Mishaps and Wolves (OLD VERSION)

Chapter 26 - Alpha In The Making

Chapter 26 - Alpha In The Making

Roman was downright pissed.

Marissa was with him and the only person she was thinking of was her stupid wolf companion. She was even smiling, though she probably didn't know she was. Before, when he'd felt her jealousy at having been as close to Cinna as he had, through the mating bond, he'd been thrilled. She actually felt something towards him. That in itself, especially when it came to Marissa who was actually quite guarded about her true emotions, was a feat.

But now, as they made it back to his office, he felt as though he lost all the ground he'd gained with her. How was he going to convince her to stay with him now?

Just keep her, silly, yawned his panther who was extremely bored by their inactivity.

I can't, she needs to be given the choice otherwise she'll feel like I clipped her wings, he sighed back.

So? questioned his panther.

So, she'll hate us for the rest of our lives. Do you want that? Never to see her smile and, goodness forbid, refuse to have a family with us?

The panther went absolutely silent. He understood completely. After all, those thoughts had been running around his head like a stampede and all he could think to do was try to woo her and convince her to stay with him, without telling her that there was no chance that he would ever actually give in because not only were they destined to be, but because he did actually care for the mate that the fates had chosen for him.

Roman just shook his head and shoved those thoughts right out as they approached his office door. Inside he could already smell the others waiting for him. He had seven Sentinels, including Nicholas, and the only ones not there at the moment were Cameron and Lucius who were out with the patrols today and getting the training schedule shifted around the rebuilding of Laura's house. Both were strong allies that cared for the pack and the family it gave them. They depended on it just as much as he and Nicholas did and he was worried about what they would do once word got out to them that there was a traitor in their family.

He opened the door and went in first. They were all sitting on the sofas and had pulled out the been bag chairs too like Randy. Roman went straight over to his desk, making sure to give them a look when they looked over his shoulder at Marissa, who was busy shutting the door after her and locking it, before turning their gazes of shock and amusement back at him. He didn't want to let the cat out of the bag out about them being mates yet to her, but everyone else could already smell the blending of their individual scents to show that they were indeed mates and were still bonding.

Nicholas looked at him, nothing showing outwardly on his face, but Roman could tell that the shifter wanted to bawl out laughing. Years ago they'd had a conversation about what they would want in their ideal mate. Young as they were, Roman had gone with his animal instinct and just said that he'd want his mate to be able to play against him. As a cat, he wanted his mate to be cunning and have a sense of fun about her. Whilst Marissa was slightly like that, she was more of a hazard than a toy he could just play with.

Thinking that he could play with Marissa, though...that was just hazardous to his health. Not only could she play, but she'd probably beat his ass any way she could, nine ways to Sunday and back. As for the other kind of play, he stopped his thoughts dead in their tracks and tried burning the images right out of his head. There was no way he could think like that and be a gentleman when it came to letting her be free to choose him. And that was probably what was making Nicholas laugh.

Marissa turned to face them at that moment and masks fell over each of his Sentinels faces, hiding their true thoughts to all those that didn't know them. Marissa came and sat on the edge of his desk, facing them, as there were no other seats and just like that the meeting had begun.

Roman couldn't hold off on it any more. He knew he had to tell them. It would hurt each one of them, but there was no chance that he would keep them in the dark about something that could be a very dangerous threat to them if they weren't careful. And on their guard is what they all needed to be at the moment.

"We have a traitor in the pack." He said. Just like ripping off a band aid, he just came out with it. There was silence as the statement settled in before everyone erupted into rounds of snarling and shouting, trying to question about the validity of the statement.

"Quiet," both he and Marissa said simultaneously. At that, everyone shut up and he was thankful for the silence once more, but he knew that wouldn't last long. He looked out of the corner of his eye at Marissa who was just sitting with her arms folded across her chest as she watched the others. He looked back to them before he was caught watching her.

"Look, I know how difficult it is to believe, but we have a traitor in our midst."

"We don't need this kind of problem at the moment," Douglas, a bear shifter, spoke up.

"Well, you don't get what you can handle, you just get crap loaded onto your shoulders and you deal with it," Marissa snapped at him. Philosophically, she made sense. You didn't always get what you asked for but you got something. The only thing that registered in Roman's mind though was the way the shifters in the room had gone silent and listened to her.

Alphas generally had more power and were better leaders. It was the strength of their cores that gave them the identities of being the Alphas. And one of the manifestations of this core to lead was the Alpha tone, a tone which made others shut up and listen to you if they were weaker than you. That she got all these very powerful shifters to go silent in the way they had, then she was definitely an Alpha.

That's our mate, purred the panther within. He couldn't help feeling proud of her, but there were more important things happening at the moment and he need to focus all his attention on the task at hand.

"The traitor situation is being dealt with for the moment and I don't need to tell you that nobody is to know of the traitor. What we need to do now is focus on creating a map of Regan's town so that we can plan an attack and get the Dragon Orb back."

"We don't have any intel and the spy I have in there won't give me anything that quickly and that detailed," spoke Clarice, her blue-black hair pulled back in a tight bun that showed off her sharp features.

"We don't need intel from them. We can do as best as we can from the intel the Flyers have gathered and what these two can remember of the town," he said, pointing at both Marissa and Randy.

"We'll help any way we can," Marissa agreed. Two things set his teeth on edge. Firstly, that she'd said 'we' meaning her and Randy together. He'd already said that there was nothing happening between them but that was coming from him. Girls had funny brains when it came to the whole emotion and secret signals stuff. The second thing was that she was very eager to help. He had no idea if she was genuinely agreeing because she wanted to help or if she just wanted them to get the orb back quicker so that she could leave.

His head was a mess as these thoughts raced around. Luckily, Marissa was focused. She started looking around for some paper whilst someone brought out another bean-bag chair for her and Roman each. She took the paper she'd found over to the small coffee table and lay out the large sheet of paper. She was taking charge of the situation and because of that, Roman vowed that he wouldn't stop until he had her. She was perfect for him, volcanic anger and all. She knew what to do when he didn't and she didn't care that he didn't, just helped him get to where he was free from the worry and could handle it all. She carried the weight of the world with him, even if it was just for a moment, and that moment would forever tie them together.

He brought out a few pens and pencils from the desk drawer and brought them over to the table, taking a seat next to his future mate. She took one of the pencils he handed her and when he deliberately brushed his hand against hers, she looked up at him. Her cheeks were slightly flushed and as she moved her hand away, he noticed that her eyes had become dilated.

The tension between the two was broken when someone got up and left the room, calling over their shoulder, "I'll get lunch." Then everyone got to work in filling in pieces that they knew of onto their map.