him about Alissa. It varied from dreamily telling me how great our mate was to detailed explanations of what exactly he wanted to do to our mate. Let's just say that it didn't involve family friendly things... And every day he pestered me at least a dozen times to go to her and mark her. One time I had actually been almost at the door before I realized what I was doing. I had blocked him after that, which had made him angry. We weren't on speaking terms at the moment.

Clearly this whole staying away and staying strong strategy had some flaws. But it was Friday. So that meant I had all weekend to come up with a new plan.

Rejection wasn’t an option, because that involved letting a human into the supernatural world only to then throw her back out again in the blink of an eye by rejecting her. There was no way that that was going to end well for anyone. But maybe there was another way to break the mate bond that wasn’t as well known. I would have to confide in Andrew, the pack elder. He might know a way out of this.

When five ‘o clock hit I sped out of the office. I threw a quick ‘bye’ in the general direction of Alissa’s desk and made my way out of the building and into the fresh evening air. I stopped for a moment to breathe it in and to get rid of Alissa’s scent that was permanently stuck in my nose. This was so not like me and this had to end. I speed walked tot my car and as I got in I rolled down the windows for some more fresh air.

I drove into the forest and onto the pack lands. Andrew occupied a small cottage near the northern border of the pack’s territory. That’s where he and his vast collection of books lived in relative seclusion. He didn’t like company very much, but if I had any questions about werewolf lore or our pack’s history he always made room and time for me.

I parked the car in the garage near the pack house and continued my journey on foot. I was hoping that Andrew would know of another way to break the mate bond besides rejection. And if that wasn’t possible, then maybe he could help me make it easier to ignore.

I arrived at Andrew’s cottage and knocked on his door. I heard some shuffling inside and then footsteps that were making their way to the door.

“Ah, Alpha, to what do I owe the honor of your visit?” he asked when he opened the door for me. He looked a little disheveled, but that was just how Andrew always looked. He was in his seventies and he had grey hair that was a bit too long and went in every direction. He was wearing black jogging pants and a grey sweater with holes in it. To top off the look he was wearing mismatched flip-flops. If people didn’t know him they probably assumed he was homeless. He opened the door wide and beckoned me inside.

“Sorry for the unannounced visit Andrew, but I have a bit of a situation.” I told him as I entered his house. As per usual books were occupying every surface and Andrew hurried to move some off a chair so I could sit.

“I’m sorry to hear that. Tea?” Before I could answer he already scurried off to the small kitchen to make a pot of tea. I waited patiently for him to return. If I had learned anything in my years of dealing with Andrew it was that there was no rushing him. Patience was key and he always came thought with the information I needed.

“I found my mate”, I told him when he re-entered the room with a tray after a while.

“That is wonderful news, congratulations!” he exclaimed. He put the tray down onto a pile of books that were lying on the table. It didn’t look very stable, but he didn’t seem to mind.

“No, actually it isn’t .“ I corrected him. “I don’t want a mate”.

"It feels like only yesterday that you came to me asking if I knew of a way to find your mate", he said looking visibly confused. He had picked up the teapot to pour us a cup, but my statement seemed to have shook him so much that he just stood there with the pot in his hands.

"Yes, but that was then and this is now", I retorted.

"Is there anything wrong with this particular mate?" He questioned, continuing to look confused.

“She is human.”

"Hmmm", was all Andrew replied to my statement. He kept looking at me expectantly, waiting for more. Wasn't that enough on its own?

"I have nothing against humans", I explained while Andrew nodded. "But I am an Alpha wolf. Having a human mate is a risk for the whole pack. They are weak."

"How long have you known this human?" He asked me with a slight frown, still clutching the teapot.

"I met her Monday." I started to dread where this conversation was going.

"Then how do you know that she is weak?" he wondered, his frown deepening.

"No, I mean as a species. They are fragile, their senses are dulled. There is a reason we keep them in the dark about the supernatural world. They have no place in it. They wouldn't survive." I noticed I had started to talk faster and I was waving my hands around to emphasize my point. I put my hands down again and continued. "If an enemy would attack and they would come after Alissa, she would be dead in a second." For a moment I pictured that happening and I felt a sadness and pain that I had never felt before. I quickly put the thought out of my mind.

"So would an Omega. So would a pup or an elderly wolf. That is no reason not to have them in the pack. Isn't that why we have shelters where the weak can hide in case of an attack?" Andrew reasoned calmly. "Isn’t that why we have trained warriors to defend the pack? And you are not the first Alpha with a human mate. It is rare, I'll give you that, but there have been some quite successful interspecies unions in the past."

I quietly stared at him while he finally poured us some tea. I knew that wat he was saying was correct, but I still felt very strongly about this. Call me stubborn, but I didn’t like how in just a few days’ time this woman had managed to carve a spot into my mind. Even when I wasn’t in the office thoughts about her popped into my head from time to time. Because of her existence I was now at odds with my wolf. What if there was an attack and I wasn’t paying attention because my mind was going over how good she looked today? Maybe her being human wasn’t what made the pack weak, but my reaction to her did make me a weaker and less alert Alpha. I couldn’t have that.

“I hear what you are saying, but just because it worked in the past doesn’t mean it will work now” I told him while picking up my cup of tea. “I need this to end. I don’t need a mate. I need my peace of mind back. I know I can’t reject her outright because she is human, but there must be a way.”

“Oh, my dear boy,” Andrew responded with something that looked like pity in his eyes. “There is no other way. The moon goddess created this path for you and the only way for you to regain any peace of mind is to follow it till the very end.”