Chapter 31

ALPHA MARCELLUS STORM

He grumbled audibly as he marched into the kitchen and poured himself a mug of coffee before throwing it back, not even flinching when he burnt his tongue on the piping hot beverage.

Once he had finished the cup and reached out to for a top up, Marcellus stilled in his actions as he glanced around the kitchen. He took note of the numerous pairs of eyes that were currently on him, all wide with surprise at his sudden behaviour.

“What? Why are you all staring at me?” He asked with a frown as he poured himself another cup, already aware of exactly why they were staring at him however, he couldn’t be bothered to explain himself and frankly, he simply wasn’t in the mood to be offering up any excuses.

Mary, the pack chef cleared her throat before turning her attention back to the stove where she was working on a fresh batch of eggs for everyone.

“Would you like some eggs with that coffee, Alpha?” She asked politely with a small smile on her face, the only one in the kitchen daring enough to speak to him when it was clear that he was in such a foul mood.

“No, thank you.” He replied politely as he leaned against one of the counters, not really sure what to do since Dalton hadn’t come down yet.

Sensing that he wasn’t in the talking mood, a few pack members moved out of the kitchen to take a seat at the dining table while others continued as they were. The longer he had to wait, the more anxious he grew; moving onto his third cup of coffee.

If he wasn’t a werewolf – and an Alpha wolf at that – a third cup of coffee so early in the morning would have given him the jitters.

As soon as he sensed Dalton reach the ground floor and begin to make his way toward the kitchen with his mate and son in tow, Marcellus pushed himself off the counter without so much as an excuse and poured a second cup of coffee before leaving to meet them halfway in the living room.

“Good morning, Alpha.” Bronwyn greeted him with a wide grin, little Devon in her arms.

Despite his rotten mood and the gloomy cloud currently hanging over his head, he smiled politely as Winnie didn’t deserve to be on the receiving end of his frustration as she was always nothing but pleasant.

“Good morning, Bronwyn, Devon.” He winked at the pup and chuckled lightly as the baby grinned up at him, a few little teeth showing. Marcellus chuckled at the sight of the joyous boy before he turned his attention to his Beta. “Dalton, can I have a quick word before breakfast? I already grabbed you a cup of coffee.” He asked, jerking his head toward the hallway where his office was located.

“Sure.” Dalton replied warily and followed behind Marcellus, but only after he had kissed both his mate and son, promising that he would join them for breakfast as soon as he was done.

Once they had entered the room, Dalton closed the door behind him and took one of the seats on the other side of the desk, smiling in thanks as Marcellus place down the second cup of coffee in front of him.

“What’s got you acting so strange this early in the morning?” Dalton hummed quietly as he raised the mug to his mouth and blew on the hot beverage softly before taking a small sip, much more cautious than Marcellus had previously been.

“I awoke to a call from the council this morning.”

Dalton frowned as he lowered his coffee back down on the desk, watching his friend and Alpha carefully.

“Your dad?” He asked in wishful thinking.

Marcellus sighed and shook his head. “You want to take another guess or should I just put you out of your misery now?”

The Beta wolf pursed his lips with a thoughtful expression on his face but after a few moments, his lips twitched at the corners into a light smile.

“Elder Malachi?”

“Yes.” Marcellus groaned and rolled his eyes as he remembered the horrid conversation that he had awoken to not even an hour ago.

“That makes sense. He was one of the ones that called last time, too.” Dalton hummed as he reached for his coffee again. “What did he say to you?”

“Pretty much the same thing that he said to you.” Marcellus groaned as he rocked back on his chair gently and ran an aggravated hand across his jaw, struggling to piece together all that had happened into a set of coherent sentences. “But this time, he gave me two months to find a mate otherwise the council will have to take the pack away from me.”

“What does that even mean? They can’t really do that, can they?”

“I have no idea.” Marcellus groaned; the sound strained as he threw his hands up in frustration. “But he kept repeating himself so I guess I’d have to be stupid to think there was no merit to his words.”

Dalton frowned as he blinked back at his friend, unsure and confused as to make of the peculiar situation that they had somehow managed to land themselves in.

“No, it would definitely be stupid to ignore them, but their argument is kind of stupid, too.”

“You, my friend, have never spoken such truth before.” Marcellus chuckled, though the sound was dark and heavy as opposed to being light and humorous as it should have been. “It’s as if they’re so concerned with my mental state that they’re taking action over something that may not even happen.” He sighed, referring to the fact that the council believed that he would eventually end up losing his mind from running the pack without a mate for so long.

“There’s a hidden agenda behind this, if you ask me.” Dalton sent him a pointed look.

A part of him wanted to tell Dalton everything, about having found his mate only to find that she was heavily pregnant with someone else’s child. He wanted to tell her that his mate was none other than the human, Anastasia and that she was the most beautiful being that he ever had the pleasure to lay eyes on. He knew that his wolf wanted nothing more than to finally accept their mate and tell her the complete truth, but there was a part of him that still was still very reserved about everything.

Be honest with me. What’s holding you back from accepting our mate? Other than the fact that she’s pregnant. His wolf asked, his voice and tone the epitome of serious.