Why He Calls

Chapter 7

As we pull up to the party, the driver runs around to both doors to open them and let us out, and we are greeted immediately by our client. His name is Zeke. He’s just a hair taller than Electra’s 5’10” with hazel eyes and light brown hair with blonde highlights. He’s good looking, carefree and goofy. He instantly starts talking to us and joking around as he shows us around. He gives us a tour of the packhouse and the ballroom where the biggest guests will be hosted. The smaller guests will mingle outside.

The place is lit up and decorated. There’s a lot of workers going in and out getting things ready and putting on finishing touches.

Finally, Zeke leads us to the library. It’s the only secluded area of the whole packhouse with how crazy things are all around. He offers us a seat at a table before turning around one of the chairs and sitting down himself.

“So let’s get down to business ladies. I actually hired you as a gift to my best friend.” He begins to explain.

Electra and I give each other looks. I hesitantly nod for him to go on, but Electra asks, “Why?”

“Full disclosure, he’s technically the future Beta. But he lost his mate. And by lost, I mean she was killed…. brutally.

He’s been pretty torn up for a while. It’s affecting his work and his life. I figured if a beautiful lady spent the night making him feel special, it’d help him move on.” Zeke explains, I scrutinize him as he speaks making sure what he says is true and I find nothing but sincerity.

“You’re just full of good intentions, aren’t you?” Electra asks playfully.

“Yeah. I guess you could put it that way.” He says.

“And what if your friend only likes one of us?” I ask.

“I guess two girls is too much for some men, no?” Electra adds not fully believing I just asked that question.

“Well, I anticipated that much. Whoever he hits it off with will be his ‘date’, and the other girl will be my date tonight.” He replies smoothly, but then blushes slightly. “But, uhmmm, whoever ends up being my girl, I just want a date date, if you catch my drift. For Charlie, whatever happens after the ball, make his night though.”

“So, you hired a present for your friend, and a backup for yourself?” I asked and then laughed. But honestly, I was down for this assignment at this point. Most likely not a threesome and Zeke seemed pretty chill. Cheering his friend up with a pretty girl seducing him, kind of a ridiculous plan but, hey, if it works.

We went out to the ballroom with Zeke, each of us holding on to one of his arms. The ball was in full swing by this point. It appeared everyone was here now and dancing. The commencement would come later in the evening to celebrate the new Alpha and his crew.

I could see the future Beta before he saw us. Charlie was also a redhead but with green eyes. His skin was tanned and he was a good half foot taller than Zeke. His build was also much bulkier compared to Zeke’s lean but solid build. His size was a bit intimidating actually. He wore a black suit with a red vest and bowtie, and gold cufflinks. I now understood our outfit choices. We were dressed to match, like teens do for school dances.

As we approached him, I heard Electra ask, “what is that smell?”

“What smell?” I whispered back to her.

“It’s like mocha mixed with a rain forest scent.” She explained and giggled at how silly that sounded before looking serious again.

I tried placing whatever she was smelling but I couldn’t.

“I don’t know.” I replied rather than say what I expected but feared. She was smelling her mate here.

Zeke could hear our conversation and I could sense his pulse quicken and his arm shake a little. He wondered the same. He was about to stop our procession and ask Electra about it before

“Mate… How?” Charlie had rushed forward and grabbed Electra’s hand. He was looking deep into her eyes. “The goddess has blessed me with a second chance.” He said low enough that only our small group and few wolves standing near us could hear. The way he looked at her, I could just tell he would cherish her. His eyes bore a mix of pain mixed with relief that quickly turned to gratitude and happiness. If I could read minds, I had a feeling he was thanking the moon goddess.

“Me too.” Electra said and her fierce frozen exterior cracked just a little. A few happy tears fell down her perfect face.

Zeke and I looked at each other and then at the happy but overwhelmed couple before Zeke just started applauding. Soon others joined in even though they weren’t sure what was happening.

Zeke called out to someone who rushed over. The man that joined us looked like the slightly older version of Zeke.

“What’s going on?” the man asked. His aura was more powerful than Zeke’s so he had to be highly ranked. This was someone who made sure their presence was known.

“Charlie found his second chance mate.” Zeke replied.

“Wow that’s great.” He said before turning to Charlie and Electra. “It’s time to join me up on stage. Bring your mate. She’ll be announced as the female Beta.” The he turned back to us and said, “Zeke I’ll see you later in the evening, brother.” He walked away followed by Charlie and a nervous Electra.

“Wow that escalated fast. Who was that?” I asked looking at the man who just walked away and then back at Zeke.

“That was Alpha Morgan. My brother.” He explained.

“Oh. Wow.” I replied. “So are you okay with how things turned out, sir?” I ask sweetly but still checking in to make sure we’re on the same page.

“This worked out better than I ever thought it could. Did you see the look on his face? I swear he’s already falling for her.” Zeke started rambling. “Damn, after all this time, Selene up and blesses him with a super model level hottie.”

“That’s…. one way of looking at it.” I say and laugh at his reaction.

He turns to me and gets a little serious for once, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Oh, nothing. I’m sorry.” I say and change topics. “So should we join in and dance, sir?” I ask.

“Yeah, let’s dance. But I still want to know what you meant.” Zeke says and takes my hand leading me to the dance floor. He pulls me to him but not super pressed against him. He is actually quite the gentleman. He bows first, then places a hand on my waist with the other holding my right hand. He leads gracefully while we dance in rhythm to the music.

“So tonight princess, I expect nothing more from you than you to be yourself. I just want to have fun and I hope you enjoy yourself too.” Zeke explains. “When the night is over, we will check on your friend, miss Electra, and then my driver will take you home. Nothing you say will upset me so I expect you to be honest with me. That is all I ask of you.”

I am very shocked. He is so different from any of the clients I have ever met. All of them just want no strings s*x, a therapist, and a fantasy girl. Sometimes they want the girlfriend experience along with the s*x et al but all Zeke wants is someone real.

I don’t respond to his speech but instead just nod and begin talking to him like someone I might befriend under other circumstances. “Okay then, tell me about yourself Zeke.”

“Well what would you like know?” He asks and grins at me.

“I know you’re hierarchy born, but are you titled?” I start with the basics.

“I’m going to be my brother’s Gamma.” He replies proudly. That actually makes sense. The Gamma is in charge of protecting the Luna as well as the Alpha’s children. They also oversee the Deltas. The Deltas are basically spies. They know everything that goes on in and around the pack. Since the Gamma can’t possibly be near the Luna 24/7 they hand pick elite warriors to be part of a special guard that works for the Gamma. The Gamma has to be someone the Alpha trusts without doubt.

“Wow. That suits you. Have you found your mate?” I know he doesn’t have a mate now, but she could have died or rejected him. Scratch that. I can’t see any girl rejecting him.

“No sadly I haven’t. I can’t wait until I do.” He said and had this daydreamy look in his eyes.

“How old are you?” I ask smiling at him.

“I’m 23.”

“But that doesn’t make sense. Alpha Morgan is older than you.” I question this because generally Alpha’s take over their pack when they turn 21.

“Morgan wanted to go to college and have fun before he took over. He spent some extra time just traveling and living life to the fullest before returning to our pack and being handed the pack.”

“Wow. And your father just let him do that?” I ask surprised.

“Being Alpha is basically like settling down and making the biggest commitment of your life. You become responsible for hundreds of lives literally overnight. Letting him have those experiences and get out any leftover youth antics before taking over was the best gift our dad could ever give him.”

“You’re right. Your father sounds like he’s a great dad.” I say amazed. “Do you have any other siblings?”

“We have a sister. But I wouldn’t bring her up around Charlie.” He answers hesitantly.

“Why not?”

“She’s the reason his first mate died.”

“How was it her fault?”

“Vanessa was training to be the female Beta. When the war broke out she was coordinating with the Zeta on getting all the non warrior women and the children to safety. She was killed protecting Lily.”

“Lily, is your sister, then. How old is she?”

“She’s thirteen now but this happened three years ago.” He explained. And I could tell I should change topics now.

“You said Morgan went away to college, what about you?”

“I went to the local college, lived at home though.”

“What did you study?”

“Law but I minored in Theater.” He said and I laughed. Those two things just didn’t go together at all but of course he picked them.

“Did you sit for the bar?” I ask jokingly.

“No. I can’t actually practice law as the Gamma.”

“Oh.” Realizing he didn’t catch the joke.

“What about you? Are you in college?”

“I…” I stop myself from answering. My go to response in these situations is telling them Sky’s backstory. “I was accepted to Julliard and a lot of other prestigious music conservatories but I never went.” I answer honestly.

“Why didn’t you go?” He asks. I hesitate before answering again. No one really asks anything deeper.

I decide to go with the abridged version of the truth. “My sister got sick and she doesn’t have anyone else to take care of her.”

“Oh. I’m so sorry. When did your parents die?” He asks.

I breathe a sigh of relief internally realizing his assumption, and answer regarding Kate’s parents. “Around the time she got sick, 3.5 years ago.”

“I’m so sorry to hear that.” He says and then hugs me awkwardly. I laugh it off and suggest a subject change. We get drinks and some food at the appetizer station and we sit taking a break from dancing.

We talk and just hang out for hours. Alpha Morgan announces his Beta Charlie, Electra as the female Beta, some guy named River as his Zeta and Zeke as his Gamma. Zeke names his Deltas Mason and Stephen.

Zeke rejoins me and we sneak out of the ball walking the pack grounds down by the lake. He shows me the small town by the pack before we head back to the ball. There’s only about an hour left before the ball ends for the night.

“So would you explain what you meant earlier?” He asks.

“You saw Electra, how hot she is, that she seems nice and you were just happy for your friend. That’s totally understandable given Charlie’s past. But you’re not thinking about her past. Most male werewolves would not be okay having a mate like… us.” I explain.

“Us? Mmmm.” He says thinking. “You think most of us would reject our mate if we knew she was an escort?”

“I don’t know. But there is a double standard. Girls are expected to be pure and save themselves for their mates…” I begin but Zeke finishes my train of thought for me.

“While the guys sleep around if they don’t find her right away, chalking it up to boys will be boys. Not all guys are like that.” Zeke defends. “Okay, some guys are like that. But there are guys who decide to wait for their mates too… I am.”

“You are?” I ask.

“Yeah I am. I mean it.”

“What if she didn’t wait?”

“Then that’s her choice. Everything that happened before we finally find each other is just that, before. I’m choosing to wait because I want her to be my only.” Zeke says.

“That’s a refreshing point of view. You’re amazing, you know that Z?” I compliment him.

“I can’t predict if you’ll be right about your future mate rejecting you or not. If he does, you know what? His loss. But if he doesn’t, as long as you both respect the mate bond when you find each other, that’s what counts isn’t it?”

I feel my face drain at his comment, ‘as long as you both respect the mate bond when you find each other’. I, more than anyone, know the consequences of a hierarchy born desecrating a mate bond. In werewolf culture, it’s punishable up to death. Omegas and warriors don’t bother with pressing charges. But hierarchy wolves are held to a higher standard. We’re supposed to be the example and respect the goddess’s gift of mates the most.

“Is something wrong, princess?” He asks after I haven’t said anything for a while. Probably zoned off in my own little world. I shake my head snapping myself out of it.

"No sorry. I was just thinking about something else." I said.

"Where did you go?" He asks.

I can’t tell him what I was actually remembering. I haven’t told anyone the whole story before. “There was a girl who worked at the agency before me, Lacey. Her mate pressured her to work there. But then Madam sent her on a date with a hierarchy wolf.”

“And he was mated, wasn’t he?” He guessed and I nodded in response.

“They were both punished. But her worse. She couldn’t work for the service anymore. Not even servicing human clients. And her mate just left her.”

“Why couldn’t she even take human clients after?” Zeke asked.

“Her punishment included strikes to her face, with silver. Permanent damage.”

“If she worked there before you, how did you find out about what happened to her?”

“Another werewolf escort, Kalinda, she’s been there for years, she took pictures of the aftermath.” I explained.

“That’s just cruel.” Zeke said.

I again just nodded. Zeke and I went back to finish the night dancing when I smelled something out of place. I spun us around looking for the source. I let go of Zeke and started moving around trying to find the source of the smell. It was mouthwatering. Peppermint and orange creamsicle.

Zeke followed behind me wandering what was happening. Then it hit me, it was just like what happened with Electra earlier. I smelled my mate here.

Oh no. This can’t be happening, not now. I’m not ready to meet him. Not just because I’m still worried about being possibly rejected but because I can’t afford to quit if the clinical trial wasn’t successful. I know that sounds awful. But I don’t want to meet my mate and have to choose. I shouldn’t be in this position to begin with.

I have to leave. As long as I don’t see and touch him for the first time, the bond won’t start to snap in place. Odette is going to kill me for skipping out early on a client. Especially a VIP client. But screw it. I have to leave.