The Alpha and Her Secret Mate

Tracking

“We’ve lost track of Al!”

I blink hard at Penny standing before me. “I’m sorry, what?”

She comes to sit down across from me at my desk, and I reach eagerly for the cup of coffee she’s holding. “We had a strong trail on them until about 4am, when they dropped off the map. Warner had line of sight until a few minutes before that.”

I close my eyes again and sip the coffee. It’s too early for this. Or maybe I was up too late last night for this. “What time does the patrol shift change?”

“About 20 minutes ago, but most of last night’s patrol is still out there trying to find the scent.”

I sigh into my coffee. “Call Warner back and have him come to my office before he rests. I want to ask him a few questions before he takes his rest.”

“Will do, sir!” Penny says, jumping up to leave the room. “Um…I mean…”

“It’s fine,” I say. She turns to leave, still looking conflicted, so I say, “And Penny? Thanks for the coffee.”

She smiles and closes the door behind her. I’m not sure how it became common knowledge that the first person to talk to me in the morning needs to bring coffee, but the entire pack jumped on board with it with a surprising speed.

I pull up the map we’ve been using to track Alan and Mom’s movements. When they broke the dam during their escape, I thought we’d never catch them, but Grandpa’s, I mean my now, my trackers found them in less than twelve hours. They told me that Alan was sloppy, like he wanted to be found. I think they’re just incredibly talented trackers.

Even still, their assessment is the reason we’ve been keeping a close eye on them instead of going in for the attack. My warriors are watching for a trap before they pounce.

I’m not even sure I’d know what to do with them if we brought them in now.

There’s a soft knock at the door, and Alex walks in. I beam at the sight of him.

"Good morning, Layla. Did you sleep well?" He grins at me with a glint in his eye.

"I did. You look exhausted though. Did someone keep you up all night?"

"Umhmmm. Now I wonder who would have done that?" He leans over me, and I pull him down by his collar in a rush of affection.

"Who indeed. I'll need to have words with her." I touch my lips to his and he pulls me in, claiming me. I feel sparks and the world around us fades away.

Suddenly, Alex jerks away and I whimper at his absence. “Wha--?”

“Hello Warner,” Alex says. His jaw is tense, and he’s carefully not looking at me.

I lean forward and rest my elbows on my desk. “Th-thanks for stopping by Warner.” Stumble over my words, and I feel Alex silently laughing beside me. I clear my throat and look up at Warner. “Thank you for all the work you’ve been doing to track the…Bassettes. Can you tell me what happened this morning?”

“Layla, I’m so sorry. I don’t know how it happened, but I promise I’ll make it up to you. I—”

“I’m not mad at you Warner,” I say, cutting him off. I’m not sure how much longer he would have gone on like this if I hadn’t stopped him. It’s a nasty habit I’ve noticed amongst some of the pack members. I wish they’d just speak plainly with me. “I just want to know what happened. Can you start from the beginning?” I give him a warm smile and hope it puts him at ease.

“Okay, I was following Alan along the starlight ridge—”

“He was alone?” I ask.

“Uh…no.”

I inwardly grimace. Since I was officially named Alpha, most of the wolves had been hesitant to mention Mom around me. Even though I knew she was with Alan. I let the silence linger a moment longer before I took Warner out of his misery. “What happened to them on the ridge?”

“Alan ducked down on the opposite side and vanished. We searched the entire area and created a pretty wide perimeter, there’s no trace of any wolf activity leaving that area.”

Warner looks up at Alex were he’s standing next to me. Alex is frowning, and Warner quickly lowers his head in a sign of deference. “I’m sorry,” he says, practically ignoring that I’m in the room.

“I promise, I’m not mad,” I say with a gentle laugh. “I mean, I’m not happy we lost them, and we’ll need to dramatically increase our patrol now that we’ve lost the biggest threat.” I stand up and walk around the edge of the desk. When I place my hand on Warner’s shoulder, he flinches, but looks up at me. “Alan is sneaky,” I say. “This isn’t your fault.”

Some of the tension drains from Warner’s face. “Thanks, Layla. I promise we’ll find them.”

“See that you do,” Alex said, so harshly that I whipped my head around to look at him in confusion.

I shook my head and turned back to Warner. “Go get some rest. You need it.”

He gave me an uneasy smile. “I will, yeah.” He got up to go, but stopped at the door. “Oh, Layla, a few of us are getting together for a movie night tomorrow. You should come.” He smiled. “I mean if you’re not busy. You too, Alex.” He added the last as an afterthought, and I could feel Alex’s cold presence behind me.

“Thanks, I’ll see if I can make it.”

“Awesome, see you later.” Warner turned and practically fled the room.

I turned on Alex, angry questions already on my lips, but he interrupts me before I can speak.

“I don’t like you hanging around with Warner.” He sits down in my chair and looks over the maps I had been studying this morning.

“What?” I sputter.

“I don’t like how he treats you. I don’t think his intentions are fully honorable.” Alex looks up at me through his eyelashes, and there’s a dark possession in his eyes.

I glance at the door before cautiously going to sit on his lap. “You know I’m yours, right?” I ask as I wrap my arms around his neck.

He rests his forehead against mine. “He doesn’t know that.”

I freeze, guiltily. “No, but he knows I’m not his. Why would he bother if he knows I’m not his mate?” I try to make my voice sound flippant and casual. I try to make him believe.

“Well why did you bother with me before we knew you were mine?” Even through his anger, he nuzzles my cheek and places a gentle kiss there.

“I didn’t know a mate bond kind of love was an option when I went to home coming with you,” I say. I run my fingers through his hair, trying to calm him, and I feel him melt just a little by my side. “I guess the question is why were you bothering with me?” I poke him teasingly, but he just groans.

“Yeah, that’s the problem,” he says, kissing me on the lips quicky before pulling away. “I couldn’t resist you even when I wanted to.”

I rest my forehead on his. “Maybe your wolf knew something before you did,” I say softly.

“Or maybe you were just too beautiful.” I scoff, but he cuts me off. “I was entirely determined to wait for a mate bond kind of love, and I still went after you.”

I go still in his arms. “Love?” I ask, my voice cracking.

“I love you,” he whispers, without hesitation.

I lean back to look him in the eye. “I love you, Alex.” He smiles against my lips as I kiss him. The greedy pressure of his lips on mine make me want more. I let my tongue run along the soft skin of his lip until he stops me with a brief pressure from his teeth.

“Taylor,” he mutters.

“What?” I blurt out, confused. I jump up from his lap just in time.

“Good morningggg!” Taylor singsongs, bursting into the room without bothering to knock. She places a tray on the desk, filled with paper cups from the Hex. “I convinced the barista to find an extra serving of that star anise latte you like so much, even though it’s out of season.”

“Ohhh,” I happily grasp the cup.

“Alex, what are you doing here so early?” she asks. “I thought you were still living at home?” She smiles at him sweetly, and I wonder if I should be feeling the same jealousy Alex apparently feels over Warner. I can’t bring myself to be upset. She’s my friend, and she’s been mated to Sammie for years.

“I was here late last night, so I just crashed in the barracks,” Alex said, the lie coming to him easily.

“Really? Sammie says those beds are so uncomfortable?”

“The trackers lost Mom and Alan last night,” I say, eager to change the subject.

Taylor eyed Alex suspiciously for a moment longer, then she turned her attention to me. “What are you going to do?”

I let out a sigh. “I don’t know? Increase the patrols around the pack house to keep us safer? It was easier to have a small patrol when we knew where our enemies were. This is going to stretch us pretty thin.” I push Alex out of my chair and sit down. The warrior roster is in front of me, but it doesn’t offer any suggestions on how to manage this.

“I’ll ask Sammie how morale is among the warriors…” Taylor says thoughtfully.

“It can’t be good after this,” I say.

Taylor sits down with her iced coffee in one hand, casually sipping through the straw. “We could put some of the rogues on patrol?”

“No,” Alex says, before I can.

“I don’t know if and how much we can trust them.” I hang my head in frustration.

“I know you’re letting them stay here so they don’t just go join forces with the Bassettes, but something’s gotta give.” Taylor leans back in her seat. “We’re supporting them, but we can’t trust them to contribute to the pack.”

“I know.”

“I have an idea,” Alex says, putting his hand on my shoulder. Taylor looks at that hand pointedly, but we both ignore her. “We could have them rebuild the areas destroyed in the explosions on 4th Street last year. It would keep them busy, and eventually reduce crowding around here.”

“Is it smart to split up our members?” I say, knowing neither of them will have an answer. “It’ll be harder to protect the pack if we’re more spread out.”

“We’ve got to do something. This might be a way to trial our trust in them?” Alex says.

“I like it!” Taylor announces. “Why didn’t you officially make him and advisor?”

“We need to ask Dan,” I say, ignoring her question.

“You’re the alpha here,” Alex reminds me, squeezing my hand.

“And Dan actually knows how to run a pack.”