The Heart of an Alpha (Editing)

Chapter Eight (Updated/Edited)

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~ Archer's P.O.V. ~

"If I'm going to die, then I'm going to die."

"If I'm going to die, then I'm going to die."

"If I'm going to die, then I'm going to die."

Charlotte's words kept an echo through my head. It was like I was trapped in some kind of tunnel that never ended. It was painful. My mate, the one I was supposed to live the rest of my life with, the girl who I already was in love with, didn't care if she died or not.

I was sitting in my office, staring blankly at the desk. I'd been doing this for the past hour, trying to collect the events that had recently happened. I had thought that I was making progress with her, but then she tried to run away and now she's saying something about her dying. No, I wasn't going to let her die.

After Charlotte had said that, I had left the room. I knew that I shouldn't have done that, but it made me angry. My mate shouldn't be so okay with giving her life up so easily. I wanted to distract myself by work, but it isn't doing me any good. I slammed the pen that had been in my hand onto the desktop. There were so many messed up things that were going on in my life right now that I didn't even know where to start. At first, I had thought that things were getting better. I had found my mate and she's the most beautiful person I had ever seen, but that's the same time that it went down hill. She faints, she cries, and is afraid of almost everything. It was so frustrating!

I groaned and leaned back in my chair. My thoughts started to go to some of the fantasies that I had. Not really sexual ones, but more of what life could be like in the future. One of them involved this very room. It involved Charlotte and I in this office together. I would be sitting in this very chair while she sat on my lap. One of my arms would be wrapped around her waist while the other one was going through the pack's paperwork. Charlotte would be ther helping me, giving me the help and love that I needed and I would be doing the same for her. It would be perfect. Perfect for me at least.

I wanted to be there for my mate so bad, but there was nothing I could do. I was about to get out og the chair when there was a knock on my office door. I stayed seated because I knew that it wasn't going to be Charlotte. If it was, then I would be smelling her wonderful scent of cherry blossoms and strawberries, but instead, I was able to tell that it was my Beta and his mate, my cousin.

"Come in." My voice came out as a calm tone. I didn't bother using my alpha tone with them. They were my1 closest friends. The only time I did use it was when it was truly needed.

The two large doors opened up and they came walking. Their expressions were how I expected them to be. Pitiful and sympathetic. Those were the two facial expressions that I hated the most.

"I got her to eat a turkey sandwich." Summer told me.

I had let out a small sigh in relief, "That's good," I shook my head, "No, that's great! I'm glad."

I rested lazily on the desk. Summer reached for my hand, grabbing it, trying to do her best to comfort me. She was the only cousin that I had talked to and I knew that she cared for me, but that only person that could make me feel better would be Charlotte.

"She'll come around." Jackson commented.

He was sitting in the chair next to Summer. He was looking at her with so much love. I knew that he was proud of his mate as she tried to comfort their Alpha and her family.

I pulled my arm away from Summer, "I don't quite think so. She's terrified of me."

"You're not the only one. She was scared of Jackson too and every man for that matter. It's not like you're the only one who she's terrified of."

"That's the key word though, terrified. I can't even go within ten feet of her without her starting to cry. I don't know what to do anymore. I love her, I'd do anything for her, and I'm glad that she's my mate, but it's kind of hard when she always wants to run away."

"Show her that you love her. You're never going to get far if you just act like a dumbass when you're around her."

Jackson started, "Summer's right, just say that you love her."

I scoffed, "Easier said then done. You and Summer admitted your feelings the day after you guys met. Besides, Charlotte's human and unil I can get her to trust me, I won't be able to do anything."

"Then we'll just have to help you." Summer commented.

I smiled at her. I was glad that she was my cousin and my Beta's Female. I'll admit that I would love to continue to talk about my lovely mate, but I did have some pack work to do, even though I knew for a fact that my mind would only be going back to Charlotte.

I cleared my throat, "I need to get some work done. Summer, do you think you could hang out with Charlotte while I work? She seems to trust you the most right now."

She gave me a smile and nodded, "Can do." She gave Jackson a kiss on the cheek and then walked out of the office.

Once Summer had left and had shut the door, I turned my head to Jackson. When it came to pack work, he was the one that I could talk to about the problems that we were having. Summer was my cousin and I didn't want her to worry about things like these. Instead, she could spend time with my mate. I had thoughts about how my mate and my cousin could be best friends and maybe they will be.

"Alpha? Has something come up?" He questioned.

"Jackson, it's just the two of us. Just call me by my name."

Most of the time, he used my formal title when we are in front of others, but if it's just Summer and I, then he'd call me by my name.

"Right, Archer, what's happened?"

I took out some reports that some of the pack warriors had handed me and showed them to him, "There have been more rogue sightings on the border of the pack lands. Mostly east and northeast, but they're heading closer to the south. They never pass the borders, but I assume they will soon."

If there was any sighting of a rogue outside of the pack territory, no matter who spots it, they have to fill out a report. I needed to keep track of those damn things. I never went easy on them and never will. Rogues are visious and feral and I don't need them to get anywhere near my pack. Not after an incident that had happened seven years ago.

If a rogue were to get into the pack lands, I would never let them get passed me. They would either be killed on the spot or taken to the cells for questioning. I don't treat genders any different from each other. I separate the rogues by age and what they did. I'm a bit more lenient when it came to rogues that are seventeen and younger, but eighteen and older, I see what did and how it affected my pack.

"What should we do?" Jackson asked.

"I want to roate the patrol schedule between warriors. I want there to be patrol 24/7. Make sure that everyone gets a shift so they won't be overworked." I informed him.l

With this new schedule, there will be patrol, day and night, but I'm not overworking my pack warriors. This way, for the ones that have mates, they will be able to spend time with them and for the ones that don't, they will be able to catch up on some sleep.

He nodded, "What are you going to do in the meantime?"

I let out a sigh and ran a hand through my hair, "In the meantime, I'm going to find ways to get my mate to trust me."