Chapter 35

(Owen POV)

Instead of heading to see my beautiful and very much needed mate, I was walking with Liam to the pack house to meet Alpha Cole and his daughter. Being denied the chance to see Amelia had put me in a foul mood and Liam glanced at me several times with concern. He knew the plan, and it seemed like he was worried I would screw things up already.

“I will try to get us in and out as quick as possible, ok?” Liam said as we drew closer to the house.

“I was going to see Amelia…” I said with annoyance.

“Sorry, I know this won’t be easy for you two since you are newly mated, but just keep the big picture in mind.” Liam replied grabbing my arm and making us stop for a moment.

Alpha’s, even ones like me who were calmer, had a hard time with subduing anger and aggression. That’s why a mate was so important for an alpha, they give us balance and help calm us. Otherwise, we become violent and ruthless out of our instinct. A mate helps subside these aggressive tendencies, and often why an alpha will bring his mate to negotiations and meetings. A room full of annoyed alphas would be a blood bath without the Luna’s there to keep the peace.

“Just take a breath for a moment, I can sense your anger growing, and they will too if you aren’t careful.” Liam warned me.

Another thing about being an alpha, our emotions could be sense by the entire pack. So, if an alpha was especially unhappy, the whole pack could suffer. It was why many young alpha’s searched tirelessly and for many years for their mates, and I had only been looking for a short time when Amelia arrived. Faking joy with a woman I cared less than a lick of dust about, would be felt by the pack as well if I wasn’t careful. So not only did I need to convince my father, but also the whole pack that I actually cared about this woman.

Easy right? No not really.

After I had taken a few deep breaths I nodded to Liam, and we walked up the steps and into the living room of the pack house. Several of the young males, who always seemed to be around, were playing video games on the giant tv. They called out in annoyance when Liam and I teased them as we headed for my father’s office. Once we arrived, I took one last breath before knocking.

“Ah that must be my son now!” I heard my father’s voice say from the other side of the door.

The door opened and my father stepped aside to let us in with the biggest smile on his face. I had never in my life seen my father smile in that way, and it was completely fake. He closed the door behind us and walked past us to begin introductions.

“Owen this is Alpha Cole.” My father said.

A short man stood from one of the chairs in front of my father’s desk and he turned giving me a smile.

He held out his hand to me. “Nice to meet you Owen, I am glad we are able to meet with you today!”

I shook his hand, and it was sweaty and clammy, which I was quick to wipe away once his back turned to me to get the attention of the woman sitting in the other chair. The woman was holding a phone in her slender hands and was so engrossed in what she was doing that the tap from her father startled her slightly. She turned and stood, and I quickly glanced her over. She had red hair, a short red dress, long and impractical manicured fingernails, and an intense amount of makeup on that looked like it took hours for her to apply. You know those people who are vain about their looks and tried too hard to be the most attractive person in the room? She smiled with her bright red lips and stepped forward, extending her hand to me.

“Hi. I’m Brittney.” She says in a slightly sultry voice.

She was trying very hard to be attractive from her looks to even how she held herself and spoke. I gave her a polite smile and shook her hand gently. I could see she wasn’t bad looking but she was trying too hard to seem sexy in every way, and I was sure if she would be more herself, she would be rather pretty.

“Hi, I am Owen, and this is my friend Liam.” I tell her.

She looks over my shoulder at Liam and tries to smile at him, but the once over she gives him makes it seem she is less than impressed. I turned to Liam and I could see he was not at all effected by her snub, and why would he care. She would never actually become his Luna, and he had a stunning mate of his own.

“Come everyone! Let’s sit.” My father says walking around his desk and taking a seat.

Liam and I followed and sat on a chair placed on both sides of him. Once everyone was seated my father jumped right into the reason, they were all there.

“I am so glad you both came to finalize the remaining details of our contract.” My father said.

My union with Alpha Cole’s daughter being the main detail left to discuss.

“My daughter is rather anxious to speak on the union between herself and the young alpha. I am afraid she is rather headstrong and has some conditions she wishes to mention.” It was clear Alpha Cole was wrapped around his daughter’s finger.

She smiled proudly and looked to my father.

“Yes of course. What would you like to discuss dear?” My father asked.

“I am agreeing to not search for my true mate to go through with this union. I have heard whispers that Owen had met his mate, and I want to be sure she is not a problem.” She begins.

“How did you hear that?” I ask abruptly with slight anger slipping but I reigned it in before it was too noticeable.

“An old friend of mine is part of this pack now, and she loves to talk. When she heard I was coming to visit, she let slip that some had heard that the young alpha had found his true mate. And as I said I want to be sure she is no longer an issue.” She stopped yet again.

Liam looks to me, but I do not acknowledge his worried glances. I keep my attention on the girl who seemed to be holding back a threat on my mate.

“It is possible.” Is all I say.

I didn’t agree or deny because I wanted to know what it was, she really wanted to say. Just to get a look at the kind of woman we were dealing with. She tilts her head and smiles.

“I want you to reject her in front of the entire pack and announce that I will be your mate. I want to be sure that if she tries to cause any trouble, the pack will know she is nothing to you.” She says simply.

I had hoped she would want to keep this quiet, not wanting to draw attention to Amelia at all. This was definitely going to be a problem. You see, against popular belief, when two wolves officially become mated, they can’t simply reject their mate. For one thing, it is almost impossible not to care for one’s mate after the mating bond is made, and the only thing that breaks that bond is death. Even if someone met their mate and they had love for them in the beginning but mate anyway, they feel an intense need to protect and cherish their mate. It was almost impossible to for mated to reject each other once the bond was made. Rejection had to happen before any officially mating occurred.

There was no way I could do what she was asking.

“He can’t.” Liam says suddenly and I realized it had not yet responded to her.

Her smile falls as she looks to my beta. “And why is that?”
There is a bite to her words, and I held back a growl of warning.

“He already rejected her, and she left town soon after.” Liam replies.

The lie was so simple and came to him so easily, I wondered why I had not thought of it.

“Yes, she is already gone.” I reiterate.

She looks between us for a moment before smiling once again.

“Perfect, then that is one loose end we don’t need to worry about. The second condition I have is regarding children. I refuse to become pregnant before I am 30, and I will only carry one child. I am not the mother type; however, I understand the need for an heir. So, I will comply for that simple reason. Also, when we become Alpha and Luna, I will not live in the pack house with a bunch of teenagers running around! I want a house.” She continues.

Exactly how long was this list of conditions? Long apparently as she goes on to list several more items. Her father had given the impression she only had maybe one or two conditions, but as the list grew even, he seemed a little surprised by her demands. It made me miss Amelia even more, she hadn’t asked me for a single thing that I wouldn’t give freely. She never demanded anything from me, and in this moment, I would give her everything for the pure fact that she was nothing like the woman sitting across from me.