And Then She Was Gone

Divided Interests

Jason felt bad for her, but it did not show in his expression, he keeping the neutrality that was required of him when dealing with pack member relations. He held a light frustration at Elizabeth for being the catalyst of it, but recognized there was a reason behind her actions, and her actions were actually indicative of what a good Luna would do.

However, these were not just two regular pack members, and not a matter that he could easily step in and sort out. On one hand, he had his Master Beta acting uncharacteristically, and distracted from his duties. On the other hand, his mate also deserved to be able to have some freedom of choice in her own actions, as she was in fact responsible and had not once ever acted out of line.

"Let's get something clear, Hollie. I didn't bring you here to reprimand you." He said after taking a moment to sip slowly at his drink as his gears were turning in his head on what would be the best answer to the problem. "I brought you here because obviously I have a problem with my Master Beta that I need to rectify so he can perform his job functions as normal. You just so happen to be the cause of his distress, and therefor it is necessary for me to speak with you in order to find a solution."

"Alpha Jason, I do not want to go back to work for him. Not now. The way he has handled this situation is incredibly upsetting and he has immensely hurt my feelings. I don't even want to go home tonight because I'm so upset with his behavior. I have supported him every step of the way and the one time I wanted to do something for myself, he had a complete melt down and tried to reign me back in."  She said back showing how truly hurt she was by Jacobs inability to see her as her own person.

"I'm going to dismiss you from your duties for the rest of the day. I want you to go to Beta Marks home and spend the night there, his mate is in need of a distraction and he himself needs a reprieve. I'm sure your calm presence will quell the tension in their household. I'll talk to him myself as soon as you leave, but it won't be a problem. I will also talk to a Jacob and ensure he gives you space for the rest of the night." He said still thinking about what he was going to do as a possible final solution regarding the matter. His scotch being tipped back again in between his lips before he continued. "I'll figure everything else out after, but I need some time so just do as I say for now and wait until I have a final answer."

"Okay, thank you Alpha." She said with a grateful nod, tipping back the rest of her whiskey in one shot before placing it on top of the edge of his desk and standing, beginning to walk away before pausing. "Thank you.. for listening to me. I truly appreciate it." Her gentle voice showed her deep appreciation accentuated with a weary soft smile, he only nodding in response before she left the office.

He took another long sip of his drink before he pulled out his phone and beckoned Mark to his office through text, and then he let out a long sigh and rubbed his forehead tensely. He was about to seriously piss off Jacob, and he wasn't afraid to do so, he just wasn't looking forward to the annoyance of it.

———————-

"I don't understand.  What do you mean she's not here?" Jacob said his tone immediately erupting in anger as Jason had just informed him he had sent his mate away for the night to unwind.

"It's for the best Jacob." Jason said not reacting to his anger.

"What the fuck do you mean it's for the best? Where is she? I want her brought back now. " He was in fact furious. Jacob had not displayed this kind of anger since he was in his late teens treading into his early twenties. Ironically, this being around the same time he met Hollie.

"Not happening, bud. She's pretty upset." Mark said with a idle shrug, adopting a similar but slightly different demeanor than he did with the Alpha when he was actively deescalating him.

"Mark, I will literally beat the fuck out of you." Jacob said in complete sincerity with shaking clenched fists as he began to stare him down.

"Like to see you try." He shrugged. "You may be the brains, but I'm the brawn." He gave him a small wink and flexed his arm, not threatened by the Master Beta whatsoever.

"Jacob, stand down." Jason said firmly, looking at him with firm eyes.

"This is complete fucking bullshit. You were supposed to fix this, Jason. How the fuck is this fixing this?" His brown eyes were darkening, Hollie had already spent one night away from him last week and now this would be the second night. The only time they were apart was when he was away on pack business and he could not reasonably bring her.

"Hollie expressed some concerns and it was evident she needed some time to decompress." Jason said back more calmly, the tables turning on Jacob from this situation as well as his usual role.

"And what exactly were her concerns?" His question being sharply spat out.

"Well, she feels as if your relationship has been a bit uneven. She feels like she isn't being listened to, and feels you have treated her unfairly." Jason said back still just as calm as previously. "And I suspect, she feels a lack of affection, which may have been a motivating factor in all of this."

"Need I remind you that we never had a problem until she started hanging around your mates? And neither of you have the best of relationships, so you have no business interfering with mine." His anger was erupting out of him like lava from a volcano, not appreciating his once calm and gentle relationship with his mate being disrupted by their turbulent ones with their more sharp tongued mates.

"Hah. You literally asked Jason to step in and now you call it interfering when it's not going your way." Mark said with a mockingly amused tone.

"After everything I have done for you both, this is how you fucking treat me when I need help? Fuck both of you." Jacob said completely losing his cool, and throwing his cellphone onto Jason's desk. "I'm fucking done." He stormed out of the office slamming the door behind him.

Jason and Mark knew exactly what he was going to do next as they all had been lifelong friends, but had not seen him lose his cool in a very long time. He was going to go into a deep brooding, and remove himself from any reachable forms of communication until he could self regulate. The most likely scenario being that he was going to go on a long shifted run until he reached the point of exhaustion, meaning he would not be returning home tonight, or possibly even the next night. It was possible he would even miss the ceremony, depending on how furious he actually was, but the likelihood of keeping himself away from Hollie for that long, made it improbable.

Several things were evident from his reaction. Hollie was right, and she did in fact have little to no say in their relationship. It was also evident he was intensely dependent on his mate for his own composure. He was so dependent on her that it was almost impossible for him to recognize that she felt any differently than he did, an illusion provided to him by her gentle and easy going ways.

His order and structure had been disrupted, and coincided with a growing separation from the closeness he had with her and he rapidly unwinded trying to fix what he considered to be actively breaking. His own efforts in fixing only surfaced a bitterness they both were unaware of that was being held.

He truly did dote on her. He loved everything about her, but it was apparent he loved her too intensely. Which, would also explain why he had the desire to wait to have children. Why he kept her to himself and didn't want to flaunt her around and bring more attention to her. He wanted all of her time. She brought about a steady calmness to him and in her absence it was difficult to maintain.

Mark and Jason had handled him the way they always did when he was upset. He requiring the both of them to be deescalated. Jason was the sound of reason and Mark was the brute force. Jacob was a strong wolf, but he was not stronger than either of them, his strength was in his wit. It would be overkill for Jason to have to strong arm him, so Mark was always the bad guy that would keep him in line, while Jason would talk to him reasonably. Both of them had great respect and love for him, and this was the best way to handle it without hurting his pride too much.