16. Caleb

**Caleb**

Red looks at the grass and picks at it absently.
My heart hammers in my chest while I wait for her to give me her answer. I hope she says yes but I can't force her.
**'She has to say yes,'** Raven says.
*'Red doesn't have to say yes, Raven. When she will give us an answer we will accept it, no matter what she says.'*
**'I need her. And Safia. They are ours!'** Raven says in an agitated tone.
*'I know but you need to calm down, Raven!'*
Raven stops talking and just observes Red. Our soulmate.
She is beautiful but still too thin from starving herself. At least she is eating better lately. I made sure to ask Blade to keep an eye on her eating habits. And her scent. Goddess! Her scent! It is perfect.
This morning, when we shook hands, and my instinct told me she is my soulmate, it took me by surprise because I touched her many times before and nothing happened. I had to leave the kitchen because Raven was ready to claim her as mine, but I knew that I need to take it step by step with her.
"Caleb," Red says and she lifts her head to look at me. I wish she would look into my eyes, be she looks at my cheeks. Maybe one day, when she feels more confident, she will look into my eyes. Or maybe that's how she had been taught in her former pack, to never look an Alpha into the eyes. Some Alphas can be intimidating, but I try to be as friendly as I can with everyone but at the same time I need them to respect me. After all, relationships between pack members are based on respect and trust. "I don't love you. I still love Jor–"
I growl because I don't want to hear her say his name.
"I don't want to hear you saying his name after all he has done to you!" I growl my words. I pinch the bridge of my nose. "I know you don't love me but to still be in love with him." I shake my head.
"I will say what name I want and I can't control my feelings!" Red says in an angry tone.
I inhale deeply, calming myself. "I know you can't, Red. But he hurt you and marked you as someone that cheated on his soulmate. How can you still love him?"
Red stands and turns her back to me. I stand also.
"I can't do this, Caleb."
Raven howls in frustration inside my head.
"Then you reject me?"
"I can't reject you because I don't feel that you are my soulmate."
As she picks up her coat, puts it on, and starts walking away, I feel a sharp pain in my chest.
I didn't expect to be accepted but seeing Red turning her back on me and walking away is more painful than I thought it would be.
**'Go after her!'**
*'No,'* I say simply as I watch Red walking fast and disappearing behind a line of trees.
I pick my coat from the ground and put it on. It smells like her. I start walking slowly towards the pack.
**'What do we do next?'** Raven asks.
*'Nothing. No one chooses us anyways,'* I say and Raven gets quiet.
He knows I am right. They say that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. It is true. In the twenty-four years since I was born nothing killed me. Some things did break me but ultimately they made me stronger.
My family never loved me and I learned to accept it.
The vampires did not kill me and I become something else once I escaped them.
Red did not choose me. I will learn to live with it. Even if it hurts.
When I make it to the pack, I go directly to my room. I try to rest for a while, but when I end up thinking about Red and sleep evades me I go to my office. I open my PC and see an email from Elder Adam.
'Alpha *Regent* Caleb Black,
I am sending the Alpha of another pack to Black Ruby Rogue Pack on Monday. Members of his pack have been abused in the past and he needs to learn how to work with them. I want you to work with him and to teach him what he needs to know.
Elder Adam Brown.'
There's no other Elder that I dislike as much as I dislike Elder Adam. From the start, he opposed agreeing with making Black Ruby Rogue Pack an official pack.
'Scums like you and your rogues,' he told me when I went to present them my plan for the pack, 'don't deserve to be recognized by the Council of the Elders as an official Pack of the Werewolf Comunity. You are a disgrace to every werewolf out there!'
I would have not presented the pack to the Council, but Tatiana insisted it was important, and she might be annoying but the truth is that I owe her a lot of things. But as much as I love Tatiana, having an Alpha I don't know in my territory is the last thing I want. Many of my pack members have been abused by their former Alpha and it took me a long time to gain their trust. I will have to hold a meeting and let the others know what is happening.
Conon comes into the office around 8 AM. He sits on the sofa, looks at me, and frowns, "Nightmares?"
I shook my head and say, "Elder Adam."
"What did the asshat do now?"
"A former Alpha abused some members of his pack and Elder Adam is sending the new Alpha to learn how to work with abused pack members."
"When is he coming?"
"Tomorrow."
Conon passes his fingers through his hair. "You are joking."
"Do I look like I am joking, Conon?"
He looks at me with a serious face, and he rarely does that. "What do we do now?"
I stand from my office chair, go to the window and look outside. Some pups are already playing in the snow.
"After lunch, we will have a gathering. I will have to inform the others about this new Alpha."
I spend the morning in the office, working and I only get out for lunch.
When I enter the dining room, I scent Red. Seconds later I see her. She is sitting next to Viki, and they are talking about something.
*'Go to her!'* my instinct whispers to me.
I ignore it and sit at the table, next to Conon. My eyes are on her as I speak to Conon, "Did you inform the others?"
She feels my gaze on her and she looks at me and frowns.
"They know," I hear Conon say from my left.
Red turns her attention to whatever Viki is telling her. She knows I am watching her and she is nervous. I can tell by how she plays with the fork.
"Caleb, did you hear me?" I hear Conon asking.
I turn to look at Conon. "What did you say?"
Conon looks at me, then at Red. "Did you have a fight with Sweet-Cheeks?" he asks still looking at her.
"No," I say in a serious tone, letting Conon know that I don't want to talk about Red anymore.
Conon turns his head to look at me, and lifts an eyebrow, but says nothing more. He knows not to push my buttons.
Blade brings in lunch and I pretend to be interested in the food but I barely eat something because all I can think about is Red.
After lunch, the dining hall starts to fill little by little, until all the adults of the pack are inside. The table is pushed to the wall and the males bring foldings chairs.
When everyone is seated I look at them. My eyes fall on Red. She sits at the back, near the exit. She still doesn't trust the pack.
"I've received an email from Elder Adam. An Alpha from another pack will arrive tomorrow," I say looking at my pack.
"Why?" a pack member asks.
"Some members of his pack have been abused by the former Alpha and the Elders are sending him here to learn how to work with the abused pack members," I tell my pack. "I know that many of you are not comfortable with other Alphas because of past traumas but I assure you that I will talk to this Alpha and tell him we have rules in this pack."
"How long will he be staying?" another pack member asks.
I frown. "I don't know. At least a few weeks. It takes time to learn how to–"
A pack member interrupts me before I can finish what I have to say. "Do we have to receive him in the pack?"
"I am afraid we don't have much choice," I say.
"What pack is he from?"
I frown because now I realize I don't know. "Elder Adam hasn't told me."
The adults talk to each other and I feel they are not happy.
I stand and look at them, "I know many of you are concerned about this Alpha. But you should know that your interaction with him will be limited. No one is forced to talk to him. But I hope that you can share with him about your past and what helped you. I think that the faster we teach him what he needs to know the faster he will return to his pack."
While the pack members think about what I told them I look at Red. She looks at her shoes not paying attention to what is said during the meeting.
Most of the adults agree and the meeting is over. Red leaves and I want to go after her but I still have much to do until this Alpha arrives.
When morning comes, I wake up early, get ready for the day, go to my office and wait for the Alpha. I am not sure when he will arrive but I hope it is during the morning. When I look at my watch and see it is past 11 in the morning I go to the kitchen to eat something.
When am I in front of the kitchen I smell the scent of a male that's not from the pack. From inside, I hear Red talking to someone in an angry voice. I've never heard her so angry before.