Alpha Zander
Chapter 42

“Hey, you ready to go?” Ollie asks as I head down the stairs.

“Going where?” I ask back, looking back at him.

“We have a few things to do around the other packs, have to head to Riverview, Westfield this morning, and Charwood later this afternoon,” Ollie states.

I nearly stumbled down the last two steps as he mentioned Charwood. I didn’t want to see him in his territory. This is not how l imagined a conversation would go if l saw him today.

“Charwood?” I choked out.

Ollie raised an eyebrow, questioning, “yeah, is that ok?”

I hesitated before answering, “l guess” I shrugged. I can’t do much about it if Dad and Uncle have asked us to go out.

I grabbed a bagel off the kitchen counter before heading to the front door to wait for Ollie. Before long, we were in his car heading out to our first two meetings.

I hoped Westfield wouldn’t give us crap for last weekend.

I was so busy thinking about everything else on my mind I totally forgot about the little incident with Lachlan.

I was curious why the Alpha from Charwood wanted to meet with Uncle. Usually, they stick to their side of the city, and we stick to our side. Riverview and Westfield need our alliance to keep the businesses going, as some of theirs are on our land. We take a small percentage of their yearly make as compensation. As much as humans like to think, they run the city with their rules and laws. I don’t think they realize how big our population is and how many businesses we have. We have everything from transport and shipping to law firms, police, schools, hospitals, supermarkets, and many more. Between Liverpool and Charwood, wolves own the majority of the City. Hence why, Uncle and Dad are always out as often as they are. They have advisors and accountants to help keep everything in check and ensure everything is up to code.

I remember I was about 13 years old when I heard Uncle and Dad talking to each other about all the different things. I was so engrossed in their conversation that, after a while, I picked up on what they were talking about and started asking all the questions about the rules, restrictions, and different businesses they owned.

That was truly the first time I was interested in my father’s position as Beta.

Until then, I never really knew what he did every day.

l just knew he would be home to have dinner at the end of the day, and we would still have a roof over our heads and money to buy things.

Over the last few years, as my interest piqued and I started to figure out what I wanted to do after school, it was good to get the bearings of my role until oliver and I took over as leaders, so here we were stepping up to fill our future positions. As much as I knew, I wouldn’t necessarily need to be doing any more of these trips as Zander was my mate. I still had a duty to my pack and Ollie until I switched to his pack, which at the moment seems like a lifetime away.

The first two meetings went as well as they could. Of course, Westfield was pissed we raised the percentage again. I think they were lucky it was only by the usual amount and nothing higher considering how the inflation of everything is going. Suppose they continued with their bullshit and with what happened on Saturday night. I would have bumped it up even higher and not taken their s**t, but the first lesson Dad taught me was relationship building, making a point on moving past it all. You don’t have to forget, but use it to your advantage.

So that’s what I did. I bit my tongue and let Ollie do the talking before I said anything damaging to the pack’s relationship.

Riverview was easygoing. We shared most of the transport and freight lines with them as most of their border was along the coastline, and we each shared a percentage of any shipments and transportation that moved through. We have always had an easy-going relationship with them. Hopefully, it‘ll stay that way for a long time.

I was a nervous wreck as we moved through the other side to Charwood. l’d never met Zander’s father before. I was never allowed to attend yearly council meetings, and he had never shown interest in coming to our territory. It made me a bit uneasy that we were going into his territory without any backup, but as much as Zander and I have our issues at the moment, I would Iike to think he wouldn’t allow anything to happen to 0llie or me.

Ollie kept glancing at me every five seconds like he knew something was up. As if on cue, he asked.

“You ok? l can feel your nervous energy from here “

“Huh? ahh yea” I nod, looking out to the city passing by.

I saw his eyes roll in my peripheral vision, “What’s up, Ash? You have been all distant and weird lately.”

“It’s nothing, J promise,” I mumbled. I didn’t want to discuss the mate’s topic with him, especially considering it was Zander.

“Ash..” Ugh, he was not going to let this go, I mean, I did want to tell people, right, but I guess that was before the humiliation.

I sigh heavily before trying to figure out what to tell Ollie. Either way, he would be pissed that I didn’t tell him I had found my mate.

“Just, please don’t be mad. I was trying to figure stuff out first. I.I found my mate,” I mumbled the last bit softly.

Ollie swerved the car slightly before looking back at me with wide eyes before facing the road again. ” and he is from Charwood,” I cringed at the last bit. Honestly, the pack he came from didn’t matter to me, but I knew Ollie’s history with them.

He sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face.

“Who?”

“Awe come on, please don’t make me tell you, just not until I have figured some stuff out, ok?”

He gave me a look and signed in defeat. Ok, Is everything ok, Do you wanna talk about it?

I guess my distant look didn’t fool anybody.

“I suppose everything isn’t Ok just yet, maybe one day” I smiled sadly. I still had a little hope. That was the hope of the bond. He hadn’t destroyed that as much as he had destroyed me. I hoped we could re-build and that this wasn’t beyond repair. I am still willing to repair the relationship if that is what he wanted. I still cared for him. He was my mate. I hadn’t ever felt so connected with anyone until him.

He nodded as we sat in silence for the rest of the trip. I felt weird as we pulled up to the border of Charwood. It was a bittersweet moment, One l had hoped I would get to do but with Zander, not Ollie.

“Ready?” Ollie asked as we pulled up to the pack house, shutting off the engine and getting ready to head Out.

I looked over to Ollie and responded, “as Ill ever be” I closed my eyes and took a deep breath opening the car door and following Ollie to the front of the pack house.

I knew he was here. I felt him through our bond. Kia stirred in the depth of my mind. I was glad I could still feel her after all of this. I didn’t know if there had been any damage between our bond not being close to our mate. But I still felt her feelings and her movements. I hadn’t shifted yet. I didn’t want that to cause more strain than it already was.

Some part of me didn’t want to be here, but I had a duty to my pack. So I tucked away all my emotions and held myself confidently as we waited by the front door.

Daniel opened the front door with a big cheeky grin,

“Good Afternoon, Alpha Oliver and Beta Ashleigh.”

I heard someone coughing in the house as Daniel opened the door wide enough to let us enter the front room.

It was a beautiful pack house, very modern and open floor plan. The open and spacious foyer led to the kitchen on the left with a lovely glass staircase leading upstairs to the first floor. There was a 30 to 40-seat solid wooden table running in the middle of the kitchen with white seats. Behind the table, two sets of double glass doors opened to the backyard, with a magnificent infinity pool and spa looking out to the cliffs. The crisp white flowing curtains matched the Hampton-style foyer and kitchen that flowed through to the upstairs living area.

I looked around in awe. I loved this place. It was absolutely breathtaking. It broke my heart a little more that Zander didn’t want to share with me. As I looked around, my eyes collided with intense hazel ones, staring at me in disbelief. His scent engulfed all around me. It suddenly became harder to breathe. I fidgeted a little bit uneasy with his gaze. I didn’t realize me being here, he wouldn’t want that. I at least thought he would be somewhat happy that I was here. I could feel Kia stirring around. She was already ten times stronger than she had been all week, nearly back to her full strength.

“Can I get either of you something to drink or eat before the meeting starts?” Daniel asked, still grinning like a damn fool looking between Ollie and me as if there was some inside joke only he knew about.

I’m suddenly brought back to reality that it’s not just Zander and me in this room. Ollie knows I have a mate, just not who, and right now, if he knew it was Zander, that would probably not be the best thing.

“I’m fine for now, thank you,” I turned back to Daniel and responded with a forced smile. I could feel Zander’s gaze still on me as we stood there waiting.

“Yeah, me too. I’m all good,” Ollie said, nodding.

“All righty then, Alpha Wyatt will be with you shortly,”

Daniel said, his eyes glazed over as he shoved his hands in his pockets and walked over to the kitchen, joining Zander behind the counter.

After what felt like the most awkward five minutes of my life, I heard voices coming from the corridor on the right. I tried to compose myself again. I knew Zander hadn’t taken his eyes off me. I can still feel his intense gaze. Some part of me just wanted to forget this stupid problem and just run to him and k**s him and claim him as mine, but he hasn’t made any move that he wants me here, and honestly, that hurt more.

Thankfully I had enough common sense not to wear the heirloom he gave me. I didn’t want to freak anyone out today by parading that around. I wasn’t wearing anything too fancy, just a nice light grey pantsuit with a long-sleeved white top and black heels. Ollie was wearing a black pantsuit matched with a crisp white top.

We needed to look professional today, not only for Charwood but all the packs. If Ollie and l were going to be doing more of our duties to help our parents, we needed to make an excellent first impression.

Two men emerged from the corridor. They were older gentlemen. One looked very similar to Zander, and the other was similar to Daniel. I figured these must be Alpha Wyatt and his Beta Jake.

“Alpha Oliver and Beta Ashleigh, Welcome to Charwood, I am Alpha Wyatt, and this is my Beta Jake.

Shall we step into my conference room and start the meeting,”

Alpha Wyatt’s introduction was interrupted by someone thundering down the stairs behind him.

They both turned around and parted a little for Ollie and me to see who the person was.

“Ahh, Grace, How did you replace the guest room next to Zanders? Was it to your liking?” Alpha Wyatt asked.

My swear heart stopped for a second. I felt the b***d drain from my face. Did he just say what I think he said?

My eyes snapped to Zander to confirm. I chanted a silent prayer, please, please don’t be true.

Zander’s eyes were closed. I wasn’t sure if it was in frustration, if he was trying to calm himself down or if it was to avoid my gaze.

“Oh yes, it was perfect. Thank you, Alpha. I think it will do nicely for me and the little one” she smiled sweetly while rubbing her tummy, moving closer to Zander and Daniel in the kitchen. “We have an appointment with the doctor this afternoon, and I’ve nearly finished packing up my apartment so I can move in this weekend.”

I heard Kia whine in the back of my mind. I felt her pain. I felt my pain. It was agonizing. I was trying my best not to let everything show. First and foremost, I was Liverpool’s Beta, and right now, personal issues could not stand in the way of this meeting.

“Sure, I’m sure Zander and Daniel can lend a hand with moving your things” Alpha Wyatt gestured his hand towards the boys in the kitchen. Daniel was looking at Zander with a frown on his face. It seems his happy-go-lucky mood was gone. That’s a shame because we could probably use some of that right now.

Daniel suddenly moved back around the front of the kitchen. He headed towards us, “Anyways, as much fun as it has been to see you both, I have training to do,”

Without any warning, he walked up to me and placed a k**s on my cheek, “Thanks for the party last weekend doll, next time just call me for one on one time ok.” He tossed me a wink and was out the door before I could say anything or do anything.

I stood there, completely stunned at what had just happened. I quickly darted my eyes in Zander’s direction only to see that he was furious, with Jace flickering in his eyes. His glare was fixed on the door behind Ollie and me.

“My apologies for my son. He gets a bit too friendly than necessary, completely harmless of course but sometimes doesn’t know boundaries,” Beta Jake said, rubbing his hand on the back of his neck, looking confused.

I nodded in confusion about what just happened and tried to shake it off and move on with the meeting.

“Shall we move into the conference room to begin then?” Alpha Wyatt claps his hands together and gestures toward the corridor they emerged from earlier.

Ollie responds with a “Sure,” and we follow the two down the hall.