Chapter 30

“What are you talking about? I’m not avoiding anything.” Marcellus denied with a growl even though that was exactly what he was doing. “I’ve just told you what my plan of action is.”

“Since you refuse act like an adult, I’m just going to lay it out on the table for you. If you don’t find your mate within the next two months, then we’re going to have no choice but to take the pack away from you and give it to someone more capable.”

“What the fuck do you mean, more capable? How am I not capable? What part of me is not capable?” Marcellus all but shouted down the phone at the utter disrespect as he propped himself up into a sitting position, pressing the phone to his ear even though it was on still on speaker. “And who do you think you are, Beta? Trying to take my pack away from me!”

More capable, my fucking ass! His wolf growled, agreeing with his human counterpart. Tell him to come down here and we’ll show him just how capable we are!

“That’s the thing, Alpha Marcellus.” Malachi cleared his throat, his voice wavering slightly at the Alpha voice that had been used on him. “I mean no disrespect, but you must find your mate.”

“I haven’t found her in the last ten years. How on earth do you think I’m going to find her in two months?” He growled deeply, his wolf having completely risen to the surface now.

“That’s the thing. We’re not expecting you to find your fate destined mate.”

Marcellus paused as he pulled the phone away from his face and stared down at it, surprised with what he had just heard.

While it wasn’t as uncommon as it used to be when two wolves that were not mates, mated together however, he had never heard of an Alpha and Luna pair that were not paired together by the Moon Goddess herself. What the elder – and the rest of the council, he could only assume – was suggesting was nothing short of absolute blasphemy!

You could solve all of this right now if you wanted. His wolf hummed quietly, seemingly calm in comparison to the state had had been in a few moments ago.

You know I can’t do that.

Yes, you can. His wolf urged him. They’ve given us two months to find a mate, but we’ve already found her. If we tell him that, he and the rest of the council will get off our case.

They’re not going to stop until they have physical evidence that we’ve already found our mate. Marcellus groaned into his hands, completely stumped with the situation that he had just been thrown into.

We have a mate. That’s physical evidence enough. His wolf protested but Marcellus was quick to cut him off, already frustrated enough with added pressure from his wolf who was so evidently a love-struck fool; in love with their mate without even getting to know her.

The perks of the mate bond.

And once they see her, they’re going to sense straight away that she’s pregnant with someone else’s child. What are they going to think then?

His wolf snorted. When have you ever cared what those old bats think of you? She’s our mate. Pregnant or not, that doesn’t change what she is to us, and us to her.

When Marcellus refused to answer, his wolf jumped at the opportunity to vocalise his thoughts, tired of denying his mate when she was all he ever wanted. And if that required him to be a step-dad, then so be it. He would love that child like it was his own, but it was unfortunate that his human counterpart didn’t see it the same way.

You can’t keep denying her like this.

Watch me.

It’s not fair on us, and it’s certainly not fair on her either. His wolf growled, urging his human counterpart to open his eyes and smell the fresh air, all but pleading with him to stop the suffering. The council isn’t completely wrong, you know?

What do you mean? Marcellus asked sharply, surprised.

They’re wrong about us not being able to run this pack without a mate. We’ve done it for ten years already without any issues and we’ll do this for another ten years if need be.

Then what’s the problem?

I need my mate. His wolf sighed. It was different then because we hadn’t met her yet but now, knowing that she’s so close but you refusing to accept her, it’s driving me crazy. We might be fine today but eventually; I won’t be able to go on. Knowing that she’s so close but we can’t have her, that’s all I can think about these days, and it’s only been a couple of weeks. I feel like I’m slowly growing crazy.

Marcellus sat speechless, completely at a loss of words as he had never heard his wolf speak such heartfelt words before. While his views on his mate hadn’t changed, it definitely gave him some food for thought.

When the elder spoke up, they both turned their attention back to the phone, seemingly forgotten that they were in the middle of a call during their internal battle.

“We’ve never had an Alpha run a pack without a Luna for so long and from this conversation alone, I can see that we’re correct with our fears.”

“How do you expect me to stay calm when you threaten to take my pack away from me?” He growled down the phone, even going as far as bare his teeth. “No Alpha would be able to remain calm after such a threat, so don’t you dare try my words and play them to your advantage.”

“Please try to be reasonable, Alpha Marcellus.” Malachi requested, pleading slightly. Even through the phone he could feel the power radiating off from the Alpha wolf, and he didn’t dare imagine how intense it would be like in real life. “The fact that you’re such a strong wolf makes it all that much worse.”

When Marcellus didn’t comment or say anything, elder Malachi took that as a prompt to continue.

“It may not have any effect on you now, and it may not have any effect on you in another ten years either for that matter but eventually, living without a mate for so long is going to drive you crazy and when that does happen, because it definitely will, we need to protect the pack. Keeping you as Alpha without a mate just isn’t a possibility anymore so if you want to keep the pack, I suggest you do as we say and utilise these next two months otherwise, we’ll have no choice but to step in.”

“Is that a threat?”

“No, it’s a warning.”

Momentarily silence sounded on both sides of the phone before Marcellus broke it by groaning loudly, so many thoughts running through his mind.

“What about Alpha Orpheus? He’s much older than me and doing this for longer yet I don’t see you breathing down his neck, trying to force him into choosing a mate when his destined mate could very well much be out there.”

“Alpha Orpheus is none of your concern.” Malachi snapped, eager to put an end to that conversation.

“That means that you have a personal vendetta against and that’s the sole reason behind you targeting me like this.” Marcellus growled.

An elongated sigh sounded on the other end of the line before elder Malachi continued speaking.

“I am not in the position to be speaking about Alpha Orpheus or his situation to you but Alpha Marcellus, I hope you’ve considered the fact that since it’s been so long, it may very well be that your mate has passed away and, in that case, you’ll never meet her so waiting around for a mate that doesn’t exist is a waste of time. But you would simply be able to overcome that by finding your own mate. That way, you will have a mate and your pack will finally have a Luna. We’ll get off your back too and everyone is happy.”

Marcellus threw his head back and roared loudly, the ground underneath his bed shaking but he didn’t care. His eyes shifted between his usual hazel and the deep gold of his wolf as he half transformed, unable to control his rage.

“You have the audacity to say our mate is dead!” He roared again, breathing heavily into the phone.

Before Marcellus could start spouting profanities or worse, a quiet click sounded and when he glanced down at his phone, he saw the screen was blank.

The fucker actually had the nerve to hang up on us! His wolf growled, pacing back and forth in pure rage; seething. Just wait until I get my paws on him! That’ll teach him to say our mate is dead and then hang up on us!

Marcellus grunted in agreeance, still seeing red after the way that the elder had decided to end the conversation.

We should wait out the two months just to get him down here, and then we can go in for the kill.

That doesn’t sound like such a bad idea.