Taking What's His

Chapter 18

I ignored the vibrating of his phone interrupting the silence in the room, trying to find my place on the page of the book I had been reading. I had just managed to find it when the sound of his chair rolling backwards on the hardwood floor distracted me again. I glanced up catching his eye as he made his way to the door but he offered no explanation as to why he was suddenly leaving his office.

Normally I couldn't possibly care less about who the Alpha spoke to or what he spoke about as long as he wasn't speaking to me but the fact that he had felt the need to leave the room to answer this call piqued my interest. 

I heard his footsteps enter the bedroom before he finally answered the call. At this distance it was hard to hear what he was saying but he was underestimating the abilities of a curious human ear. If I held myself very still and strained to listen to what he was saying, I could just about make it out. 

"I told you it's not possible, she needs me."

I wished he had put it on speaker so I could hear what the other person was saying but even with just his side of the conversation I was willing to bet the "she" he was referring to was me.

"I know it's been months, it's not easy on me either but it's what's necessary."

He sounded frustrated, as though he had this conversation more than just a couple times and was getting tired of having to repeat himself.

"Can I not even rely on you to keep the pack calm? I thought there was a reason I had chosen to make you second in command but perhaps it was undeserved."

My brows rose involuntarily, it seemed I wasn't the only one he was a condescending asshole to, that was just his natural state of being. How I wished he could deem me undeserving of being his mate and fire me like he seemed about to do to this second in command of his.

"The elders are always convinced the next meeting will be their last." He said dismissively.

It seemed like someone was trying to convince him to come to some sort of meeting, one of the seasonal meetings perhaps. I prayed to whatever deity that was listening that they would succeed in their persuasion. Even just an evening to myself would allow me to regain some semblance of the sanity I had lost being constantly smothered by him.

"Why didn't you tell me Carl was so sick? If one of my pack members is hospitalized I should at least be informed."

I listened with bated breath to hear what he would say after that, hoping this was enough to convince him to leave the house.

"I don't want to hear excuses, just tell the pack they can expect to see me tonight."

I sank back against the couch in relief, tensing up again when the Alpha appeared in the doorway of the office, trying to neutralize my expression to hide the elation I felt.

The Alpha walked in, heading straight for me and I looked up from my book when he sat down next to me on the couch. For once willing to give him my undivided attention since I was going to be getting some much anticipated news from him.

"There's something I need to talk to you about." He said and I nodded, angling my body towards him and setting the book that lay in my lap aside. Far too eager for this conversation to even bother glancing to see which page I had been on. His eyes narrowed slightly as he tracked the movement, clearly suspicious of why I was acting this way when normally trying to pull a response from me was like pulling teeth.

"One of the pack elders is very sick, doctors don't think he'll make it to the end of the year."

"I'm sorry to hear that." I said sincerely, watching as he reached forward and grabbed one of my hands that lay in my lap, holding it in his own. His eyes watching my expression carefully to gauge my reaction.