The Pet🐾 (Completed)

Chapter 30

Ashley

Once lunch was finished, Jared took my plate and said he had some business to go over with me. He escorted me out of the dining hall and up the stairs, down a hallway lined with doors. I almost bumped into him when I didn't notice we'd stopped in front of one particular door. Jared opened it, revealing a spacious office.

A dark wood desk dominated the room, matched by bookshelves filled with books. The walls were a deep green, and papers were scattered across the desk. Two men were already in the room, standing straight as I entered. Jared motioned to the chair behind the desk, whispering, "Sit."

I took long strides over and lowered myself into the chair, trying to summon the courage to handle this.

"This is Javiar," Jared said, patting the shoulder of a tall, muscular man. Javiar had short black hair with shaved sides and dark chocolate brown eyes. He wore a crisp white button-up shirt tucked neatly into dress pants, finished with a belt.

Jared leaned toward the other man. "And this big guy over here is Cole, head of the guards." Cole had long blond hair pulled into a ponytail and brown eyes. He wore a navy button-up tucked into dress pants.

Everyone looked so formal—I felt completely out of place. Even Jared had dressed up. I smiled at both men; they nodded politely and returned to their positions.

Javiar was the first to speak. "If you're serious about running the pack while Alpha Roman heals, we need to go over things he couldn't see before the attack." He picked up a piece of paper and handed it to me. "This came from a witch requesting passage through our territory."

I skimmed the letter. The witch, Christine, was asking for safe passage and permission to sell her goods. "Have witches attacked us in the past?" I asked.

Javiar shook his head. "No—unless a witch declared war in her territory. Then she would fight for her pack."

I nodded. "She will be granted passage. Let me know when she arrives; I want her to examine Roman." I handed the letter back to Javiar, who stamped it "approved."

Cole stepped forward. "We suspect someone has been sneaking in and out of our territory undetected. We recommend rerouting some guards to investigate."

"Would that jeopardize our defenses?" I asked seriously.

Cole considered for a moment. "We'll take one warrior from each division and post them in the suspected areas. It will slightly weaken the defense, but only minimally."

I took a deep breath. "How often are we attacked? How many enemies do we have?"

Cole replied, "Seven known packs are opposed to us. Before today, attacks have been rare since last year."

I thought for a moment. "A year between attacks... then we can spare a few guards to investigate the suspicious activity." Cole nodded and left the room.

Jared took his place on my right while Javiar remained on my left. "Now we need to review finances," Jared said, handing me another sheet of paper.

Three hours later, I had navigated bills, accounts, and other numbers that made my head spin. I couldn't even remember all the calculations at that point. All I wanted was to go see Roman. Javiar offered to escort me.

We stepped out of the pack house. The sun was low in the sky. "Wow, how late is it?" I asked.

Javiar glanced at his watch. "About 5:30."

"No way!" I said, surprised.

He nodded. "Sometimes we're in there for over eight hours." He pointed down one road. "That's the hospital. And over there are the shops—maybe tomorrow I can take you to meet the witch once she's set up."