15
**Valenzano POV: **
Yesterday was great, and breakfast today was less awkward. Cleo seems to come more comfortable around me. After breakfast, I went to my office and finished planning for the annual gathering of the packs. All the back that we have treaties with Alphas, Lunas, Betas, and Betas' wives are attending. We catch up and talk about future peace treaties, and everyone voices their concerns about rogues, hunters, vampires, and whatever else is on their minds.
Avaya used to plan the gathering. Now I have to do it since she is no longer my companion. I copied from the guest list from last year and added some new Alphas, Lunas, Betas, and Betas wives to the list since some packs have Alphas who have retired and/or died.
"Mate," I heard Vintage say, then I heard a knock on the door. I know it's her; her scent is intoxicating.
"Enter," I say.
"Hey, I am sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if you had time for us to go over how my services could be of service to you," she asked shyly.
"She can service us by letting us bend her over this desk," Vintage says, as my dick grows hard just looking at her.
She is wearing a white romper and the MCM wedges I snuck and brought her yesterday. She liked them, and she was hesitant to get them. So, I brought them and added them to all the other bags she had. She didn't even notice.
"Sure," ignoring Vintage's comment and offering her a set. I had to adjust myself a little. My hard dick is hurting inside these jeans.
"Thanks, so how can I help?" she says as she sits.
"You can come and sit on our lap," Vintage says, saying that Goddess can't hear him. I blocked him and continued my conversation with her.
"I would like you to help me figure out a way to cut the cost of running the pack." I don't really need help cutting costs. All my businesses are owned by the pack. So, we are very, very rich. I just need a reason to be around her so our mate bond can grow.
"That's not a problem. I will need to see the last two years of expense ledgers if you don't mindd," she asked with a nervous smile.
"No problem". I gave her the ledger books, and she looked at me surprised.
"What," I said to her.
"You don't have your ledger computerized?', she asked, looking at the leather book.
"Yes, I do, but only as a backup. I prefer ledger books. I am old-fashioned like that," I said, and she smiled.
"I'm just surprised. I thought I was the only one on earth who preferred ledger books over computer spreadsheets. Besides computerized records and being tampered with," she says while giggling.
"Looks like we have something in common," I said, smiling at her.
"Looks like we do," she says, smiling back. I swear he smiled and just brightened the whole room.
Minutes went by, and I watched her focus on the ledger, making notes. She is so zoned out she doesn't realize that I am watching her. I refocus on my task, coming up with a menu for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I chose bacon, sausage, and ostrich eggs cooked in different ways. For lunch, we will be picnic style with BBQ bison ribs, BBQ chicken sweet corn on the cob, pasta salad, and different types of seafood.
Dinner will be more formal. People will have a choice of salmon en papillote, lamb shank navarin, and duck confit. For dessert, tarte tatin, frangipare, and fiadone. Once I am finished, I bring my attention back to Cleo.
"I noticed that you spend a lot of money on defense," she stated, not looking up from the ledger.
"I have to defend the pack," I said nonchalantly.
"Yeah, but you spent two million dollars one year and two and a half million last year. That seemed to be a bit much. You guys are werewolves. Why is there a need to spend two and a half million dollars on defense? When is your pack a weapon on its own?" she asked, still not looking up from the ledger.
"Well, we had to evolve with the times. Most packs have an arsenal of weapons, and mine have enough weapons for an army," I said. Looking at her amazed, she is in full Luna mode and does not even know it.
"What kind of weapons do you have that cost this much?" she asked, showing a little bit of displeasure.
"Guns, hand grenades, shotguns, and other items of war?" I said as she looked at me.
"Are they made of gold?" she asks sarcastically, still looking at the ledger.
"No, actually they are made of silver," I said with a smile.
"What really?" she finally looked at me.
"Yes, the guns are not silver. The ammo is. The hand grenades explode, releasing silver dust," I said with a shrug.
"It is odd that you spend two and a half million dollars on defense and only spend less than one hundred thousand on medical equipment," she seems annoyed.
"Werewolves self-heal, so there is no reason to do a lot of medical care. The hospital is only used when she wolfs have pups. Or a war breaks out and people are badly hurt," he said.
"Well, if having an arsenal of weapons made of silver is common, Why not increase medical care since wolves can get hurt by silver?" she asked.
"I never really thought about that," I said, kind of ashamed of it.
"How about we cut some costs from the defense budget and put it towards the medical budget"?" she said.
"And how do you propose that?" I asked. looking at her beautiful face.
"I would advise you to get rid of the silver bullets. You can fill shotgun shells with wolves' bane and silver dust, and you will get the same result. Wolfbane is cheaper to get because it is a plant that can be grown anywhere. I would say keep the hand grenades. Any bullet would kill hunters; a bullet with wolfsbane and silver dust can kill or weaken a wolf, and the silver dust can kill vampires," she says in a business tone. I have heard her business tone and sexual tone, and they are both beautiful.
I looked at the time and realized it was almost lunchtime. I mentally linked the cook and told him to make lunch and set it up near the lake in the back. We continued to talk. She had some great ideas. I am glad she should be concerned and determined to make the necessary changes. I have to be honest; I never thought about any of the ideas she had until she voiced them. I get a mind link from the cook. He said that lunch was ready and was set up.
"Cleo, would you like to have lunch with me?" I asked, holding my breath, hoping she would say yes.
"Sure," she says as I get up and reach for her hand. The moment our hands touched, I felt the electric shock, and so did she.
"Okay," and I guided her to the lake.
"Where are we going?" she asked.
"It's my favorite place on the packlands," I said as we walked through the kitchen and out the back door. I watch as her eyes go wide. And I smiled at her excitement.
"This place is beautiful," she said as she looked around.
"This is my garden. I planted every plant, flower, and tree you see here," I said with pride.
"Really? So, you garden, Mr. Alpha?'', she asked, laughing.
"Yes, I do. I come from a time when you had to grow and raise your own food. And it just stuck with me," I said with pride.
"That's cute. I garden as well, but not at this level," she said, looking at the flowers.
"We will have to garden together sometime," I said as I walked her to my favorite tree.
"That will be nice," she said as she smiled. I notice she keeps looking at the cherry blossom tree.
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