He Will Be Mine

Chapter 40: The Elders' Update

*** Kane's POV ***

Just as I'm about to call it a day so that I can meet Andrea for our dinner date, the phone in my office rings. That line is exclusively for pack business, so I know I had probably better answer it instead of letting it go to voicemail.

"Yes?" I demand impatiently.

Andrea has been bugging me for weeks to take her to a new restaurant that opened in the town about a half hour from here. I don't remember the name of it, but I do know that I need to get showered and changed or we'll miss our reservation and I'll have an unhappy mate on my hands.

"Alpha Kane? It's Elder Gerard," the familiar affectless voice on the other end of the line introduces himself.

Now I'm listening. There's only one thing I can imagine he would be calling for, and the timing couldn't be better. Aly will be here with both of her mate prospects sometime in the next few days.

"Yes, it's good to hear from you," I tell him politely, fighting the urge to demand he tell me their decision right now.

"Yes, you as well. But uh," he clears his throat before continuing. "I'm calling because I have important news about your daughter's mates."

"The decision about Tyler? Was he approved?" I lose the battle. I need to know.

"Well, not exactly. We've taken a bit of a detour through our decision-making process. We're still deliberating, but some important information has come to light that we felt it was imperative for you to know now."

"What is it?" I'm starting to get frustrated and impatient. I wish he would just get to the point already.

"I feel uncomfortable telling you more than you need to know, because there are others involved and I wish to remain respectful of their needs and wishes. So, I need you to listen carefully, and know that all will be revealed in time."

"Alright, just tell me."

"Yes, well, we have discovered information that has led us to believe that your daughter is meant to have two mates, two fated mates I mean. We are of the mind that the boy, Tyler, appears to be her true mate as much as the other boy, Matthew. I know that won't make much sense to you for now, so I need you to just trust that we have good reason to believe so, and once we finish our investigation and deliberation, we will send a representative to make sure you're fully informed. But for now, Elder Stirling has ordered me to tell you only this: Do what you can to prevent your daughter from rejecting either of those boys, because we believe that doing so will disrupt the bond with the other. She must accept both or neither. I would advise that for now, you encourage her to put off making the decision or taking any action."

"I ... don't even know what to say to that. Two mates? How would that even work? And how would it affect her position as Alpha? I don't know how I feel about it. Having to hand her over to one mate is bad enough, but two?" I can't seem to help rambling because this revelation catches me completely off-guard. I wish he would tell me more.

"Yes, uh ... all of your questions will be addressed in time. We are still deliberating all of that ourselves. I can tell you that two mates is not entirely unprecedented, although it's exceedingly rare, and we're undecided whether it is an appropriate situation for an Alpha. But don't worry about that for now. We'll get back with you once we have all those answers. For now, just focus on preventing Alyssa from doing anything rash that she will regret. Tell her to wait for the visit from our representative so she can be fully informed before she decides how she wishes to proceed."

"Yes, well, I don't think that will be a problem. She seems incapable of deciding between the two and keeps putting off the decision. She's currently on the way here with both of them, in fact."

"Ah, it would make sense that she can't decide. I'm sure some part of her senses the truth of it. But the other boy, Matthew, she is with him now as well? Is he not still engaged to another woman?"

"Oh ..."

I realize that this must be the secret that everyone has been hiding from me. He's engaged? No wonder Aly has struggled to get close to him. Although now I'm confused why he would be with her and Tyler and not his fiancée.

"I'm not sure of the status of that whole situation. I plan to ask once they're all in front of me, though. I promise you that," I tell him.

"Ah, well, if you could pass along whatever you find out, that might be helpful to our deliberations."

"Will do."

"Much appreciated, Alpha Kane. Well, that was all I had to tell you for now. I'll let you get back to whatever you were doing."

I glance up at the clock and realize my shower and change of clothes are going to need to be double-timed at this point.

"Sounds good. Thanks, Elder Gerard. Take care."

I disconnect the call and dash upstairs to get ready. It occurs to me that Andrea has probably known about Matt's engagement all along. I try not to let myself be too upset about that. I've known since Aly was a toddler that her mother is and always will be her favorite confidant and I've never wanted to take that from her. But still. I can't believe she kept something of this magnitude from me. I've always trusted that my mate and Luna, the mother of my child, would come to me with the important secrets, and in my mind this is exactly that.

Although I suppose that debate will make for interesting dinner conversation to liven up our evening a bit. I find myself already looking forward to the make-up sex, whistling as I take the stairs down two at a time to make it out front to meet Andrea with three seconds to spare.