Night with The Twin Rivers

Ch. 7

The next day she found herself looking at lingerie on the internet instead of working. She wasn’t entirely sure how she ended up on the website. It had just dawned on her with all the clothes that she bought, or Shawn bought rather, that she didn’t have anything nice to wear underneath them. What if their relationship did continue? She would need something nicer to wear than her basic white or black stuff she normally wore. 

As she went through the different styles she found a few bolder looking styles that made her think of Steven. Would you like something more bold and daring? She imagined herself wearing it in front of him and he would just rip it off of her. She was sure he was going to be the more dominating type, the complete opposite of Shawn. Before she could stop herself she bought a few different sets. After she went through the checkout she suddenly felt nervous, why did she do that? Their relationship wasn’t there yet. Instead of letting herself dwell on it too much she decided she would get her morning run out of the way and clear her thoughts. 

Jena finished her morning jog and went back to the house to wash up when her phone rang. It was one of the pack elders.  

“There will be a mandatory meeting this evening.” He stated.  

“Why such the rush?” She asked him curiously. There wasn’t anything going on that she was aware of.  

The old man sighed. He was her grandfather and looked after her. If he was upset it was something the other elders were doing. “They have been pushing for a few things and they demand an audience. I tried to set up a better time but they demand it happen tonight. Is that alright dear?” 

“Very well. I will be there. What time?” She said with irritation. With everything else going on she wasn’t up for the elder’s games.  

“Eight. At the pack house.” He said.  

“Ok. Thanks.” She said and hung up. After getting her shower she got dressed and sat at her desk to get some work done before heading over to her pack meeting. After spending the night last night having some fun with Shawn, she needed to get back to work. She didn’t want the elders to think she was slacking.  

Her phone dinged and she looked down to see the text from Jeromy. “Did you get the meeting message?”  

“Yes.” She texted back. “Have you heard why?” 

Three little dots appeared to signify that he was typing, however it was there for a bit as though he was trying to find the right words to say. Eventually he typed, “I think it’s about you.” 

“What the hell could they possibly want?” She asked with irritation.  

“I don’t know. I haven’t heard anything else. I am sure they will have something stupid up their ass and just want to piss you off.” He stated.  

That didn’t help her irritation at all and she sighed. “Did you finish your report yet?” She texted back changing the topic.  

“Yes. I will send it over shortly.” He responded.  

Jena finished her daily reports and skimmed over Jeromy’s information. Looking at the clock she realized how late it was and she started gathering her things for the meeting. Her phone buzzed and she looked down, it was from Shawn. She smiled.  

“Hello beautiful. How are you doing today?” He texted.  

She smirked. “Just fine. Thank you for yesterday.”  

“My pleasure. What are you doing tonight?”  

“I have a meeting.” She sent back.  

“On a Saturday?!” 

“Pack meeting.” She responded.  

“My statement remains.” He sent back. “All work and no play isn’t healthy.” 

“I had some fun yesterday. Pack stuff comes first. I will text you later.” 

“I am glad you had fun. ” 

She couldn’t stop smiling as she got in her car and drove to the pack house.  

Upon arriving the elders were all gathered around the main table. It was a large house, a mansion really. It was where they all gathered when there was something to discuss. She didn’t like the seriousness on their faces. Clearly something was happening.  

As the pack Alpha she took her place at the head of the table and looked at them all curiously. “Since we are all here, we might as well just get started. What is this all about?” She asked them.  

“We wanted to discuss the future of the pack.” 

“What about it?” She asked, giving the elders a curious look, but she held her ground. She wouldn’t let them walk all over her.  

They sensed her aggressiveness and swallowed hard.  

Although she wasn’t a tyrant, she wanted them to know that she wasn’t to be messed with. She could easily kill every single one of the elders in the room before they had a chance to even scratch her. It wasn’t in their best interest to challenge her.  

“The pack is concerned that you haven’t found a mate yet.” They finally stated.  

“And?” She asked, looking around. “Is there a problem with how I run things?” 

“Not at all, dear.” Her grandfather spoke to her gently and she lowered her walls a bit and became a little softer. He didn’t deserve her anger or walls. “There is just some discourse amongst the clan as you are our Alpha and it doesn’t look good for you to not have a partner yet. It’s a good symbol among the pack to have our Alpha with a mate and family. They are worried you will get lost in your work and things will fall apart again.”  

She looked at them all, they all seemed to be in agreement. She didn’t want to mention the twins just yet.  

“There is another pack moving in on our land. It’s not good. We need to show the other packs that we are strong.” Another stated.  

“I am doing what I can. I have already had a meeting with them and we are working things out. I don’t think they are a threat.” 

“Yet.” One stated. “If you had someone else backing you that would make everyone feel better. There are apparently two of them. It’s only a matter of time before they try something and try to gain control over this area.”  

She sat back and looked around. What should she tell them? That they were her mates? What if they decided to reject her? What if Steven decided to take things more aggressively for the sake of their pack? She couldn’t very well tell these people what was going on. She needed to settle things quickly.  

“What do you propose? You all seem to have something going on.” She said to them.  

Her grandfather spoke tenderly, “there is an Alpha that has come to visit from a neighboring clan. He would be interested in courting you and becoming your mate since you haven’t found one.” 

“Since you don’t get out much, it’s not like you have high chances of meeting your official mate in the future.” Another said sarcastically.  

Jena glared at him.  

Her grandfather sighed. “We propose that if you haven’t found your mate by the next full moon that you take James as your mate for the pack.” 

She looked at him, “that’s two weeks away? You are suggesting that I mate with a man I have never met in two weeks time?” Although, that was the time frame she gave the twins.  

“I know it's short notice, but they have to make plans themselves. Please consider it. He is here now, maybe you two could start getting to know one another.” He said trying to smooth things over.  

One of the elders stood up and went to the door. A young man around her age walked in. It was clear he was strong, his aura radiated off of him and filled the room. He had dark brown short hair, broad wide shoulders, and dark eyes. Everything about him screamed intimidating. He gave her a small smile as he walked over to her.  

Jena stood up so she wasn’t beneath him and she stood her ground. He reached out to shake her hand and she took it, he squeezed a little hard and she didn’t miss a beat and returned the favor showing him her strength. She wouldn’t let him try to take her over. He backed off and continued to smile. “I hope that we can get to know each other a little better over the next couple of weeks.” 

“Very well.” She stated and looked back at the elders. “I will take all of this under consideration and will spend some time getting to know James. Is there anything else we need to discuss?”  

“No. That’s everything.” Her grandfather said sadly.  

“Very well. You all are dismissed.” 

The elders all got up one by one and left. Her grandfather was the last to leave and he walked over to her and gave her a small smile. “I think this will be in everyone’s benefit. Please give this all a chance, and let me know if you need anything my dear.” 

“Very well grandfather. Go get some rest. We can discuss things later.” She said to him annoyed. James’ presence annoyed her. He wasn’t the twins, and her wolf was agitated. “Not our mate.” Her wolf stated.  

“No shit.” She said to her wolf. Jena ignored anything else her wolf had to say and she looked at James. “I am not much for dating, so I am not sure how you would like to proceed.”  

He chuckled a little, “I was told you work too much.” 

She stiffened a bit, “I like to work, and I work hard for my pack.” 

“I didn’t say it was a bad thing. I was just warned that you would be hard to talk to.” He said looking her over.  

She didn’t like how he looked at her. “I am not hard to talk to. I just don’t open up easily.” 

“Then let’s sit down and have a chat. I am sure you have questions.” He stated.  

Jena sighed, “very well. They usually keep food in the kitchen. We can find something there to eat tonight and we can figure out everything else as we eat.” 

“You don’t want to take me out to see the town tonight?” He asked curiously.  

“I don’t want to jump into anything quickly. I would like a day or two to process everything that is going on. I also don't want the pack to jump to conclusions.” She stated.  

He nodded, “very well. We can plan something for another night then.” He moved to the side and let her lead them into the kitchen where she found some cereal and milk.  

“Romantic.” He said.  

She rolled her eyes, “this isn’t a date or anything. You wanted to chat and here we are.” 

“You don’t like me much.” He stated, eating his cereal.  

“What gave you that idea?” She couldn’t help but snap a little. She wasn’t comfortable with this at all. Especially not since meeting and trying to deal with Shawn and Steven.  

“I understand. This wasn’t exactly my choice either. My pack insisted on me coming over here to try and end disputes between our packs. They have another Alpha that they want to lead, they figured I would be the perfect addition to your pack. I can help strengthen your pack.” He said.  

She looked at him and said nothing.  

“I understand you are hesitant. But the elders are right. It’s not good to be alone. I can help you.” He said kindly.  

Jena wasn’t sure what he was getting at. There was something about him that made her uncomfortable and it wasn’t just that he was a male wolf, trying to get her attention, when she already found her mates. If she just had to worry about Shawn it would be easy, it was clear he already accepted her. “I am not ready to lower my guard yet. I have done a lot to build this pack and the company back up. I haven’t been thinking about a mate, or family yet. I haven’t had time and now suddenly I am being forced to think about it within such a short amount of time.” 

“I am not asking for a family right away. We can mate and see how things go from there.” He said to her.  

She looked at him and nodded, “very well. I will continue to give it some thought. I appreciate you sitting here and talking to me.” She went over and washed her bowl. He followed suit and was a bit closer to her than she appreciated. She could feel the heat from his body and she had to keep herself from putting up all of her defenses immediately. It was important for her pack that she tried to give this a chance. If Steven ended up rejecting her on the full moon, she would have something to fall back on.  

“Can I get your number so we can continue to communicate? We can set up a few dates throughout the week.” He stated.  

She reluctantly gave him her number to put into her phone and he immediately sent her a text so that she had his number.  

“Would you like me to escort you home?” He asked her.  

“No. It’s fine. You can stay here for now. I can drive myself home perfectly fine. I will text you.” She stated. 

“Let me know when you make it home safe then.” He said to her moving back so she could leave.  

It was clear he was trying to be sweet, but something about it just seemed unnatural. Maybe she was just being paranoid about it. “Very well.” She walked out and hurried home. Once she was inside she quickly went inside and locked the door and looked around at her empty house. It was clear then how lonely she really was. Suddenly she missed Shawn, he had been the first person she had allowed into her space other than Jeromy and her grandfather. What would it be like to have children running around and a mate?  

As though sensing her unease Shawn texted her. “Everything okay?” He asked.  

She hesitated to respond. She didn’t want him to worry. “Everything is fine. Just elder’s making a big deal out of nothing.” 

“Our fault?” He asked.  

She wasn’t sure how to respond to that. “Yes and no. Not to worry. We aren’t planning on attacking you or anything. I will give you a heads up if that was the case.” 

“I would hope we were close enough now for a courtesy call.” She could feel him laughing on the other end even though it was a text.  

Jena wanted to call him and talk to him about it. But what was she going to say? If she told him about James, he would pressure Steven to give in faster, and that would make tensions between them worse. All of this couldn’t have worse timing. The next best thing was to talk to Jeromy about it all, but he had things he liked to do on Sunday’s. She would put it all off and discuss it with him on Monday when they were back at work.  

She had two Sunday’s to decide how to handle the situation after tomorrow. It was best to start bringing in her A game to figure out the future.