~ Chapter Forty ~

Clayton stepped awkwardly forward, his head bowed slightly downward in greeting. There was a bright pink tint to his cheeks that spread down his neck and across the small plane of chest that I could see through his shirt buttons. Despite that, he was still the most conventionally attractive man I had ever seen and carried about him a certain charm that made me realise what Dimitri had meant by this alpha "kissing my ass".

But no matter how attractive he may have been to someone like Gina, when I looked at him, all I saw was a model.

"Hello, Clayton," I replied to him, as I professionally stood up from the couch and stretched out a hand. "I'm Alpha Dimitri Stone's mate, I *was* here to make a treaty with you."

"Right... right... I forgot about that meeting," Clayton chuckled nervously. He let go of my hand almost as soon as he touched it. "I remember hearing Alpha Stone had a mate but I never thought she would be real. It's shocking to see you in the flesh."

I sent him a polite smile. "Yes, it's been a surprising few months."

"You don't have to be so formal, Erika," Gina mused from the couch. "This isn't a courtroom."

"I'm just practicing, Gina."

She stood up and stepped next to Clayton, which gave me sudden whiplash from how good they looked together. Everything in their features, their bodies, their posture; they screamed out that they were not only the couple in charge, but the couple who would put you and your partner to shame.

It was mildly intimidating but I couldn't look away at the same time.

"Now that you know everything, is it okay if I ask you to leave? We only have a short time left of our vacation and we'll be working just as hard as ever once we return to the village, but right now, we both have shitty previous mates to atone for..." Gina trailed off staring at me.

I smiled briefly at them. "Of course, I understand."

"But one thing," Dylan jumped in. "Second mate? You *both* have had a mate before?"

Clayton cleared his throat. "Yes, I had a mate before. She was quite awful, to be honest. All she wanted was to rule the pack above me, to be the bane of my existence." He chuckled nervously. "She tried to undermine me at every decision, and although I loved her because of the bond, I knew I never would love her without it.

“Eventually, she manipulated the wrong person and she paid for it with her life."

"Oh, I'm so sorry I brought it up," Dylan gasped, rushing forward to comfort Clayton. Gina already had a sympathetic hand on his shoulder.

"On that note, we should definitely leave," I muttered and motioned Taylor toward me.

He obeyed in an instant, though I caught him nodding sympathetically at Clayton before he started for the front door.

Gina reached up to kiss her mate's cheek and took my wrist carefully in her fingers, pulling me after him, while Dylan and Clayton struck up a very sudden conversation. "I'll walk you out," she suggested. "I think we should have a quick talk, just us."

I didn't answer as we stepped into the warm climate of Clayton's former packgrounds, feeling uncomfortable with the concept of not needing to wear a jacket. I stood on the doormat in front of Gina, who crossed her arms over her chest and looked guiltily back at me.

"I owe you an apology for not saying anything about Clayton and this vacation. I just didn't think you'd have time for it, what with your pack and your mate.

“To be honest, I thought by the time you had gone back to him, you would be like me and Clayton, wanting time to yourselves and enjoying each other's company. But you don't have to explain anything to me, it's your business and you're free to do your mateship as you please.

"So, I really am sorry for not calling first. I'm usually not good at the friend thing, I'm good at being a leader. It's a work in progress."

I sighed. "You didn't have to tell me, I was just starting to get worried. The rogue situation seems to be getting worse and worse and I'm not so sure this state can handle it without you there managing the village. I can't be mad that you found your real mate, either. That's actually a great thing."

She smiled widely. "It really is, though I was happy alone, too."

"Me too."

We fell quickly silent, before Dylan's loud voice started ringing once again in my ears. He and Clayton came up to the door chatting - or listening, in Clayton's case.

Everyone exchanged a quick goodbye, and Gina promised to call me as soon as she was back in office so we could work with her against this rogue crisis. She couldn't fight for a group of misunderstood people if they went about their detachment from the rest of us so violently; it was against what she truly stood for.

I made sure not to mention Roger, though, because I didn't think it was something she needed on her plate yet. With Clayton, I figured she didn't want to hear about how her former mate - the one that stabbed her - was causing almost as much trouble as the rogues. It was something I knew I wouldn't want to hear during a romantic rendezvous... or ever.

/////

I couldn't explain how glad I was to be back at the packgrounds.

It took almost half an hour to convince Taylor to let me drive, but once I was behind the wheel, time couldn't have gone fast enough. All I wanted was to be back in the palace with Dimitri, back in my new normal life as a semi-Luna. It was killing me that I hadn't seen him for the entire day, which also scared me a little.

Of course, just like before, the moment I was out of the car, Dimitri was waiting to take me into his arms. A rush of warmth enveloped my whole body as I hugged him tightly, my eyes closed and my face buried into his neck. My wolf purred in my head at his scent; so pure and enticing. But when we pulled back, I experienced something completely new that I never thought about before.

I *examined* Dimitri's face, from the tip of his hair to the point of his chin; I examined every little detail, every imperfection. He didn't look as good as Clayton did, he wasn't model material. He was imperfect. But that was something that I loved.

He wasn't perfect and he didn't have to be. I knew that the crook in his nose and the scars on his body were signs more of strength, of courage, and the rough texture of his skin was a sign that he was *human*, not some perfect model werewolf who was only looks.

He was my Dima, my mate, imperfect but so incredibly handsome to me that suddenly I couldn't even think of keeping my hands away from him. Something flipped.

I crushed my mouth against his, curling into his body, trailing my fingertips down his thin shirt to feel the hard chest and stomach I'd slowly been growing acquainted with. My tongue automatically slipped out, and he responded to my advance in an instant.

It may not have been the best place for it, right there in front of the whole pack if they happened to be outside at that moment, but neither of us could control our urges. All I could think about was getting him into bed.

However, before I could suggest a thing, a female voice cried out in surprise - "Dima!" - and I pulled back. A jealous streak ignited in me before I could stop it, making Dimitri smile to himself as he rested his forehead against mine.

"Easy, Erika," he teased, rubbing at my sides. "It's just my mom."

My anger disappeared but it took a moment for the confusion to spring up in its place.

"Wait, your mom?" I sounded horrified.

Dimitri's smug smile slipped. "Yeah. My parents... they're here... Surprise?"

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