The Beta Who Bought Me

Chapter 21 - Charles's Office

Owen was led to Charles’s office while the girls went into the kitchen. Charles’s office was traditionally decorated, much like the rest of his home. A large walnut desk was on the far wall with a leather chair behind it for himself and a matching one in front of it for guests. There was also a deep burgundy sofa on the right wall which faced a walnut bookshelf and a grey filing cabinet on the left wall. A portrait of a young musician from the 18th century with a white quill in his hand and a fluffy white dog - almost the same height as the boy - was framed in gold over the sofa. The scripted handwriting at the bottom of the painting read “Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart”. Owen had always laughed at the ridiculousness of the composer's full name, but he was also just weirded out by the painting; he felt like its eyes followed him and that the boy was eavesdropping on their private conversations.

Charles sat in the chair behind the desk, and Owen moved to sit opposite him. “So what is so important that you drug me out of my warm bed at this hour?” Owen groggily asked him.

“Warm, huh?” Charles wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at his beta.

“Not like that, d***a**!” Owen laughed heartily in response to his friend’s subtle teasing. He wanted nothing more than to pull Laurel into his bed, if only to hold her while they slept. But he knew that resisting her would be impossible if he did, so he tried to play it safe by putting her in her own room.

“Well… it does involve that lovely lady of yours,” he said pensively, folding his hands together in front of him on the desk and leaning forward.

"Laurel?" Owen sat straighter in the chair and c****d his head to the side. “I’m listening,” he moved to the edge of his seat as he waited for his delta to explain.

“The full moon is tonight..." he began.

"Okay?" Owen gruffly interrupted. "Tell me something I don't know," he scoffed.

"AND..." Charles cut back in with a firm glare at the man making the rude interruption. "...I’m going to mark Wendy after she shifts."

"You're going to do what now?" Owen's jaw dropped at the stunning news. Things seemed to be moving around him in hyper-drive.

"She is my second-chance mate, Owen,” Charles shyly looked away from his friend's eyes, but the flush over his cheeks and the subtle smile of a man in love could not be missed.

Owen continued to look at him in surprise for another moment before a wide smile crossed his lips. “Congratulations, man! You deserve it after… everything.” Charles looked at him in understanding. He knew that Owen didn’t want to verbalize anything about his previous mate and the loss of her and their baby girl. Owen had been there with him through all of that and had even stayed up late with him at night when he broke down from time to time over the years. “Does Wendy know...?” He asked after a short silence, "...about them?"

“Yes, I told her. Last night. I figured she would know as soon as she shifted, and since it’s so soon, I might as well tell her.” He had a soft look on his face as he sat back in his chair. Owen had never seen him look so serene and happy since Emma-Leigh died.

“What does all this have to do with Laurel though?” He looked across the desk at Charles.

“She’s your mate, too, isn’t she?” He asked Owen with a cheeky smirk. There was no hiding it from his best friend. The man could read him as if he could see and hear what was going on his mind.

Owen rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “Yeah… I think she is…” he said softly as he looked at the beige carpeted floor.

“I knew it! I thought it might be true when I found out you bought her at the Appraisal, but there was no doubt in my mind after the way you looked at her when she was walking away earlier. Like you couldn’t stand for her to leave…” Owen’s face turned red, and he stroked the blond stubble coming in on his chin. He couldn’t deny that. When she left, he felt like he just wanted to run after her.

“Okay, so I’m still not sure why this would be an emergency?” He huffed now, trying to take the focus off of his reddened cheeks.

“Ah, yes,” Charles started again. “Has Abel paid you a visit yet?”

“Yes…” he replied with a hesitant curiosity. As far as he knew, no one else had known about the alpha’s intrusion the day before.

“I was passing his office last night, and I heard him ranting about ‘that damn beta’ and how ‘he thinks he can keep his girl’. Zach was there with him and trying to calm him, but Abel wouldn’t stop raging. I could hear him smash something made of glass, and he yelled that he was going to take her during her shift tonight.”

The hell he is! Owen's wolf declared with a fierce snarl within his mind. I'll tear him apart if he tries! She is OUR mate!

Hold on there, big guy. Let's find out what else Charles has to say about this. Owen replied, trying to calm the angered beast. We have to know what his motives may be.

“Haven’t you ever wondered why he doesn’t have children? No heirs to pass on his alpha lineage?” Charles steepled his fingers in front of him as he continued.

“Why would he want Laurel though? He has a Luna already."

Owen remained quiet for a minute while he mulled the questions over. It was true, Abel was well within his thirties at this point and had no children, quite a rarity for an alpha wolf. He had married Luna Grace almost ten years prior. Usually, an alpha and luna would have had as many children as they possibly could within that stretch of time... Unless...

“The Luna is barren, isn't she?"

Charles opened his mouth to reply but before he could speak, there was a soft rap on the door.