The Healing Souls

Phone Calls

[Rock]

When we got back to the house, I ended up falling asleep on the couch. I woke up to the phone ringing and Carmen nestled on my chest. I couldn’t imagine anything as perfect as falling asleep and waking up to find my mate there.

I moved my groggy little mate off of me and got off the couch. She worked on smoothing her hair and I tried not to laugh. She was even cuter with her mussed hair. Not that I’d tell her that. I thought she was beautiful no matter what.

“Hello?” I asked when I answered.

“Rock Beaumont?”

For a moment, I froze. Though I never spent a lot of time with her, I knew Queen Maeve’s voice. She called me on Friday to wish me good luck with my birthday celebration.

“This is him.”

“I am calling because there is an issue that you are directly involved with.”

“I see.”

“It seems there was a young werewolf at your coming-of-age celebration. Her parents have reported that she was supposed to return home the same day she left. Now they are insisting that you kidnapped their daughter. Though kidnapping has been ritual among our people for millennia, it is looked down upon in this current era. How do you answer?” she asked.

“They’re wrong. She’s staying with me,” I responded.

“So you have their daughter and will not return her to the people she belongs to?”

“No, she’s mine.”

Queen Maeve huffed. “Talking to you people is like trying to pull teeth. I am in contact with the leadership of her pack. Is there anything she needs?”

“She needs clothes.”

“Clothes? Are you saying that you did something to her clothing? No, don’t answer that. I certainly hope you didn’t let your true mate walk home in the nude. This has caused a lot of tension between us and the wolves.”

“Yes, well, that was my fault.”

“Again with the short answers. Sean and Rosario told me they don’t feel it’s safe for Carmen to return to her pack. So is there someone, other than her parents, who she would trust? I do not want those people in our territory. They threatened your prince and I will not have them here,” she told me.

“Just one second,” I said and covered the receiver. “Carmen, is there anyone in your pack who you trust to bring you clothing?”

“I would say Ashley or Gemma, but it might be better if it’s my brother. Mike Rosen,” Carmen responded quickly.

“Yeah,” I said, uncovering the receiver. “She says her brother, Mike Rosen.”

“I was speaking with Beta Michael Rosen. He said he would help in any way we needed. I will allow him onto our land.”

“I wasn’t aware that he was the Beta. I guess it makes sense, he was in front of the packhouse when I took her home last weekend.”

It made sense when I thought about it. She was a dominant wolf, so her brother had to be one, too. The child of a Beta would have that in their genes.

“You have the backing of the fae in this situation, Rock. She is your true mate and we will protect that connection.” Queen Maeve told me.

“Of course, I’ll let her know. Thank you, Queen Maeve.”

“You are quite welcome,” she replied and hung up.

I hung up on my end. Normally, it wasn’t a good idea to thank a fae, but having the whole community backing my mate and me was far beyond what I should expect from my queen. She had more to worry about than the love lives of her people.

Trolls weren’t as weird about being thanked. We move along with the times a lot faster than some of the longer-lived fae. Those were the ones you didn’t want to thank.

Going back to the couch, I sat next to Carmen. She scooted closer to me and wrapped herself around one of my arms. It was as if she couldn’t go any length of time without cuddling me. I kind of liked it.

Nothing in a troll’s life was soft, but my mate changed that for me. I was already mentally renovating things in the house and trying to figure out what she’d need. A huge plus was that we didn’t need to have the lights on unless we were hosting other people after dark. I shook my head. I was getting ahead of myself.

“Sorry. You fell asleep and I wanted to let you rest before getting into this.” Carmen said.

“I needed it. It was hard to control my anger earlier. Tell me now, and tell me everything. We can’t fix this situation without me knowing everything. Then, I’ll help you get cleaned up. Your brother will be bringing you some clothes.”

Carmen took a deep breath. “The night I met you, I fell in love with you from the moment I first heard your voice. The whole time you talked about finding your true mate, it hurt my heart because I wanted to tell you, but I couldn’t. I was really happy when you said you would never reject your mate because I wanted you to stay with me forever. Part of the reason I went home with you was that I figured it was the best way to ensure I got as much time with you as possible.”

She squeezed my arm tightly as if I might disappear if she let go. I was pissed that her first mate hurt her, but I was happy she was my mate. It was a hard thing to feel. I was glad and angry that he passed up on my sweet little mate.

“I couldn’t tell my family you were my second chance mate. I didn’t want them deciding I needed a wolf mate and trying to convince you to reject me. I didn’t want the ones who actually wanted me happy to try to force you to accept me. I wanted it to be your choice. On Saturday morning, I woke up to my mom cooking, which she doesn’t do often. It was all my favorite foods.”

“Sounds like they were getting ready to tell you some bad news or some really good news.”

“It was good for them and bad for me. They told me they arranged for me to marry a Beta from Alaska. They searched for a man willing to mate with a blind werewolf and he was looking for a chosen second-chance mate instead of waiting on the goddess to find him a mate. I told them I had a second chance mate and I would rather die than accept a chosen mate I didn’t even choose.” Carmen’s voice quivered and her hand went to her cheek.

“My dad… hit me…. He said I couldn’t protect myself and that I was a child. No, not a child, ‘a little girl sсreaming for attention’. He said I wasn’t an adult and I would never be one. I packed my things and tried to leave. When he stopped me, I told him I’d report him if he attacked me again. He said he told the Alpha I was acting out and not to believe me. My dad was the Beta when we were all growing up. I thought Trent would believe him.”

She started crying softly. I hated when she cried. And I would kill her father if he tried to hit my mate again. I would kill any wolf who tried to stop me.

“Shh, he was wrong. You are an adult. You are smart, strong, and creative. You figured out how to come back to me, Carmen. Tell me the rest. I’m already proud of how you handled yourself,” I murmured and kissed her head.

“I-I told them I found my second chance mate and that he wasn’t old enough to recognize me. I hid that it was you. I told him I didn’t want them to get their hopes up, but I think he already knew. I told them I would accept the arrangement if my second chance mate rejected me. I just needed time so I could find out if he wanted me. They didn’t wait, though. Sean told me that Beta Roald of the Polar Star Pack is at Hallowed Moon waiting to meet me,” Carmen said quietly.

“He can meet you all he wants, you’re mine and no one can take you away from me. What else happened?”

“They tried to forbid me from coming to your party, but Queen Maeve told them the trolls would be mad and want to kill me or take away my first pup. They didn’t realize it was so serious. Would they really have done that?” she asked in a tiny voice.

I laughed. “No. Not trolls today. Once upon a time… though.”

“Well, I went to the party and started my plan. I made sure to touch everyone I could, especially their ears, and I talked and acted like a troll. At the same time, I did human things and was just super polite. I wanted to make sure someone put my name in that bowl to be drawn out. And it worked. Someone did.” Carmen grinned happily. “I’m really sorry about not telling them right away and for not telling you as soon as I knew. I just didn’t want to break the rules and I didn’t know the rules for trolls. I’ll be better about that in the future.”

I would need to teach her more about the fae and trolls. Carmen needed to understand us so things like this didn’t happen. Manipulating trolls is never a good idea. If they figured it out, they wouldn’t yell, they would smash and eat the remains.

We were slightly more modern, but that didn’t mean we were any more civilized than the trolls that lived in the troll village. We were big and scary for a reason. It was to stop people from trying to fuсk with us.

My plan had to change. I couldn’t let this werewolf think he could abuse and demean my wife. He needed to understand the threat of pissing off a troll.

Getting up, I went to the bathroom and got my hairbrush. I rarely used it, but Carmen really needed one. Her hair had just gotten worse when she tried to tame it with her hands.

“Put out your hand, palm up,” I said when I returned.

She did what I told her and I placed the handle of the hairbrush in her hand, closing it around the handle. She felt it for a moment and understood what it was. Carmen smiled at me and started brushing her hair.

“Tell me the number to your Alpha… Trent.” I ordered.

Carmen told me the number. I wrote it as she spoke and prepared myself for the conversation. I needed to talk a lot more than I normally did on the phone. The Alpha had to know what was going on as well. I didn’t know how much he was on their side, but he would understand that he was not dominant to me.

When I was ready, I dialed the number and waited for someone to pick up. I glanced over at Carmen. She had her head tilted like a confused puppy. She was trying to hear what was going on.

“Trent Padua’s office, how can I help you?”

“Hello, Alpha Trent. This is Rock Beaumont,” I said.

“Ah, Mr. Beaumont, we were just discussing the issue with Carmen’s parents,” he replied.

“Yes, Queen Maeve contacted me about that. Carmen is safe. The party can last for a few days.”

“Can we expect to see her home soon?” another voice asked.

“No, she won’t be coming back to the pack lands. I’m sorry.”

“You’re keeping her away from her home and family?”

“No, sir. This is her home. I am her second chance mate and I’ve already marked her as mine. She told her parents she had found her mate. In fact, she told them she would agree to the marriage, which they set up behind her back, if I rejected her. I am not allowing my mate to return to the pack lands unless I have assurances that she will not be harmed or taken from me. Me and two of my friends will accompany her. She will not leave my sight. When I leave, she does,” I told him sternly.

“Agree to the marriage? Then what Beta Roald told me this morning is true and this is an arranged marriage, not a matchmaking meeting?” The other man sounded as pissed as I felt.

“Calm down, Mike. We’ll take care of it. Mr. Beaumont, I think we can arrange what you’re asking for. I would like to talk to you about Carmen’s connection to the pack. There is a lot to discuss.” Alpha Trent said.

“Great,” I replied. “Instead of having her brother bring her something, we will come for her things. We’ll be there in a little over two hours. I have some arrangements to make. Thank you.”

I hung up without another word. It was an act of dominance. The conversation started and ended when I decided it did. We only spoke of the things I wanted to speak of and when I was finished, so were they.