The Alpha King

Chapter 5

Ryker

After I lost sight of my mate Zeke forced me to go to my meeting with alpha Lionel while he tried to track down the woman. To say I wasn´t pleased that I didn´t get to chance to go after her myself was an understatement. My wolf wasn´t happy either but I trusted my beta to find out who she was.

Watching while the elevator went up one floor at a time was killing me. I wanted to get this meeting out the way as fast as possible but something told me it´s wasn´t going to happen. Although I was the alpha king, I couldn´t get to other alphas bad side meaning I couldn´t cancel this meeting no matter how much I wanted. When alpha king disrespects other alphas it´s basically a sign that I am not fit to be king anymore. Mutual respect between pack alphas and me was crucial to keep the peace. Sometimes it was a pain in my ass when I had to deal with immature males like Lionel but I grit my teeth and put my mask on not letting my irritation show.

Closing my eyes, I relived the moment when I saw her. She seemed to possess an attitude that might rival even mine but I wasn´t sure yet. I wouldn´t mind if she had a strong personality, I had always wished my future mate would be feisty to a certain level where I wouldn't have to hold her hand every step the way in life or walk on eggshells watching my temper if she got intimidated by my outbursts. Being alpha's mate wasn´t easy and being alpha king's mate was even more of a challenge.

She had stared at me right in the eye while I growled the word mate, although I knew she couldn´t hear it, she had seen my smirk on my face and lifted her eyebrow ghost of a smile tucking the corner of her lip. Normally that kind of staring would be considered as a direct challenge toward my dominance and position as alpha and I would have told her that wasn´t tolerated. But I allowed it to happen, it excited me and ruffled Khan's fur the right way. He wanted to chase her and see how playful his mate really was. Her eye colour sent chills down my spine. Silver-grey, giving them such a piercing effect as if she could see right through my soul's darkest corners pulling it out of my body and it nearly forced a moan out of my throat but I managed to stifle it down. No one had ever had such an impact on me. That was the power of a mate bond.

I was excited and scared shitless because being an alpha I felt the effect of the mate pull ten times stronger than an average wolf and making it even more complicated, my mate was a human which meant she didn´t feel it like I did. I was sure she felt something but what I didn´t know. She would be no doubt confused about the sudden unexplained emotions hitting her no matter how mild and I wouldn´t be surprised if she would try to avoid me if she made the connection between her emotions and me. The mere thought of her avoiding me made my hackles rise and Khan growled in my head. He wasn´t thrilled about the possibility of her avoiding us either.

As the elevator reached Lionel´s floor I opened my eyes straightening my back before the doors opened and I stepped into the corridor. I needed this meeting to be over as quickly as possible. I was working myself up thinking about the millions of possibilities of losing my mate before I had the chance to get to know her, mark and mate her. Shaking my head I forced myself to focus on the issue at hand and marched toward the office where Lionel was waiting.

When I reached the door I knocked three times waiting for Lionel´s response. I could burst into the room not bothering to knock but I reckoned good manners would be a better way to start this meeting although the alpha king in me wasn´t happy about the small act of submission.

“Come in.” Lionel´s voice carried through the door making me grimace. The tone was exactly as I pictured him to be, juvenile before they come to an age when their voice starts to break. I rolled my eyes while gripping the handle and opening the door I walked through it blasting a friendly smile on my face though it was plastic, for the sake of the business I had to play along.

My father had owned the company before giving me the mantle when he stepped down from the throne. He had pointed Lionel´s father, Ricker, as the president of the company because he had the same vision where to take the idea and expand the company. It wasn´t unheard of that alpha king would point another pack´s alpha in charge of their business if they trusted them fully. My father's trust for Ricker was unwavering and I could see why. The man was visionary and make my father´s dreams and wishes toward the business come true.

But when Ricker pointed his son to be the next president when it was time for him to step down as alpha I had my doubts. At that point, I was already the king and quite honestly, I didn´t see Lionel as the best choice for the position and I sought counsel with my father who told me to give the guy a chance. If Ricker trusted his son to be the right choice, I should see what the man was capable of and give him a chance to prove it.

So I did.

We butted heads more than I could care to count but to my surprise, Lionel didn´t ruin the business and even had pretty good ideas on how to improve it. I had to admit, I was impressed so I did let him continue to be the president.

But that didn´t mean I had to like the guy.

He may be a good businessman but his smart mouth tested my patience. Sometimes he forgot who was in charge and who exactly I was. So, I gladly reminded him of the facts and I wholeheartedly enjoyed those moments. The guy was a jackass. A good businessman, but still a jackass.

“Ah, alpha king, glad you could make it.”

His voice snapped me from my thoughts and glancing in his way while I closed the door behind me I noticed a red file in front of him and a look in his eyes told me he was nervous about something.

“Well, I had free time on my hands.” I merely said approaching the chairs in front of his desk and when he pointed to one of them I lazily sat down and lifted my left leg resting my ankle on top of my right knee. While resting my right arm on the armrest I raised my left hand to support my chin as I studied Lionel´s face trying to figure out why I was there.

Lionel lowered his gaze onto the file opening it flipping a few papers until he found what he was looking for. Lifting his gaze back to meet mine he licked his lips and started finally talking.

“The reason I asked you to come today is that one of our ships got stuck at the Suez Canal this morning and it seems it is going to be a very difficult operation to get it free. We are talking days of operation which will affect our business greatly.”

I tilted my head a little to the left narrowing my eyes while clenching my fists. That wasn´t the news I wanted to hear right now. How on earth can a ship get stuck in a canal? What the hell?

“Care to run that by me again?” I asked lowly, my irritation seeping through as I leaned forward making Lionel flinch a little.

“The captain somehow managed to get the ship stuck sideways and the country is already breathing down our neck because it is our ship…”

“How is that possible? How can someone get a f*****g ship stuck sideways on a straight line?” I growled narrowing my eyes nostrils flaring. The vein on my temple was now visible and it made Lionel swallow hard.

I knew the problems that were to follow this kind of issue. Because of our ship, the traffic was going to be built upon the mouth of the Canal and cargo transports were halted and that costs money.

A lot of money.

No doubt everyone was trying to pin this whole issue on my company because we owned the ship and it was another damn headache I didn´t need.

“f**k!”

I leaned back on the chair staring at the ceiling. This meeting wasn´t going to be over fast.

After a couple of hours as we tried to come up with a solid plan how to handle this f****d up situation I straightened on the armchair and looked at Lionel who was leaning back in his chair watching me. I was mentally exhausted and done with this s**t for today.

”Start the negotiations and try to minimize the damage best of your abilities. Find out what exactly happened in that ship for it to end up sideways in the f*****g canal. I want to know whose fault this mess really is.” I growled the last sentence flexing my aura so he knew I meant every damn word.

”Yes, my king.” Lionel said lowering his eyes and giving me a slight bow.

”Anything else I need to know?”

I sure hope not there wasn´t. I wasn´t in the mood for another problem.

”No, I have a meeting with the CEO in an hour but there´s no need for you to stay if you don´t want to. Everything else is going smoothly.”

I merely nodded and got up fixing my jacket while racking my left hand through my hair.

”Good. Keep me posted on the issue at hand and call me immediately if there are further problems.”

”Yes, of course.”

With that, I turned around and walk across the room, through the doorway leaving the door ajar and I made my way toward the elevator.

 “Now go to mate!”

Khan started growling the second I entered the elevator and pushed the main floor´s button.

“Did you already forgot that we don´t know who she is? It´s not that easy to go to her.”

“Then find out who she is! You´re the king, aren´t you?  I want to be near my mate.”

I rolled my eyes at Khan´s impatient remark but couldn´t blame him. The need to be near and touch our gifted mate was overwhelming and it took every ounce of my willpower not to tear this whole damn city to the ground so I could find her.

“Alpha, I have your mate´s information when you´re ready.”

Zeke´s voice filled my mind as he mind-linked to me and I grinned my eyes flashing with excitement knowing I was about to learn my mate´s name. My beta never failed me.

“I´ll be in the lobby in a moment,” I answered back and closed the link.

Watching anxiously as the digits of the floors descended one by one I tried to be as composed as possible but the giddiness inside of me was growing and Khan prancing around head and tail high at the back of my mind wasn´t make it easy for me to stay stoic appearance.

On the tenth floor, the elevator suddenly stopped earning a growl escape from me when I watched two young-looking humans stepping inside the elevator with me. Leaning against the elevator wall behind me I kept as much distance as possible while placing my hands in my jacket´s pockets.

“So, is our plan for tonight still on?” The man asked the woman in front of me earning her to giggle as she twirled a lock of her hair around her index finger trying to look coy.

Clenching my jaw I turned my attention to the doors willing the elevator to go faster an image of my mate in my head as I wanted to distract myself from these humans.

“I suppose…that is if your wife is still going to be out of town for the weekend?”

“Yes, she is gone for the weekend. We have the whole house for ourselves.” the man spoke huskily glancing at the woman lust evident in his eyes.

At this, the hair at the back of my neck rose and I had to stifle the growl creeping up in my throat my eyes narrowing to slits. Cheating your partner was an infuriating and unforgivable thought among the werewolf community. Sometimes it happened, but it was extremely rare. 

Thinking how casually humans talked about cheating their significant others was something I never understood nor wanted to.

The mere thought of having another woman other than my mate in my bed was enough to make me sick to my stomach and had Khan snarling at me.

“No one but mate is allowed to be in our den! No other woman is allowed to touch us besides our mate!” Khan barked his hackles risen and ears flat baring his teeth.

“Calm down, I am not planning on allowing anyone else other than our mate to step anywhere near us.”

Ensuring Khan was a task and those two humans weren't helping but finally, the elevator let out a sound of reaching the main lobby much to my relief. The doors opened and as the couple stepped out I went around them quickly while scanning the lobby trying to find my beta.

Subtly sniffing the air I caught the familiar scent of my beta and followed it through the crowd until I found him lounging on one of the benches near the double glass doors staring at his phone.

“Let´s go.” I gruffly said not bothering to slow down as I walked past him. I heard him standing up and following me outside toward the parking lot.

“So the meeting with alpha Lionel wasn´t pleasant?” he asked as we approach the car and I huffed at the question.

“Not even a slightest. Quite the opposite, I have more problems now than I had this morning.”

Zeke raised his brows but didn’t ask anything else. He knew I would brief him eventually. Fishing out the car keys I unlocked the doors and sat behind the wheel starting the engine while Zeke walked around the car opening the door and sitting next to me.

Turning my attention to him I waited for him to tell me what I wanted to know while tapping my finger against the steering wheel. I knew Zeke had found information about my girl, he was very good at his job and if he wanted to find something he would find it no matter how long it took. That is why he was my beta.

Zeke glanced at the wheel and then me catching on quickly and clearing his throat took his phone from the pocket.

“Her name is Artemis Arya Griffin, 25 years old. She has an older brother who owns a martial art school downtown named Fight To Fitness. She has a black belt in aikido and ninjutsu and has been taking lessons of archery for the past five years in Kayden's school.”

My eyes went wide as I listened to Zeke´s discovery about my mate. No wonder I sensed her being strong when I first saw her.

Khan was purring chest puffed up, a clear sign of being proud of his mate.

“Mate is not a weakling.”

“She´s a badass,” I hummed in agreement.

Even her name screamed danger and respect.

Wait.

Where have I heard the surname before? I frowned.

“Her father is Alaric Griffin, the CEO of your company.”

My eyes snapped to his face when I heard his reply.

Shit.

I hoped that wouldn't cause any unnecessary problems in the future.

“Anything else?” I asked, deciding to ignore that little fact for now.

“He mentioned alpha Kayden…” Khan whispered in my mind and it gained my attention.

“You mentioned Kayden.” I voiced Khan´s sentence and Zeke nodded smiling.

“Yes, she is taking archery lessons in his school.”

I couldn´t stop the grin forming on my face. I knew where I was going to be headed next and Zeke chuckled next to me. I hoped she would be there.

“I guess we will pay Kayden a visit,” he said as I shifted gears and reversed the car while turning the wheel, changing the gear again and started driving toward the highway.

“I guess we are,” I said focusing on the road ahead, excitement growing inside of me at the thought of seeing my mate again.

The rest of the drive was quiet but I didn´t mind. I was trying to focus on driving but Khan was sending images of our mate kissing us when we would see each other again and quite honestly I found it very difficult to concentrate on driving rather than fantasizing about our second meeting.

“Would you stop that! I would prefer getting to our mate in one piece!” I growled at Khan who was now imagining how she would look underneath us, mewling while we would f**k her senseless. Having a hard-on when visiting a fellow alpha wasn´t going to help either.

“Admit it, you love imagining her beneath you naked neck bared ready for marking.” Khan snickered earning a hard eye roll from me.

“Down boy, we need to go slow with her as I mentioned before. She´s human.”

“Just don´t go too slow or I will take over.”

I huffed at his warning feeling Khan finally retreating into the back of my mind leaving me alone for the time being. Good thing too because I could see the facade of Kayden´s school in the distance. Switching lanes I finally exit the highway and drove toward the building and into the parking lot immediately noticing Artemis´s car and decided to park next to her.

I felt like a high school teenager as I climbed out of the car and headed straight toward the front door while clicking the locking button on the car keys Zeke hot on my trail.

As soon as I walked through the door and stepped into the lobby Amaya turned to look at the door with a frown but when she saw me and Zeke walking toward her, she immediately put a smile on her face.

“Evening, Mr Barrett. Kayden hasn´t informed me that he has a meeting with you but I can inform him that you are here.”

I forced a polite smile on my face.

“Sure, if that is not too much trouble.”

She nodded standing up from her seat and motioned for us to follow her. Zeke mind linked me that he would stay in the lobby letting me see my mate alone. I didn´t argue.

She headed toward the back and already I could hear multiple muffled voices, Kayden was in the middle of teaching young pups it would seem. Approaching the doors the familiar scent of my mate filled my nose and I couldn´t help but to take a deep inhale and savouring it. I halted as Amaya opened the door stepping out glancing back at me before disappearing.

I placed my hands in the pockets of my jeans waiting for her to fetch Kayden although I merely came here to see my mate. Then I heard a voice that immediately drew my attention to it, smooth and melodic and I had to lean in to hear it again. Before I knew it I was standing at the doorway, leaning against the frame gazing at the two people sitting at the bench a little further away at the side of the training yard.

There she was.

Sitting next to Kayden who was looking at Amaya with a forming frown. Artemis seemed to be curious about what Amaya said because I could hear her questioning Amaya´s statement. I chuckled at the excuse of “landlord” they both gave Artemis. Well, it wasn´t a total lie. I did own the building but obviously, Kayden couldn´t tell her I was an alpha and the king of the werewolf race.

My mate seemed to be content with the explanation and stood up Kayden following suit when I finally decided to announce my presence.

“What a small world this is….”

At the sound of my voice both Artemis and Kayden turned around and locked eyes with me. Kayden merely lifted his brows but she paled visibly at the sight of me standing at the doorway. Clearly, she wasn´t expecting to see me again so soon.

“What a surprise Mr Barrett,” Kayden nodded glancing briefly at Artemis before looking at me again seemingly baffled at her reaction. I knew Kayden wasn´t stupid. He would figure it out sooner than later that the girl next to him was my true mate.

“Indeed, Mr Phoenix. Indeed. Surprise is the exact word for it.” I smirked straightening myself and leisurely stepped outside strolling toward them. Amaya excused herself and walked back inside much to my relief.

“I hope everything is alright, Mr Barrett. I wasn´t expecting you.” Kayden said politely keeping a keen eye on Artemis while addressing me. Why I had no idea and it irritated me a little.

“Everything is fine, don´t worry. This is just a spur of a moment kind of visit. I was nearby and decided to come and see you.” I answered letting my gaze briefly roam over Artemis´s body before settling on her slightly blushing face although the fire in her silver-grey coloured eyes remained. She held herself proudly refusing to cower under my studying gaze and it amused me. My mate sure wasn´t a pushover.

“Hmm, are you sure? It would seem you came to see her rather than me.” Kayden teased and that earned Artemis to give the alpha a sideglance with a raised brow. But she didn´t say anything.

“Would you blame me?” I merely chuckled watching Artemis shift her attention back to me with a small frown.

Kayden chuckled but her gaze started to turn from a mere curiosity into a hard glare as I watched her eyes narrowing, probably because she might have realized I came here immediately after learning she was taking Kayden´s classes. Goddess I hope she hadn´t because if anything, that glare promised me a painful death and I wasn´t planning on dying just yet. Even if it was by my sexy, badass mate´s hands.

Khan wagged his tail his tongue lolling out from the side of his snout, clearly, that wolf didn´t mind one bit if our mate got their hands on us and squeezed living s**t out of us. Sometimes I wondered if my wolf was some sort of masochist.

But right now I wanted to wrap my arms around my mate and kiss her with my heart content making that glare go away but unfortunately I couldn´t do that without getting at least a black eye. Maybe even a broken jaw. She looked like she would deliver one hell of a punch if I made a wrong move.

I knew about her black belts in martial arts and I had high respect for her, not wanting to be on the receiving side at the moment. But I wasn´t sure what made her react this way. Sure, I had come in hopes to find her here but logically I wasn´t stalking her so I was a bit puzzled by her reaction.  

“How often a landlord comes to visit their tenants?”

Artemis´s voice brought me back to the present and I had to blink as I focused on her. She was still staring at me but the way her head was tilted to the side I realized that question was pointed to me, not Kayden.

“Personally? Not often but since Kayden is also my most trusted friend, I come to see him as often as I can.” I smiled.

“He´s your friend?” she turned to look at Kayden who shrugged.

“We have known each other a long time. He helped me to find the perfect spot to open this school and he keeps on tap how I´m doing, visiting a couple of times per month. Usually, he sends a text or calls before coming.” Kayden explained, the final sentence came out of him snarkily as he gave me a pointed look earning a grin from her.

That grin made my heart leap to my throat. I couldn´t wait for that kind of grin to be sent in my direction.

“What can I say, I like to surprise my friends once in a while.” I shrugged and smirked when Kayden rolled his eyes before turning his attention back to Artemis who was watching our interaction while wetting her lips then sucked her lower lip between her teeth making me groan internally.

Please don´t do that baby.

“Oh please do! I wanna bite that lip and suck it!”

“Shut it, Khan!”

“What? Like you don´t want to do that too.”

Tearing my gaze away from her face to calm myself I looked over the training yard where other pupils were practising target shooting. An idea popped into my head and I couldn´t stop the small smirk forming on my lips.

“So how good are you with archery?” I asked shifting my gaze back to Artemis.

“Umm decent…” she answered with a  frown as her gaze kept switching between the yard behind me and my face.

“Stop being so modest. She is the top of my class, although today her aim has been lacking for some reason.” Kayden interrupted stepping around her heading toward the bows.

“Kayden! He didn´t need to know that!” she huffed making my smirk grow. Such a firebrand when talking about her personality yet shy about her skills when asked. Interesting.

“Why don´t you show me…” I suggested while watching her face pale at my request. 

“I-I don´t….”

“Come on. Or are you saying Kayden is overselling your skills to me?” Raising my brow, I silently challenged her.

Narrowing her eyes, she stared at me, accepting the challenge.

Storming past me her scent hit my nose and I inhaled deeply as my eyes fluttered closed. I couldn’t get enough of it. I so desperately wanted to bury my nose in the crook of her neck and get lost in her intoxicating scent. A low satisfied growl came out before I could stop it and I practically could feel her tensing up behind me, her heartbeat spiking up and her breathing hitched.

I snapped my eyes open holding my breath every muscle in my body going rigid waiting for anything to happen. Ever so slowly I turned around to see Artemis standing a few feet away from me still like a statue while Kayden was staring at me his lips forming a thin line.

“Was that a growl?” She asked turning sideways glancing at me, her eyes wide open and I almost grimaced when her gaze landed on me.

“Yeah, I got a text.”

“Smooth Romeo, really smooth. You got a text? That´s the best you could come up with?” Khan huffed in my mind rolling his eyes.

Artemis looked at me sceptically raising a brow.

“What kind of person chooses a growl as a ring tone?” 

“A weird one.” Khan chuckled.

“Shut.Up.”

“I have a soft spot for wolves, I thought it was kind of cool.”

She shook her head turning around and I let out a breath I didn´t realize I was holding.

“Okay, Mr Wolfman.” she sassed not knowing just how close to home she hit with that remark.