Runt [ManxMan]

Chapter Seven

"Your... betrothed is here. She's been waiting for you in your office.

Only years of practice kept him from groaning aloud. Most of the things that came with the pack merger were positive. His pack was gaining land and people, and as the other pack had no alpha to take over for their aging leader—the reason they were open to a merger at all—there would be no fight for dominance. When the time came for their alpha to step down, they would submit to him, and the packs would become one.

There was one downside, however, and her name was Tala. And there she was, lounging on the couch to the side of his office when he opened the door.

Dax had to admit she was beautiful. Long, elegant limbs, perfectly curled hair falling halfway down her back, and glittering blue eyes surrounded by long, dark lashes. She wore a red dress only long enough to reach the tops of her thighs with a plunging neckline and matching red lipstick.

Upon seeing him in the doorway, she stood on her four-inch stilettos and hurled herself into his arms. "Daxy! I missed you!" she declared. With the heels, she was tall enough to go in for a kiss without him bending down, but he turned just in time and it landed on his cheek instead. Undeterred, she laced her arms around his neck and smiled up at him, unaware of his irritation at her presence.

Tala was the only child of the other pack's alpha, and was only a beta-born, not strong enough to take over the pack from her father. A marriage was no longer a required part of pack mergers, but they certainly helped; wolves were very traditional, and the fact that the alpha gene ran in bloodlines meant most packs had lived under the rule of a single family for generations. Dax may not be in that bloodline for this new pack, but his children would be, but only if he mated with Tala.

He was unaware of what he was agreeing to at the time. He had no reason to refuse a marriage, as he had no mate and no one he was interested in taking as a mate, plus his father had already been pressuring him to continue their line. This worked in everyone's favor.

Except Tala had a way of playing on Dax's last nerve, which was a true talent because he had to deal with Mav every day, so he was a tolerant person most of the time. This was a very different experience. Tala had one goal in mind, and it was to cement this merger the only way she knew how, by finding her way into his bed.

Dax knew very well she was used to getting what she wanted, and the more he refused, the harder she tried to get his attention. The dresses got shorter, the necklines lower, her makeup more carefully perfect. She took every opportunity she could to come see him, found excuses to touch him, tried anything she could think of to try to seduce him.

Dax, however, had no interest in the girl, as he had been uninterested in every other girl his father had tried to interest him in. His father had even tried a few omegas, both male and female, to see if their cute innocence could sway him. Nothing. Dax had come to accept that he'd locked away his sexual interest with his ability to feel emotions, which was all the better at the moment because it made it easy to push the annoying blonde woman away, much to her chagrin.

"What are you doing here, Tala?" he asked. He'd just seen her the day before when he visited her father's pack to work out some of the details on the merger and start planning his and Tala's mating—which it seemed was to be a big event with wolves from all the packs bordering both their territories there to celebrate with them.

He'd hoped not to encounter her again until his next meeting with her father, which wasn't for several more days, but it seemed she had something else in mind considering the suitcases clustered around her feet. His stomach sank at the sight, as there were enough bags for him to have packed everything he owned, and something told him this was only the beginning.

"Daddy said I could stay with you for the week! Maybe even start moving in! What do you think, Daxy?"

He kind of thought he was going to vomit, but he couldn't tell her that, and she couldn't see it on his face—a talent he was thankful for—so he had time to think over his response before he spoke.

"I suppose you will eventually have to move in here. It seems logical to start the process at some point, though I don't know that we should jump into things too quickly. Perhaps you can spend a few days so my people can get used to your presence, and then spend some time at home. Your people will miss you too and will need to get used to you not being around."

Tala's smile dimmed, but she nodded along anyway. "Okay! Where's your room, Daxy? It's getting late, don't you want to go to bed?" Her voice lowered, and she looked up at him, through her eyelashes, running her hand up his chest. He grabbed it and held it for a moment, smiling indulgently at her before removing it from him and taking a step around her.

"I fear I must get back to work. An alpha's work is never done. I will have one of my men take you to a guest room and make sure you have everything you need."

Tala stepped back in front of him, preventing Dax from getting to his desk. "Not your room, Daxy?"

"No," he said simply. He knew he should give her an explanation, but he couldn't think of one good enough to satisfy her, and besides, he didn't owe her anything anyway. She imposed herself into his life, both in tricking him into agreeing to marry her and in showing up at his doorstep without permission.

"But Daxy—"

"I'm sorry, Tala, but I have work to do. You can ask the wolf assigned to you if you need anything else, and I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight."

He didn't look at her again and made his way to his desk and sat, pulling his paperwork closer to get back to work. She lingered in the center of the room, watching him with an unreadable expression before turning with a huff and storming out of the room.

Dax sighed and sat back in his seat, pinching the bridge of his nose. He wished he had never agreed to this pack merger. He wished there was a way to get out of it without alienating Tala's pack and making an enemy where there could have been an ally.

It wasn't about wanting to be with someone he loved because he didn't think that was possible, which was the reason he agreed to this in the first place. He wasn't capable of love. He did, however, want to be with someone who didn't slowly drive him insane, if he had to be with someone at all.

Honestly, if he could have his way, he would spend his life alone, with his only relationships being with his best friend, his brother, and his father. Instead, he was stuck with Tala, and every day he put off having to spend time with her, having to be intimate with her—the idea made him shudder—was a good day, even if he knew it would only be a matter of time before he could put it off no longer and would have to mate with her.

Until then, he might as well enjoy sleeping in his bed alone, and it was too late to be up doing boring paperwork anyway. He rose from his desk and left his office, turning off the light and shutting the door behind him.

His mind strayed to the tiny omega boy asleep in the infirmary. The boy intrigued Dax, and it was the omega who plagued his thoughts until he drifted off to sleep.

Posted: 12/22/2020

Word Count: 2086

Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! I hope everyone is able to spend time with their family, or at least Zoom call or whatever.

I'm interested to hear what you think about Dax and Tala after this chapter. They have a... special relationship.

I don't want to say I definitely won't update next week but I also won't say I definitely will. I'll be home with family until after New Year's and I just don't know what kind of time I'll have. If I'm not able to update, hopefully I'll be back with a double update in the new year.

<3Koda