Chapter 24

SOMA:

“Hello... am I on to Luna Hailey?”

My breath hitches from how nervous I am. Even my hands are shaking, especially my right hand that has my phone directed towards my ear. This should be easy, shouldn’t it?

“Yes, you are. And who am I speaking with?” came the voice from the end of the line. Definitely a female’s voice which has a lot of hesitation coupled with it. Yeah, it would be weird for someone unfamiliar to call me while mentioning the title I own in my territory that should be kept confidential.

“Uhm, this is Soma Walters. From the Blood Crescent pack.” I respond, and the brief silence that ensues after has me tapping my fingers on the desk in front of me.

“Soma Walters? The Alpha?”

“Yes, it’s me.” was my affirmative response while nodding alongside.

Immediately, familiarity comes with the tone of the recipient at the end of the line. “Alpha Soma... it’s so nice to hear your voice. How are you?”

“I’m okay. Hope you are as well?”

“I am,” she sounds so cheerful this time around, and it’s all I need to carry on with the convo. “And to what do I owe this call, Alpha Soma?”

“Just Soma.”

Okay, I’m getting tired of people putting my title before my name. Especially people I’m trying to build a good relationship with.

“Oh no, I can’t call you that. You are a leader so it’s only right that I call you what’s appropriate,”

“And I’m telling you I don’t want it so just call me by my name.”

“That would be a tough call, to be honest.” I hear her sigh, and it seems to me that I’m putting her in an uncomfortable situation so I would have to figure out a way to get her used to me.

“I have a suggestion then. What about if I call you Hailey... would that make you call me Soma?”

“I think I can do that...”

I was getting somewhere now. “So, Hailey?”

A few seconds later and she finally says what I want to hear, “Soma.”

“Thank you,” I then say even though I shouldn’t be thanking her.

“Is there anything I can help you with?” she brings me back on track with the reason I put a call through to her in the first place.

The first thing I do is to switch the phone to my other hand so I could place it on my left ear. Then I speak, “Yes, there is. But it’s nothing much. Firstly, I want to know how your schedule would be this weekend and the second is to know if you would like to be my company let’s say you’re free.”

“Uhmmm,” she hums for a while before falling silent. I would say she was deliberating on my request even though I can’t see any of her activities. Finally, she says, “I’ve got nothing on my schedule this weekend. So why do you need me to be your company?”

“My sister...” I pause and then look in the direction of the one sitting directly across me in my office. It was Cassie who seems to have had her gaze upon me all along. And what makes this all awkward for me now is that I am about to chip her into the conversation I am having with Hailey on the phone.

I shrug off the thought of the awkwardness and take my gaze off her as well before continuing with the phone conversation, “My sister, Cassie, wants to have a view of the Dark Moon pack and so I told her we would be there together. But since I do not have much of an acquaintance there, I thought I should go through you first so you would be my guide when I’m there,”

“Oh, if it’s that, then it should not be a problem. If you inform Tyrone, he would permit your entrance into our pack instantly,”

“I know. But would he be willing to guide me through the pack?”

“Well, no. But his brother, Leonard, could—”

“No, no,” I decline instantly. “I would prefer it be more of a girl’s thing. If I actually wanted a man to accompany me, I’m sure I would have told my beta to do that. So, no offense to Leonard, but I would not be needing his help in this,”

My only hope is that I sound at least a bit soft while saying that to her. Sounds pretty much offensive, I must say, and a brief stare at Cassie tells me it indeed was offensive. Why? She was frowning.

The other end of the line was quiet. And yeah, it made me super curious because I want to know already about her decision. If she happens to decline, then I don’t think I have another way of setting my plan in motion.

“Okay, I’m fine with it.” Hailey finally announces and the delight that overwhelms me would be untold.

“Thank you so much, Hailey. I would be sure to reciprocate the favor when the time comes,” I tell her.

“Please don’t bother. I do not like to be owed,” I caught the humor in that, a smile eluding my lips in the process. “But I can still inform Tyrone so proper arrangements can be made beforehand for you and your convoy, right?”

“No, thank you. I would get that done myself. Won’t want to bother you again,”

“I’m not complaining, I promise.”

“If you insist. But please do tell him that it is just for a courtesy visit and nothing more. I wouldn’t want the preparations to be extravagant knowing my team and I were just there last week,”

“Noted. I will see you over the weekend then,”

“Definitely. Thank you for your time once again,”

“Don’t mention,” she tells me. And with that, I drop the call.

“Whew, that went well.” I manage to say despite my protruding heartbeat. How the hell did I get so nervous by just trying to talk to someone? Could probably be because of my intentions.

“If I didn’t know you well, I would have sworn you were hitting on the Luna,” Cassie who has been silent since the whole ordeal began days to my hearing and I have to look at her in the weirdest way possible.

“You all been pitting me as a lez for some days now. Do I look like I’m interested in women?” I have to ask her, almost disgusted at the fact that she would think I would want to hit on a mated wolfling.

“If you had listened to the way you spoke while on the phone with her, I’m sure you would have no notion against the possibility of you being interested in women. The rapid rate of your heartbeat is another thing to note,”

“I was nervous, that’s all. Thought I was going to screw up during the conversation. So, just so you know, I’m straight. I like Ds. Used to like them anyways. I think it’s you we should be bothered about. How sure are you about your sexuality? You sure you’re not interested in women in place of men?”

A once-over from her and then she rolls her eyes at me. “I’ve never for once been interested in women so don’t go about getting stupid ideas about me.”

“It would not be stupid if you would just open up about the reason I do not see you with a man when you should be with a lot of ‘em. You are free to talk to me about your sexual preference. You know I would never judge you about it,”

“I’m straight just like you and that’s all you need to know.” she shuts me off instantly. “So, what’s the deal? We would be going to the Dark Moon pack eventually?” she asks me, totally changing the topic of discussion.

“We are,” I say, “and it’s all thanks to your agreement in getting involved. I wouldn’t have done this without you, little sis. What we would need to do now is to start getting our stuffs ready for the weekend because it sure is going to be a long one. Maybe even fun.”

“I highly doubt that,”

My brows are raised at her quick rebuff about how I think the weekend would go. “Why do you say that?” I ask.

“Because you have a reason to be there other than what others may think. And fun is definitely not going to be part of it.”

I fold my arms after her claim. “Going there for another reason does not stop me from having the fun I ought to have. Besides, I have no choice but to get all the fun I need because the only time I can see Luis without having any problem of being seen with him is at night. Or during the early hours of the day at best. So the rest day would be dedicated to all the fun that I can get from being there,”

“You almost sound like a kid who already has his vacation stacked,”

“Being twenty-three doesn’t stop me from enjoying what nature has to offer. So I promise that I would be having a lot of that when the time comes,” I then hold out my hand toward the desktop by the side of my desk, hitting a switch to power it on. “Now if you would excuse me, I’ve got a lot of work to do.”

Cassie wastes no time in standing up, and before I knew it, I was left alone in the office. The sly smile I have on my face wears off the moment I hear the door shut close.

Skepticism fills my whole system immediately about the decision I’m trying to make for myself. I’m about to step my feet into something I’m totally uncertain of the result. Not even sure if I'm supposed to be doing it.

Don’t think I’ve had the time to sit myself down so I could ask myself if I was doing the right thing. Are my decisions even pure? Who knows if I’m making a costly mistake.

And as the lights from the monitor flash into my eyes, the question reigns in my mind: Am I doing the right thing?