Finally!!! I am going on a date with my mate Skylar. Blake has constantly been whimpering and forcing me to go and find her. In fact, not going to Bistro Toulouse right now is also an excruciating task. Blake wants to be with his mate, and I understand. Even I want to be with Skylar, but I need to focus on work. If my father suspects anything, then he will kill Skylar without thinking about her being my mate and her death affecting me as well.
I am sitting in front of my laptop, trying to concentrate on my work, but my mind continuously goes to Skylar and her beautiful eyes. At the same time, the rational part of my brain is going to the fact that she wants to take advantage of me for my money and power. Not because I don't trust her. She is my mate, and she has just shown innocence till now. But it's just how I was brought up. I was always told not to trust anyone. Even my close ones.
I keep looking at my watch for it to be the date-time. As soon as it's almost 3:45, I jump from my seat and start packing my stuff. My father comes to my desk and asks me, "Going somewhere, Cole?" I look at him and very calmly reply, "Yes, I am going to visit a fundraiser at the Trident College. The business professor there has invited me."
My father looks at me and then picks his phone up indeed to check whether I am telling the truth or not. Thank God I had already told one of my contacts about this, and everything was set. So that my father does not find out about my absence, knowing my father, he would investigate in detail, and I leave him to it. By now, I am used to his methods and know how I can manipulate his methods.
But before I leave, I get a mindlink from the Higher Ups. I see my father's eyes glaze as well. They say, "The meeting is scheduled for tomorrow at 10:00 AM sharp. We need everyone's presence." My father and I look at each other and send our presence for the meeting, and then I leave.
I arrive at Trident early, knowing that my father must have sent someone behind me to confirm. Once I arrive at Trident, I check through my rear-view mirror and see a black car behind me. I smirk at my father's predictability. I get off my car and walk to the business building. Thank god the cafe is in the business building. I walk to the cafeteria and sit there waiting for Skylar.
My mind goes back to my father and the Royal Pack. We were created by a bunch of Ancients who thought that they were above the moon goddess. They had contacts all over the world with other packs and also knew how to manipulate the humans. Not only did they have powers, but they also had a lot of money. Their thirst for power over others is what made them create the Royal Pack. The initiation of the pack happened way back in 1689. That time the Ancients had lost their mates to the rogues and had turned them against the moon goddess.
When I talk about powers, I mean powers to control certain elements or emotions. The Royal pack started with five Ancients, and slowly they started recruiting more families. But the screening process involved a lot of tests and fights, and background checks in those days. Today we use upgraded technology to recruit more wolves into the pack. However, no one has been worth it for the last six years. I don't understand why wolves still want to be a part of the Royal Pack.
Apart from the wealth and the status, there is so much more to our pack. We make the rules. If we find any pack or any wolf for that matter deterring from these rules, we know how to take care of them. By taking care, I mean murdering them or torturing them to the point that the wolf kills itself and its human or taking away the wolf. If it's a human under our debt and has failed to follow the rules that we have set for him/her, then we simply kill the humans.
For taking care of the humans, we don't always do the work ourselves. We just make our prisoners or contacts do the work by promising to give them a place at the Royal Pack. We just give them a small quarter where they can spend their life under protection, but we don't include them in our society or the work. Yes, due to the ever-advancing technologies, we are at the risk of being exposed in front of humans, and sometimes some humans do even see us shift, but those innocent people are just at the wrong place at the wrong time.
However, the Higher-ups believe that they should be killed, and so those people are also killed.
We also have a special Pack Clinic to which only the official pack members have access. Even though we werewolves heal easily due to our DNA, we can't heal from things like wolfsbane, moon seeds, moonflower, and silver. Since we have control and contacts worldwide, we tend to get the chemicals and pharmaceuticals very easily available to us—something which is unavailable to a normal human.
Sometimes I feel bad that these basic things are not made available to the general public, but I cannot argue with the higher-ups. It would mean losing the privilege and name in the Pack, which I am very sure will not be acceptable to my father. So, just to make myself feel better or less guilty, I pretend to think that just because we are werewolves, we heal through any ailments and hence live longer than any normal human or even age a little slower.
But I hate all this facade. I hate being a part of the Royal Pack, something that other wolves would kill to be a part of. They think that it is some sort of prestige. They just don't know the ground reality. If I could, I would beg the moon goddess to turn back the time and give me birth in any other pack because they are the reason that I am unable to sleep the nights, have a constant headache, and I am always tense. I never get to relax or hope or even love.
I smell my mate before I see her. She is 15 minutes early today and brings a smile to my face. She walks in looking radiant. Blake wants to take over and talk to her. I give him this opportunity to be with his mate but warn him not to get too close or else it will freak her, and we don't want that.
He takes over and walks up to her. She says, "Hi Cole, you look very handsome today." He looks at her and takes her hand, and kisses it. He says, "You look very beautiful yourself." He leads her to our table and pulls her chair.
We see her blushing and say, "You are a true gentleman. Were you waiting too long?" Blake shakes his head and says, "No, I just got here early as I had some work in the business department." She nods understanding.
The waiter comes to get our orders, and I just say, "Two mochaccinos, please." The waiter bows and goes to get our orders. I look at Skylar and realize that I just ordered for her. I say,
"I am so sorry for ordering for you. It's just the way I have been brought up. You can change the order if you like."
She shakes her head and says, "No, that's what I usually order here. It's very famous. Plus, I find it hot when someone takes charge."
Blake just melts with happiness. I don't want him to scare her away, so I take back control from him and look at her.