In The Beginning, Chapter 122
Hyacinth was the first to arrive, I made coffee, while Hyacinth, who insisted on bringing a teapot and her own brand of tea with her, had looked at my cups with an appalled grimace. She and Theia were looking at the maps, and chatting quietly, while I was tuning them out. I could just make out the soft strum of Charlie’s heartbeat, it increased as I heard a shuffle, she was rolling over, the memory of all the nights we fell asleep at the far ends of the bed, the space between us feeling like no man’s land, until she finally fell asleep, and she would roll over and reach out for me. When I was too stupid and stubborn to turn around, she would shuffle over until she was pressed against my back, the smallest woman I had ever been with, and she would be “the big spoon”. I would never admit it out loud, but it was nice, she would wrap one arm around my waist, her cheek pressed to my back. Sometimes she would kiss my spine or shoulder blade, but sometimes she would cry, that was the toss-up, the risk I took when I didn’t turn around, and let her shuffle to my chest instead, and put her hand over my heart.
“Yes, we have been saying the same for months, that is why I believe they attacked Appletree, they hacked the surveillance, so they knew where to go!” Hyacinth said excitedly, breaking my concentration, and bringing me back to earth with a bump.
“There’s no way they hacked into Appletree, Kasa designed our firewall, and operating system, if there had been an attack, we would know.” I argued, but it did make me wonder. The front door opened, drawing my attention away from the women for a moment.
“Daniel? I’m not sure keeping your door unlocked is wise.” My father grumbled, as he walked through the house, my mother close behind him, in their idea of casual attire. My father was in jeans, a collared shirt, a sweater, and loafers, while my mother was in wide legged pants, the smallest heels she owned, and a long high-necked sweater. Although it was odd to see her in black, I ignored it, I needed a plan in place before I lost my mind with anxiety, it hit me all over again the moment I lost focus of her.
“Dad, you were CEO when you did the deal with Kasa to update our software, there’s no way we had an attack without either us or him knowing, right?” I asked, and my father looked completely dazed for a moment.
“I know that’s what he told me son, but I wouldn’t know if he was being truthful, or conning me blind if I'm honest.” He admitted with a shrug, and I saw my mother roll her eyes before freezing.
“Owen was heavily involved in that upgrade; he was the one that pushed for it... he wanted you to hire a firm... what were they called? He was really angry when you chose to honour the deal with Sycamore and offered them the contract first.” My mother tried to remind my father, only pausing when she saw recognition dawning in his eyes.
“Yes, he insisted he oversee everything, Kasa made a whole presentation, I thought he was making a fuss because Alpha Hensley had just handed over the company to Kasa... He could have given them his remote access. His account should have been closed when he retired, but if he made sure it wasn’t...?” He explained.
“FUCK!” I yelled, pissed off, my eyes shooting to the ceiling as I strained my ears to figure out if I woke her. Everyone remained silent while I sought out her heartbeat, I let out a shaky breath of relief when her pulse remained steady. “Ben, I need you at the pack house.” I linked him, this was a disaster, if they had access to our network... nothing I had spoken about with the other Alphas was private, they could have seen and heard it all.
“I’m five minutes out with Alpha Hensley.” He replied, and I felt a little calmer, we would know one way or another soon enough. “Umm, there’s something else...” Ben mumbled.
“What now?” I asked exasperated.
“The elders are unhappy, some stayed thinking you would ask their advice...” He explained.
“I ordered them to leave because none of them have ever fought a fucking vampire before, so how could they advise me?” I growled, losing the last thread of patience I had left, ending the link. “Alex, Robert, Bailey. The pack house, ten minutes.” I summoned them, Kasa and Landers would bring their Deltas and Epsilons, taking the number of our war council to seventeen. I looked around the kitchen, deciding it wasn’t big enough. “Dining room.” I said to my father, he nodded, understanding immediately, and helped me take the maps and pieces through. Hidden, at least in Charlie’s opinion, beside a closet in the hall, was a door that led to the dining room. With the ability to seat twelve comfortably, with another twelve able to stand in attendance, it was made for negotiations between Alphas and their entourages. I wasn’t sure it had ever been used as a war room before, but I wasn’t moving us to the centre of town, as my grandfather did, so he could meet with his elders, he followed the rules, and still died. But this war was different, women and children would not have been spared if they had stayed, this enemy had no rules, so we had to adapt.
“You have been smart so far son, don’t make the mistake of making a decision out of fear now.” My father calmly instructed.
“That’s the problem, how do I know what is fear, and what is sensible? Part of me wants to beg Theia to take Charlie away now, while she is still safe... Is that fear? Or keeping the one thing I know they want far away from where they expect her to be?” I asked, giving voice to that deep dark thought that kept trying to claw its way to the forefront of my mind, so it could drown me, and drag me back into the darkness with it.
“There is some sense to sending her somewhere they can’t get to her, until she is stronger, a better fighter... but how much progress is she likely to make, separated from her mate? How strong will your leadership be, without her beside you? If there is one thing I know after nearly sixty years on this planet, it’s that we are better with our mates, than separately. You will fight harder and longer than you thought possible to keep her alive and give up that much sooner when only fighting for yourself.” He said quietly, but with such conviction, I was a little lost for words. I nodded, but was distracted by movement upstairs, I was still so attuned to listening for her, it surprised me a little. The many nights she spent cooped up in the library or curled up in bed with one of her books, I would just sit, listening to her. I would picture her face when a passage she was readying made her heartbeat quicken, more often than not she would cry, soft almost silent sobs, when she thought I wouldn’t hear her. I was pulled out of the soul crushing memory when I heard her patter towards the bathroom.
“Charlie’s awake, I’m gonna go let her know what’s going on.” I said as I moved towards the door, my father’s sceptical chuckles following me. Theia and Hyacinth were still talking quietly beside the coffee machine as I headed for the stairs, they both looked my way, but made no effort to stop me. Their conversation had been mainly about barriers and spells they could use against the vampires, Hyacinth wanting to know as much as possible about their weaknesses. I knew all I needed to on that front, my teeth and/or claws could rip out their throats, decapitating worked, as did massive crush injuries, and punching a hole in their chests. I thought as I climbed the stairs, although my ears did prick up when Hyacinth asked how effective fire would be against them. I walked into the bedroom as she sleepily wandered out from the bathroom, rubbing her eyes, blissfully oblivious to the drama unfolding around us, a part of me wanted to tell her to go back to sleep, let her keep her content smile a while longer.
“Why are you up and dressed? Instead of in bed with me?” She asked as she moved across the room to me, she was wearing a shirt I had been missing, and nothing else.
“Someone sent a scout to confirm Hermes was dead.” I confessed before I talked myself out of it. “I’m setting up a war council downstairs, because we think it is just a matter of time now, before they attack.” She took a small step back, her eyes wide with surprise, as she absorbed everything I had said.
“Do I have time to shower?” She asked, and I couldn’t answer, where had the terrified girl who thought she was losing her mind go? She had grown so much in such a short time. I nodded as I pulled her face to mine. “How long were you planning on letting me sleep?” She asked, her lips brushing mine as she spoke.
“As long as I could.” I replied, capturing her lips the moment I was done, losing myself in the pillowy softness of her kisses.
“I better... get moving then... sounds like... I might not have long... to make myself presentable.” She whispered between gasps as I kissed her neck and shoulders, pulling the neckline of the shirt out of the way to reach her skin as I held her to me.
“No.” I groaned between the hickies I couldn’t stop myself leaving on her skin, knowing she would be one of only four women, among thousands of adult male Lycans. “You smell so fucking good!” I breathed against the nape of her neck.
“Do we have time for this?” She whimpered as my erection moved against her groin.
“We’ll make time.” I swore, picking her up and carrying her into the bathroom, our shirts discarded before we reached the shower, my mouth stubbornly refusing to stop leaving marks along her flawless skin. She reached out for the touchpad as I pressed her against the wall, my lips firmly attached to her neck as my thumb moved over her clit. I could hear the water stopping and starting as she struggled to tap the right icons, her pants and gasps echoed off of the walls, making me throb. She slid the leg I wasn’t holding down my body, trying to stand, abandoning the touch pad, her hands slid inside the waistband of my sweats, moving them down. My hands reluctantly moved to her waist to lower her so she could stand, she ran the leg I had kept pinned to my hips down my thigh seductively, its hold keeping her body pressed against mine, but angling her so she could see the touchpad. I moved behind her, forcing her forward a little, so she had to put her hands out on the on the glass of the cubical to steady herself. I ran my hands up her thighs, up to the curve of her breasts, and down again, until her was trembling, and her sweet honeypot was so wet I could see tiny droplets making their way down her inner thighs. I tapped the icons on the shower, one hand around her waist, in case her legs went from under her, fuck it made me hard when she was this turned on. Her cheeks were flushed, a single bead of sweat was working its way down her neck, her arms quivering as my hand moved down her stomach slowly. My other hand moved to her hip, her body shivered on contact and like a moth to a flame, my lips were once again draw to her skin. “Get in.” I ordered, my lips brushing the shell of her ear, I bit the lobe softly, letting my teeth drag across the soft skin as it slipped through them.
“Yes, Alpha.” She whispered.
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