The time was 6 in the morning. Cara was sleeping with her arms around me. I slowly unhooked her from me and got up. I had a meeting with Wolf alliance for 7. I planned it that way so Cara wouldn't notice my absence.
I started looking around for my phone when Cara sat up. She rubbed her eyes and looked at me quizzically. "Where are you going? The sound of sleep was still in her voice.
"Out for a run." That wasn't necessarily a lie. I continued."You coming?" I knew what her answer would already be.
"Later." She replied. She fell back and shut her eyes. She wouldn't be waking up any time soon.
I walked out of the house, shifted and ran to Wolf Alliance headquarters . When I shifted back I made sure to dress in business attire.
***
I walked into the meeting room. It had been my second time here. The first time was when I came to advocate for their help bringing back my mate. Just as the first time I was in this room, I was shocked at how un-amazed I was to be sitting here. It was said to be an honor for an Alpha to sit at least once in this very meeting room. Here I was twice now and nothing passed over me but bitterness.
The council members were already seated in their respective positions. There were ten of them sitting around a rectangle wooden table with my at the end. They attempted at small talk but I wouldn't budge.
I didn't believe in formalities. I wanted to get straight to the point. "You can't have her blood." I know I gave Cara rules about how to compromise in a meeting, but this was different. I wanted no favor from them and I wanted nothing to offer as well. There was no reason for a meeting and I wanted to make that clear.
I could see my father scolding me for my "rash behavior" as he used to back when I had to sit in regular meetings with him and other Alphas. My father held reverence for respected figures, that was the one anomaly in his character. He was a heartless man who respected those with a title. I, not so heartless(or at least I hoped I wasn't), did not respect "title".
It didn't faze me that I was in a room with 10 of the Alliance's most influential members.
These were Alphas/Former Alphas of the 10 oldest packs. When they died their oldest son would fall into succession. The man to my direct left Council member Matthews spoke first."We gave you troops. Let's not forget that."
"You offered us troops. I told you not to offer anyone if your terms were conditional. I have this conversation documented on paper; I would be willing to refresh your memory." I reached in my bag for the paper.
"No need." He waved me away. "You know very well the situation with the rouges is challenging. With her blood taking them down would be so simple. You want people to die because you want to selfishly keep her blood."
"I am not the owner of Cara, I can not sign away her body." I huffed.
"So maybe it's a question we should ask your mate then." The rest agreed.
My hands balled into fists and crashed down on the table."My mate comes nowhere in contact with this place."
"Careful Reid." He warned.
Council member Andrews spoke up. His voice was softer, more pleasant."Actually this brings up a vey good point, you tell us that you cannot answer for your mate, so you can neither accept not reject our proposal for your mate unless you stand as proxy. For that you need your mate's signature. Or as we mentioned before, we can always ask your mate ourselves, which is not a problem."
He was right in that regard, I could not speak on Cara's behalf. Either she would have to come here, which was out of the question, or I would need her written consent making me her proxy. Unfortunately the last part meant I would have to inform her about the situation.
I pulled my last card."Blue Moon funds Wolf Alliance with a lot of money." I sat back in my chair.
Council member Matthews interjected. His voice accusing yet dry."Are you threatening us Alpha Melovitch?"
I smiled. "It's not a threat, just a friendly reminder." No one said anything for a bit.
"How about if we speak to your mate. I can send some men over to persuade her to join our cause. I'm sure once she sees our side she will have no problem agreeing." Andrews again. I felt like this was good cop, bad cop. I was getting more annoyed having to defend my decisions.
"No one speaks to Cara. If it's more money you want, I will pay you for each and every one of your volunteers. But no one comes with in an inch of her." I could feel my anger rising.
"And what if we do Alpha?"
"Let's hope one never finds out. Right councilmen?"
"I want specifics." Matthews was relentless. He was the same member who tried to reject my petition for volunteers to rescue my mate.
"Well it's obvious isn't it. Whomever you dispatch will have to be removed. Under the jurisdiction of pack land laws."
"But that person is sent by us. You can not harm a person under our protection." Council member Edwards decided to toss his hat into the ring.
"Right you are. But, I can temporarily imprison them for trespassing. And to free them, you would need to battle that out in the courts. And that supercreeds you and goes to the Royal Courts. And guess what my mate happens to be? I don't think the courts and more particularly the parents of my mate will take too kindly to their daughter being used as a test subject. What do you think Council Members?" I looked pointedly at Matthews. His mouth looked ready to open in protest but he had nothing of substance to say.
"It seems you have thought this one out." Edwards said.
"Certainly did. Now if you excuse me, I think this is a great place to end the meeting. What about you?"
***
I checked my time for the first time , it was 9 already. Not bad. That was usually the time I came home anyway.
I ran back home and shifted. Before I entered the house I realized I left my change of clothes somewhere in the forest. All I was wearing was my suit. I silently cursed and walked in anyway.
I went upstairs to our room. Cara was still sleeping. I sighed out of relief and changed. When business attire was off and thrown into the back of the closet, I climbed back into bed with her.
"Hey." She yawned softly.
"Hey."I kissed her shoulder. "I'm sorry for waking you."
"You just got back?"
"Yes I wasn't out for long." Lies.Lies.Lies.
She stayed silent for a bit and just when I thought she went back to sleep she replied dryly. "Really, three hours isn't long?"
I didn't reply, I was too stunned.
"I didn't realize running required a business suit as well." She said without emotion.
She noticed. I removed my arm from around her. She rolled over and stared at me, her eyes were devoid of any traces of sleep. She was alert and accusing.
"What is it you want to know?" I felt my cheeks burn with embarrassment from having been caught in a lie.
"Nothing Reid. What's there to find out? It's not like you withhold secrets from me or anything." There she went again with her sarcasm. I despised it.
"Cara stop it. I get it. I'll explain."
"I don't want your crumby explanation. "She said bitterly."You want me kept in the dark so I'll be in the dark." She got up and walked away.
I followed her downstairs. Pretending to not be infuriated, she started to make breakfast.
"You want a sandwich?" She asked, her voice brittle and her words clipped. When I didn't answer she started to make it.
"Cara please." I sighed. "I'm not hungry."
"Oh okay." She put everything back in the fridge."I'm guessing you found some forest food to snack on during your run? Berries?Mushrooms?A stray squirrel perhaps?" There was absolutely no humor in her voice.
I went to touch her and she recoiled back. I deserved that one. I didn't want to grab her and force her to listen to me. Instead I blocked the door so she couldn't leave.
She saw that and folded her arms.
"Cara I'm sorry."
"For what?" She went back to the fridge to make another sandwich. Anything that could be used as a distraction against me.
"Look, I know that you're upset with me for not telling you where I was going. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have lied."
"Ok." She said simply.
"Ok what?" I was wary of how quickly she had forgiven me. This wasn't the Cara I knew.
"Ok you're forgiven. Isn't that what you want me to say? Ok there I said it. Run along now." She shooed me away.
I was not fond of her attitude. She had not accepted my apology."If I'm forgiven then you will allow me to do this." I leaned in and she turned her cheek.
"Exactly what I thought." I folded my arms. "Cara I was with Wolf Alliance."
She turned away to make the sandwich, but I could tell she was interested.
"The matter concerned you." She froze mid cut of the bread and turned around.
"Why me?" She asked quizzically, forgetting her anger towards me.
"They want to use your blood. They feel that them giving us troops constitutes this. I ignored them for a long time but it seems like now that we are here they are determined to convince you."
"Why did you try and keep this from me?" She asked.
"You were getting better, I didn't want you to be worried; I didn't want for you to be reminded of the rouges in any way."
"But they aren't rouges." She tilted her head slightly.
"But they want your blood just like the rouges did."
Cara became meditative."I will talk to them."
"What for?" I frowned.
"I will give them my blood." I was stunned into silence. She continued on. "Reid there are other girls out there probably still captured by Blood Lust. If my blood can save them then I want to help. I don't want anyone to go through what I went through."
"Cara you don't understand. Blood Lust is destroyed. That was their last base, there are no more women that are captured. Wolf Alliance wants your blood to deal with rouges of all kinds. From major threats to the most minor. Then it could go further. If they don't like the Alpha of a certain pack, if they feel like they aren't submitting enough to their influence,they could always threaten to use force, and guess who's blood they'll be using."I cleared my throat. "Not to mention the fact that one should never stoop to a rouge's level in order to beat them."
Cara pondered what I said. Finally she replied. "Reid from now on I want you to tell me what's going on. Even if it might make me upset, because it makes me more upset when I find out that you keep things from me. Promise?"
"Promise." I looked her in the eye.
"Tell me everything that happened at the meeting. Leave out no details please."
"Ok." I acquiesced. "But first let's go for a walk."
****
*Cara's Pov*
It was in the middle of the woods, Reid's truth finally came out. I was shocked and in awe of the lengths my mate was willing to go to to protect me. I couldn't believe he actually spoke to the council members of Wolf Alliance like that. All because of me.
I couldn't help but secretly be pleased, despite originally being upset at first.
He held my shoulders."Please don't be mad at me anymore for this morning babe." His hands slid down my arms.
My face gave way to show how I was feeling. I tilted my head and smiled at him. "How could I be? Reid you risk so much for me. You're always looking out for me."
"That's what mates do." Pride rang in his voice.
"No Reid, that's what you alone do. I just wish you didn't try so hard to protect me from the truth. I wish you wouldn't keep everything from me. I get that's like asking a leopard to shed its spots isn't it?"
He didn't respond because even he didn't know the answer to that question.
I realized then that we were just standing still, we had been for a few minutes. I held out my hand and we began to walk home.
Leaves crunched under our feet and provided us with a distraction from silence. I was contemplative. What was the point in making Reid promise to be honest if I would just be disappointed in the long run each and every time? His instinct was to keep to himself, he had good reason to.
Reid turned and almost as if reading my mind said "I can and I will be honest with you. I'm not a leopard, I am your mate and I love you."
We arrived at home and we made our way upstairs. Reid took off his shirt and crumpled it up into a ball. He dropped it onto the chair by the desk.
"Would you rather have left home at 4:30 in the morning in a business suit and return to find me waiting happy and unquestioning? Would you rather have me expect nothing from you. No honestly, no promises."
"Cara please." He sighed. He looked like he could use a cigarette. He pressed his hands together.
I was relentless."I'm not mad. I'm just wondering what I can do to be a better mate to you. Is it unwavering silence you want? A no questions asked policy?"
He sat down on the edge of the bed and I came to kneel between his legs. He caressed my face with his thumb. "There was a time when you wouldn't have cared or even asked." He was referring to a few months ago. "I don't want to return to that. Back then I could have stayed out for days and you wouldn't have asked me why. I never want for us to go through that again. I will be honest, you have my word for now on."
We kissed for a long time. Reid pulled me from the ground and lifted me onto him. My arms wrapped around his neck.
"A couple of weeks ago we wouldn't have been able to do this." I whispered.
"Thank god. I missed this." He sighed into my mouth.
***
A few more days passed and things flowed normally as before. Reid did make an effort to be more honest. He finally told me about the money problems with Crispburn and about Blue Moon.
"Now I know why the council members were so quick to give Crispburn to me." He said bitterly one morning. "They knew about the incurred debt a long time ago. They wanted to give it off to any desperate sucker and I fit the mold."
"Not true." I defended him. "They did it because they knew you were the most capable, and plus having their large army is what helped you rescue me, so was it really all that bad in the long run?"
He answered by pulling me in for a kiss.
As the days went by I found my self more and more open. I was back to bothering Reid incessantly with my chatter and striking up conversation about the most random of subjects. Reid of course loved this because it meant I was becoming myself again.
My openness prompted Reid to be more open in return. He told me that he heard news from Matt that his father's health was failing. That only meant one thing, Reid's dad was finally starting to die.
"How do you feel about this, baby?" I asked him. He was laying on his stomach and I was walking back and forth on his back. He asked me for a massage.
"Honestly." He said. "I don't know. He's been a horrible father but if he dies then I become truly parentless. He's also the last link I have to mom. But I'm also glad, I want him to finally join his mate on the other side. Hopefully she'll straighten him out." He joked.
"So you're ambivalent." I hopped off of him and kneeled next to him so I could massage his back with my hands now. "I wish you two can make peace before he dies. I wish he wasn't such a bad father to you. You haven't had true parental love since you were nine, and you hadn't had true love since you were almost 19. I wish I had come sooner to close that gap and I wish you didn't have to end up without a mother or father."
I tried to imagine Reid with both parents. He deserved that instead of what he had now. Life hadn't been fair to the both of us.
"How is it that you end up with no parents and I end up with three." I pondered.
Reid laughed quietly. "The moon goddess really had a fun time when she thought to pair us together huh?"
I pushed down further into his back and he groaned softly. "Lower." He instructed and my hands followed his voice."I love the small shocks that come from your hands when you rub them against my back." He sighed contently."Lower Cara lower."
Eventually he stopped instructing and I realized he was asleep. I stared at him for a long time. So many feelings overcame me at once. I would mate him tonight I realized.
I pulled out my book on the art of being happy. I was almost finished with it at this point.
I read for 2 hours and then fell asleep next to Reid. I woke up an hour later and noticed Reid wasn't in bed. I called his name and no answer. I went downstairs and no answer. He must have left the house. On the kitchen table there was a note waiting for me.
- Unscheduled meeting with Secret Service don't wait up... Just kidding, going to buy dinner for us. Don't panic. How does sushi sound? ;)
-Your favorite mate
I didn't know what time to expect him back but I assumed shortly. I made up our bed, took a shower and changed into a short dress. I put makeup on and let my hair out of its bun. Reid would be shocked to see me so dressed up but he wouldn't know what the occasion was for.
He returned home and he was shocked
to see me. "Did you read my note?" He frowned. "I said I was bringing the food here."
"I know I wanted to look nice for you." My voice shook and I cleared my throat.
We took chairs and ate outside. I was too nervous to talk and when Reid tried to, I could barely answer him properly. This would be the first time that we mated in months and I was rightfully nervous. He asked me a couple of times what the matter was, but I wouldn't budge and tell him.
After we were finished eating we went inside. I asked Reid to come upstairs because I had to show him something. We reached the room and he looked around. Seeing nothing out of place he looked at me questioningly.
I stepped out of my dress and turned to him.
His eyes widened and I grasped his hand. I let it rest right above my left breast and let it drop down. Reid didn't need instruction, immediately he cupped both of them in his hands. I gasped from my mate's abruptness.
"Cara you know I won't mind waiting. Are you sure this is what you want?" His eyebrows were raised.
I nodded. Was I nervous? Yes! But I trusted my mate even more. He pulled off my underwear and flung it across the room.
"Babe my shirt first."I took of his shirt and kissed his chest. He asked me again. "You sure about this Cara?"
My hands shook a little as I undid his belt. He took over for me and stepped out of his pants. He took my hands that began to shake and kissed them.
He kissed me and it was as if all my fears were gone. I was no longer the broken girl of a few months ago. He pushed me onto the bed and hovered over me.
He kissed my shoulder and trailed downwards. "Why now?" He mind linked. His lips moved down to my breast and he sucked gently on my nipple. I could only answer him with a small moan. My breath quickened.
"Because I need this. I need you." I hoped that answer would be good enough for him.
His propped himself on top of me. He smiled pushing the hair out of my face. "Finally." He murmured, kissing me for a long time.
Then he entered me.
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